SUNSET: 
Sky at a Glance | February 19th, 2010
Mars is high in the evening sky below Pollux and Castor. It's starting to fade and shrink a bit, but it's in best view for your scope earlier in the evening now.
WMAP Refines "Precision Cosmology"
With seven years of data, the WMAP cosmology satellite has refined the age of the universe and other key cosmic parameters. The results strengthen the "standard model" of inflationary cosmology.
Sky at a Glance | February 12th, 2010
Mars is high in the evening sky, still bright but starting to fade and shrink. Asteroid 4 Vesta is brightest and closest to Earth this week. And Venus and Jupiter have a challenging conjunction just above the west-southwest horizon after sunset.
Sky at a Glance | February 5th, 2010
Mars, just past opposition and still blazing brightly, rises higher in the east each evening. And Saturn is now up in the east by about 10 p.m.
Sky at a Glance | January 29th, 2010
Fiery Mars, at opposition, shines as brightly as icy Sirius. Catch Jupiter departing low in twilight. And Saturn is now up in the east by 10 or 11 p.m.
Sky at a Glance | January 22nd, 2010
This week Mars comes to opposition and passes closest to Earth, shining its brightest in the evening sky. Meanwhile, Jupiter slinks offstage low in the southwest.
Sky at a Glance | January 14th, 2010
Jupiter remains an eye-catcher as twilight fades, but it sinks low and sets early in the evening. Meanwhile Mars climbs high in the eastern sky during evening, shining nearly its brightest of the year.
Sky at a Glance | January 8th, 2010
Jupiter sinks lower at dusk, Mars rises earlier and earlier, Mercury begins to emerge in the dawn, and the Rabbit's Ruby reaches its maximum brightness.
Kepler's First Exoplanet Results
NASA scientists announced this morning that the Kepler planet-hunting probe is working great, has produced a slew of results, and is working at high enough precision that it should be able to determine the abundance, or rarity, of Earth-size worlds galaxy-wide.
Sky at a Glance | January 1st, 2010
The waning Moon passes Mars and Regulus, Orion climbs higher, and Auriga rules the late-evening zenith. And this week the year's latest sunrises happen for mid-northern latitudes — near Earth's perihelion date, by pure coincidence.
An Accidental Asteroid Occultation?
It's probably the smallest Kuiper Belt object ever seen, but the evidence is indirect, and not all are persuaded.
Sky at a Glance | December 18th, 2009
The crescent Moon points to Mercury in the sunset, then goes by Jupiter. And Jupiter has a conjunction of its own with Neptune.
Sky at a Glance | December 11th, 2009
The Big Dipper is at its lowest in the north in early evening. Mercury is looking good in twilight. Neptune is nearing conjunction with Jupiter. And you may still catch a few stray meteors from the Geminid shower.
Has Iapetus Finally Been Solved?
Saturn's bicolored moon, snowy white on one side and coal-black on the other, has puzzled astronomers for three centuries. Planetologists now think they have it all figured out.
Sky at a Glance | December 4th, 2009
Watch for Mercury to emerge low in the sunset this week, and watch for Sirius-rise after dinnertime on the other side of the sky. And get ready for the Geminid meteors, soon to arrive.
Sky at a Glance | November 27th, 2009
The waning gibbous Moon shines near Castor and Pollux in Gemini on Thursday and Friday evenings. Meanwhile Jupiter, edging farther from Earth every week, still shines high in the south in twilight. The Pleiades sparkle in the east after dark, Orion is well up by 9 p.m., Mars rises by 10, and Saturn rises around 2 a.m.
Cassini Visits a Science-Fiction World
NASA's Cassini probe grabbed three-dimensional views of a landscape of geysers, as the craft sped above an evening twilight zone on Saturn's moon Enceladus.
Sky at a Glance | November 20th, 2009
Jupiter, highest in the south at dusk now, continues its busy telescopic activity. Venus is disappearing low in the dawn, but thin-ringed Saturn is rising ever higher before the dawn into good telescopic view.
Sky at a Glance | November 6th, 2009
Orion is making its evening appearance. Jupiter, now highest in the south at dusk, is full of busy activity. And at dawn, Spica (and Saturn high above it) are moving higher while Venus sinks lower.
Sky at a Glance | October 30th, 2009
More mutual events among Jupiter's moons, Mars crossing the Beehive, and the Moon grazing the Pleiades highlight the night sky this week.
