The sky, Sept. 13-18: Venus at its brightest, low in the West

The sky, Sept. 13-18: Venus at its brightest, low in the West

Special to CosmicTribune.com, September 13, 2026 Excerpts from weekly Astronomy.com report. Sunday, September 13 Blazing at magnitude –4.8, Venus is nearing its greatest illuminated extent and stands out as an unmissable evening star after sunset. This evening it is joined by a lovely thin crescent Moon as the pair hangs together in Virgo the Maiden, near […]

The sky: September 6-11:

The sky: September 6-11:

Special to CosmicTribune.com, September 6, 2026 Excerpts from weekly Sky & Telescope.com report. Sunday, September 6 The waning crescent Moon lies in Gemini today, not far from the 3rd-magnitude star Epsilon (ε) Geminorum, roughly around where western twin Castor’s knee would be. Mars is also in Gemini, closer to the midsection of the eastern twin, Pollux. […]

The sky, Aug. 30-Sept. 4: Venus and Spica in conjunction

The sky, Aug. 30-Sept. 4: Venus and Spica in conjunction

Special to CosmicTribune.com, August 30, 2026 Excerpts from weekly Sky & Telescope.com report. SUNDAY, AUGUST 30 ■ The waning gibbous Moon rises in the east in late twilight. Saturn follows it up about 30 minutes later. Another hour and they’re nicely high free and clear. Although they look close together (about 5°), Saturn is currently 3,400 […]

The sky, August 3-7: Saturn high in the South before dawn

The sky, August 3-7: Saturn high in the South before dawn

Special to CosmicTribune.com, August 2, 2026 Excerpts from weekly Astronomy.com report. Sunday, August 2 Mercury reaches its greatest western elongation at 4 A.M. EDT, standing 19° from the Sun. The tiny planet reaches an altitude of almost 5° above the eastern horizon an hour before sunrise, glowing at magnitude 0.2. Over to the far right of […]

The sky, July 19-24; Recalling July 20, 1969 when the Eagle landed

The sky, July 19-24; Recalling July 20, 1969 when the Eagle landed

Special to CosmicTribune.com, July 19, 2026 Excerpts from weekly Astronomy.com report. Sunday, July 19 Right as the Moon is setting this evening, the planetary nebula NGC 6563 in Sagittarius is reaching the highest point in its path across the sky. This oval-shaped bubble of gas, generated as well as lit up by a dying Sun-like star […]

The sky, July 5-10: M4 near Antares

The sky, July 5-10: M4 near Antares

Special to CosmicTribune.com, July 5, 2026 Excerpts from weekly Sky & Telescope.com report. SUNDAY, JULY 5 ■ And while you’re doing globulars, here’s a rather different one. Explore the area around Antares using Matt’s column and chart in the June 2026 Sky & Telescope, page 43. In Antares’s binocular field is M4, bigger and closer to us but […]

The sky, June 29-July 3: Monday’s ‘Strawberry Moon’ temporarily outshines faint objects

The sky, June 29-July 3: Monday’s ‘Strawberry Moon’ temporarily outshines faint objects

Special to CosmicTribune.com, June 28, 2026 Excerpts from weekly Astronomy.com report. Special to CosmicTribune.com, June 21, 2026 Sunday, June 28 The Moon reaches apogee, the farthest point from Earth in its orbit, at 3:11 A.M. EDT. At that time, our satellite will be 252,441 miles (406,264 kilometers) away. The planet Mercury stands stationary tonight at 10 […]

The sky, May 24-29: Observing lunar libration

The sky, May 24-29: Observing lunar libration

Special to CosmicTribune.com, May 24, 2026 Excerpts from weekly Astronomy.com report. Sunday, May 24 Moving through vast Virgo, 11th-magnitude asteroid 13 Egeria is passing near some stationary background stars tonight, offering an excellent chance to chart its motion over the course of a few hours. By May 25, Mercury is readily visible in the evening sky […]

The sky, May 17-22: Venus blazes at -3.9 magnitude

The sky, May 17-22: Venus blazes at -3.9 magnitude

Special to CosmicTribune.com, May 17, 2026 Excerpts from weekly Astronomy.com report. Sunday, May 17 The Moon reaches perigee, the closest point to Earth in its orbit, at 9:44 A.M. EDT. At that time, our satellite will be 222,498 miles (358,076 kilometers) away. Springtime viewing of the zodiacal light will soon come to an end — so […]

The sky, May 3-8: Early morning meteor shower from Halley Comet debris

The sky, May 3-8: Early morning meteor shower from Halley Comet debris

Special to CosmicTribune.com, May 4, 2026 Excerpts from weekly Astronomy.com report. Sunday, May 3 Venus officially passes 7° north of Aldebaran at 3 A.M. EDT this morning. But the bigger story occurs late tonight, as the Moon rises around 10:30 P.M. local daylight time in northwestern Scorpius and passes 0.5° south of Alpha (α) Scorpii, better […]

1 2 3 7