
This Week's Sky at a Glance, February 3 – 12
Comet ZTF is still near its brightest, moonlight and all. Around the Big and Little Dog Stars, trace out the stick-figure patterns of the big and little dogs. A ghostly unicorn haunts the inside of the Winter Triangle.

See Comet ZTF (C/2022 E3) Dash Between Big and Little Dippers
Forget the hype and go outside to enjoy the real thing — a relatively bright comet you can see in binoculars from a dark sky.

This Week's Sky at a Glance, January 27 – February 5
Comet ZTF is at its best this week — but every night moonlight encroaches on the scene until a later and later hour. Along the way, the Moon occults Mars for the southern U.S. and again forms isosceles triangles with naked-eyestars.

This Week's Sky at a Glance, January 20 – 29
Venus and Saturn have a close conjunction in twilight. Comet ZTF heads into its best week. And Betelgeuse overtakes Sirius ever earlier in the night.

See a Giant Sunspot!
If you have a solar filter, check out the sunspot group AR 3190 that's crossing the solar disk this week.

This Week's Sky at a Glance, January 13 – 21
Saturn starts the week well above bright Venus in twilight. Watch them close in on each other toward their conjunction on the 22nd. Jupiter and fading Mars shine high. Sirius sparkles below Orion, and binocular Comet ZTF enters its best three weeks.

Solar and Lunar Eclipses in 2023
Although no total lunar eclipses occur this year, skywatchers can look forward to two “central” solar eclipses — including an annular event in October whose path runs from Oregon through Texas.

This Week's Sky at a Glance, January 6 – 14
Saturn approaches Venus in twilight, Jupiter and Mars ride high, and Mare Orientale peeks around the edhe of the Moon. And, try exploring the many double stars in Orion's Sword.

This Week's Sky at a Glance, December 30 – January 7
Venus creeps up, Saturn sinks down; in three weeks the two shall meet. The Moon meets Mars Tuesday. Orion comes into his own to rule the winter, and Sirius emerges below him.

The Best Meteor Showers in 2023
The two richest, most reliable annual meteor showers, the Perseids and Geminids, are Moon-free in 2023. Others showers await you too.

This Week's Sky at a Glance, December 23 – 31
Venus and Mercury glimmer low in the southwest in twilight. The newborn crescent Moon starts the week with them, then visits Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars as it waxes toward full.

All Eight Planets Line Up ... Again!
Echoing summer's great arc of planets at dawn, winter presents the full octet again, this time splayed across the evening sky.

This Week's Sky at a Glance, December 16 – 24
The Pleiades dipper, the House in the Hyades, Mars high but fading, M31 at the zenith, and a celestial string of holiday lights.

Explore the Night with Bob King
Catch the Geminid Meteor Shower; Plus, Watch RW Cephei Fade
The luminous Geminid meteor shower returns. We also meet a binocular-bright star that may be experiencing Betelgeuse-like convulsions.

This Week's Sky at a Glance, December 9 – 16
Mars, just past opposition, remains bright as it aligns between Aldebaran and Capella. Jupiter shines highest after dusk. And watch for the Geminid meteors.

Observing Report: Moon Occults Mars
Sky & Telescope editors report their observations of last night's celestial event: Mars grazing or disappearing behind the Moon.

Explore the Night with Bob King
Mars Mesmerizes at Opposition
It may not be the closest opposition, but this time around Mars arcs high across the sky where good seeing promises sharp views. That's not all. On December 7th, one night before opposition, the full Moon occults the Red Planet!

This Week's Sky at a Glance, December 2 – 10
Mars is at opposition this week. And on opposition night December 7-8, Mars is occulted by the perfectly full Moon. Orion enters stage east earlier and earlier, the Summer Triangle sinks west, and Jupiter reigns on high.

This Week's Sky at a Glance, November 25 – December 3
Mars is closest to Earth this week, closer and brighter than we'll see it again until 2033. By late evening it's high overhead in excellent telescopic view.

This Week's Sky at a Glance, November 18 – 26
Orion works its way up from behind the horizon after dinnertime and stands high by late evening. Big bright Jupiter and Mars dominate the sky. Jupiter is under the Great Square; Mars is in the horns of Taurus.