Know what to look out for in the night sky! These short articles by MPAS appear every month in the Mornington Peninsula Magazine.
LatestJuly: Sights of Sagittarius might be your cup of tea1 July 2026This single 30-second image of the Milky Way was taken at ISO1600 with a smartphone leaning against a drink bottle under beautiful dark skies. You don’t always need fancy equipment to capture what’s right…Read this month’s highlights →
1 June 2026Open your eyes to stunning open clusters in JuneThis image of the aurora and star trails was taken at Tooradin with a smartphone mounted on a tripod facing south. There…
8 May 2026May: Familiar faceThe moon is our only natural satellite, orbiting Earth at an average distance of 384,399km. The two bodies are bound by gravitational…
3 April 2026April: Darkness prevailsThe Coalsack is a dark nebula visible to the unaided eye as a black patch obscuring part of the Milky Way about…
1 March 2026March: A shell of its former selfRCW 58 is a faint emission nebula in the constellation Carina, formed from material shed by the massive Wolf-Rayet star WR 40…
1 January 2026January: A long way from ConeThe Cone Nebula, named because of its apparent shape, lies in the southern part of NGC 2264, the northern part being the…
1 November 2025November: Graceful visitorComet C/2025 R2 (SWAN), formerly known as SWAN25B, is a long-period comet discovered on September 11, 2025, in the constellation Virgo. It…
1 October 2025October: Prawn in a sea of starsThe Prawn Nebula, also known as IC 4628, is an emission nebula in the Sagittarius Arm of the Milky Way. It stretches…
1 September 2025September: Shadow on the moonThe moon is Earth’s only natural satellite, orbiting our planet at an average distance of 384,399km – about 30 times Earth’s diameter.…
1 August 2025August: A cracking shotThe Dragon’s Egg Nebula, NGC 6164, is in the constellation Norma about 3870 light-years from Earth. Its shape gives it the appearance…
1 July 2025July: Chicken out for a runIC 2944, also known as the Running Chicken Nebula, is an open cluster with an associated emission nebula found in the constellation…
1 June 2025June: Here be dragonsNGC 6188, or The Fighting Dragons of Ara, is an emission nebula about 4000 light-years away in the constellation Ara. In this…
7 May 2025May: Artistic LibertyThe Statue of Liberty Nebula, NGC 3576, is a large, bright emission nebula about 9800 light-years away in the constellation Carina. To…
6 April 2025April: Impressive, by GumThe Southern Tadpole Nebula – Gum 37, named after Australian astronomer Colin Gum – is associated with the star cluster NGC 3572. …
28 February 2025March: Nebula draws awayOfficially known as NGC 2736, the Pencil Nebula is part of the huge Vela supernova remnant in the southern constellation Vela, about…
1 February 2025February: Super SightsThe Vela Supernova Remnant is a massive object mostly made up of hydrogen alpha and oxygen III in the constellation Vela. It…
1 January 2025January: Dive into the deep skyThe Dolphin Head Nebula is near the centre of the constellation Canis Major about 8 degrees south of Sirius, the brightest star…
1 December 2024December: Grab your binoculars and explore the heavensThe Rosette Nebula, about 5000 light-years from Earth, is near one end of a giant molecular cloud in the Monoceros region of…