Joe Rao

During a one-week time frame extending from Nov. 5th through Nov. 12, the Taurid meteor shower will be most active.

Reference Skies will be mainly clear tonight (Oct. 31) across the contiguous United States; making for ideal Halloween skywatching conditions. What will you be looking out for?

Early on Election Day morning, early risers will have an opportunity to observe the November Beaver Moon undergo a total eclipse.

On Tuesday, Oct. 25, the new moon will orbit between the sun and the Earth, causing a partial eclipse of the sun to take place.

For a few days centered on Oct. 21st each year, the Earth sweeps through a swarm of meteoroids known as the Orionids; widely scattered debris shed by the most famous of all comets, Halley's Comet.

The two most conspicuous star patterns whirling in their nightly course in the northern skies are the Big Dipper and the "W" of Cassiopeia the Queen.

During the late evening hours of Friday (Oct. 14), Mars will rendezvous with the moon in the night sky.

You can get a very good idea about where the moon will be in the sky during the eclipse by looking for it on Tuesday morning, Oct. 11.

On Saturday evening (Oct. 8), should local weather conditions permit, you'll be able to enjoy a view of a waxing gibbous moon hovering near to the "king of the planets," Jupiter.

Stars differ in size, luminosity and distance from us. We discuss how astronomers measure these three values to understand the three-dimensional sky.

This marks a rather auspicious week, for we will see Jupiter loom as large and as bright as it ever can get from our earthly vantage point.

The word equinox, from the Latin for "equal night," alludes to the fact that day and night are then of equal length worldwide on these dates. But this is not necessarily so.

Mars, the only planet whose surface we can see in any detail from the Earth, is now moving toward the best viewing position it will provide us until the year 2031.

The full moon of Saturday (Sept. 10) also carries the title of the Harvest Moon for those living in the Northern Hemisphere.

Several northern constellations have southern counterparts. Learn the stories behind constellations Corona Borealis and Corona Australis and the stars within them.

On Thursday Aug. 25 we will have an opportunity to catch sight of the two brightest objects in the night sky, Venus and the moon, engaged in a final morning dance.

A new image produced by the James Webb Space Telescope reveals new details of Stephan's Quintet, the very first compact galaxy group ever discovered.

Donald Edward Machholz was an American amateur astronomer who was the leading visual comet discoverer, credited with the visual discovery of 12 comets that bear his name.

On the morning of Friday (Aug. 19), the moon and Mars will both be visible in the eastern sky.

Check out the king of the planets meeting up with the moon on Aug. 14, throughout most of the night.

On Sunday night (August 14th), Saturn arrives at opposition, when it lies on the opposite side of the sky from the sun.

Because of the brightness of the moon, the best times to see the Perseid meteor shower this year will be during the predawn hours several mornings before the night of full moon.

The nearly full moon will likely spoil views of the Perseids this year. Here are six minor meteor showers that might give you the chance to spot "shooting stars."

On Wednesday (July 13) at 5 a.m. EDT (09:00 GMT), the moon will arrive at its closest point to the Earth for 2022.