This Week's Amazing Sky
June 12, 2019
Jupiter is at its closest to Earth today! This is your best chance of the year to see the biggest planet in our solar system at its very brightest. Even a set of 10x binoculars will be enough to see Jupiter’s four brightest Moons—Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto. No telescope needed.
Jupiter’s Opposition
Two days ago (June 10) was Jupiter’s “opposition.” Our planet Earth flew between the Sun and Jupiter, placing Jupiter opposite the Sun in our sky.
On June 12, 2019, Jupiter and Earth reaches... more
May 14, 2019
The Full Flower Moon arrives this Saturday night, May 18. And while this one will be a very special full moon for a few reasons, which we’ll get to in a minute, it’s also an unusual Blue Moon. What does this all mean? Here’s everything you need to know.
A Seasonal Blue Moon
This year, May’s full moon—which the Almanac calls the “Full Flower Moon”—is also a “Blue Moon.”
You’ve more than likely heard this term before, but what does it mean, exactly? Believe it or not, Blue Moon is a fairly modern... more
May 6, 2019
It sounds like a children’s book. But even we grown ups have to say goodbye to loved ones from time to time. On the night of May 7, the Moon and Mars pair up for a striking conjunction, and then we bid farewell to Mars and the winter stars. Here are viewing details.
Moon and Mars Conjunction
Just step out into the evening soon soon after nightfall on Tuesday, May 7 as the last fading fragments of twilight are welcoming in the night. You’ll want to find an unobstructed view of the horizon in... more
March 23, 2019
Few seem to realize that the Sun in April is as strong as it is in August, especially once we hit the middle of the month. Solar fear and confusion still abound. The marketing of ultrablocking sunscreens and special sun-protective clothing plays into these fears. I certainly got repeatedly surprised when I researched the Sun’s health effects.
Sunlight Lifts Your Mood
Everyone probably instinctively senses that sunlight enhances their mood and whittles away depression. This may be due to the... more
March 21, 2019
The Big Dipper is an old friend to most of us. Poetically, it is spring itself, the season of renewal. Just go outside in early evening, and you’ll see stars shaped in a dipper pattern high in the northeastern sky.
Looming large in the night sky, the Big Dipper’s shape is mutating and will appear different in just a few thousand years, but it hasn’t changed a bit since we were kids.
What is the Big Dipper?
Curiously, the Big Dipper is not even a constellation but a so-called asterism, a “... more
February 15, 2019
On Tuesday, February 19, 2019, the full Moon reaches 2019’s closest approach to Earth. The media will call it a supermoon, astronomers will call it lunar perigee. Regardless of the name, it will be the nearest, largest, and brightest full Moon of the year—and will produce the strongest tides.
This nearest full Moon of the year will reach its peak on Tuesday, February 19, at 10:53 A.M. EST. “Perigee,” the official astronomical term for the nearest point in the Moon’s orbit to Earth, is three... more
January 17, 2019
On Sunday evening, January 20, we’ll see the finest total eclipse of 2019, visible from all of North America. How long will the eclipse last? When is the eclipse visible? Here are the times for watching the eclipse on Sunday—and how it will all unfold. This event is definitely worth observing. Kids particularly love lunar eclipses, and remember them vividly their whole lives.
When Earth passes directly between the Sun and the Moon, a lunar eclipse takes place.
Image: NASA
Viewing the Eclipse: ... more
January 9, 2019
On Sunday, January 20, we’ll see the only total lunar eclipse of 2019—and the last one until 2021. Here’s what to look forward to.
The “Super Blood Wolf Moon” Total Lunar Eclipse
Yes, that’s really what this event is being called in the media (and yes, it is a mouthful). Let’s break the name down into bite-size pieces:
Total Lunar Eclipse: This is the most important part of the name because it tells you what exactly you’re looking at. A total lunar eclipse occurs when the Earth is positioned ... more
December 26, 2018
Want to welcome 2019 in grand style? So happens, the year begins with an eye-catching celestial alignment that will light up the eastern sky at the first dawn of 2019. Watch the Moon, Venus, Jupiter, and Mercury line up—and connect the dots! Here are Bob’s viewing tips.
Three planets and the crescent Moon will create a string of pearls early New Year’s morning. Maybe it’ll be easy to see, if your New Year’s Eve celebration runs very late.
Viewing Tips
Some 40 minutes before sunrise on January 1... more
December 19, 2018
Winter solstice 2018 brings a wonderful weekend of night sky wonders—a full Moon, a meteor shower, and a beautiful conjunction of planet Jupiter and Mercury. Here’s all you need to know.
The winter solstice, of course, is one of the biggest and most ancient annual events. We also call it the December solstice, since December 21st marks the start of summer for our Kiwi and Aussie friends, and everyone else in the southern hemisphere.
A Two-for-One Deal
The winter solstice—marking the... more
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Welcome to “This Week’s Amazing Sky,” the Almanac’s hub for everything stargazing and astronomy. Bob Berman, longtime and famous astronomer for The Old Farmer’s Almanac, will help bring alive the wonders of our universe. From the beautiful stars and planets to magical auroras and eclipses, he covers everything under the Sun (and Moon)! Bob, the world’s mostly widely read astronomer, also has a new weekly podcast, Astounding Universe!
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