April 2021 – Urban Astronomy

The difference a dark sky makes.

by Urban AstronomerUncategorized April 12, 2021November 29, 2025No Comments

The Whirlpool Galaxy I took last month compared to one I took from this month. The only real difference is location. The one I took from home is in Bortle 8 or 9 skies here in Allen, Texas. Surrounded by 440 acres of 24×7 illuminated concrete inside a 2 mile radius doesn’t help one tiny …

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away.

by Urban AstronomerUncategorized April 4, 2021No Comments

These two galaxies are believed to have “collided” about 100 million years ago. It’s one of the brightest galactic groups visible from here and was cataloged by Charles Messier from his observatory in Paris on October 13, 1773. The smaller companion galaxy was discovered in 1781 by Pierre Mechain and is recorded today as NGC …