SkyCaramba

The moon moves from morning to evening. Mercury is lost in the sunlight. Mars heads toward Virgo. Saturn goes retrograde. Venus continues to shine in the morning. Jupiter begins its morning appearance. And this is the best time all year to see Pluto--if you can.

Mercury retreats from the evening. Mars keeps crawling under Leo. Jupiter reaches Castor's legs. And recall how the Apollo 11 astronauts didn't get to go home right after their mission.

Mercury moves away from a donkey star. Mars is beneath the lion's belly. Saturn is stationary by the one of the two linked fish. Venus pulls up along the Hyades V in the bull's face. And for those wondering how much non-human involvement goes into these podcasts, I assure you very little.

The moon hides Mars and Spica this week. Mercury's at its best for the current evening showing. Earth is at aphelion. And Saturn and Neptune appear close. So do Venus and Uranus. We can use these close calls to appreciate how Galileo mistook Neptune for a star.

Jupiter's still out of view. Mercury's up in the evening. Mars is at the lion's belly. Venus and Saturn show in the morning. And see a fabled centaur and an unstoried wolf cross the meridian in the evening.

Jupiter is out of sight this week. Mercury passes through Gemini. Mars reaches the heart of Leo. Venus gets a visit from the moon. And the June solstice is coming. Most of us know that means midnight sun from far northern locations. However, we don't often think about midnight twilight from places not so far north.

Mercury and Jupiter pass each other in the evening. Mars continues moving toward Regulus. Venus is coming off its best morning appearance. And Mira is coming into magnified views for northern sky watchers. This star is called wonderful for many reasons, one of which is it seems to vanish and reappear.

Jupiter is almost at the feet of Gemini. Mercury moves to the evening. Venus shines bright from the Pisces linkage. A mostly daytime meteor shower. And Mars approaches the heart of Leo. There's a lot more to that star, Regulus, than meets the naked eye.

Jupiter's long slow goodbye from the evening sky continues. Mars is still prominent. Venus and Saturn look nice at dawn. Mercury approaches its semi-circle phase. But for some reason, we don't see it that way exactly when we should. And Mars has its northern solstice.

Jupiter and Mars climb among the evening stars. Mercury sinks into the sunrise. And can you see stars in the daytime from the bottom of a smokestack or deep well? Some serious studies have been done.

The morning planets are drifting apart. The evening planets climb toward their next destinations. The moon hides Antares. And there's a monster of a constellation several solar system objects pass through, yet we don't think of it as part of the zodiac.

Mars in the Beehive. The moon over Zavijava. A morning planet grouping includes two binocular solar system objects. And planetoid and asteroid are two words that can mean that same thing. When the first such objects were discovered, astronomers weren't sure what to call them. They had characteristics of planets and asteroids.

The moon moves into the evening sky. There's a record for seeing the youngest moon, but nobody seems to make a contest out of seeing the oldest moon. Vesta is at opposition. A cluster of planets adorns the morning sky close to the horizon.

Mars makes a beeline for the beehive. Virgo has been known by a variety of names. Mercury's at greatest elongation. And hats off--or hair's off--for the only constellation linked to a real person.

Two planets are at aphelion this week. Their aphelion and perihelion distances reveal just how elliptical their orbits are.

Two planets are moving eastward in the morning sky. But for now, the sun's moving eastward faster. The way things look, the stars are climbing the sky each morning faster than those planets or the sun. I'll explain this effect of the difference between the sidereal and solar days.

One more time, the moon reaches as far north as it can. Try to see Venus in the morning. Mars rides high at dusk. And sometimes, stars seem to change colors because of other stars next to them. You can try to make it happen in your own telescope!

Venus and Mercury are on the other side of the sun. A partial solar eclipse happens in the northern hemisphere. And some people keep count of how many lunar months have gone by since some moment.

The moon's heading toward the farthest south it will go for the next two decades. Venus and Mercury head to conjunction. And why is there an old tale about being able to stand an egg on its end only on the equinox?

Planets are disappearing from the evening sky, but Venus is a good guide for finding Mercury. There's a total lunar eclipse this week. You can usually still see some lunar features during totality. And Universal Time isn't universally understood.

Saturn's lost in the sun glow as it leaves the evening sky. Mercury and Venus are leaving soon. Last chance to see the moon as far north as it goes. Find out about next week's total lunar eclipse. And learn why we see nebulae.

Sometimes, Saturn appears ringless. We're about to cross the ring plane, from which we see--or don't see--the rings edge-on. Unfortunately, we won't get to see this phenomenon when it happens in a few weeks.

The same side of the moon is always facing us, so it seems like we should see just half of it. But we actually see more, thanks to the tidal lock not being super tight. Some evening planets are sinking into the sunset, while others still ride high at dusk.

Why do the planets seem to go back and forth in our sky when they're all going the same way around the sun? Mercury's about to emerge into the evening sky. No pre-dawn planet watching for now. So get to know the current morning stars. Is Cygnus flying in the right place?

Even though we see through air, it's not as transparent as we think. It gets in the way. Venus, Saturn, and Neptune are close on the celestial dome. They're fairly easy to see for now. Mars moves deeper into Gemini. Jupiter resumes direct motion this week.