Looking for a sky event this week? Check out our full Sky This Week column.  October 20: Lovely spiral NGC 7331 The Orionid meteor shower peaks this morning — the perfect time to watch for shooting stars, as Earth turns into the meteoroid stream of dusty debris responsible for the show.  The best time to do someContinue reading "The Sky Today on Wednesday, October 21: Catch early-morning Orionids"

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Just as we use latitude and longitude to know the precise position of something on Earth’s surface, it’s useful to have a system for knowing the position of objects in the heavens. The widely used system of right ascension and declination does the job — and dates back at least to the time of HipparchusContinue reading "Understanding celestial coordinates"

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Looking for a sky event this week? Check out our full Sky This Week column.  October 19: Feast your eyes on the Southern Fish Located in northern Pegasus, NGC 7331 is a bright galaxy that is the largest in a group of five galaxies collectively known as the Deer Lick Group. It’s best viewed in early evening,Continue reading "The Sky Today on Tuesday, October 20: Lovely spiral NGC 7331"

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Tonight the Moon's in the Teapot. High in early dawn, Mars stands over Jupiter while Regulus twinkles below.

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The Moon bugs out just in time to enjoy the peak of the Orionids, which trace their origin to Halley's Comet.

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Take advantage of these moonless evenings! Make friends with some far Cassiopeia clusters in the high-arching Milky Way. Soon the Moon will return.

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Looking for a sky event this week? Check out our full Sky This Week column.  October 3: Dione transits Saturn We’re back at Saturn this evening with the planet as the main attraction as the ringed world reaches opposition today at 8 A.M. EDT. Rising around sunset and setting around sunrise, it is visible all night inContinue reading "The Sky Today on Sunday, October 4: Saturn reaches opposition"

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Looking for a sky event this week? Check out our full Sky This Week column.  October 2: Venus stands still The small moon Dione transits Saturn starting just before midnight EDT. Tenth-magnitude Dione crosses the far northern region of the planet, beginning its journey just minutes after 11:40 P.M. EDT and taking about an hour and aContinue reading "The Sky Today on Saturday, October 3: Dione transits Saturn"

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What type of lighting emits the least amount of light pollution? Peter BladoTacoma, Washington First, use a good lighting fixture, one that is a “full cutoff.” That means there is no direct upgoing light at all. It generally also means there is very little light just below the horizontal, which is the kind of lightContinue reading "How can I reduce my personal contribution to light pollution?"

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Looking for a sky event this week? Check out our full Sky This Week column.  October 1: Perseus’ Double Cluster The brilliant planet Venus stands stationary against the background stars of Virgo at 10 A.M. EDT.  Together with Mercury, Venus is visible for a short time in the western sky after sunset, but you’ll want a clearContinue reading "The Sky Today on Friday, October 2: Venus stands still"

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Looking for a sky event this week? Check out our full Sky This Week column.  September 16: Triangle in the sky The Moon passes 0.6° south of the bright star Antares at 9 A.M. EDT. By evening, our satellite sits near the border of Scorpius and Ophiuchus, some 6° east (to the upper left) of Antares. TheyContinue reading "The Sky Today on Thursday, September 17: The Moon and the Scorpion"

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Today I’ll be telling you about 10 of my favorite autumn deep-sky objects, with suggestions for viewing them. I hope you’ll enjoy this list, and I’ll share some other deep-sky favorites of mine from time to time in the future. What’s a large telescope? The notion of what’s big changes from observer to observer, butContinue reading "Autumn observing targets for large telescopes"

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Looking for a sky event this week? Check out our full Sky This Week column.  September 15: View the false dawn Rising around sunset and highest in the early-morning hours before sunrise is the constellation Triangulum. This tiny triangular star pattern is perfect for evening or morning observers: Around 10 P.M. local daylight time, it’s high enoughContinue reading "The Sky Today on Wednesday, September 16: Triangle in the sky"

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Looking for a sky event this week? Check out our full Sky This Week column.  September 14: Connect four The time around the equinox is one of the best opportunities to catch sight of the ethereal zodiacal light, the soft glow generated by dust that orbits the Sun along the plane of the solar system, the ecliptic.Continue reading "The Sky Today on Tuesday, September 15: View the false dawn"

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Looking for a sky event this week? Check out our full Sky This Week column.  September 10: Uranus is stationary With dark, moonless skies tonight, let’s go galaxy hunting. By 9 P.M. local daylight time, Pegasus is already high in the east, the Great Square easily giving away its location. The northern part of this constellation holdsContinue reading "The Sky Today on Friday, September 11: Visit the Deer Lick Group"

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Friday, September 11Already high in the north after sunset, the planetary nebula NGC 6543 in Draco is famously called the Cat’s Eye Nebula. It’s best seen with a large telescope, but even a small scope will pick it up and show it off in tonight’s moonless sky.  Two hours after sunset, you’ll find the Cat’sContinue reading "The Sky This Week from September 11 to 18: Catch the zodiacal light"

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Looking for a sky event this week? Check out our full Sky This Week column.  September 9: Visualize the ecliptic Uranus reaches a stationary point at 2 P.M. EDT, coming to a halt amid the stars of Taurus the Bull. Rising around 10:40 P.M. local daylight time, the best time to view the ice giant is inContinue reading "The Sky Today on Thursday, September 10: Uranus is stationary"

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Looking for a sky event this week? Check out our full Sky This Week column.  September 8: The Moon joins Jupiter The waning Moon has moved from Cancer to Leo and is nearing the bright star Regulus, which marks the Lion’s heart. Our satellite will pass 0.6° south of Regulus at 4 P.M. EDT this afternoon.  AnContinue reading "The Sky Today on Wednesday, September 9: Visualize the ecliptic"

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Looking for a sky event this week? Check out our full Sky This Week column.  September 7: Venus and Spica, side by side The Moon has now skimmed through the morning sky over to Cancer, where it checks in on Jupiter — and you can check in on them both before dawn.  The Moon rises around 3:30Continue reading "The Sky Today on Tuesday, September 8: The Moon joins Jupiter"

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Looking for a sky event this week? Check out our full Sky This Week column.  September 6: The Moon and Mars in Gemini Venus has pulled away from the bright star Spica in Virgo, which it met in the sky last week, and tonight stands side by side with the star as they set together following sunset.Continue reading "The Sky Today on Monday, September 7: Venus and Spica, side by side"

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