SkyCaramba

A half-man, half-horse crosses southern skies. Much of the world only gets a partial view of him. In the northern hemisphere, the visible part of this constellation looks like something we keep in our kitchens. And find out what to expect from Venus, Mars, Saturn, Jupiter, and Mercury this week.

Venus meets Mars in the evening sky. Jupiter and Saturn continue their morning co-dominance. And they help out with identification of two meteor showers. Mercury moves into the morning. Also, there's an upcoming anniversary of a total solar eclipse associated with a hit song. Are people mistakenly thinking the song is about that event?

On the way from Earth to the center of the Milky Way Galaxy, one would pass a bright orange star that happens to be the bright star in Scorpius. An arrow crosses the night sky this time of year. Several ancient legends tell who may have shot it and who might have been its target. And find out what to look for in the skies the week of June 20 to 26, 2021

An ancient world story tells us that when some priests were in a "hairy" situation, an astronomer saved their lives by pointing out a faint yet majestic patch of stars. It may be getting warmer where you live, but Earth is almost as far away from the sun as it gets. Astronomical sights for the week of June 13 to 19, 2021

Lucky people along a certain path from part of Russia, across the North Pole, to North America get to see an annular solar eclipse this week. Some people may be able to detect the eclipse, even though the sun won't be up, by its effect on the dawn's light. Also, watch Venus and Mars making their way into the evening sky. And next week, the moon will pass near the asteroid Vesta.

Mercury retreats from the evening sky. Venus pursues Mars through a beehive. Saturn and Jupiter share a morning reign. And Mercury reappears before dawn. Meanwhile, there's a solar eclipse and a daytime meteor shower.

The second most important star in the sky is up all night this time of year. And perhaps you've heard of the day length that's about four minutes short of 24 hours.

We have a total lunar eclipse this month. Find out if you have a chance to see it. The results of an astronomy survey done every ten year are being compiled. Some new space telescopes could be built because of astronomers' answers. And Wasat? Seriously, there's a star called Wasat.

Most of the stars we see in our night sky are within a few hundred light years of us. There's one in Cassiopeia right at the edge of naked eye visibility that's more than 16,000 light years away. And you don't see the individual stars in the Andromeda Galaxy, but it's more than two million light years away. Just how do astronomers know how far away any stars are when we can't travel to them, let a...

Two horses (one with wings), a dolphin, a pair of fish, an eagle, a wolf, and a swan are part of the celestial May morning menagerie. And find out where the M comes from in object names like M44.

In May 2021: Mercury and Venus are evening objects, Mars visits the twins, Saturn and Jupiter shine in the morning, and there's a total lunar eclipse.

A comet discovered about 150 years ago has left traces of its existence for us to see for thousands of years. Get ready for the April Lyrid meteor shower. And when you see the sun or moon rise or set, you're seeing it over the horizon.

The beliefs we cling to most are the ones we convince ourselves of. Percival Lowell's conclusions about canals on Mars and Venus are examples. What did he really see?

Many people, even some who like astronomy, do something that's harmful to it. Our modern lifestyles require lighting at night. But do we really need so many lights on in so many places casting so much light where it's not useful? Light pollution keeps us from enjoying the night sky--a most wondrous natural resource above us. And we don't talk about a full Venus or a first quarter Venus. But somewh...

Venus is an evening object again, and Mercury will join it. But both are horizon huggers. Mars is easier to see as it moves from Taurus to the feet of Gemini. Saturn and Jupiter are getting easier to see in the morning. If you're in the right place on April 2nd, you can see Jupiter pass right in front of a star. The April Lyrids meteor shower peaks this month. There's a so-called supermoon. And Ur...

If someone mentions the planet Vulcan now, you probably think of the fictional world that's home to Mr. Spock on Star Trek. But there was a time when some astronomers believed there was a real planet they called Vulcan orbiting our sun.

You never hear much about the constellation Leo Minor.  A legend claims you can balance an egg on its end only on the equinox. And have you noticed there are no green stars?

Every once in a while, you hear about something from space that might crash into the earth. It happens just often enough to make some of us worry about it.

This month, a cluster of planets rises shortly before the sun, the southern hemisphere gets a good view of Mercury, Mars passes by the Pleiades, Venus is atypically invisible, the asteroid Vesta is at opposition, and Earth goes through an equinox.

At the end of February 1959, the U.S. government told the world it had launched a satellite that made some measurements, transmitted some measurement data, and then shut down as planned. Documents declassified in 1995 reveal the satellite malfunctioned shortly after launch and apparently crashed. Other formerly secret materials, including a CIA film, reveal that the engineers stayed busy solving p...

One of the accidental discoveries that spawned the field of radio astronomy stayed secret for a few years. There was a war going on. And the enemy could have used the newfound astronomical knowledge for a military advantage.

It seems unlikely that a farm boy who can't afford his own telescope, let alone a college education, could go to work for an astronomical observatory and make one of the most famous discoveries. But that's what Clyde Tombaugh did. Learn about the man who discovered Pluto.

Mercury starts the month as an evening object, but you'll find it in the morning near Jupiter and Saturn by the end of the month. Venus stays low close to the horizon before sunrise. Meanwhile, Mars continues a trek toward the Pleiades. Expect news about a couple space probes arriving at the red planet this month. And on another subject, why do you suppose some ancient writers described Sirius as...

Mercury never rests. The planet has been thought of as quick and sneaky like a thief or fast and dutiful like a messenger. Learn a little about it. And then hear about Sirius. The brightest star in our night sky has a dim companion. Astronomers knew about it for 18 years before they had big enough telescopes to see it. Then, some people claimed to have known about the companion for even longer.

Orion is one of the biggest and most recognizable constellations. This is a great time of year to see it. Learn about some of the stars and a stellar nursery in it.