{"id":655354,"date":"2026-08-25T09:02:10","date_gmt":"2026-08-25T09:02:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/655354\/"},"modified":"2026-08-25T09:02:10","modified_gmt":"2026-08-25T09:02:10","slug":"the-sky-today-on-tuesday-august-25-messier-73","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/655354\/","title":{"rendered":"The Sky Today on\u00a0Tuesday, August 25: Messier 73"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\tBack to Article List\t\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\tM73 is a strange entry in the comet-hunter\u2019s list: a small group of four stars forming a triangular shape in the sky.\t\t\t<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\"A<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\tThe 73rd entry on Messier\u2019s list is a strange one: a small group of just four stars, captured just below center in this photo. Credit: zemt-fr (Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0)<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Looking for a sky event this week? Check out our full\u00a0Sky This Week<\/a>\u00a0column.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

August 24: Iapetus at eastern elongation<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Charles Messier\u2019s famous list of non-cometary objects largely contains star clusters, nebulae, and galaxies \u2014 faint fuzzies it could be easy to confuse for a cometary nucleus in a telescope of the type the comet-hunter was using. But M73 is a bit of an outlier, and you\u2019ll see why when you catch it in your sights tonight. A small scope is perfect for the job.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Located in Aquarius the Water-bearer, M73 is already above the horizon by sunset and in great viewing condition as soon as the sky gets dark. About 30\u00b0 high in the southeast shortly before 10 P.M. local daylight time, you can find it just under 3\u00b0 southwest of magnitude 4.5 Nu (\u03bd) Aquarii.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Although the bright Moon is nearby in Capricornus, you don\u2019t have to worry about it obscuring this particular Messier object. That\u2019s because M73 is a small group of just four stars, with three in the shape of an equilateral triangle and the fourth just to the northwest. Even with the bright background of moonlight, they should show up in your scope.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Astronomers don\u2019t believe this grouping is physically bound; instead, these suns just happen to fall close together as we look out into 3D space and see a 2D view of the sky. They are apparently only on Messier\u2019s list because, according to the SEDS Messier Index<\/a>, he charted its location at the same time as M72 \u2014 a true globular cluster of stars just 1.3\u00b0 west of M73. This spherical conglomeration of old stars is definitely easier to confuse for a comet, and much more indicative of the average Messier object. But it will also be difficult to see with the Moon nearby, so wait a few days and then come back to this region to check it out.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Sunrise:<\/strong> 6:21 A.M.
Sunset:<\/strong> 7:42 P.M.
Moonrise:<\/strong> 6:38 P.M.
Moonset:<\/strong> 3:32 A.M.
Moon Phase:<\/strong> Waxing gibbous (96%)
*Times for sunrise, sunset, moonrise, and moonset are given in local time from 40\u00b0 N 90\u00b0 W. The Moon\u2019s illumination is given at 10 P.M. local time from the same location.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Alison Klesman<\/strong>\u00a0is senior editor of\u00a0Astronomy\u00a0magazine. She holds a Ph.D. in astronomy and has studied a variety of topics, from minor planets to supermassive black holes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Back to Article List M73 is a strange entry in the comet-hunter\u2019s list: a small group of four…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":655355,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[77],"tags":[18,19,17,2209,133,75779],"class_list":["post-655354","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-science","tag-eire","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-observing","tag-science","tag-sky-tonight"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/117155341827382902","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/655354","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=655354"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/655354\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/655355"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=655354"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=655354"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=655354"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}