Two editors headed to California, and a third to New Mexico, for May 20th's solar eclipse. Read their reports, along with those from S&T readers and featured pictures from our online photo gallery. We want to hear from you too!

On Sunday afternoon, those in central or western United States will have a "ringside" seat to the annular eclipse. Look here for links to last-minute planning tools — including weather forecasts along the track!

Two exciting sky events — May 20th's annular eclipse and June 5th/6th's transit of Venus — are coming up soon. Here's how to see these events worry-free.

Learn how to photograph the upcoming annular eclipse and transit of Venus.

If you're not in the path of this weekend's “ring of fire” eclipse, find out where you can view it online.

Venus is an ever thinner, ever taller crescent as it drops lower in the western twilight — on its way to transiting the face of the Sun in two weeks.

On the morning of Monday, June 4th, skywatchers in the Americas can catch a partial lunar eclipse low in the western sky before and/or during dawn.

On June 5th (in the Western Hemisphere) or June 6th (in the Eastern Hemisphere), Venus will pass across the face of the Sun for the second time in 8 years — and for the last time until 2117.

If you're an amateur observer with decent equipment and an itch to do some serious observing, a team from the OSIRIS-REx mission wants to hear from you!

The brightest planet has dominated the evening sky for months. But during May it sinks rapidly toward the setting Sun — and its historic transit across the solar disk in early June.

Follow the giant arc of bright planets that leads eastward from the just-set Sun: Venus low in the west, Mars midway up in the south, and Saturn over in the east. Then look overhead for the Big Dipper — the "Swiss Army knife" of the night sky.

This year features two "central" eclipses of the Sun: an annular in May (visible from western U.S. states) and a total in November that you'll have to travel to Australia or the South Pacific to see.

Sky & Telescope predicts that 2012's best meteor shower should be the Quadrantids in January, but this will also be a good year for the Perseids in August and the Geminids in December.

Observers have reported a "new star," now visible in the predawn sky, that can be seen in small telescopes or good binoculars.

Uranus and Neptune are easy to find with the aid of the charts in this article.

The crescent Moon lies close to crescent Venus just after twilight tonight, a great target for a good pair of binoculars.

The Red Planet (actually yellow-orange) is the brilliant "star" climbing steadily in the east these evenings. Now's your best chance to examine our next-out planetary neighbor.

The inbound comet C/2011 L4, discovered last year, has been brightening steadily the past few months. It could still fizzle — or it could become a pretty bauble in post-sunset skies next March.

If you've never tried to observe late April's Lyrid meteor shower, this might be the year to try — thanks to moonless skies and a peak that favors North America.

Noticed an exceptionally bright beacon in the evening sky? The planet Venus has begun its highest foray up the sky's dome, surprising at least one casual observer as it prepares for its conjunction with the Moon and Jupiter in March.

Venus is passing through the Pleiades in a breathtaking spectacle that reaches its peak on April 3rd. This unique pairing is part of a series of Venus events in 2012, culminating in the June transit of the Sun.

Comet Garradd (C/2009 P1) was closest to Earth in early March. So the moonless period in mid-March is your best remaining chance to view this remarkable comet, which is now conveniently placed in the evening sky.

The "King of Planets," which will dominate the evening sky from late 2011 through early 2012, is a captivating sight no matter how you look at it.

The source of titanic flares this past week, active region 11429 has just rotated off the Sun's disk. But it didn't escape before being captured in all its angry glory by Alan Friedman from his backyard in Buffalo, New York. Here's how he did it.