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Celestial News & Events

Not in Australia? Watch Today's Eclipse Online

Watch today's total solar eclipse even if you haven't traveled Down Under. At 3:35 p.m. EST, the Moonwill cover the Sun for a maximum of 4 minutes and 2 seconds. Two sites will let you see the spectacle live online.

Celestial News & Events

Big Breakout on Jupiter

One of the big planet's iconic dark belts has been roiling with activity, rewarding observers with the most dramatic eruptions there since 1926.

Celestial News & Events

Perseids at Their Prime

The annual Perseid meteor shower peaks this weekend, providing skywatchers with a great opportunity to see some incoming bits of the cosmos.

Celestial News & Events

Sunspot 1520 Rolls Into View

The Sun's spottiness continues with a giant magnetic blotch stretched just below its equator.

Celestial News & Events

2012 Venus Transit: S&T Reports

Clouds, veering cabbies, and old optics didn’t deter committed spectators of this last-chance astronomical event.

Pro-Am Collaboration

Join the "Target Asteroids!" Project

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!

Celestial News & Events

Venus Passes the Pleiades

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.

Celestial News & Events

Exciting Event on Mars!

Observers are reporting an unusual event on the Red Planet, well placed for western U.S. residents this evening.

Astronomy & Observing News

The Ultimate Mobile Guide to Saturn

Our new SaturnMoons app guides you around the ringed planet as it brightens in the night sky in advance of an April 28th opposition. Learn about Saturn's bizarre satellite family, then find the moons in your own scope.

Celestial News & Events

Portrait of an Angry Sun

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.

Celestial News & Events

Mars Takes Center Stage

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.

Celestial News & Events

Don't Miss the Brightest Objects in the Night Sky

The night's six or seven brightest objects are all visible simultaneously in late February and early March.

Celestial News & Events

Venus on the Rise

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.

Comet Lovejoy rounds the Sun

Solar System

Comet Lovejoy: A Solar Survivor

The odds were stacked against it, but a comet discovered just two weeks ago has passed just 116,000 miles from the Sun's surface and — like a celestial phoenix — reemerged into view. Here's the latest on what veteran observer John Bortle calls "one of the most extraordinary events in cometary history."

Celestial News & Events

Comet Garradd in Transition

A decently bright visitor from the solar system’s fringe has lingered in the evening sky for months. As it nears perihelion, Comet Garradd (C/2009 P1) will soon be seen better in northern morning skies before dawn.

Celestial News & Events

Rare Occultation by a Double Asteroid

Early on Tuesday, July 19th, lucky observers along a 120-mile-wide path from north-central California to central Saskatchewan have a chance to watch a big, enigmatic double asteroid briefly cover a relatively bright star in Aquarius.

Even if you're nowhere near the path, one enterprising observer plans a live webcast of the view through his telescopes during the event.

Animation of Neptune rotating on its axis

Celestial News & Events

Neptune in Motion

Sky and Telescope's editor Sean Walker puts together NASA's anniversary images of Neptune to create a movie that shows a day on the blue planet.

Celestial News & Events

Happy Birthday, Neptune!

On July 12th, Neptune completed one full circuit around the Sun since its discovery on the night of Sept 23-24, 1846.

Comet PANSTARRS

Celestial News & Events

A Comet Worth Waiting For?

Observers using the automated Pan-STARRS 1 telescope in Hawaii have found a new comet. As of right now, it might brighten to 1st magnitude in early 2013, but it's far too early to be certain of that.

Night Sky Sights

Ceres and Vesta in 2011

The two brightest asteroids are in fine view for binoculars or a telescope. Here are instructions and charts to find them.