Wayne McGraw

Messier 5 (NGC 5904): A Glorious Globular and Summertime Rose

On the night of May 5, 1702, Gottfried Kirch was comet hunting with his wife Maria when they discovered a “nebulous star” in the constellation of Serpens. The Kirches stumbled upon this cluster — one of the largest, brightest, and oldest in the heavens

Messier 3 (NGC 5272): A Globular Cluster with a Fiery Center

M3 is one of the finest globular clusters in the northern sky. An amazing 500,000 stars make up this cluster.

Messier 51: The Great Whirlpool

Few galaxies are a breathtaking as the majestic Whirlpool Galaxy in the springtime sky near the Big Dipper.

Comet C/2019 Y4 (ATLAS)

Provides overview of Comet Atlas.

Venus: The Bringer of Light

Venus, the morning and evening star, dazzles with bright reflection from sulfuric acid clouds. Discover the history and science behind Earth’s sister planet.

Barnard’s Star: Chasing the Red Dwarf Through Ophiuchus

Barnard’s Star, located under six light-years away in Ophiuchus, is a red dwarf with a surface temperature of 3,200 K and extraordinary proper motion, moving over 10 arcseconds per year. Discovered to host four exoplanets, it fascinates astronomers as a rare opportunity to observe significant stellar movement within a human lifetime. Article shows a photograph of it in 2019 amongst the stars. The star is also known as Runaway Star, HIP 87937, LFT 1385, Proxima Ophiuchi, V2500 Ophiuchi.

Comet 46P / Wirtanen

Provides overview of Comet Wirtanen, the short-period comet that was viewable in December 2019, including photos I took of it from Bortle 8 skies south of Seattle.

Saturn: Breathtaking Light of the Night

Saturn, the second-largest planet in our solar system, is a breathtaking sight to behold. I’d be willing to bet many amateur astronomers fell in love with astronomy because someone showed them Saturn in a telescope. Like the gas planet Jupiter, Saturn has captivated astronomers and stargazers for centuries. In fact, the earliest recorded observations ofContinueContinue reading “Saturn: Breathtaking Light of the Night”