SUNSET: 
July 9 - 15, 2012
[skyweekvid id="j5gp31uu"]Magnificent Scorpius, the Scorpion, is at its highest around 10 or 11 pm. Its brightest star is dazzling reddish Antares, meaning “rival of Mars.”
July 2 - 8, 2012
[skyweekvid id="tvc0p711"]Vega, Altair, and Deneb, the three bright high-flying stars of summer, are now well up in the east. Together, they form a huge shape called the Summer Triangle.
Celebrate Astronomy Day: April 25, 2012!
April 20th is Astronomy Day, when hundreds of astronomy clubs, observatories, museums, colleges, and planetariums worldwide host special family-oriented events and festivities that showcase the wonder and excitement of the night sky.
Monica Young
As Sky & Telescope's News Editor, Monica commissions, writes, and edits articles on the latest news in astronomy science, observing, and technology. She writes and edits feature articles for the print magazine as well, including a November 2020 feature article on the Parker Solar Probe that won the Solar Physics…
June 25 - July 1, 2012
[skyweekvid id="oau8ccr7"]The waxing Moon passes Mars, Spica, and Saturn this week. Saturn possesses an extraordinary retinue of moons, including the amazingly Earth-like moon Titan.
June 18 - 24, 2012
[skyweekvid id="qmb843ku"]Summer officially begins on Wednesday this week. In addition to having the longest days, this time of year has the most luxurious sunrises, sunsets, and twilights.
June 11 - 17, 2012
[skyweekvid id="v7nq6qv1"]The huge intertwined constellations Ophiuchus and Serpens fill much of the southeastern sky. Ophiuchus is sometimes called the thirteenth constellation of the zodiac.
June 4 - 10, 2012
[skyweekvid id="b0f7ax1x"]The Moon experiences a partial lunar eclipse before dawn on Monday. And we look at the historical and scientific importance of Tuesday’s Transit of Venus across the Sun.
May 28 - June 3, 2012
[skyweekvid id="eijr2v39"]Get ready for the partial lunar eclipse before dawn on June 4th and the twice-in-a-lifetime chance to see Venus’s dark disk cross the Sun on June 5th.
May 21 - 27, 2012
[skyweekvid id="z3eph090"]This week is your last easy chance to see Venus before it crosses the Sun’s disk on June 5th. And the constellation Hercules, with its magnificent star cluster, is rising in the east.
May 14 - 20, 2012
[skyweekvid id="o26jp77d"]A partial solar eclipse is visible over most of the U.S. on Sunday, May 20th. And in parts of the West the eclipse is annular, with a ring of sunlight all around the Moon’s dark disk.
May 7 - 13, 2012
[skyweekvid id="f3gg21rm"]Venus, Mars, and Saturn are all paired with bright stars this week. Saturn is in Virgo, the great constellation of spring, and the site of a remarkable galaxy cluster.
April 30 - May 6, 2012
[skyweekvid id="u986y37v"]The closest and biggest full Moon of 2012 happens on Saturday, May 5th. That means that high tides will be unusually high and low tides will be unusually low.
April 23 - 29, 2012
[skyweekvid id="utw30156"]The waxing crescent Moon appears higher in the west each evening this week. And the planet Venus is also now a crescent, a phenomenon of great historical importance.
April 16 - 22, 2012
[skyweekvid id="s7tie7t2"]Corona Borealis, the Northern Crown, is a compact jewel of a constellation. And the dazzling orange star Arcturus nearby may be a visitor from another galaxy.
April 9 - 15, 2012
[skyweekvid id="urzw6dow"]You can see five great star clusters with your unaided eyes on evenings at this time of year. One of them is widely known, but rarely recognized as a true star cluster.
April 2 - 8, 2012
[skyweekvid id="pg9wwysj"]Venus passes through the Pleiades star cluster on Monday and Tuesday. And Saturn, the magnificent ringed planet, is now well up in the evening sky.
March 26 - April 1, 2012
[skyweekvid id="e810nn8a"]The Big Dipper, the best-known star pattern in the sky is now high in the northeast in the evening. It's just part of the much larger constellation Ursa Major.
March 19 - 25, 2012
[skyweekvid id="vh7aztb7"]Spring starts this week on Monday night, a date called the Vernal Equinox. For the next six months, days will be longer than nights in the Northern Hemisphere.
March 12 - 18, 2012
[skyweekvid id="nn531wut"]Venus and Jupiter are paired spectacularly in the western sky. Meanwhile, the twin stars Castor and Pollux form a less glamorous but much longer lived pair high in the south.
