Cor Caroli is a double star in the constellation Canes Venatici. It’s best viewed in spring. The primary star, at a magnitude of 2.9, shines a white blue, while the dimmer companion, at a magnitude of 5.5, shines a warm yellow. This contrast of color makes for an attractive pair in the warming spring sky.
Author Archives: Wayne McGraw
Castor: You Are Not Just Seeing Double
Known as one of the brightest stars in the sky and twin of Pollux, Castor is a bluish-white double star in the constellation of Gemini.
Messier 94 (NGC 4736): The Cat’s Eye Galaxy
Messier 94 is a spiral galaxy with two distinct rings. It also continues to perplex astronomers as it has little to no dark matter.
Messier 64 (NGC 4826): The Black Eye Galaxy
As NASA points out, M64, or the Black Eye galaxy, is characterized by its bizarre internal motion. The gas in the outer regions of this remarkable galaxy is rotating in the opposite direction from the gas and stars in its inner regions.
Messier 66 (NGC 3627): A Galaxy Member of the Leo Triplet
Messier 66 is best viewed during early springtime. It’s is part of the astronomical family of galaxies called the Leo Triplet.
Waiting for the Night
As summer arrives, amusement parks open their gates. The smell of hamburgers and waffle cones fill the air along with the faint waft of grease and wood from an old roller coaster. Glowing neon. Pulsing bulbs on a Ferris wheel. The clicks and clacks of a coaster coursing on invisible rails pierce the darkening nightContinueContinue reading “Waiting for the Night”
Zeta Cancri: A Multiple Star System in Cancer
Zeta Cancri is a multiple star system in the constellation Cancer. It’s best viewed in the spring. For many years, astronomers believed Zeta Cancri to be a triple star system, though now it has been found to be a quadruple system. According to Jim Kaller, the close binary pair (known as Zeta Cancri A andContinueContinue reading “Zeta Cancri: A Multiple Star System in Cancer”
Messier 82 (NGC 3034): The Cigar Galaxy
As I stare into the eyepiece, my mind wonders; I imagine the flurry of star creation and enormous, unimaginable energy in the wispy image.
The Garden Astronomer 