Just about everyone's favorite planet is back in our evening sky once again. The ringed beauty Saturn reaches its "opposition" point in late August (officially on Aug. 27) when it appears as a fairly bright "star" that rises in... — Updated 9/14/2023

A few years have passed since we in North America enjoyed a good eclipse of the sun. Over the next eight months, however, we'll experience two of them, and I want to give you plenty of warning to determine if, when, where and how... — Updated 9/14/2023

Much as we measure the intensity of natural phenomena such as earthquakes or tornadoes with a "magnitude," we also use the term to refer to a star's brightness. Unfortunately, many beginning stargazers are mystified by this... — Updated 9/14/2023

My regular readers have surely become accustomed to seeing some pretty big numbers. For example, in any one article, I might explain that our Milky Way galaxy is home to hundreds of billions of stars, that our sun produces 400 mill... — Updated 9/14/2023

Summer is now upon us in the Earth's Northern Hemisphere, and with it comes a changing canopy of stars that always transports me back to childhood. It was a simpler, more innocent time – a time when neighbors sat on their p... — Updated 9/5/2023

While you're out enjoying the pool this summer and soaking up some rays, try this fun experiment. Ask some friends which season of the year they think the Earth is nearest to the sun. Unless your acquaintances are atypical, I'll... — Updated 7/18/2023

Long ago, when I was in grade school, I counted the days until the start of summer. There was always something exciting to me about that time of year. Perhaps it was that I would have no homework to do for nearly three months or... — Updated 7/18/2023

Early morning sky watchers may notice a new star in their sky. OK, it's not really a "new" star, but it hasn't been easily visible for nearly a year. Its name is Mira, and it's what astronomers know as a long-period variable star.... — Updated 7/18/2023

What a beautiful Chicago evening it was on May 27, 1933. Crowds had begun gathering at the fairground earlier that day, for this was an event they had awaited for many years. Much as they do today, event organizers had engaged the... — Updated 6/13/2023

At the beginning of June, the planet Mars will make a beautiful pass in front of the Beehive star cluster, and if you've got a small, low-powered telescope, you'll have a front-row seat. You can see this cluster fairly well on a... — Updated 6/13/2023

I remember six decades ago sitting in Miss Schnitzer's fourth-grade classroom and getting my first formal taste of astronomy. I always looked forward to hearing her tell us of all the amazing properties of the planets of our solar... — Updated 5/1/2023

One of my least favorite household chores is dusting. Here in the desert, if I let it go more than a week, I can trace my name on the coffee table. After a month, geologists can easily do sediment dating there! If this sounds... — Updated 4/28/2023

Have you ever been disappointed to search for a constellation figure in the heavens only to discover that it was utterly impossible? Trust me, you're not alone! Take, for example, the flying steed known as Pegasus. I defy anyone... — Updated 3/28/2023

Believe it or not, there remain quite a few people who still think we live on a flat Earth. How they've managed to escape exposure to scientific advances of the past two millennia I'll never know. Perhaps they think that these are... — Updated 3/16/2023

If you've ever quit an evening of stargazing in frustration because you couldn't find a great bear, an archer or a winged horse in the sky, take heart. Neither can I. Unfortunately, some beginning skywatchers expect to see such... — Updated 2/2/2023

You may have noticed a brilliant "star" shining in the southwestern sky at dusk, but you might have missed the other one not far above it. Actually, these aren't "stars" at all; they're planets – the brightest in all the heavens al... — Updated 1/20/2023

One of my favorite constellations in all the heavens has made its grand reappearance in our evening sky, much as Robert Frost described in the opening lines of his famous poem "Star-Splitter": "You know Orion always comes up... — Updated 1/10/2023

It began as a five-verse poem called "The Star" that appeared in the 1806 publication "Rhymes for the Nursery." More than three decades later, this poem by Ann and Jane Taylor was set to music: a 1761 French folk tune that,... — Updated 1/6/2023

It's always fun to ask stargazers why they believe that, if Mercury is the closest planet to the sun, it's not also the hottest of our solar system. That honor belongs to Venus, nearly twice as far from the searing heat of our star... — Updated 1/4/2023

It's December, and with it come colder temperatures throughout much of the Northern Hemisphere and, in the sky, the most prolific meteor shower of the year: the Geminids. Never heard of it? Well, that's not a huge surprise. If you... — Updated 12/20/2022

Stand just once beneath the shimmering curtains of the northern lights – the aurora borealis – and you will never forget the experience. They are without question the most hauntingly beautiful and unearthly of all natural phenomena... — Updated 11/28/2022

Whenever I spot the constellation Taurus, the bull, rising in the east after dark, I know that winter can't be far behind. Stargazers with a vivid imagination might be able to trace the stars of Taurus into the outline of a bull's... — Updated 11/22/2022

Did you ever wonder what folks did for entertainment before we had television and social media? Well, before TV and the internet there was radio. And before radio – long before radio – there was... well... the sky. People decades o... — Updated 11/14/2022

I remember as a kid sitting in our front room next to our small black-and-white Motorola television set as my dad introduced me to many of the comedy teams of his day. What a treat it was to share laughter with him over such... — Updated 11/10/2022

Who among us has never gazed into a starry night sky and wondered, "Are we alone in the universe?" With the hundreds of billions of stars in just our own Milky Way galaxy – with possibly trillions of other galaxies beyond – is it n... — Updated 10/6/2022