Posts by

Bruce McClure

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

Equinox fun: Track the sun’s shift now until the solstice

On this equinox, start tracking the sunset point on your western horizon. You'll see a mighty shift between now and the June solstice.

Bruce McClure

September 17, 2026

Zodiacal light: Start watching for it now

The zodiacal light is an eerie light extending up from the horizon before dawn around the Northern Hemisphere autumn. Southern Hemisphere? Look after sunset!

Deborah Byrd

Bruce McClure

September 10, 2026

Delta Cephei helps measure cosmic distances

Delta Cephei is an inconspicuous variable star in the northern constellation Cepheus the King. This important star helped establish the cosmic distance scale.

Bruce McClure

Shireen Gonzaga

September 10, 2026

Taurid fireballs might light up the sky around November 5

Maybe you've been watching for Taruid fireballs already. The peak of the South Taurid meteor shower is around November 5, and the North Taurids soon follow.

Bruce McClure

August 30, 2026

The Wild Duck cluster, M11, a lovely open cluster in Scutum

The Wild Duck cluster, also known as M11, is an open star cluster in the constellation Scutum that appears best through binoculars or a telescope.

Bruce McClure

August 28, 2026

Sagittarius the Archer is home to deep-sky wonders

The zodiacal constellation Sagittarius the Archer contains the center of the Milky Way and a famous asterism known as the Teapot.

Bruce McClure

Kelly Kizer Whitt

August 23, 2026

Favorite Star Patterns

Teapot of Sagittarius points to the Milky Way’s center

As you gaze toward the famous Teapot asterism in the constellation Sagittarius, you are looking toward the center of our Milky Way galaxy.

Bruce McClure

Deborah Byrd

Marcy Curran

August 21, 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.