The sky, March 22-27: Focus on M18 in star-rich region of Milky Way

The sky, March 22-27: Focus on M18 in star-rich region of Milky Way

Special to CosmicTribune.com, March 22, 2026 Excerpts from weekly Astronomy.com report. Sunday, March 22 Neptune reaches conjunction with the Sun at 7 A.M. EDT; it will reappear in mid-April in the morning sky. The Moon reaches perigee, the closest point to Earth in its orbit, at 7:40 A.M. EDT, when it will be 227,954 miles (366,856 […]

The sky, March 15-20: Uranus near Pleiades

The sky, March 15-20: Uranus near Pleiades

Special to CosmicTribune.com, March 15, 2026 Excerpts from weekly Astronomy.com report. Sunday, March 15 The distant ice giant Uranus is located in Taurus right now, not far from the famous (and easy-to-find) Pleiades star cluster, cataloged as M45. Tonight, the planet also sits a short distance due south of a 6th-magnitude field star of roughly the […]

The sky, Feb. 22-27: Moon and the Pleiades

The sky, Feb. 22-27: Moon and the Pleiades

Special to CosmicTribune.com, February 23, 2026 Excerpts from weekly Astronomy.com report. Sunday, February 22 A lovely crescent Moon is visible nearly all evening, setting around local midnight. If you’ve got a telescope, tonight is a great opportunity to view a famous trio of craters just south of the lunar equator and a bit west of Mare […]

The sky, Feb. 1-6: Full Snow Moon on Feb. 1

The sky, Feb. 1-6: Full Snow Moon on Feb. 1

Special to CosmicTribune.com, February 1, 2026 Excerpts from weekly Astronomy.com report. Sunday, February 1 Full Moon occurs at 5:09 P.M. EST, bringing the light of the February Snow Moon to our nighttime skies. This name may seem particularly apt, given the weather much of the U.S. has been experiencing as of late! The Snow Moon gains […]

The sky, Nov. 16-21: Leonid meteor shower peaks Nov. 17-18 in Southeast

The sky, Nov. 16-21: Leonid meteor shower peaks Nov. 17-18 in Southeast

Special to CosmicTribune.com, November 16, 2025 Excerpts from weekly Astronomy.com report. Sunday, November 16 Saturn’s moon Iapetus reaches western elongation today, when it is at its brightest. Now around 10th magnitude, you can find Iapetus some 10’ west of Saturn. The ringed planet is already above the horizon as the Sun sets; two hours later it […]

The sky, Oct. 19-24: Orionid meteor shower on Oct. 21

The sky, Oct. 19-24: Orionid meteor shower on Oct. 21

Special to CosmicTribune.com, October 19, 2025 Excerpts from weekly Astronomy.com report. Sunday, October 19 The Moon and Venus hang close together in the predawn sky, sharing the sky in the constellation Virgo. An hour before sunrise, look east to spot Venus, the brightest point of light, blazing at magnitude –3.9 nearly 7° above the horizon and […]

The sky, Oct. 3-10: Moon occults Pleiades on Oct. 9; Last Titan transit of Saturn until 2040

The sky, Oct. 3-10: Moon occults Pleiades on Oct. 9; Last Titan transit of Saturn until 2040

Special to CosmicTribune.com, October 6, 2025 Excerpts from weekly Astronomy.com report. Friday, October 3 There’s a new potential supernova candidate in a spiral galaxy located in Ursa Major, visible overnight for U.S. observers. If you’ve got an imaging scope or an astrophotography setup on a larger optical instrument, you may want to give it a try. […]

The sky, July 14-21: Planets on parade

The sky, July 14-21: Planets on parade

Special to CosmicTribune.com, July 15, 2024 Excerpts from weekly Sky&Telescope report. SUNDAY, JULY 14 ■ Uranus is in conjunction with Mars fairly low in the east before dawn on Monday morning July 15th. The two planets are magnitudes 5.8 and 0.9, respectively. Just before dawn Monday morning, use binoculars or a telescope to spot Uranus 0.6° to the north […]