When in 1774 the French comet hunter Charles Messier began listing fuzzy patches of light in the sky, wanting to separate them from the comets that interested him, he started quite ...

1 Centaurus A Centaurus A (NGC 5128) is a standout object for Southern Hemisphere observers. NGC 5128 is often called the Hamburger Galaxy because of the two regions of stars (the ...

Visible to the naked eye Visible with binoculars Visible with a telescope The new year opens with a spectacular array of planets lined up in the western sky soon after sunset. Merc ...

THERE’S NO HIDING the crater Kepler! The youthful impact scar stands out on the Moon’s equator, a veritable island in Oceanus Procellarum, the large basin on the eastern flank ...

Quadrantid meteor shower THE QUADRANTIDS, which originate in what is now the northern region of Boötes, are active between Dec. 28 and Jan. 12. The narrow peak of activity (six ho ...

HOW TO USE THIS MAP This map portrays the sky as seen near 35° north latitude. Located inside the border are the cardinal directions and their intermediate points. To find stars, ...

COMET C/2021 A1 (LEONARD) claimed the title of comet of the year in 2021, but it plummets to 12th magnitude by January’s end. Next up: Nicely placed on the evening stage well to ...

THE FAMOUS DUST CLOUDS surrounding the Pleiades (M45) spread far and wide. They hide many distant stars, helping us locate and track dwarf planet 1 Ceres this month. The 600-mile-w ...

HOW TO USE THIS MAP This map portrays the sky as seen near 30° south latitude. Located inside the border are the cardinal directions and their intermediate points. To find stars, ...