Kemble’s Cascade is an asterism in the constellation Camelopardalis featuring more than 20 stars, with the open cluster NGC 1502 at one end. This star pattern is an unofficial arrangement of stars known as an asterism and is not one of the recognized constellations in the night sky. HIP 18505 is the star in the…
Finding the Winter Hexagon will give you a fresh viewpoint on the winter night sky. It is made up of six brilliant stars that surround the constellation of Orion in the southeast (as seen from the northern hemisphere). The Winter Hexagon is an excellent naked-eye target in January and February. Going clockwise in the hexagon,…
Variable stars are crucial for testing our theories of stellar development, from bloated red giants nearing the end of their lives to binary stars engaged in deadly gravitational dances. They play a significant role in stellar astrophysics. However, extrinsic variables and intrinsic variables are the two basic categories of variable stars. Intrinsic variables are stars…
The Pleiades or the Seven Sisters (M45) is an open star cluster that originated from a huge cloud of dust and gas around 125 million years ago. The stars of M45 are so bright for the high rate of fusion at the cores. However, they are located in the constellation Taurus having a distance of…
The Hyades Star Cluster is the closest cluster to the solar system containing myriads of stars some of which can be observed with the unaided eye. It is located at a distance of 150 light-years away from us. The four brightest stars Gamma Tauri, Delta 1 Tauri, Epsilon Tauri, and Theta Taur makes a V…
Imagine when Earth comes between the sun and the moon and the shadow of the earth falls on the moon. This darkens the moon and it happens only when the moon is full. The outer lighter shadow is called the penumbra, and the darker core is called the umbra. Penumbral shadow is hard to detect…
Sometimes stargazing does not need to memorize all the constellations because like the Summer Triangle, the best star patterns to observe are not always constellations but asterisms. An asterism is a pattern of stars not included in the official 88 constellations. The Summer Triangle is an asterism, made of 3 bright stars Vega, Deneb, and…
Polaris, the North star is located in the constellation named Ursa Minor. It is very close to the north celestial pole of the earth. It is very easy to identify from the northern horizon using the little dipper as a reference. It seems like all the stars and constellation orbits Polaris throughout the year. But…
The Big Dipper constellation is a group of stars belonging to the constellation Ursa Major or the Big Bear. It is easy to spot on any dark night in the Northern Hemisphere. The Big Dipper with its neighbor the Little Dipper can be seen rotating around the North star Polaris throughout the year. In summer…
The Lagoon Nebula is an emission nebula with an active area of star formation full of gas and dust. It is located in the constellation Sagittarius around 5000 light years away. We can see the glow of the embedded star cluster NGC 6530. It has a luminosity of magnitude 6 that makes it a nice…
M57 (The Ring Nebula) is a planetary nebula located in the Lyra constellation at a distance of 2,300 light years from the earth. The shell of gas was produced by a red giant that has to evolve away. The expansion rate of this nebula indicates that it is 10,000 years old. Quick Guide to Observe…
The International Space Station (ISS) can be observed through a telescope, offering a captivating viewing experience. The ISS is one of the brightest objects in the night sky, with a maximum magnitude of -5.9, making it an ideal object for telescopic observation. To view the ISS successfully, a telescope with an aperture of at least…
Comets are a mixture of ice, frozen gasses, dust, and rocks. Scientists think that comets are the debris from materials that formed the solar system initially around 4.6 billion years ago. Comets follow elliptical orbits around the sun. The more it gets closer to the sun, the faster it is pulled in. Some comets fall…
Telescope has revealed the interesting fact that all stars are not alone. Sometimes they are accompanied by one or other multiple stars and form star systems. Double stars that are bound gravitationally are called binary star systems. According to the research around 85% of the stars of the Milky Way are in binary pairs unlike…
The Orion Nebula (M42) is a bright and visible nebula that can be seen with the naked eye under dark skies, but is best viewed with a telescope for more detail. Even a small telescope with a diameter of 60mm can reveal the nebula’s faint, misty shape, while larger telescopes with a diameter of at…
The Andromeda Galaxy is a distant celestial object. Andromeda can be viewed from Earth using a telescope of the right size. Even amateur astronomers can enjoy a stunning view of Andromeda with a moderate-sized telescope, specifically one with an aperture of 6-8 inches (15-20 cm). This size is ideal for gathering enough light to reveal…
The Milky Way is our home galaxy. Milky way is a barred spiral galaxy that stretches approximately 100,000 light-years in diameter. You can view the Milky Way through a telescope, but it’s impossible to see the entire galaxy structure at once due to its enormous size. A telescope allows for a more detailed view of…
A galaxy is referred to as the collection of dust, gas, hundreds of billions of stars, and their planets which are held together by gravity. A galaxy is the most distant object you can see with your telescope. They appear with different shapes and colors and we can see the combined glare of all the…
A nebula is a cloud of gas and dust composed of Helium, Hydrogen, and other ionized gasses. They become visible from Earth due to the interaction of gas with other materials or supernova explosions. However, it is possible to see a nebula with a telescope. Typically a nebula looks gray though the view improves with…
Photo: The Dogstar (Sirius A) and its Pup (Sirius B) Sirius, also known as the Dog star, is the brightest star in the sky found in late winter and spring. It has a tiny companion named Sirius B known as Pup which is basically a white dwarf star. Both of them make a binary star…
Viewing the Sun through a telescope can be a fascinating experience, but it’s crucial to prioritize safety to protect your eyes from potential damage. Looking directly at the Sun through a telescope without the appropriate protective equipment is extremely dangerous and can cause severe damage to the eyes, including permanent blindness. Concentrated sunlight can burn…
Titan is the largest among 83 moons of Saturn and the second largest natural satellite in the solar system. Titan is the only moon that has a dense atmosphere. This is also known as the only object in space that has surface liquid. A small beginner telescope can spot them easily. Quick Guide to Observe…
We see night sky objects through a telescope because they reflect sunlight. Asteroids do the same thing which means it is possible to view them from the earth through a suitable telescope. In fact, sometimes it becomes indistinguishable from the stars though the distances between the asteroid and stars from the earth are different. Asteroids…
Pluto is a distant dwarf planet. Pluto can be seen with a telescope under specific conditions and with the right equipment, although it is not visible to the naked eye or with binoculars. Telescope with a significant aperture of at least 8-10 inches (20-25 cm) in diameter is required to spot Pluto. This size ensures…
Neptune is the eighth and farthest known planet from the Sun. Neptune can be seen through a telescope. Telescope with an aperture of at least 8 inches (20 cm) and a magnification between 100-200x is recommended to achieve the best view of Neptune. Neptune appears as a small, blue-green dot or disk when viewed through…
Uranus is the seventh planet from the sun. Uranus can be seen with a telescope, transforming it from a faint star-like object into a distinct celestial body. With a small telescope of around 60 mm (2.4 inches) in aperture, one can resolve the disk of Uranus and distinguish it from background stars. Moderate magnification between…
Saturn is the sixth planet in our solar system. Saturn can be viewed with a small telescope. A telescope with a diameter of 2 inches can reveal Saturn, while a larger 3-inch telescope with 50x magnification can distinctly show Saturn’s iconic rings. Binoculars with 40x magnification can provide a glimpse of the rings, but a…
Jupiter is one of the brightest objects in the night sky. Jupiter can be observed with a telescope to discern its disk and atmospheric details. A telescope with a lens diameter of at least 60mm is sufficient to reveal Jupiter’s disk, major cloud bands, and up to four of its largest moons: Io, Europa, Ganymede,…
Meteors are basically dust and rocks that float at thousands of miles per hour through our solar system. On their way, if they strike the earth’s atmosphere, they burn up and make a long streak across the sky. Sometimes earth encounters them in large numbers making Meteor showers. Meteor showers are formed by debris from…
Mars is a fourth planet from the sun. Mars is visible through a telescope, making it an attractive target for amateur astronomers. Even a small telescope with a diameter of 60 mm (2.4 inches) can provide a view of Mars, including its reddish hue, polar ice caps, and darker regions. The best time to view…
Venus is the second planet from the Sun. Viewing Venus through a telescope is a popular activity for amateur astronomers due to its brightness and proximity to Earth. You can observe Venus’s crescent shape as it moves away from the Sun with a small telescope. Higher magnification can help reduce Venus’s bright glare, although surface…
Viewing Mercury with a telescope is possible but challenging due to its proximity to the Sun. The Sun’s glare often obscures Mercury. Mercury can be seen during its greatest elongations, when it appears farthest from the Sun’s glare. Telescope with at least 60 mm (2.4 inches) in aperture is recommended to see Mercury. Observers will…
It is not possible to see the American flag on the Moon with a telescope, even with the most powerful telescopes like the Hubble Space Telescope. Telescopes lack the necessary angular resolution to distinguish an object as small as the flag or a landing site on the Moon’s surface. The largest optical telescopes in the…