Author Archives: Shane

Planet Positions & Visibility Mercury: Low in ENE, best observed after mid-month. Venus: In ENE morning sky all month. Mars: Extremely low in W, sets before 10:00 PM. Jupiter: Rises about 3:00 AM in ENE; visible in E at dawn. Saturn: Rises in E before 10:00 PM, transits before 5:00 AM, high in SE atContinue reading “Episode 545 – Observer’s Calendar for August 2026 Show Notes”

M84, M86 A pair of small fuzzy balls with bright, almost stellar cores. Both easily fit into the same low power field of view. M86 is slightly brighter and more oval than round M84. M87 Another round fuzzy ball with a bright core. Slightly brighter than both M84 and M86. M89, M90 Both of theseContinue reading “Episode 540 – 12 Months of Messier June Edition”

M51 The famous Whirlpool galaxy in Canes Venatici is a bright face on spiral with a smaller eliptical companion, NGC 5195. Look for a pair of fuzzy patches of light. The slightly larger and brighter one is M51. Make sure to spend some time here as there is almost always some spiral structure to beContinue reading “Episode 535 – 12 Months Of Messier May Edition Show Notes”

May 1 – Full Moon Carbon Star RY Mon best in evening May 2 – Alpha CVn Colourful Double May 3 – Antares 0.5-degrees N of Moon May 4 – Carbon Star X CnC best in evening May 6 – Eta Aquaria Meteors best in predawn skies but 3/4 Moon interferes May 7 – Markarian’sContinue reading “Episode 533 – The Observer’s Calendar for May 2026 Show Notes”

M40 – 9.6 Magnitude 1.7’ This is a pair of faint stars located in Ursa Major. They are a tough find in binoculars, and you will be challenged to split them with binoculars. In telescopes, they appear to be an identical pair of stars and easy to split even at low power. M108 – 10thContinue reading “Episode 531 – 12 Months of Messier April Edition Show Notes”

Gamma Leonis – Colourful double star April 2 – Full Moon Spica and Moon less than 4-degrees apart April 3 – Morning Targets Mercury Greatest Elongation 28-degrees from Sun in morning sky – Spring elongations are a disappointment for Mercury Long Period Variable star max for R Serpentis April 5th – Spot Sirius unaided eyeContinue reading “Episode 528 – The Observer’s Calendar for April 2026 Show Notes”

M41 This cluster in Canis Major is visible as a hazy patch to the naked eye just below Sirius. M41 is resolvable in binoculars and appears fairly loose in telescopes at low power. Some sources say it was observed by Aristotle, but it was not, reading his notes he refers to a star with a Continue reading “Episode 526 – 12 Months of Messier – March Edition Show Notes”

End of Feb. beginning of March Comet C/2024 E1 Wierzchos 6th – 7th magnitude Mar 1  –  Struve 1183 Monoceros – Colourful Double Mar 2 – Regulus .4-degrees S of Moon – Need to be further East…7-degrees for us Mar 3- Full Moon & Lunar Eclipse for Western NA 5:30am here 5 Lynx colourful doubleContinue reading “Episode 524 – The Observer’s Calendar for March 2026”

M1- a 1054 AD Supernova noted by Chinese astronomers created this nebula. Also possibly noted by Navaho in their Potroglyphs. Bevis found the nebula remnant. Christened the “Crab Nebula” by Lord Rosse for it’s appearance through his large speculum telescope. The Crab nebula is a supernova remnant in Taurus and appears as a hazy patchContinue reading “Episode 523 – 12 Months of Messier February Edition Show Notes”