Derekscope

IC 417 is located in the constellation Auriga and is near an open cluster, Messier 38.

Guides to the night sky
Deep Sky Object;
IC417 (The Spider & Fly Nebula)
Messier 38 (Open Cluster)
Constellation;
Auriga (The Charioteer)

In the early hours of Thursday 8th December 2022, the Moon moved in front of (Occulted) Mars – this rare event last occurred in 1952 and the next one to be seen from my location will not be for another 20 years.

Designation of Messier 67 is a star cluster that has many of its stars spread out in space ~ if I did accurate autoguiding will be crucial to maintain crisp images of the cluster.

Guides to the night sky
Deep Sky Object: M67 (King Cobra)
Constellation: Cancer (The Crab)

Sh2-279 comprises three NGC nebulae, NGC 1973, NGC 1975, and NGC 1977 that are divided by darker nebulous regions in the constellation Orion.

Guides to the night sky
Deep Sky Object:
– Sh2-279 (NGC1977 – The Running Man Nebula)
– NGC1973
– NGC1975
Constellation:
– Orion (The HUnter)

Commonly called the Pleiades or Seven Sisters, M45 is known as an open star cluster located in the constellation of Taurus (The Bull).

Guides to the night sky
Deep Sky Object: M45 (Pleiades /Seven Sisters)
Constellation: Taurus (The Bull)

IC 444 is a small reflection nebula directly next to the much better known “Jellyfish Nebula” in the Gemini constellation.

Guides to the night sky
Deep Sky Object:
– IC444
– IC443 (Jellyfish Nebula)
Constellation:
– Gemini (The Twin)

During the height of winter in Reykjavik, sunrise is around 11:30am and the sunset is around 3:30pm, I was at lunchtime to watch the sun at the south meridian at 1pm in low horizon in Iceland.

The night sky above Easter Island is known for being very clear, making it a great place to see the stars and two Magellanic Clouds. I say the experience of standing next to the Moai statues at night was fascinating ~ I went there for my 50th birthday gift from my four boys – Oscar, Owen, Ollie & Orion; how lucky I was!

Close approached of the Moon and Jupiter in the early morning.

The Moon and Venus appeared close together in the morning sky.