EarthSky Tonight—August 19, Venus’ greatest evening elongation favors southern hemisphere
As seen from Earth, Venus stays closely tethered to the sun. These next few evenings, however, will find Venus at the end of its tether, at 46 degrees east of…
EarthSky Tonight—August 18, Moon shines above Scorpion’s stinger
When the moon drops out of the evening sky in late August and the first week in September, you can use the stinger stars to star-hop to two beautiful deep-sky…
EarthSky Tonight—August 17, Antares – Fire Star – near moon
In ancient Chinese thought, the summer season was associated with the direction south, with the element fire, and with the color red. No wonder, then, that this reddish star in…
EarthSky Tonight—August 16, August best time to see random meteors
Astronomy is said to be the people’s science in part because anyone, regardless of training, can participate.
EarthSky Tonight—August 15, Moon passes beneath Libra stars
Zubenelgenubi and Zubeneschamali – appear rather low in your southwest sky at nightfall.
EarthSky Tonight—August 14, Look for moon, Spica, Venus
Spica isn’t just one star. Although our eyes see just one star here, Spica is actually a multiple star system.
EarthSky Tonight—August 13, Moon and Venus, more Perseid meteors, and two star clusters
last chance to see a good display of meteors before dawn August 14. In addition, as night falls this evening, you can see Venus near the waxing crescent moon in…
Earthsky Tonight—August 12, Moon and Venus in evening, 2010 Perseid meteors before dawn
The 2010 Perseid meteor shower peaks tonight. Look late tonight and between midnight and dawn on Friday, August 13.
Earthsky Tonight – August 11, How to find the radiant point for Perseid meteors
The 2010 Perseid meteors are peaking over the next few days. As always, you will see the most meteors between midnight and dawn.
Earthsky Tonight—July 10, Look toward the center of the Milky Way galaxy
Today’s chart shows that the starlit trail of the Milky Way seems to bulge just before it reaches the southern horizon. This bulge marks the approximate location of the Milky…