SUNSET: 
Explore the Night with Bob King
Make Way for the Wintermaker
There's more than one way to see the constellations. Here's a look through Native American eyes. Orion the Hunter is arguably one of the most recognizable constellations in the sky. Striding the celestial equator, he charges up from this eastern horizon around 9 o'clock in late November, club in one…
See November's Speedy Leonids
Often ignored in off years, why not treat yourself to the Leonids this month, a shower famed for fireballs and smoke trails.
Explore the Night with Bob King
Exoplanets for the Mind's Eye
While we may never see a planet orbiting a star other than the sun that doesn't mean we can't go there in a flight of fancy.
How Many Pleiades Can YOU See?
Most of us are familiar with the Seven Sisters, but have you met their brothers? Learn how to find more Pleiades than first meet the eye.
Explore the Night with Bob King
Zodiacal Light - Captivated by Comet Dust
October's a perfect time to see the zodiacal light, a tapering tower of comet dust standing high in the eastern sky before dawn. Here's how to find it.
Explore the Night with Bob King
Watch a Sunset with the ISS Astronauts
Watch the International Space Station as it passes into the shadow of the Earth, and learn what other features to keep an eye out for (such as the "water dump").
Explore the Night with Bob King
Fomalhaut: A Crazy-Wide Triple Star
Lonely Fomalhaut turns out to have plenty of company. Learn how to find its two remarkably distant stellar companions.
Explore the Night with Bob King
How to Never Miss an Aurora
Learn exactly how and when to expect the next display of the northern lights with a few easy-to-use online tools.
Explore the Night with Bob King
9,096 Stars in the Sky—Is That All?
Ten thousand stars bedazzle the eye on a dark night. Wait, how many?
Explore the Night with Bob King
Meet My Variable Friend SS Cygni
Get acquainted with SS Cygni, the sky's brightest cataclysmic variable star. It's guaranteed to keep you on your toes.
See Saturn's Moon Rhea Hide a Star
Watch as the moon Rhea steals a star from the sky for nearly a minute on September 12th.
Earthshine, the Moon's Darker Side
With a subtle beauty all its own, the earthshine we see glowing in the lunar night invites us to consider Earth's many connections to the Moon.
Happy Times for Comet Watchers
Seize the moment and bookend your next clear night with two fine telescopic comets: Jacques at dusk and Oukaimeden at dawn.
Close Venus-Jupiter Conjunction on August 18th
Here's your invitation to view a spectacular close conjunction of the sky's two brightest planets, Venus and Jupiter, before dawn on Monday morning.
How to See Cygnus's Other Veil Nebula
You'll be entering uncharted territory when you seek out this little known 'Shadow of the Veil' in Cygnus this summer.
Earth's Shadow Creeps Up on Us Every Night
The next time you're out watching a sunset, turn around and relish the mighty shadow of Earth looming just behind your back.
Blank Sun? Faculae to the Rescue!
Fascinating faculae provide a way for anyone with a small telescope to track the ups and downs of the solar cycle — even when there are no sunspots.
Explore the Night with Bob King
Predictive Prowess: See an Iridium Flare
Channel your inner superpower by looking up at the night sky precisely when a dazzling blaze of light is beamed to Earth from outer space.
See Summer's Best Naked-Eye Double Stars
Not every set of closely paired stars requires binoculars or a telescope to "split". Here's a guide to summertime doubles you can tackle with your eyes alone.
Explore the Night with Bob King
Two Moon-Planet Conjunctions Juice Up July
On July 5th, the Moon has a remarkably close brush with Mars, followed two nights later by a similar rendezvous with Saturn.