We don’t know how long COVID-19 will keep us all bottled up, but here are a few ways to stay informed and entertained as you pass the time. More »
★Stargazing: January 22
Cancer, the crab, is in the east this evening. It rises as darkness falls and is well up in the...More »
▶StarDate Radio: January 22 — More Metallic Skies
On summer days, we sometimes complain that it’s hot enough to fry eggs on the sidewalk, the car, or...More »
▶StarDate Radio: January 21 — Metallic Skies
Like many rare-earth elements, vanadium could see a surge in demand in the coming years. It’s used in a type...More »
★Stargazing: January 21
The Red Planet Mars stands to the upper right of the Moon as night falls, shining like a bright orange...More »
▶StarDate Radio: January 20 — Moon and Mars
A lot of water is frozen in the Martian ice caps. And there may be a lot of liquid water...More »
★Stargazing: January 20
Mars is in great view tonight. The planet is high in the south as night falls, above the Moon. It...More »
▶StarDate Radio: January 19 — Blue Stragglers
One popular theme of 1950s sci-fi movies was rejuvenation. A woman would stay youthful by stealing various bodily fluids from...More »
★Stargazing: January 19
Messier 3, a family of half a million stars about 34,000 light-years away, is in the constellation Canes Venatici, the...More »
★Stargazing: January 18
The planet Mercury will lurk low in the evening sky over the next couple of weeks. It will lose a...More »
▶StarDate Radio: January 18 — Evening Mercury
The planet Mercury will lurk low in the evening sky over the next couple of weeks. It’ll lose a little...More »
★Stargazing: January 17
Procyon, the brightest star of Canis Minor, the little dog, is the eighth-brightest star in the night sky. On January...More »
▶StarDate Radio: January 17 — Procyon
A star like the Sun is born as a big ball of hot gas. It then spends most of its...More »
Current Magazine
This year offers up some beautiful skywatching treats, including two good lunar eclipses and several planetary conjunctions. You can find all the details on these and many other events in our 2021 Sky Almanac (the January/February issue of StarDate magazine). Plan your skywatching adventures with tips on eclipses, meteor showers, and more, plus keep an eye on the naked-eye planets.
2021 Sky Almanac
This year offers up some beautiful skywatching treats, including two good lunar eclipses and several planetary conjunctions. You can find all the details on these and many others in our 2021 Sky Almanac. We also tell you about some amazing dead or dying stars—some of them spectacular, all of them fascinating.
