SUNSET: 
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.
Explore the Night with Bob King
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.
Explore the Night with Bob King
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.
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.
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.
Catalina Comet Sails Into Northern Skies
Comet Catalina returns this month with naked-eye potential. Follow its every move with our guide and maps.
Explore the Night with Bob King
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.
Explore the Night with Bob King
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.
Explore the Night with Bob King
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.
Observer's Guide to the H-alpha Sun
Want to see a star rock in real time? Observe the Sun in the crimson light of hydrogen alpha and watch it come alive.
Explore the Night with Bob King
Watch Andromeda Galaxy Blossom in Binoculars
How much can you see of the Andromeda Galaxy system with just a pair of binoculars? Turns out a lot!
How to See the Farthest Thing You Can See in the Night Sky
Step by step, we explore the farthest things visible with the naked eye, from the most distant star to the hinterlands of the Andromeda Galaxy
Explore the Night with Bob King
Neptune And Its Maverick Moon Triton
Neptune reaches opposition next week, giving amateurs the chance to track its unique, backwards-orbiting moon Triton.
Rosetta's Comet Beckons At Dawn
Northern hemisphere observers have this month and next to get their best look at Rosetta's comet, 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.
Let's Get Serious About Ceres
We pay a visit to Ceres, now the apple of the Dawn Mission's eye, as it creeps through Sagittarius this month
Explore the Night with Bob King
Why We Can See In The Dark
In search of a pitch black night? Don't expect to find it on Earth. Thanks to starlight, zodiacal light, and especially airglow, true darkness doesn't exist.
Explore the Night with Bob King
Dive Into Scutum's Dark Nebulae
One of the smallest constellations in the sky hosts one of the richest concentrations of dark nebulae. Join me for a dip in these dark pools from which the next generation of stars will be born.
