Posts by

Bruce McClure

Halloween is an astronomy holiday. It’s a cross-quarter day

A cross-quarter day falls between an equinox and a solstice. Halloween is the year's 4th cross-quarter day and the spookiest of them all.

Bruce McClure

October 30, 2026

Cassiopeia and Perseus on October evenings

Cassiopeia and Perseus are neighbors in the autumn sky. Use Cassiopeia's distinctive W or M shape to locate the dimmer Perseus on autumn and winter evenings.

Bruce McClure

Deborah Byrd

October 22, 2026

Meet Aquarius the Water Bearer and its stars

Aquarius lies in a “watery” part of the sky, near Pisces the Fish, Cetus the Whale, Eridanus the River and Piscis Austrinus the Southern Fish.

Bruce McClure

October 13, 2026

Check out the Double Cluster in Perseus on October evenings

The Double Cluster in Perseus is a breathtaking pair of open star clusters, easy to see in October. Here's how to find it in your sky.

Bruce McClure

October 11, 2026

Find the Andromeda Galaxy using Cassiopeia

Leave the city behind this weekend and go galaxy-hunting! Cassiopeia - one of the easiest constellations to identify - points the way to the Andromeda Galaxy.

Bruce McClure

October 7, 2026

Alpha Cephei, or Alderamin, is a fast-spinning star

Meet Alpha Cephei, in the constellation Cepheus the King. It’s spinning so fast that it appears like a slightly flattened beach ball.

Bruce McClure

Deborah Byrd

Shireen Gonzaga

September 30, 2026

2026 has 3 Friday the 13ths. What are the odds?

Here’s the story behind why 2026 has 3 Friday the 13ths. They are in February, March and November. The next Friday the 13th trilogy will be in 2037.

Bruce McClure

September 30, 2026

The Andromeda Galaxy: All you need to know

The Andromeda Galaxy is the closest large galaxy to our Milky Way. At 2.5 million light-years, it's the most distant thing you can see with the eye alone.

Bruce McClure

September 23, 2026

Are day and night equal on the equinox? Not exactly

Are day and night equal at an equinox? No. There's slightly more day than night on the day of an equinox. Find out why here.

Bruce McClure

Editors of EarthSky

September 22, 2026

See the year’s fastest sunsets and sunrises around equinoxes

The year's fastest sunsets and sunrises happen around the equinoxes, and the slowest sunsets and sunrises happen around the solstices.

Bruce McClure

September 17, 2026

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Bruce McClure

Bruce McClure served as lead writer for EarthSky's popular Tonight pages from 2004 to 2021, when he opted for a much-deserved retirement. You can still find many articles at EarthSky.org that were originally written by Bruce, and which the EarthSky editors still update regularly. Bruce is a sundial aficionado, whose love for the heavens has taken him to Lake Titicaca in Bolivia and sailing in the North Atlantic, where he earned his celestial navigation certificate through the School of Ocean Sailing and Navigation. He also wrote and hosted public astronomy programs and planetarium programs in and around his home in upstate New York. Bruce he loves cycles of all kinds! You can still find many articles at EarthSky with Bruce's name on them, exploring the various, intricate cycles of the sky.