Joe Rao

The Perseid meteor shower, one of the most dependable annual showers, peaks on Aug. 12 and 13, and this year looks great for meteor watchers in North America.

One of the best meteor displays of the year will be visible soon: The Perseid Shower. But there also are a number of minor meteor displays that will be peaking in the next couple of weeks.

Mars and Venus have been brilliant in the night sky for many months on end but will soon say farewell as July 2023 comes to a close.

Earth reaches the farthest point in its orbit around the sun for 2023, called aphelion, on Thursday (July 6) at a distance of 94,506,364 miles (152,093,250 km).

Fifty years ago, on Saturday, June 30, 1973, one of the longest total eclipses of the sun in modern times took place.

There are very special cases, when the sky is very clear and exceptionally transparent, that a green flash can be glimpsed just as the very topmost part of the sun is rising or setting.

June 21, the day of the northern summer solstice, has much more than 15 hours of sunlight if the extensive twilight periods around dusk and dawn are taken into account.

The crescent moon joins Mars, Venus and some of the brightest stars to kick off the summer 2024 skywatching season.

Night owls and early risers will be treated to a late-night spectacle as a bright Jupiter and the moon will appear close together in the night sky overnight.

Within the stars of the Spring Triangle is the "Realm of the Galaxies," a veritable treasure trove of numerous star cities.

Forty years ago this month, there came a show stopping celestial sight — literally a bolt out of the blue — as a new comet was discovered close to Earth.

During the last few days, astronomers have been pointing their telescopes toward a familiar celestial object in our spring night sky for a look at a rare event: A new supernova.

See the moon shine between Venus and Mars next week as the two planets, along with, Pollux and Castor engage in a series of interesting configurations.

Early in the morning on Wednesday, May 17, gas giant Jupiter and its four bright Galilean moons will pass behind a very thin crescent moon.

Venus will begin staying out later and later in the coming weeks until it leaves the night sky to become a dazzling fixture in the predawn morning through the end of 2023.

A pair of eruptions seen on the sun might lead to a display of auroras for parts of the northern and central United States on May 11.

What time is it on the moon? One wristwatch tried to answer that question, yet was largely forgotten by history.

The peak of the Eta Aquarid meteor shower unfortunately coincided with a bright full moon, but there is still time to catch a few stragglers was we approach the new moon on May 19.

A penumbral lunar eclipse will take place at 11:13 a.m. EDT (1513 GMT) on Friday (May 5) and will peak at 1:24 p.m. EDT (1724 GMT).

And on Thursday evening, April 20, everyone across North America will have an opportunity to sight an exceedingly young crescent moon. Try your own hand at finding it!

On April 20, a hybrid solar eclipse will be visible from parts of Indonesia, East Timor, and Australia. Here's everything you need to know about this rare celestial spectacle.

The Lyrids are an annual display of fairly fast meteors that may be seen any night from April 16 to 25.

On April 8, 2024, a total eclipse will sweep across much of North America. Here we take a look at the weather prospects for the Great American Solar Eclipse.

From now through mid-April, Venus will help you to identify the normally hard-to-find planet Mercury. And along the way, Venus will have a striking interaction with the Pleiades star cluster.