Solstice The June solstice happens at 08:25 UT on the 21st. So the nights are shortest this month for northern hemisphere observers and longest for those south of the equator. Evening sky Three naked eye planets are lined up in the evening sky. All three spend the first ten days of the month within the […]

Southern hemisphere sky watchers get a good view of three naked eye planets lined up in the morning as May begins. Those with binoculars or telescopes can also see a fourth. In order from top to bottom are Neptune, Saturn, Mars, and Mercury. They’re lined up sort of along one of the Pisces fish. Mercury […]

As April begins, the moon is just south of the equator and almost full. While it’s setting on the western edge of the sky dome before and during dawn, you can look for two planets rising together in the east. Two more are joining them. Not everyone gets a fair chance to see all of […]

Total lunar eclipse The big event for most people this month will be the total lunar eclipse. It’s on March 3, Universal Time. The moon’s disk goes through the central part of Earth’s shadow for observers in Asia, most of the Indian Ocean, Australia, the Pacific, and most of the Americas. The moon’s setting in […]

The new month starts with a full moon. In most months, when the moon’s full on the first day, it’s full again late in the month. But not with February. With 29.5 days on average between full moons, an ordinary February isn’t long enough for a second full moon. For two in one month, we […]

Three naked eye planets are completely or mostly out of sight this month. A few people may catch a glimpse of Mercury early on. Venus and Mars are simply too close to the sun all month. Earth is at perigee just a few days into the month. Our planet will be 98.3% of its average […]