Spring is just around the corner, and with it, comes the promise of warmer evenings and clearer skies. And hopefully the opportunity to spend more time looking up!

NGC 253 is the brightest member of the Sculptor Group of galaxies.

f you're brave enough to venture outside these cold winter nights, you'll be greeted by the heart of our Milky Way galaxy directly overhead. Find yourself a dark space in your backyard on a clear moonless night, and look straight up.

M17 – The Swan Nebula in Sagittarius

Look up overhead on any of these frosty winter’s nights, and as long as you have a dark area away from direct lighting, you’ll see the band of the Milky Way shining brightly.

NGC 4038-4039 Merging Galaxies - The Antennae. Distance: 45 million Light Years.

About half-way up the northern evening sky, a bright star shines.

M20 – The Trifid Nebula in Sagittarius

A myriad of bright stars adorn the late autumn evening sky.

Galaxy NGC 5128—Centaurus A

Looking west on the evening of April 27., 30 minutes after sunset. Locate the orange star Aldebaran, then scan to the left until you come to a fuzzy spot in the sky. Train your binoculars on it, the comet will be 239 million kilometres away. Graphic generated with Stellarium planetarium software.

M104 - The Sombrero Galaxy. Distance: 31 Million Light Years

Some of the brightest stars in the whole sky can be seen during these crisp autumn evenings.

What a wonderful time of the year this is to be observing the night sky. The weather is warm, the nights clear, and the Milky Way shines directly overhead!

Eta Carinae Nebula (NGC 3372)
Distance: 7500 Light Years
Right Ascension: 10 : 43.8 | Declination: -59 : 52