SUNSET: 
This Week's Sky at a Glance, January 7 – 15
Mercury draws close to Saturn low in twilight, then turns shy and runs away. Jupiter watches from above. The Moon, careless of such goings-on, waxes through first quarter to show off for your telescope.
Astronomers Discover Celestial Ruins on Our Galaxy’s Edge
A stream of stars scattered across 15 degrees of sky was once part of a globular cluster torn apart by our galaxy’s gravity. The stars represent some of the oldest in the Milky Way.
Comet-seeking on Cold, Crunchy Nights
Did the recent apparition of Comet Leonard whet your appetite for more of these beautiful unpredictables? Here are five more you can see with your telescope this season.
Critical Step Complete as Webb Space Telescope Deploys Sunshield
Its sunshield now in place, the James Webb Space Telescope is unfolding by the numbers while en route to its new home.
January: Evening Planet Adieu
There’s no better way to start the new year than listening to our monthly Sky Tour astronomy podcast. It’s an informative and entertaining 12-minute guided tour of the nighttime sky.
This Week's Sky at a Glance, December 31 – January 8
As the calendar flips to a new year, the night sky brims with bright stars, planets, and a potential meteor shower to help you celebrate.
The Best Meteor Showers of 2022
Sky & Telescope predicts that the year’s best meteor shower will be the Quadrantids, which peak in the very first days of 2022. But the normally weak Tau Herculids (late May) and Leonids (November) might deliver dramatic outbursts.
Spaceflight 2022: Missions to Watch in the Coming Year
The New Year will see missions returning to the Moon and much more.
Comet Leonard: A Gift at Christmastime
Multiple bright outbursts have transformed Comet Leonard into a stunning photographic object that’s also visible without optical aid from southern locations. More disruptions are likely in store as it approaches perihelion.
The James Webb Space Telescope Is Headed to Space
Over a generation in the making, the James Webb Space Telescope is finally headed for space.
Getting Started with Your New Telescope
How to start right using a new telescope — a guide to what you need to know, how to set it up, and things you can start finding with it in tonight's sky.
This Week's Sky at a Glance, December 24 – January 1
Crescent Venus, ever thinner and lower in twilight, dives toward the Sun. Jupiter and Saturn bide their time. The bright winter constellations fill the east after dark. Mars and Antares pair up at dawn.
Venus Farewell, Moonless Skies for the Quadrantids
Venus presents a stunning crescent at dusk before switching over to the morning sky early next month. After dodging the Moon for the Geminids, it's dark skies all around for the Quadrantid meteor shower.
Samples from Asteroid Ryugu Are Most Primitive Material We've Found
The material that the Hayabusa 2 spacecraft returned from asteroid Ryugu is the most pristine sample we've ever gotten our hands on.
This Week's Sky at a Glance, December 17 – 25
Dramatic Venus is becoming a dramatically thinner, larger crescent the southwestern twilight. A few people can even resolve the crescent naked-eye. Saturn and Jupiter stay lined up behind it. And the bright winter constellations officially come into their own with the turning of the solstice.
What Will the James Webb Space Telescope Uncover?
The soon-to-be-launched James Webb Space Telescope should shed light on exoplanet atmospheres and peer back to the universe's first stars.
“Humanity Has ‘Touched’ the Sun”
On its eighth close pass, NASA’s record-breaking Parker Solar Probe entered our star’s atmosphere and “touched” the surface of the Sun.
Stellar Remnant at the Core of Mysterious Flash Dubbed "The Cow"
Astronomers have identified the origin of a mysterious flash that occurred three years ago.
No Release for the Hubble Tension
New data and analysis show that a long-standing discrepancy in the measurement of the current expansion rate of the universe is real — even as the reason for it remains a mystery.
Precious Hours with the Geminids
At first glance, the annual Geminid meteor shower appears to be on a collision course with a bright Moon. But a closer look reveals a happy window of dark skies.
