NIGHT SKY

View from my window after the cool change moved through and the clouds started to fill the night sky. Jupiter is shining out brightly from a peephole in the clouds.

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme

NIGHT SKY, JUST NOW

Looking out of my bedroom window, with the Moon Jupiter Orion and Sirius taking pride of place. I have included a screenshot from the excellent app Stellarium that is a must have for all stargazers as it can help identify all those heavenly bodies up there in real time. If you are interested in all things space, star, planet, exoplanet, SETI and extraterrestrial life, follow my account on Instagram: @nicvard

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme

SINGING TO THE MOON

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme

AUTUMN

Autumn arriving, waiting for the Equinox on the 20th of March!

This post is part of the Mosaic Monday meme,
and also part of the Seasons meme

DAY TO NIGHT

A digital collage/mosaic of three different photos in the same location at different times stitched together  in Photoshop.

This post is part of the Mosaic Monday meme,
and also part of the Seasons meme.

AT NIGHT

When all is still and only the moon shouts...

This post is part of the My Sunday Best meme

CRESCENT MOON

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme

AT NIGHT

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme

SOUTHERN CROSS

Crux is a constellation located in the southern sky in a bright portion of the Milky Way. It is among the most easily distinguished constellations, as all of its four main stars have an apparent visual magnitude above +2.8, even though it is the smallest of all 88 modern constellations. Its name is Latin for 'cross', and it is dominated by a cross-shaped or kite-like asterism that is sometimes known as the Southern Cross.

Predominating is the first-magnitude blue-white star of Alpha Crucis or Acrux, being the constellation's brightest and most southerly member. Crux is followed by four dominate stars, descending in clockwise order by magnitude: Beta, Gamma (one of the closest red giants to Earth), Delta and Epsilon Crucis. Many of these brighter stars are members of the Scorpius–Centaurus Association, a large but loose group of hot blue-white stars that appear to share common origins and motion across the southern Milky Way.

The constellation contains four Cepheid variables that are each visible to the naked eye under optimum conditions. Crux also contains the bright and colourful open cluster known as the Jewel Box (NGC 4755) and, to the southwest, partly includes the extensive dark nebula, known as the Coalsack Nebula.

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme,