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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Celestron Nature DX ED 10x42mm Roof Binoculars CelestronTorrance, California Celestron Nature DX ED 10x42mm Roof Binoculars feature extra-low dispersion objective lenses and BaK-4 prisms, assuring proper color without fringing. All lenses are fully multicoated. The binoculars have a true field of view of 5.9° and can focus as close as 6.5 feet (2 meters). WeighingContinue reading "Kickstart summer with these new astronomy products"

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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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Looking for a sky event this week? Check out our full Sky This Week column.  June 4: Jupiter passes south of Pollux Now that the Red Planet is rising roughly an hour before the Sun, let’s check in on Mars in the predawn sky. The nearby world now has time to climb well above the horizon, leadingContinue reading "The Sky Today on Friday, June 5: Check in on Mars"

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Friday, June 5Standing some 50° high in the south by 10 P.M. local daylight time, M5 is a fabulous globular cluster well within the reach of any instrument, from binoculars to telescopes. It is even visible to some observers without optical aid at all on a clear, dark night, so if your southern horizon isContinue reading "The Sky This Week from June 5 to 12: Jupiter and Venus meet"

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Looking for a sky event this week? Check out our full Sky This Week column.  June 3: Juno stands still Jupiter passes 6° due south of Pollux at 7 A.M. EDT, although neither object is visible in the daylit sky. Instead, check out the scene after sunset this evening, with Jupiter still south of Pollux and alsoContinue reading "The Sky Today on Thursday, June 4: Jupiter passes south of Pollux"

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Looking for a sky event this week? Check out our full Sky This Week column.  June 2: Titan stands close to Saturn Asteroid 3 Juno is stationary at 3 P.M. EDT, standing still against the stars of Aquila the Eagle. The large main-belt world is in far eastern Aquila and doesn’t rise until an hour before midnight.Continue reading "The Sky Today on Wednesday, June 3: Juno stands still"

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Looking for a sky event this week? Check out our full Sky This Week column.  June 1: Mercury at its best Titan, Saturn’s brightest moon, is located near its parent planet for the next two days. Visible in the early-morning sky, you’ll find Titan just northeast of Saturn this morning.  Spotting Saturn is easy — rising shortlyContinue reading "The Sky Today on Tuesday, June 2: Titan stands close to Saturn"

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Blue Moons are known for the folklore surrounding their appearance in the skies. But the real thing has less to do with its color and more with the timing of the year’s Full Moons. The next Blue Moon is May 20, 2027. It will be a seasonal Blue Moon; here’s what that is: There areContinue reading "What is a Blue Moon? When’s the next one?"

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The phenomenon of a Full Moon arises when our planet, Earth, is precisely sandwiched between the Sun and the Moon. This alignment ensures the entire side of the Moon that faces us gleams under sunlight. Thanks to the Moon’s orbit around Earth, the angle of sunlight hitting the lunar surface and being reflected back toContinue reading "2026 Full Moon calendar: When to see the Full Moon and phases"

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Looking for a sky event this week? Check out our full Sky This Week column.  May 31: Blue Moon, red star Mercury is at its best for the year. It’s now easy to spot in the evening sky, already 10° above the western horizon 30 minutes after the Sun sets. Tonight, it shines at magnitude –0.5 andContinue reading "The Sky Today on Monday, June 1: Mercury at its best"

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Mercury reaches greatest elongation in the evening sky this month. Venus and Jupiter have a spectacular conjunction, and later in the month the Moon occults Venus. Meanwhile, Jupiter drops deeper into twilight as it sinks toward next month’s conjunction with the Sun. The morning sky hosts ever-more-prominent Saturn, while Mars and Uranus meet in Taurus.Continue reading "June 2026: What’s in the sky this month? Venus and Jupiter have a spectacular conjunction, and the Moon occults Venus"

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June evenings offer a great chance to view three bright planets. Jupiter, Venus, and Mercury gather in the northwestern sky as darkness settles in, creating a grand sight to the naked eye and worthy targets through a telescope. Jupiter has been wandering through Gemini the Twins since the dawn of 2026. Shining at magnitude –1.9,Continue reading "June 2026: What’s in the Southern Hemisphere sky this month?"

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Looking for a sky event this week? Check out our full Sky This Week column.  May 30: Fly a cosmic kite Full Moon occurs at 4:45 A.M. EDT on May 31, bringing us May’s second Full Moon and the first — and only — Blue Moon of 2026. Shortly after that, at 5 A.M. EDT, the FullContinue reading "The Sky Today on Sunday, May 31: Blue Moon, red star"

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Looking for a sky event this week? Check out our full Sky This Week column.  May 29: Split Nu Draconis Already high in the eastern sky an hour after sunset is the constellation Boötes the Herdsman. Easy to find thanks to its brightest star, the magnitude –0.1 red giant Arcturus, the stars of this constellation form aContinue reading "The Sky Today on Saturday, May 30: Fly a cosmic kite"

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As winter’s brilliant stars slip toward the western horizon and the constellations of spring climb higher, Northern Hemisphere observers discover a quieter but richly rewarding sky. Spring is celebrated for its galaxies, yet our own Milky Way offers an equally compelling bounty of open and globular clusters. From youthful, loosely packed groups that still sparkleContinue reading "Observe spring’s star clusters"

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