SUNSET: 
Explore the Night with Bob King
Happy Times for Comet Watchers
Seize the moment and bookend your next clear night with two fine telescopic comets: Jacques at dusk and Oukaimeden at dawn.
Cosmic Relief with David Grinspoon
Cosmology Gets Real
An astrobiologist comes to grips with the new cosmology results.
Explore the Night with Bob King
Close Venus-Jupiter Conjunction on August 18th
Here's your invitation to view a spectacular close conjunction of the sky's two brightest planets, Venus and Jupiter, before dawn on Monday morning.
How to See Cygnus's Other Veil Nebula
You'll be entering uncharted territory when you seek out this little known 'Shadow of the Veil' in Cygnus this summer.
Explore the Night with Bob King
Earth's Shadow Creeps Up on Us Every Night
The next time you're out watching a sunset, turn around and relish the mighty shadow of Earth looming just behind your back.
Explore the Night with Bob King
Blank Sun? Faculae to the Rescue!
Fascinating faculae provide a way for anyone with a small telescope to track the ups and downs of the solar cycle — even when there are no sunspots.
Explore the Night with Bob King
Predictive Prowess: See an Iridium Flare
Channel your inner superpower by looking up at the night sky precisely when a dazzling blaze of light is beamed to Earth from outer space.
Explore the Night with Bob King
See Summer's Best Naked-Eye Double Stars
Not every set of closely paired stars requires binoculars or a telescope to "split". Here's a guide to summertime doubles you can tackle with your eyes alone.
Explore the Night with Bob King
Two Moon-Planet Conjunctions Juice Up July
On July 5th, the Moon has a remarkably close brush with Mars, followed two nights later by a similar rendezvous with Saturn.
Explore the Night with Bob King
Iapetus Comes Over to the Bright Side
Astronomers now know the secret of this moon's strange two-faced appearance, but it's still remarkable to watch the "now you see it, now you don't" performance as it moves around Saturn.
Explore the Night with Bob King
Summer Quest for Noctilucent Clouds
Noctilucent clouds form at the boundary between Earth and space. Their electric blue billows incite the imagination and inspire us to keep watch at dusk for their arrival.
Explore the Night with Bob King
Comet PanSTARRS Keeps Getting Better
Since C/2012 K1's discovery two years ago, this first-time visitor from the outer solar system has brightened steadily and is now within reach of a small telescope and even binoculars.
Cosmic Relief with David Grinspoon
Looking Back at Earth in Wonder
Seeing Earth as a dot helps prepare us for the exoplanets.
Cosmic Relief with David Grinspoon
So Many Worlds, But Is Anybody Home?
Kepler’s findings of Earth-like worlds furthers the motivation for SETI.
Cosmic Relief with David Grinspoon
Search for Intelligent Worlds
To find extraterrestrial intelligence we should look for engineered exoplanets.
Cosmic Relief with David Grinspoon
It’s Not About Pluto: Exoplanets Are Planets Too!
Recent discoveries have exposed the absurdity of the IAU’s planet definition.
Cosmic Relief with David Grinspoon
Cosmic Optimism
Our galaxy is likely to contain an increasingly large number of advanced civilizations.
Cosmic Relief with David Grinspoon
One Galactic Year from Now
Will the Anthropocene be an event, an era, or a transition?
Cosmic Relief with David Grinspoon
Life on Saturn’s Moons?
Two worlds will allow us to test contrasting views of planetary habitability
Cosmic Relief with David Grinspoon
It All Started with Mariner 2
Fifty years ago this August, with the launch of Mariner 2 toward Venus, something profoundly new appeared around the Sun.
