Sign Up for Our Amazing Newsletter!
A daily update by email. Science news, great photos, sky alerts.
Thank you! Your submission has been received!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.
Posts by
Bruce McClure
A star whose magnetic field flipped
Tau Boötis was the first star, other than our sun, ever seen to undergo a magnetic field reversal. This post also includes 2 great videos about our sun's magnetic reversals.
April 13, 2017
Moon follows Jupiter April 11-12
Jupiter rises before the moon. Then, as Earth spins under the sky, the moon chases Jupiter for the remainder of the night.
April 11, 2017
Full moon near Jupiter April 10-11
Full moon comes on April 11 at 6:08 UTC. For the Americas, that means full moon happens tonight. As the 1st full moon of northern spring, it fixes the date of Easter Sunday.
April 10, 2017
Mercury after sunset in early April
For northerly latitudes, we're now in the middle of Mercury's best showing in the evening sky for 2017.
April 1, 2017
Moon and Mars at nightfall March 30
Look in your western sky at nightfall and early evening. Mars will be the reddish "star" right next to the waxing moon.
March 30, 2017
Moon, Mercury, Mars on March 29
It's a very slim crescent moon you'll find in the west - shortly after sunset - Wednesday evening. Mercury is exceedingly near the sunset glare. Mars is higher up.
March 29, 2017
Planets Mercury and Uranus at dusk
Innermost Mercury - and distant Uranus - are low in the western sky after sunset. Start looking for them as soon as your sky begins to darken.
March 26, 2017
Venus after sunset and before sunrise!
The planet Venus is now appearing in the west after sunset and in the east before sunrise. Don't believe it? Astronomer Bruce McClure reports on his observation.
March 23, 2017
Arcturus, a northern springtime star
Orange Arcturus is the constellation Bootes the Herdsman's brightest star. Look for it in the east around nightfall.
March 22, 2017
Equal day and night on equinox?
The sun is a disk, not a point of light. Plus Earth’s atmosphere refracts sunlight. For both reasons, we have more than 12 hours of daylight on the day of an equinox.
March 19, 2017
