SUNSET: 
January Podcast: A Busy Start to 2024
If you’ve resolved to do more stargazing in the New Year, then 2024 will start you off with a bang! As told in this month’s Sky Tour astronomy podcast, you can look forward to some excellent celestial events.
This Week's Sky at a Glance, December 29 – January 5
Scintillating Sirius rises ever earlier to scintillate in colors. The Quadrantid meteors in the Thursday-morning dark are well timed for Eastern North America. Two triangle constellations stack over Jupiter.
Getting Started with Your New Telescope
How to start successfully with a new telescope — a guide to what you need to know, how to set it up, and things you can start finding with it in tonight's sky.
This Week's Sky at a Glance, December 22 – 31
Christmas week this year puts the late-night Moon at the highest overhead you'll ever see it. High Jupiter lights the evening. Venus is the bright "star" lower in the east at dawn.
Watch Jupiter's Moons in Unusual Lineups
You'll have five opportunities in the coming months to see Jupiter's moons in interesting alignments.
This Week's Sky at a Glance, December 15 – 24
The waxing Moon passes Saturn, jumps over Jupiter, then jumps the Pleiades. Sirius and Procyon rise earlier, but the Summer Triangle still hangs on.
Vesta Sets Sail Across Orion
Look who's visiting this winter in Orion: Vesta, a bright asteroid with a dark side.
Explore the Night with Bob King
Get Ready to Greet the Geminid Meteor Shower!
The year's most spectacular meteor shower is upon us. Prepare to enjoy the Geminids under a dark, moonless sky, when you might see more than 100 meteors per hour.
This Week's Sky at a Glance, December 8 – 17
The best meteor shower of the year peaks late Wednesday night. And if you're not positioned to see the tiny asteroid occult Betelgeuse Monday evening, watch by livestream!
This Week's Sky at a Glance, December 1 – 9
These moonless evenings open up the deep sky. For many of us the viewing is especially crisp through the low-humidity December air. The Big Dipper lies low, Cassiopeia stands high, and the Andromeda Galaxy crosses the zenith.
December Podcast: A Tower of Brilliant Stars
This month’s Sky Tour podcast introduces you to a “tower of brilliance” in the eastern evening sky, along with tips for finding four planets and watching mid-December’s impressive Geminid meteor shower.
This Week's Sky at a Glance, November 24 – December 3
This Tuesday the 28th we will see the Moon rise in twilight as far north as it possibly can. Do you know why?
How Did the Ancients Predict Eclipses? The Saros Cycle
Before the advent of computers or even a working theory of the solar system, the ancients predicted solar eclipses. How did they do it?
Watch Uranus's Moon Titania Cover a Star Monday Night
Observers across much of the U.S. and Canada have a unique opportunity Monday night, November 20–21, to see Uranus's brightest moon occult a star.
This Week's Sky at a Glance, November 17 – 26
The bright gibbous Moon this week passes Saturn, then Jupiter, inviting telescopes of all sizes. And as winter approaches, Orion rises earlier and earlier.
Explore the Night with Bob King
Jupiter's Great Red Spot Just Keeps Getting Smaller
Jupiter's Great Red Spot may be reaching a milestone this year by shrinking to its smallest size in recorded observational history.
This Week's Sky at a Glance, November 10 – 19
The crescent Moon slips down into the sunrise and then up in the afterglow of sunset, guiding the way to the last stars of Sagittarius right after dark. A few days later it passes Saturn.
Meet Enif, the Nose of Pegasus
Enif, the nose of Pegasus, is a supergiant star and the brightest member of the constellation. Find out more about this star and its place in our skies.
This Week's Sky at a Glance, November 3 – 12
The Great Square, now upright, guides your way down to Fomalhaut and Diphda and, farther down, Alpha Phoenicis – a chance to add a new constellation to your life list. And plan to catch the Moon-Venus pairing in early dawn on the 9th.
Explore the Night with Bob King
How to See Freaky Starlink "Cluster Flares", Plus the Latest on Comet Lemmon
Alien invasion or flares from satellites in multiple orbits? It depends on your point of view. We also check in on Comet Lemmon, poised to possibly reach binocular-visibility.
