SUNSET: 
Perseids Perform Beautifully!
Despite moonlight, this year's Perseid meteor shower has been pleasing millions worldwide.
Sky at a Glance | July 31st, 2009
Mercury meets Regulus. Saturn loses its rings. Vega crosses the zenith. And Jupiter is coming into good view earlier every night.
Perseid Meteors by Moonlight
Mark your calendar for August 11th and 12th — even though a last-quarter Moon horns in on the annual show.
Sky at a Glance | July 24th, 2009
Saturn's rings are disappearing most interestingly, just as Saturn itself slides down into the sunset. Jupiter with its new impact scar is up in fine telescopic view by midnight.
Sky at a Glance | July 17th, 2009
One day after the anniversary of the Apollo 11 landing on the Moon, the Moon eclipses the Sun for parts of the Far East.
Apollo Landers Seen on the Moon
NASA's new Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter has such a high-res camera that, at long last, it's possible to see the Apollo landers sitting on the Moon. You can even see the trails of astronauts' footprints! Browse the just-released pictures.
Sky at a Glance | July 3rd, 2009
Earth is farthest from the Sun, the Moon is full, and the Venus-and-Mars pair is widening at dawn.
Sky at a Glance | June 26th, 2009
The waxing Moon passes Regulus and Saturn, then Spica and Antares this week. And the Little Dipper is in its toy-balloon position.
Sky at a Glance | June 19th, 2009
Saturn's rings are darkening, Venus is brightening, Jupiter is turning turbulent. . . and what is Delta Scorpii up to?
Sky at a Glance | June 12th, 2009
Catch Saturn at dusk. Cruise Canes Venatici after dark. And follow the busy activities at dawn on Midsummer Morning.
Kaguya To Hit the Moon
On June 10th at 18:25 Universal Time the Japanese lunar orbiter Kaguya is ending its two years of science with a final impact experiment. Astronomers are poised to capture the crash.
Sky at a Glance | June 5th, 2009
Capella sinks in the west, the Summer Triangle climbs in the east, the full Moon occults Antares, and late in the week, the eerie waning gibbous Moon shines with Jupiter.
Watch Antares Disappear on Saturday Night
The Moon will be only about 16 hours from full when, on Saturday evening June 6th in the Americas, it will cross the 1st-magnitude red supergiant star Antares. The occultation will be visible across much of the United States and Canada, all of Central America and the Caribbean, and northern South America. Surrounding areas get a still-spectacular near miss.
Sky at a Glance | May 29th, 2009
The Moon again poses with Regulus and then Saturn. Saturn's rings continue to dim. And Jupiter and Venus are both rising higher in the sky before dawn.
Sky at a Glance | May 15th, 2009
You know it's getting close to summer; Arcturus and Vega are well up at dusk. Catch Saturn right after dusk before it starts getting low — and in a telescope, see how dim its rings have become!
Sky at a Glance | May 8th, 2009
As wintry Betelgeuse disappears in to the sunset in May, summery Antares comes up in the southeast in late evening.
Sky at a Glance | May 1st, 2009
Mercury stays with the Pleiades in the western twilight. The Moon passes Regulus and Saturn during evening this week, and Venus and Jupiter shine at dawn.
Sky at a Glance | April 24th, 2009
Mercury meets up with the Pleiades in the western twilight, and the Moon joins the party on Sunday the 26th. The two brightest planets, Venus and Jupiter, shine low in the dawn.
Fomalhaut's Disk and Fomalhaut's Spin
Way out in the circumstellar cold, a planet and a rubble disk orbit bright Fomalhaut. Does this have anything to do with the star's own rotation?
A Murky All-Sky Background Is Resolved
It doesn't look like much today, but the far-infrared background radiation coming from all parts of the sky tells of a tumultuous early universe ablaze with starlight.
