SUNSET: 
Mars Meets the Beehive
The Red Planet travels through one of the biggest and brightest star clusters in the sky from May 21st to the 24th. As a warm-up, stargazers watched Mars pass a hair's-breadth north of 5th-magnitude Eta Cancri on the evening of May 19th in easternmost America and the morning of the 20th in western Europe.
Catch Mercury at Its Best
Mercury is normally elusive, but it's putting on an extraordinarily good evening show for observers at mid-northern latitudes from late April through mid-May 2008.
Watch a Bright Star Wink Off and On
It's extremely unusual for a star that's visible to the unaided eye to be momentarily blotted out by a chunk of rock flying through outer space. But that's what's going to happen early on the morning of Thursday, April 17th, over the most densely populated section of the United States.
Pleiades Occultation Observed
The occultation of the Pleiades by the crescent Moon on April 8th was plagued by haze in Boston, but magnificent nonetheless.
Help Us Help You
Did you know that Venus is still visible in the morning sky in April 2008?
Fun in the Sun Continues
Don't miss the evolving sunspots now crossing the solar disk.
Go See the Sun
If you have a solar filter or another way to safely view the Sun, be sure to check out the latest group of sunspots marching across its disk.
Have You Seen the Zodiacal Light?
This pearly glow is surprisingly easy to see — if you know what to look for.
A Cloudy Comet and a Wispy Nebula
Comet Holmes is greatly dimmed from its glory days last fall, but this week it's passing the photogenic California Nebula.
Jupiter Stalks Venus in the Morning Sky
The sky's two brightest objects (aside from the Sun and Moon) are rapidly approaching each other in the pre-dawn sky.
A Speedy Asteroid — Captured!
It was faint, and it zipped across the sky at 3° per hour— but 2007 TU24 could be spotted with a good scope if you knew where and when to look.
Here Comes Asteroid 2007 TU24
An 800-foot-wide chunk of rock will pass less than a half million miles from Earth on the night of January 28th.
Mercury, Messenger, and Observers
As the first images are released from Messenger's flyby of the innermost planet, previous ground-based observations are proving to be surprisingly accurate.
Holmes: Victim of Its Own Success
I'm beginning to take Comet Holmes for granted.
The Other Bright Comet of 2007-08
Comet 8P/Tuttle is now near its peak. Although nowhere near Comet Holmes in total brightness, its light is concentrated in a much smaller area, making it considerably more prominent when viewed from typical suburban locations.
A Night in the Life of an S&T Editor
It's tricky deciding when to post an observing story on the Web.
Observe Mars Tonight!
Mars now appears bigger through a telescope than it will again until 2016.
Saturn in the Morning
The ringed planet is at its highest in the sky shortly before dawn in December. And the early-morning sky is full of other marvels, too.
Catching the Messenger of the Gods
Mercury is a rewarding challenge for planetary astrophotographers, as this amazing image by Massachusetts amateur John Boudreau demonstrates.
