SUNSET: 
Sky at a Glance | December 30th, 2011
Venus and Jupiter light the evenings as the new year arrives. Having already left Venus behind, the waxing Moon now passes Jupiter.
Meteor Showers in 2012
Sky & Telescope predicts that 2012's best meteor shower should be the Quadrantids in January, but this will also be a good year for the Perseids in August and the Geminids in December.
Sky at a Glance | December 23rd, 2011
Venus and the crescent Moon highlight Christmas Week twilights. And after ringing in the New Year, step outside for Sirius at the meridian.
Sky at a Glance | December 16th, 2011
As fall finally turns to winter on the Longest Night this week, Venus and Jupiter light the evening sky and Orion shines through the many hours of darkness.
S&T's Audio Sky Tour for December 2011
Venus lurks low in the western twilight after sunset. But after it gets good and dark, swing around to the east to see dazzling Jupiter, the King of Planets, amid a tower of brilliant early-winter stars that extends from the horizon to overhead.
Sky at a Glance | December 9th, 2011
Venus is easier to spot in twilight. Jupiter dominates the night. And the Geminid meteors peak on the nights of the 13th and 14th, though moonlight interferes.
Sky at a Glance | December 2nd, 2011
Venus and Jupiter both continue moving higher in the evening. And will you be positioned to see the eclipse of December's full Moon?
Tour December's Sky! | November 26th, 2011
Venus lurks low in the western twilight after sunset. But after it gets good and dark, swing around to the east to see dazzling Jupiter, the King of Planets, amid a tower of brilliant early-winter stars that extends from the horizon to overhead.
Sky at a Glance | November 18th, 2011
Venus stays up throughout twilight now. Jupiter blazes high all evening, the Mars-Regulus pair is up by midnight, and the Saturn-Spica pair shows at dawn.
Sky at a Glance | November 18th, 2011
Venus shines low in the twilight, Jupiter blazes high all evening, the Mars-Regulus pair is up after midnight, and the Saturn-Spica pair is up at dawn.
Sky at a Glance | November 11th, 2011
Jupiter is still close and big, and it's shining high in the southeast earlier now. The Mars-Regulus pair is up after midnight. And the Saturn-Spica pair has emerged from the dawn.
Sky at a Glance | November 4th, 2011
Jupiter is still essentially as close. big, and bright as at opposition last week. Watch the full Moon pass by it.
S&T's Audio Sky Tour for November 2011
With the return to Standard Time for North America and Europe, stargazers there can catch some of the evening's offerings before dinnertime. Venus and Jupiter are planetary bookends at sunset, with Venus lurking low in the western twilight just as the King of Planets rises in the east.
Tour November's Sky! | October 28th, 2011
With the return to Standard Time for North America and Europe, northern stargazers can catch some of the evening's offerings before dinnertime. Venus and Jupiter are planetary bookends at sunset, with Venus lurking low in the western twilight just as the King of Planets rises in the east.
Sky at a Glance | October 28th, 2011
Jupiter is at an unusually close opposition, as big as you'll ever see it. Venus and Mercury show themselves together briefly after sunset. And Comet Garradd glows on.
Sky at a Glance | October 21st, 2011
Venus and Mercury briefly peek into view after sunset. On the other side of the sky, blazing white Jupiter has nearly reached its unusually close opposition — and is as big as you'll ever see it.
Sky at a Glance | October 14th, 2011
Jupiter is as big and bright as it will appear this year, and getting higher all the time.
The Great World Wide Star Count
Join thousands of other "citizen scientists" in raising dark-sky awareness around the globe.
Sky at a Glance | October 7th, 2011
Jupiter is about as big and bright as it will appear this year. Look well to its lower right to catch Mira still in an unusually bright maximum. And the waning gibbous Moon passes Jupiter in the second half of the week.
S&T's Audio Sky Tour for October 2011
This is a month of transition: you can spot the Summer Triangle overhead as darkness falls and the winter mix of Orion, his dogs, and Taurus in the hours before sunrise. Jupiter peaks in brightness this month, and it dominates the sky from dusk until dawn.
