Astronomy Sites Of The Pacific Northwest
The Pacific Northwest has a lot of beautiful scenery, which means that there are a plethora of unique astronomy sites. The map above shows all of the locations, and if there is one that is…
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Messier 80
DescriptionVisible From Pacific NorthwestMarch To JulyBest Time To ObserveMayMinimum Size Of Viewing DeviceSmall TelescopeObject TypeGlobular ClusterDesignationsMessier 80, M80, NGC 6093, GCl 39, C 1614-228, MWSC 2376Right Ascension16h 17m 02.41sDeclination-22°58’33.9”ConstellationScorpiusNumber Of StarsMore Than 200,000Apparent magnitude +7.87Apparent dimensions 10′Object…
A Black Moon: The Opposite of A New Moon
Just as the term “Blue Moon” applies to instances of 2 full moons in a month or 4 full moons over a 3 month period, there is a similar term that applies specifically for new…
What is An Astronomical Unit (AU)?
An astronomical unit, which is often represented by the acronym AU, represents the mean distance between the Earth and our sun. This means that an AU is can be measured as approximately 93 million miles, or…
Messier 79
Discovered by Charles Messier’s colleague Pierre Méchain in 1780, Messier 79 is a globular cluster in the constellation Lepus the Hare. Messier 79 lies in an unusual location, about 60,000 light years from the Milky…
State Park Bortle 4 Scale Information In The US
As discussed in a previous article, we looked at statistics of all state parks of all 50 US States, and classified each state park to the appropriate Bortle Scales 1, 2, and 3 to determine…
State Park Bortle 3 Scale Information In The US
As discussed in a previous article, we looked at statistics of all state parks of all 50 US States, and classified each state park to the appropriate Bortle Scales 1, 2, and 3 to determine…
Olympus Mons
One of the most iconic and most well known features on the entire Martian landscape is Olympus Mons. There are many interesting features on Mars, but Olympus Mons definitely takes the cake as the biggest…
Messier 78
Messier 78 or M 78, also known as NGC 2068, is a reflection nebula in the constellation Orion. It was discovered by Pierre Méchain in 1780 and included by Charles Messier in his catalog of…
Jupiter’s Great Red Spot
Probably Jupiter’s most famous and recognizable feature is the Great Red Spot! So lets take some time today to talk about the history of this amazing feature! Located at 22 degrees south of Jupiter’s equator,…
Messier 77
Messier 77 (M77), also known as Cetus A, is a barred spiral galaxy located in the constellation Cetus. It is one of the largest Messier objects to be in the catalogue. DescriptionVisible From Pacific NorthwestSeptember…