The moon illusion makes the moon look huge!
The moon illusion is a trick of the mind| EarthSky
Larry Sessions has written many favorite posts in EarthSky's Tonight area. He's a former planetarium director in Little Rock, Fort Worth and Denver and an adjunct faculty member at Metropolitan State University of Denver. He's a longtime member of NASA's Solar System Ambassadors program. His articles have appeared in numerous publications including Space.com, Sky & Telescope, Astronomy and Rolling Stone. His small book on world star lore, Constellations, was published by Running Press.| earthsky.org
Don became interested in astronomy at age 8. He received his 1st telescope in 1965, a 2-inch (5cm) refractor. Later he received a 6-inch (15 cm) Criterion Dynascope and found all the Messier Objects in one year (1969-70). He began his 1st comet hunting program in 1975 and found his 1st comet in 1978, after 1700 hours of searching. His 2nd comet took an additional 1742 hours. He ultimately discovered a total of 12 comets, which bear his name. In 1978, Don was one of the independent inventors o...| earthsky.org
Bruce McClure served as lead writer for EarthSky's popular Tonight pages from 2004 to 2021, when he opted for a much-deserved retirement. He's a sundial aficionado, whose love for the heavens has taken him to Lake Titicaca in Bolivia and sailing in the North Atlantic, where he earned his celestial navigation certificate through the School of Ocean Sailing and Navigation. He also wrote and hosted public astronomy programs and planetarium programs in and around his home in upstate New York.| earthsky.org
The Teapot asterism in the constellation Sagittarius marks the direction in our sky to the center of our Milky Way galaxy. The green line marks the ecliptic, or sun’s path across our sky. And we’ve marked the winter solstice point, where the sun resides around December 21. Chart via EarthSky.Come to know the Teapot of Sagittarius| EarthSky
Cassiopeia overhead on autumn evenings| EarthSky
Delta Scorpii, also known as Dschubba, is in the constellation Scorpius the Scorpion. It’s the middle star in the little arc of 3 stars above bright red star Antares, the Scorpion’s Heart. These 3 stars are called the Crown of the Scorpion. Chart via Wikimedia (public domain).Finding (and pronouncing) Dschubba| EarthSky
Kelly Kizer Whitt - EarthSky’s nature and travel vlogger on YouTube - writes and edits some of the most fascinating stories at EarthSky.org. She's been writing about science, with a focus on astronomy, for decades. She began her career at Astronomy Magazine and made regular contributions to other outlets, including AstronomyToday and the Sierra Club. She has nine published books, including a children's picture book, Solar System Forecast, and a young adult dystopian novel, A Different Sky.| earthsky.org
Members of the EarthSky community - including scientists, as well as science and nature writers from across the globe - weigh in on what's important to them.| earthsky.org
Our Editor-in-Chief Deborah Byrd works to keep all the astronomy balls in the air between EarthSky's website, YouTube page and social media platforms. She's the primary editor of our popular daily newsletter and a frequent host of EarthSky livestreams. Deborah created the EarthSky radio series in 1991 and founded EarthSky.org in 1994. Prior to that, she had worked for the University of Texas McDonald Observatory since 1976, and created and produced their Star Date radio series. She has won a ...| earthsky.org
Closest spiral galaxy: Andromeda is the nearest spiral galaxy to our own Milky Way galaxy.| EarthSky
The 3 brightest stars in this image make up the asterism of the Summer Triangle, a giant triangle in the sky composed of the bright stars Vega (top left), Altair (lower middle) and Deneb (far left). Also in this image, under a dark sky and on a moonless night, is the Great Rift, that passes right through the Milky Way and the Summer Triangle. Image via NASA/ A. Fujii/ ESA.| EarthSky
Here’s an easy way to use the prominent M or W shape of Cassiopeia to locate the Double Cluster in Perseus.Double Cluster in Perseus| EarthSky
We are in our yearly meteor draught, the next major meteor shower is the Lyrids in Apri.| EarthSky
Argh! They’re at it again. Memes are circulating suggesting a planet alignment in early June 2025. True or not true? Night sky expert Deborah Byrd of EarthSky has the scoop – plus a REAL planet forecast for June – beginning at 12:15 p.m. CDT (17:15 UTC) on Monday, June 2. Join live, and we’ll answer your questions!| EarthSky
