Hello, eager astronomy learners, and welcome back for another edition of Observatory Corner for Friday, April 17, 2015! Initial weather forecasts for the coming week look mixed, with rain on Monday and Wednesday and clear skies with minimal cloud cover on Tuesday and Thursday.

But this is Michigan, so the weather is always changing. Rather than take my word for it, take a look for yourself here. The sun is setting later and later, so the Observatory is now open around 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday, so come on up and see some of the beauty of the heavens!

Jupiter is high in the sky now, and Venus and Mars continue to rise higher with each passing day, so now is the perfect time to get a glimpse of our planetary neighbors.

You can also get an excellent view of the Orion Nebula now, as well as the Summer Triangle, consisting of Vega, Altair and Arcturus, some of the brightest stars in our sky. The moon will also be visible high in the sky, granting some breathtaking views of the craters and mountains on its surface.

The featured Calvin image of the week is of M88, taken by me. M88 is one of the objects in the Messier Catalog, published by Charles Messier in 1771 as a list of 110 objects for meteor watchers to avoid.

M88 is a approximately 127,000 light-years in diameter (roughly the same size as our own Milky Way) and sits some 25 million light-years away from us.

It is a member of the Virgo galactic cluster, which sits near the center of the Virgo supercluster, of which our own Milky Way and Local Group is a member.

The image is a composite of some 40 images, which highlight the bright regions of star birth along the spiral arms and the very bright (and therefore dense) core. To learn more, you can read about M88 at this page.

Space is a very big place, filled with incredible sights, and there’s always more to see. Stay tuned for more astronomy news next time on Observatory Corner!