Charting the heavens

The Messier Catalogue is one of the most well-known collections of astronomical objects. Compiled in the 18th century by French astronomer and avid comet hunter Charles Messier as a quick reference of

1 NGC 697 Not to be unkind, but Aries isn’t generally regarded as a rich haven for amateur deep-sky jewels. However, we’re going to look hard and visit a light smattering of objects near the Aries–Pis

1. Psi Aquarii group 10x 50 This colourful grouping of stars spans nearly 5° of sky, from mag. +5.0 Psi3 (ψ3) Aquarii to mag. +5.6 96 Aquarii. The colours range from blue-white mag. +5.5 Psi2 (ψ2) Aqu

Isn’t it amazing that astronomy – humanity’s oldest science – continues to generate such a delightful amount of new knowledge? Seeing as we’ve been studying the motion of the stars for a good long whi

The faint, rather indistinct constellation Camelopardalis is supposed to represent a giraffe. It sits between Polaris (Alpha (α) Ursae Minoris) and Capella (Alpha (α) Aurigae). Our first target is loc

VICTOR M BLANCO 4-METER TELESCOPE, 9 JULY 2025 This is NGC 6188, an emission nebula 4,000 lightyears from Earth, known as the Fighting Dragons of Ara because of its resemblance to two dragons preparin