Joe Rao

Palm Sunday, March 28 brings us the first full moon of the new spring season: the Paschal full moon.

Spring will officially arrive on Saturday morning (March 20) with the occurrence of the vernal equinox.

Mars will be easy to spot in the night sky Friday (March 19) as it makes a close approach to the crescent moon.

Within Orion we find two immense stars, Rigel and Betelgeuse, apparently at diametrically opposite periods in a star's existence.

If you look low in the east-southeast sky at around 5:45 a.m. local time, you'll see them: the biggest planet in our solar system passing unusually close to the smallest planet in the solar system.

A new comet is on its way in toward the sun, with prospects that it may become bright enough to see with the unaided eye by year's end.

One astronomical term which is rarely used anymore is "combust," which refers to a celestial body that appears to be in such close proximity to the sun that it is impossible to observe.

Eight bright stars dominate our current winter sky. Depending on how you look at them, you might see a graceful arc, a hexagon or a giant "G."

A spectacular gathering of bright planets will be the chief celestial attraction in the evening sky this weekend as Jupiter, Saturn and Mercury appear to crowd into tight quarters.

The Quadrantid meteor shower of 2021 peaks overnight on Jan. 2 and 3, but the bright moon will spoil the view.

There is one more meteor shower to consider before we close the book on 2020: the December Ursid meteor shower, which usually occurs during the overnight hours of Dec. 21-22.

We are now closing in on the long-awaited night of Dec. 21, when Jupiter and Saturn will engage in their "great conjunction."

Before the historic "great conjunction" of Jupiter and Saturn on Dec. 21, the planets will have a close encounter with the crescent moon on Wednesday and Thursday (Dec. 16-17).

It would only seem appropriate that the final eclipse in this eccentric year of 2020 will be visible only from Patagonia — nicknamed "the end of the world."

The Geminid meteor shower, which will likely be the very best meteor display of the year, is just around the corner, predicted to peak late on Sunday night (Dec. 13).

Early on Monday morning (Nov. 30), careful skywatchers across all of North America can watch the full moon undergo a slight penumbral eclipse.

What did the starry sky look like on the occasion of the very first Thanksgiving?

See the moon and Mars rendezvous in the evening sky this Wednesday (Nov. 25).

One of the most famous annual meteor showers is reaching its peak — the Leonids. These ultrafast meteors are due to crest overnight tonight and into early Tuesday morning (Nov. 16-17).

The two "inferior" planets are teaming up with the moon and one of the brightest stars in the sky to put on a lovely show in the predawn morning skies of Thursday and Friday (Nov. 12-13).

If skies are clear during this upcoming week, be sure to take a few moments to gaze upward. You just might be lucky and catch a glimpse of a spectacularly bright meteor — a Taurid meteor.

t's World Series time once again, so it may be of interest to baseball fans that there are two star patterns that very much resemble two baseball diamonds in our current evening sky.

During the "Great Conjunction" on Dec. 21, 2020, Jupiter and Saturn will be about one-tenth of a degree apart, their closest approach since 1623.