This observing guide gives you a range of choices for seeing double stars with your eyes alone, with binoculars or with a telescope. And some are easy to find. The post Double stars: How to find, observe and enjoy them first appeared on EarthSky.| Astronomy Essentials | EarthSky
Proxima Centauri is the nearest star to our sun at 4.22 light-years away. It's home to at least 3 planets and has massive solar flares. The post Proxima Centauri, the closest star to our sun first appeared on EarthSky.| Astronomy Essentials | EarthSky
The famous Halley’s Comet is the parent of 2 annual meteor showers: the Eta Aquariids in May and the Orionids in October. We witness these showers when we cross the comet’s orbit. But if we cross the orbit of Comet Halley twice each year, does that means there’s a chance that Earth and the comet will collide?| EarthSky
View larger. | Map showing the areas of visibility for the September 7, 2025, total lunar eclipse of the full Corn Moon. Image via Dominic Ford from In-The-Sky.org. Used with permission.On September 7, 2025, a total lunar eclipse of the full Corn Moon will sweep across Antarctica, Australia, Asia, the western Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, Europe, the eastern Atlantic Ocean and Africa. Total lunar eclipses can turn a deep shade of red and are often called a Blood Moon. How dark will the Sep...| EarthSky
Do you want to learn how to shoot photos of meteors? Geminid meteor in 2012. Image via Henry Shaw. Used with permission.We live in uncertain times. But things are always so much more peaceful, looking up. Please help EarthSky keep going!| EarthSky
Hooray! It’s meteor time! That’s right, the Draconid meteor shower starts in early October. Plus, they blend in with the popular Orionid meteor shower. And the Taurid meteor shower is ongoing now as well.| EarthSky
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Mandy Daniels captured this image on September 4, 2025, from the UK and wrote: “The waxing gibbous moon, showing 90% phase.” Thank you Mandy! See how to celebrate International Observe the Moon Night below.International Observe the Moon Night 2025| EarthSky
Have you ever wondered how many stars you can see in a dark sky?| EarthSky
The September equinox marks a moment of balance, when day and night are equal (nearly) across the globe. In 2025, the equinox occurs on September 22 at 18:19 UTC (1:19 p.m. CDT).That’s when the sun shines directly over Earth’s equator. This equinox brings spring to Earth’s Southern Hemisphere and autumn to the Northern Hemisphere. Join EarthSky’s Deborah Byrd as she explores the science behind the equinox, how Earth’s tilt shapes our seasons, and the signs of seasonal change all aro...| EarthSky
This is Timeanddate.com’s LIVE stream of the partial solar eclipse on September 21, 2025. It’s visible from New Zealand, where it will be early morning on September 22. Thank you, Timeanddate! The stream begins at 1 p.m. CDT on September 21. Watch in the player above or on YouTube.| EarthSky
On September 20-21, 2025, Earth will fly between Saturn and the sun, bringing Saturn opposite the sun in our sky … to what astronomers call “opposition.” In opposition, Saturn rises at sunset and is visible all night. Its rings are at their widest and brightest for the year. Saturn at opposition is a stunning sight through any small telescope. Join EarthSky’s Deborah Byrd as she explores Saturn’s rings, moons, and celestial path, and learn how to spot this night sky giant during the...| EarthSky
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Eric Jensen in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, shared this “montage of the lunar eclipse” on March 14, 2025. Thanks, Eric!How to watch a total lunar eclipse| EarthSky
Venus passed between us and the sun on March 23. At that time, it moved from the evening sky to the morning sky. Now Venus is shining very brightly in the east before sunrise every morning. It’ll reach greatest brilliancy on April 27, 2025, lying not far from 2 faint-and-hard-to-see planets Saturn and Mercury. Over the coming weeks, Venus will also be climbing farther from the eastern horizon before sunrise. It’ll reach its greatest distance from the sun on May 31-June 1, 2025. Chart via ...| EarthSky
Meteors in annual showers have a radiant point, a point in the sky from which all the meteors appear to radiate, marked by an O in this image from Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0).Meteor showers have a radiant point| EarthSky
Join the EarthSky team at 12:15 p.m. CDT (17:15 UTC) on Wednesday, October 16, to find out more about 2024’s closest and brightest supermoon: the Super Hunter’s Moon! Image by Riste Spiroski in Ohrid, Macedonia. Click in to be notified of the livestream. | EarthSky
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Cecille Kennedy from Oregon shared this image on October 17, 2024, and wrote: “The Hunter’s Supermoon is the largest of four supermoons in 2024. The full moon’s effulgence shone through the thin fog cover. Its lower rim, the lower edge is deep crimson.” Thank you, Cecille! The 4th of 4 full supermoons in a row is the Super Beaver Moon on November 15, 2024.What are supermoons?| EarthSky
In December 2024, bright Venus continues ascending in the evening sky and will move through the constellations of Sagittarius, Capricornus and Aquarius. Venus will remain a brilliant evening star through March 2025. It’ll reach its greatest distance from the sunset in January 2025. It will shine at magnitude -4.4 by the end of month and be dazzling in the evening sky. Chart via EarthSky.In December 2024, Venus – Earth’s brightest planet – is shining in the western twilight after sunse...| EarthSky
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Amr Abdulwahab captured this image of the Milky Way on July 8, 2022. Amr wrote: “Sahara el Beyda, the White Desert Protected Area, is a national park in Egypt, first established as a protected area in 2002. It is located in the Farafra depression, 28 miles (45 km) north of the town of Qsar El Farafra. Part of the park is in the Farafra Oasis (New Valley Governorate). The park is the site of large white chalk rock formations, created through erosion by wi...| EarthSky
What is a variable star? Astronomers know millions of them, and you might find one in any part of the sky. Among the stars in this image of the central region of the Milky Way galaxy, there are 2 known Cepheid variables. They vary due to internal changes in the star. Image via ESO/ VVV consortium/ D. Minniti.Many stars are not constant| EarthSky
The Hubble Space Telescope captured this close-up, off-center image of the globular cluster M5 in 2015. Image via HST/ NASA/ ESA/ APOD.| EarthSky
A hypothetical representation of a blue-colored moon. Blue-colored moons are extremely rare. They happen in a region that has experienced a major wildfire or a volcanic eruption. For example, people saw blue-colored moons after Krakatoa’s 1883 eruption and Mount St. Helens’ 1980 eruption. Will the August 19, 2024, full Blue supermoon look this color? No. It’ll be a Blue Moon in name only. Image via BlueHypercane761/ Wikimedia Commons (public domain).Next Blue Moon: August 19, 2024| EarthSky
As the Earth orbits the sun, the sun appears to move against the background stars (red line). The constellations (green) through which the sun passes define the zodiac. Image via Tau’olunga/ Wikipedia.The zodiac, the 12 signs listed in a horoscope, is closely tied to how the Earth moves through the sky. We derive these signs from the constellations that mark out the path that the sun appears to take through the year. You might think that dates in a horoscope correspond to when the sun passe...| EarthSky
The brightest stars to the eye are 1st magnitude, and dimmest stars to the eye are 6th magnitude. How does stellar magnitude work in astronomy?| EarthSky | Updates on your cosmos and world
Some extremely large and hot stars blaze away with the luminosity of a million suns! But other stars look bright only because they're near Earth.| EarthSky | Updates on your cosmos and world
The large yellow shell depicts a light-year; the smaller yellow shell depicts a light-month. Read more about this image at Wikimedia Commons.Help! EarthSky needs your support to continue. Our yearly crowd-funding campaign is going on now. Donate here.| EarthSky
Use this “handy” guide to measure degrees – or sky measurements – on the dome of the sky. Image via timeanddate.com. Used with permission.How do you describe how far apart something is in the sky? The fact is, the handiest measuring stick for the sky’s dome is the one on the end of your arm. You can use the width of your pinky, fist and more to gauge the distance between sky objects. That comes in handy when you’re observing conjunctions between planets, or close planets and stars...| EarthSky
In 2023, the Northern Hemisphere's Harvest Moon falls overnight September 28-29, or almost six days after the September equinox. It's also a supermoon.| EarthSky | Updates on your cosmos and world
View full size. | World map of time zones. UTC (0) is the green vertical stripe just to the left of center. Image via TimeZonesBoy/ CIA/ Wikimedia.Time zones| EarthSky
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Marsha Chan in Los Angeles, California, captured this celestial trifecta – of the Harvest Moon, a supermoon and a partial lunar eclipse – on September 17, 2024. Thank you, Marsha! The Harvest Moon is one of the North American full moon names.Cultures across the world have given special names to full moons, and this practice is very much alive in North America. Some almanacs assign full moon names by the month. On the other hand, other almanacs like to ...| EarthSky
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | John Scarrott captured both the aurora and star trails from Jersey in the Channel Islands on August 12, 2024. John wrote: “This is from my back window at Beaumont, Jersey, Channel Islands. This location is at 49.14 degrees, close to France, so quite a powerful aurora to have moving lights far down.” Thank you, John!What are star trails?| EarthSky
Satellite views of Earth on the solstices and equinoxes. From left to right, a June solstice, a September equinox, a December solstice and a March equinox. To understand these images, look at the poles. Notice that at the June solstice, the North Pole is in sunlight. At the December solstice, the South Pole is in sunlight. Read more about these images, which are via Robert Simmon (Sigma Space Corporation)/ NASA.June solstice in 2026| EarthSky
Venus started passing behind the sun yesterday, June 3. SOHO’s LASCO C2 captured Venus about to pass behind the sun (or, in this case, behind the spacecraft imagery equipment’s sun-occulter). The occultation of Venus behind the sun – the “anti-transit” – started around 14 UTC (9 a.m. central) on June 3 as seen by SOHO’s LASCO 2 imager. Venus takes many hours to go to its deepest point behind the sun. It’ll be most deeply behind the sun today, June 4. Meanwhile, the Venus super...| EarthSky
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Jose Zarcos Palma in Mina São Domingos, Mertola, Portugal, shared this image of the asterism known as the Winter Circle or Hexagon on December 26, 2022. Jose wrote: “I planned this composition to catch the great winter circle in an early stage of its ascension just behind the abandoned mining ruins of Achada do Gamo. We can clearly see Sirius in the constellation of Canis Major the Greater Dog near the chimney on the right side, just below Orion the Hun...| EarthSky
We counted down for months, in anticipation. And the total solar eclipse finally arrived on April 8, 2024. EarthSky hosted a livestream of the big event in cooperation with our friends at Timeanddate.com. So if you couldn’t make it to the line of totality – or were clouded out – watch here. | EarthSky
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Cecille Kennedy from Oregon shared this image on October 17, 2024, and wrote: “The Hunter’s Supermoon is the largest of four supermoons in 2024. The full moon’s effulgence shone through the thin fog cover. Its lower rim, the lower edge is deep crimson.” Thank you, Cecille!What’s a supermoon?| EarthSky
At superior conjunction, Venus or Mercury are behind the sun from Earth. At inferior conjunction, Venus or Mercury are between the Earth and sun. At greatest elongation, Venus or Mercury are most to one side of the sun. Around greatest elongation, these inner planets, Mercury and Venus, are at their greatest distances from the sun on our sky’s dome. Chart via EarthSky.What is an elongation?| EarthSky
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Vedant Pandey of India submitted this composite image of Mars racing toward its January 2025 opposition. Vedant wrote: “I used my 5-inch Maksutov telescope and smartphone camera to capture Mars over a period of 10 months.” Thank you, Vedant!| EarthSky
We are in our yearly meteor draught, the next major meteor shower is the Lyrids in Apri.| EarthSky
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Jonathan Charles Fox captured this image in New York on the December solstice in 2024. Jonathan wrote: “This is my back yard #lovewhereyoulive.” Thank you, Jonathan! It’s certainly a great backyard.The December solstice marks the sun’s southernmost point in the sky, for all of Earth, for this year. It comes at 15:03 UTC (9:03 a.m. CST) on December 21. Though no world body has decreed it, we in the Northern Hemisphere will celebrate the first day of...| 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
