Messier 49
The elliptical galaxy M49 was discovered by Charles Messier in 1771. Not only was it the first object discovered in the Virgo Cluster of galaxies, but it was also the first elliptical galaxy detected outside…
Articles by Mike R
US National Parks To View The 2024 Solar Eclipse At
After writing about the 2024 State Parks, it makes sense to extend this type of work to the National Parks 2024 Solar Eclipse that experience 100% totality. There are 19 parks with 100% totality in…
Moons of Jupiter
Of all the planets in the Solar system, Jupiter has the 2nd most moons, 3 behind Saturn. This means that Jupiter has 79 known natural satellites. Of these, 63 are less than 10 kilometres in diameter and…
Messier 48
Messier 48 (M48) is an open star cluster located in Hydra, the largest constellation in the sky. DescriptionVisible From Pacific NorthwestOctober to MarchBest Time To ObserveJanuary and FebruaryMinimum Size Of Viewing DeviceBinocularsObject TypeOpen ClusterDesignationsMessier 48,…
Observation Of Jupiter
Jupiter is one of the brightest objects visible to the naked eye in the night sky, and has been known to ancient civilizations since before recorded history. Jupiter is usually the fourth brightest object in the…
Messier 47
Messier 47 is an open cluster in the constellation Puppis. It was discovered by Giovanni Batista Hodierna before 1654 and independently discovered by Charles Messier on February 19, 1771. It was later independently discovered again,…
Jupiter: A Brief Overview
Being 2.5 times the size of all of the other planets in the Solar System combined, Jupiter is the largest planet in the Solar System. Jupiter has a mass 1/1000th of the Sun and is…
2024 Eclipse State Parks Statistics
In preparation for the April 8th, 2024 Total Solar Eclipse that is going to cross the US, we decided to put together a list of State Parks for viewing the eclipse for US states that…
Messier 46
M46 is a rich open cluster, easily visible with binoculars, that’s located in the Milky Way star fields of the constellation of Puppis. The cluster is a relatively large object with an apparent diameter almost…
Mars: Scientific Missions
There have been a total of 57 missions launched to Mars before the 2020 Launches. Of those missions, 20 have been successful and 8 are still operational. Lets take a look at some of the…