Stars & Deep Sky
Look beyond our Solar System to star clusters, constellations, nebulae, and galaxies. These stories connect what we see in the sky with the science and histories behind it.
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The Pleiades: 7 Sisters From 6 Stars?
Explore a familiar star cluster and the stories people tell about it.
The Sombrero Galaxy
Meet a distant galaxy and the observers who helped bring it into view.
Observing & Night Sky · Stars & Deep Sky · Spaceflight & Exploration
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August 2026 – The River of Light
Summer can be a frustrating time for Arizona astronomers. Afternoon thunderstorms roll across the high desert with little warning, and many evenings that begin with promise end beneath a blanket of clouds.…
The (Star)Light of Independence
Arc To Arcturus, Spike To Spica: Tracing A Line Through The Stars And American History This Independence Day– A Backyard Astronomer Special The Big Dipper is one of those patterns that seems almost…
January 2025 – The Pleiades: 7 Sisters From 6 Stars?
Most everyone on Earth can pick out a few basic star clusters, constellations, or asterisms, despite their respective language, culture, or even level of education. Orion’s belt is probably the most common…
November 2024 – The Great Square of Pegasus
The ancients clearly had two things going for them: wonderfully dark skies and fantastic imaginations. It can often be difficult for the modern backyard astronomer to pick out constellations and imagine a…
July 2024 – T Coronae Borealis – The Blaze Star
The Ancients observed many of the same “naked eye” phenomena that we also see today, and although their understanding of these astronomical events was limited, they knew something unique was occurring. Episodes…
May 2024 – The Sombrero Galaxy
The late 18th Century was a golden age of astronomical discoveries. After Galileo famously pointed his early invention at the heavens in 1609, Dutch glassmakers spent decades perfecting the lens technology that…
Unicorns and Roses
A lesser-known and relatively modern constellation occupies the void between Orion, Canis Major, Hydra and Gemini, though the stars are difficult to see with the naked eye due to modern light pollution. …
September 2023 – Archers, Teapots, and the Milky Way
From double full super moons to ringed giants at opposition, August was full of local events in our Solar System, whereas September takes us back to some amazing deep sky objects. Many…
Stories in the Stars
By Adam England, the Backyard Astronomer The Greeks coined the term planetes – meaning “wanderer” – to describe the objects they saw in the sky that regularly moved against the background of…
Scorpions and Rabbits
By Adam England, The Backyard Astronomer One of my personal favorite constellations is Scorpius. It is very easy to identify in the summer months when it rises in the Southeast and sways…