Looking for a sky event this week? Check out our full Sky This Week column.  June 19: Dione crosses due north of Saturn Highest in the south around 10:30 P.M. local daylight time is the constellation Libra, whose brightest star is Beta (β) Librae, also called Zubeneschamali. Nearly 12° below (south) of this star at that timeContinue reading "The Sky Today on Saturday, June 20: Libra’s Ghost Cluster"

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Looking for a sky event this week? Check out our full Sky This Week column.  June 18: The Moon and the Sickle Saturn rules the early-morning sky, shining at 1st magnitude in otherwise dim Pisces the Fish. One of the ringed planet’s many moons, Dione, passes due north of Saturn the morning of June 19. The 10th-magnitudeContinue reading "The Sky Today on Friday, June 19: Dione crosses due north of Saturn"

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Friday, June 19The Moon passes 0.3°  south of Regulus at 11 A.M. EDT. By evening, our satellite has moved farther east to lie to the bright star’s upper left as they slowly set in the west after sunset.  Bright Venus is now located in central Cancer and is just 45’ north of M44, the BeehiveContinue reading "The Sky This Week from June June 19 to 26: The summer solstice"

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We’re used to a lot of different natural things falling out of the sky. These can include snow, rain, and sometimes even frogs (yes, really). All of these relate to weather phenomena. Far more exotic things fall from the sky that are not related to weather. Earth is pelted by about 14 tons of micrometeoritesContinue reading "A meteorite impact may have once rained gold on Western Australia – new study"

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Looking for a sky event this week? Check out our full Sky This Week column.  June 17: The Moon covers Venus Now it’s Venus’ turn to close in on the Beehive Cluster (M44), which sparkles in central Cancer. Tonight after sunset, blazing Venus is just 1.3° from the center of this loose open cluster, which is visibleContinue reading "The Sky Today on Thursday, June 18: The Moon and the Sickle"

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Looking for a sky event this week? Check out our full Sky This Week column.  June 16: The Moon meets up with Mercury and Jupiter The Moon, moving east along the ecliptic (the plane of the solar system and the line along which the planets and Moon move on the sky), passes 3° north of Jupiter inContinue reading "The Sky Today on Wednesday, June 17: The Moon covers Venus"

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Looking for a sky event this week? Check out our full Sky This Week column.  June 15: Mercury at greatest eastern elongation The Moon passes 3° north of Mercury at 4 P.M. EDT. Looking west again after sunset this evening, the Moon now sits above Mercury, forming a triangle with Mercury and Jupiter.  Half an hour afterContinue reading "The Sky Today on Tuesday, June 16: The Moon meets up with Mercury and Jupiter"

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Astronomers have created a comprehensive census of active galactic nuclei (AGN) — galaxies powered by a feeding central black hole. The new census, led by data pipeline developer Mugdha Polimera at the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian, began while she was a graduate student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill,Continue reading "Active black holes are more common than we thought"

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Looking for a sky event this week? Check out our full Sky This Week column.  June 14: Irene nears opposition This afternoon, Mercury reaches greatest eastern elongation at 4 P.M. EDT, standing 25° from the Sun. You’ll find the solar system’s smallest planet in the evening sky, now shining at magnitude 0.5.  Half an hour after sunset,Continue reading "The Sky Today on Monday, June 15: Mercury at greatest eastern elongation"

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Looking for a sky event this week? Check out our full Sky This Week column.  June 13: Catch Comet 220P/McNaught Asteroid 14 Irene reaches opposition at 6 A.M. EDT tomorrow morning, making now a great time to catch it. Glowing at mid-9th-magnitude, Irene is already 20° high in the south an hour before midnight and stands highestContinue reading "The Sky Today on Sunday, June 14: Irene nears opposition"

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Looking for a sky event this week? Check out our full Sky This Week column.  June 12: The Moon meets Mars Turn your telescope toward southern Pisces this morning, where Saturn outshines any of the stars in this part of the sky. This is where Comet 220P/McNaught recently underwent an outburst, quickly brightening from 18th magnitude toContinue reading "The Sky Today on Saturday, June 13: Catch Comet 220P/McNaught"

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Looking for a sky event this week? Check out our full Sky This Week column.  June 11: Point to the Polarissima Cluster We’re interested in the early-morning sky today as the waning crescent Moon joins up with Mars in Aries. Now just 11% lit, the Moon sits almost directly above the Red Planet as they rise. AboveContinue reading "The Sky Today on Friday, June 12: The Moon meets Mars"

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Friday, June 12The Moon passes 6° north of Mars at 5 P.M. EDT. You can catch the pair in the early-morning sky today (see The Sky Today on Friday, June 12) or tomorrow (June 13) before dawn, when they will stand about 8° above the eastern horizon an hour before sunrise, with the Moon toContinue reading "The Sky This Week from June 12 to 19: A daytime occultation of Venus"

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Looking for a sky event this week? Check out our full Sky This Week column.  June 10: The Moon shines with Saturn Look north after dark this evening to find the Little Dipper standing on its handle, its cup high over the horizon. The star at the end of that handle is Polaris, the North Star, markingContinue reading "The Sky Today on Thursday, June 11: Point to the Polarissima Cluster"

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Looking for a sky event this week? Check out our full Sky This Week column.  June 9: Bright planets’ conjunction The Moon passes 6° due north of Saturn at 8 A.M. EDT; an hour before dawn, the pair is high in the eastern sky, perfect for early risers to enjoy.  Saturn is the brightest point of lightContinue reading "The Sky Today on Wednesday, June 10: The Moon shines with Saturn"

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Looking for a sky event this week? Check out our full Sky This Week column.  June 8: Venus and Jupiter close in Venus and Jupiter have now inched closer together and stand 1.6° apart in the evening sky; the former officially passed due north of the latter at 8 A.M. EDT this morning.  Compare the view thisContinue reading "The Sky Today on Tuesday, June 9: Bright planets’ conjunction"

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Looking for a sky event this week? Check out our full Sky This Week column.  June 7: The sky’s sunflower Venus passes 5° south of the star Pollux at noon EDT. You can view them after sunset in the west, as Venus and Jupiter are closing in for a conjunction. Tonight the planets are 1.7° apart, standingContinue reading "The Sky Today on Monday, June 8: Venus and Jupiter close in"

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Looking for a sky event this week? Check out our full Sky This Week column.  June 6: Albireo returns By the time the sky is dark around 10 P.M. local daylight time, the constellation Canes Venatici is still more than 70° high in the west. The Hunting Dogs hold our target for tonight: M63, also known asContinue reading "The Sky Today on Sunday, June 7: The sky’s sunflower"

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Looking for a sky event this week? Check out our full Sky This Week column.  June 5: Check in on Mars Look east around 11 P.M. local daylight time, and you’ll see three bright stars forming a triangle — this is the famous Summer Triangle asterism, which flies high overhead in the middle of short summer nights.Continue reading "The Sky Today on Saturday, June 6: Albireo returns"

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Understanding the nature of our cosmos requires an accurate map of how galaxies are spread throughout it. For decades, astronomers suspected that something vast lurked behind the Milky Way’s dense, dusty disk in our sky. There were indirect, subtle distortions present in galaxy motions that we could see, showing unexplained gravitational pulls. But the structureContinue reading "Giant supercluster discovered hiding behind the Milky Way"

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