Tour August's Sky! | July 30th, 2010
Venus, Mars, and Saturn dance in the west after sunset, while soon afterward giant Jupiter rises in the east — all that, and Perseid meteors too! Host: S&T's Kelly Beatty. (6MB MP3 download: running time: 6m 48s)
Dark Nights for the Perseids
Don't miss the year's best-known meteor shower, predicted to peak on the night of August 12th.
Solar activity is ramping up
Sunspot AR 1087 is crackling with activity, take a peek if you can!
Tour July's Sky! | July 1st, 2010
Watch the west after sunset for a celestial parade led by brilliant Venus, then swing south to get cozy with Scorpius. Host: S&T's Kelly Beatty. (5MB MP3 download: running time: 5m 12s).
In Search of Selenelion
Saturday's partial lunar eclipse offered some skygazers the rare chance to see the partly-hidden Moon and the rising Sun at the same time.
Saturday's Predawn Lunar Eclipse
You'll have to get up early — or party into the wee hours the night before — to see the Moon slide partly through Earth's shadow before dawn on June 26th.
Tour June's Sky! | May 28th, 2010
June's nights are the shortest all year for northern skywatchers, but as a consolation you'll find Venus, Mars, and Saturn in the evening sky.
Ceres in 2010
Ceres, the largest main-belt asteroid, is well placed for observation in June through August 2010.
Comet in the June Dawn
Comet C/2009 R1 (McNaught) is now visible low in the northeast before dawn. You should be able to see its long, thin tail through binoculars from a reasonably dark site.
Disappearing Act on Jupiter
One of the giant planet's signature bands, the South Equatorial Belt, began fading late last year. Now, for the first time since 1992, it's completely missing. Amateur and professional observers worldwide are eagerly hoping to witness its return.
Asteroid To Hide Naked-Eye Star
For anyone in a 25-mile-wide path right across Los Angeles, a bright star in Ophiuchus will wink off for several seconds in the predawn hours of April 6, 2010.
Uranus and Neptune in 2010
Uranus and Neptune are easy to find with the aid of the charts in this article.
Mercury Takes the Spotlight
The normally elusive innermost planet has its best apparition of the year — with dazzling Venus to point the way!!
Catch a Star's Unprecedented Eruption
At first observers thought they'd discovered a nova — a "new star" erupting from obscurity. But astronomers quickly realized that it was a well-known, formerly well-behaved variable star suddenly gone bonkers.
The Sun is Back!
After a couple of relatively dormant years, the Sun is showing signs of major activity again.
Zodiacal Light in the Evening
The zodiacal light is on its best display in the Northern Hemisphere on moonless evenings from February through April.
Tour March's Sky! | February 25th, 2010
What a difference a month makes! The lengthening days, together with a switch to daylight time, mean that the evening constellations are changing rapidly. So use this easy-to-follow audio tour to figure out what's what. Host: S&T's Kelly Beatty. (6.5MB MP3 download: running time: 6m 52s)
An Exotic Solar Eclipse
On July 11th, a lot of ocean and a few tiny bits of land will experience a Moon-blackened Sun. But getting to the Moon's shadow will be a challenge.
Making the Most of Mars
Mars is receding from Earth, but it's still a fine, though small, target for telescopes.
January 15th's Rare Annular Eclipse
The longest annular eclipse of the Sun until the year 3043 happens tomorrow — but only a luck few (million) will be positioned to see it.