SkyCaramba

The Lyrid meteor shower peaks this week. The moon occults the Pleiades and Regulus. Southern solstice happens on Mars. Three planets appear very close in the morning. A fourth is nearby for observers with telescopes and binoculars. Nearly seven centuries ago, French physicians thought such planetary close calls might make people sick.

Venus climbs the evening sky. Jupiter approaches Wasat. Mercury follows Mars in the morning. The Lyrid meteors are coming. And learn about International Dark Sky Week. Preserving nighttime darkness isn't just about protecting the night sky.

Jupiter's at quadrature. The moon hides Antares. The moon's at apogee. Saturn pokes into southern hemisphere skies. A smudge of light that looks like a beehive in a telescope is high in the sky at dusk. And there's a constellation named for an air pump. Yes, really.

Mars appears to wobble if we watch long enough. Its south pole is tipping toward Earth this week. Jupiter is almost at quadrature. Maybe you can see it just before the sun goes down. Mercury reaches greatest elongation.

Saturn passes by the sun. Venus goes by the Pisces linkage. Mercury's up in the morning. Mars is at perihelion and also hard to find.

You can see the night's brightest star in the daytime--just before the sun sets--if you know where to look. You can figure that out this week and be ready for the view next week.

Saturn and Venus appear close. Jupiter is stationary. The moon's at apogee. Southern sky watchers can spot Mercury and Mars. And just what is meant by "defect of illumination"?

We get a total lunar eclipse this week. Jupiter is about to turn around in Gemini. Mercury passes by the sun. Mira is about as bright as it gets. And remember T. Corona Borealis? Why hasn't it brightened up yet?

There's another so-called planetary alignment this week. The moon has its northernmost occultation of the Pleiades. Mars is out of sight while most of the planets are not. And find out about next week's total lunar eclipse.

Antarctica and the Southern Ocean get an annular eclipse. Mercury's at perihelion and greatest elongation. In a manner of speaking, it's closest to and farthest from the sun at the same time. Planets have their orbits. But the way we see them going around, they also have synodic periods.

Three naked eye planets can be seen setting in the evening this week, at least in some places. Mire continues to brighten. There's an annular solar eclipse next week. And several animals are following Orion around the sky. Among them is a unicorn.

Jupiter remains in Gemini. Mercury and Venus slowly make their way into the evening. The moon hides Regulus. And there once was a planet named George. Despite it being a planet, it was called George's Star.

Another of the monthly meetings of the moon and the Pleiades is about to happen. These have been happening every 27 nights or so. Saturn and Jupiter remain out at night. But the other naked eye planets are still clustered with the sun.

What's that by Jupiter? Wasat! It's named for being in the middle of the sky. Sometimes, planets pass right in front of it. Mercury goes through superior conjunction. Mars and Venus remain out of sight, too.

Three naked eye planets are out of sight. You can see them clustered in a planetarium program view. Saturn and Jupiter are still out at night. Try to find Uranus, Neptune, Hebe, and Ceres too. And now's a good time to start looking for the variable star Mira, which has been invisible to the naked eye but should reach peak brightness in less than two months.

Mercury, Venus, and Mars are about to pass around the other side of the sun. Earth is getting farther from the sun. Jupiter and Saturn remain out at night. And find out about the Local Group of galaxies, some of which you can see fairly easily.

Eclipses, oppositions, a famous variable star brightens up, Venus rules the evening, and the closest full moon of the year are among the dozen events of 2026 previewed in this edition.

They don't name extremely advanced optics after just anyone. Some of the best deep sky pictures ever taken came from an observatory named for Vera C. Rubin. If that's all you know about her, you know she must have been important. I'll tell you why.

Earth is about to have its December solstice. That means long, although cold, nights for northern sky watchers. Saturn's rings are coming more into view. Geminid meteors are still visible. And more.

Mercury's at greatest elongation. This greatest elongation doesn't seem so great though. The moon, Jupiter, and Pollux are close as the week starts. And after the moon leaves the planet and star, look for Geminid meteors. They seem to originate from about that part of the sky.

The full moon occults the Pleiades. Since the moon's so much brighter than the stars, this may be hard to see. It's an even harder challenge to photograph. Here's how some astrophotographers will do it. This is the best time to look at Saturn for a nearly edge-on view of the rings. Mercury approaches greatest elongation. Venus heads into the sunrise while Mars heads into the sunset.

Mercury enters the morning sky as Venus prepares to leave it. Ceres resumes direct motion but doesn't really slow down. Saturn and Neptune are moving toward each other, but not quickly Saturn's rings are almost edge-on.

The Leonid meteor shower peaks this week. A spectacular meteor storm in 1833 taught astronomers something about where meteors come from. Mars is near Antares. Uranus is at opposition. Mercury's at inferior conjunction.

Mercury turns around and passes Mars. Jupiter also goes retrograde. Venus scoots along Virgo's legs. Uranus approaches opposition. The Andromeda Galaxy is a popular target for beginner deep sky astrophotographers.

Mercury and Mars are about to appear close, but they're not having a conjunction in either right ascension or celestial longitude. The moon passes in front of the Pleiades this week. As the Pleiades return to all night views, let's revisit why so many legends around the world say this star cluster represents seven beings but we see only six. And more: Jupiter is about to go retrograde, Ven...