SUNSET: 
Explore the Night with Bob King
NGC 2346: A Cosmic Butterfly Plays Peekaboo
Spiraling stars and light-soaking dust clouds enliven the heart of this lesser-known planetary nebula NGC 2346 in Monoceros. Will you be the first to catch it playing peekaboo again?
Explore the Night with Bob King
Frightful Nights Under the Stars
The lure of dark skies often takes us to unfamiliar places where nocturnal animals and encounters with strangers can ignite our primal fears.
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Jupiter Jumps Back Into The Evening Sky
Jove begins a new apparition with a redder Red Spot, pirouetting moons, and ever-changing cloudscapes.
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Overlooked Wonders In Orion's Shadow
Put the Great Nebula in Orion in the backseat and pay a visit to its humble neighbors
It's Not Over Till The Fast Planet Sinks
This week and early next will be your last chance to see five planets — six if you count Earth — at dawn.
Explore the Night with Bob King
How To Stay Warm Observing In Winter
Does the cold make you think twice about winter observing? Here are a few tips on how to do it in comfort.
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Asterisms for Winter Nights
Asterisms appeal to our playful side but also serve as key waypoints in the sky for identifying fainter stars and constellations.
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Picking Plums in the Galactic Anticenter
In winter, we face the Milky Way's anticenter, a little-explored region offering goodies for telescopes both large and small. Few give much thought to the Milky Way's anticenter, a lonely locale 180° opposite the busy metropolis of Sagittarius, where the summer Milky Way glitters like Vegas. On winter nights, Sagittarius lies behind us, hidden by Earth's…
Explore the Night with Bob King
Comets To Catch in 2016
A look ahead to see what new and returning comets will spice up the new year in 2016.
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Run Away With These Runaway Stars
Three stars that once belonged to Orion flew the coop millions of years ago, but you can catch up with them with binoculars the next clear night.
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Tale of Capella and the Two Red Dwarfs
Bright Capella plays it close to the vest when it comes to companions, but with a good map and steady skies you can track down its dwarf binary.
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Moon Occults Venus on December 7th
After taking us to Comet Catalina's doorstep, the Moon covers Venus in a spectacular daytime occultation visible from most of North and Central America on Monday, December 7, 2015.
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Moon Illusion is All in Your Head
Is perception reality? Not when it comes to the Moon illusion. See the truth with your own eyes at the rising of the next full Moon.
Explore the Night with Bob King
Watch a Black Hole Eat Dinner
S5 0716+71, a bright blazar currently in a feeding frenzy, invites you over for dinner the next clear night.
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Catalina Comet Sails Into Northern Skies
Comet Catalina returns this month with naked-eye potential. Follow its every move with our guide and maps.
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Triple Treasure in Triangulum's Pinwheel
Travel 2.7 million light-years from home to the Pinwheel Galaxy, where we'll visit a supergiant star, an extragalactic globular cluster, and one of the largest nebulae in the known universe.
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How to See Lunar Craters with the Naked Eye
Who says you need a telescope to see craters on the Moon? Here's how to find a half-dozen with just the naked eye.
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Discover a Dozen Clusters in the "W"
Open your bag wide as we go trick-or-treating in the "W" of Cassiopeia, home to more than 100 star clusters.
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Take the Gegenschein Challenge
How and when to see the gegenschein, cousin of the zodiacal light and one of the greatest night sky naked-eye challenges.
Explore the Night with Bob King
"Blink" a Nova Tonight
Like people doing good imitations, novae often mimic planetary nebulae. Read on to learn how to watch the evolution of these tricksters using a common nebula filter.
