
Explore the Night with Bob King
Winter Nights Exploring the Lunar Arctic
Put on a coat, set up your scope, and become a polar explorer as we visit off-the-beaten-path craters and maria in the Moon's arctic vastness.
What is a Supermoon? Facts vs. Fiction
The perpetuation of the supermoon myth is mostly motivated by desire for publicity. But much of what we call the supermoon is just our eyes playing tricks on us.

Explore the Night with Bob King
A Little Guide to Lunar Domes
With this week's waxing Moon, we set off to explore its volcanic past with a look at a dozen intriguing lunar domes.

What are the Phases of the Moon?
The phases of the Moon are determined by the relative positions of the Moon, Earth, and Sun.

Explore the Night with Bob King
Are You Game for April's Lunar Observing Challenge?
With astronomy being celebrated around the globe this month, join the fun by participating in a unique lunar observing challenge: track down 20 features once thought to show evidence of change from weather, geology, and even life.

Explore the Night with Bob King
Meet the Meager March Moon
Baptized in the fire of yesterday's total solar eclipse, a very young crescent Moon emerges into the night sky.

Blue Moon Rayed-Crater Blowout
Like "catching some rays"? This weekend's Blue Moon invites us to explore the beauty and dazzle of crater rays, the tracks left by powerful impacts in the not-so-distant past.

Explore the Night with Bob King
How to See All Six Apollo Moon Landing Sites
Walk in the astronauts' footsteps as you explore the places they visited in the heyday of Apollo program. Use these helpful maps to start you on your way.

Crazy About Concentric Craters
With the Moon riding high this week, what better time to look for its three best-known yet enigmatic "ring" craters? We welcome back the waxing Moon this week. It's a chance for many of us to put dark-sky targets on the back burner and give some love to she who lights the night.…

Explore the Night with Bob King
Shadows on the Moon Make a Point
Fooled by shadow play into thinking lunar mountains were pointy pinnacles? Learn why we often see them that way.

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.

The Lunar 100
As the moon wanes in the gibbous phase in the nights to come, see if you can find and observe some of 100 of Charles Wood's classic lunar hit list, including craters, basins, mountains, rilles, and domes.

Where Does the Phrase "Once in a Blue Moon" Come From?
We'll see a "blue Moon" next Friday, but what does that mean? From the Middle Ages to the game of Trivial Pursuit, a folklorist explores the origin of the phrase.
Glimpse the Moon's Far Side
You can see 9% more Moon than just what's on the near side — thanks to lunar libration.

Tycho: The Metropolitan Crater of the Moon
Tycho is the most conspicuous crater visible near full Moon, shining brilliantly and radiating great long rays. But the rays from Tycho that partially encircle the full Moon are not distributed equally in all directions.

The Mysteries of Plato
The crater Plato is one of the superstars for observers of the Moon. It's big, conspicuous with its dark floor ringed by a bright rim, and long a subject of speculation, and controversy.

Messier on the Moon
Oblique impact resolves the mystery of one of the most bizarre crater pairs on the Moon: Messier and Messier A. Previous explanations for this crater pair ranged from imaginative to fantastical. All were wrong.

Rings and Things
Mare Nectaris is the smallest of the circular maria on the Moon; lavas extend only 350 kilometers from shore to shore. But the Nectaris basin is beautifully defined by the spectacular Altai Scarp, which forms the southwestern rim of the basin.