Posts by 

Deborah Byrd

Visible planets and night sky guide for September

Visible planets and night sky guide for September 2024. Look for the bright waxing gibbous moon near Saturn in the east after sunset on September 15 and 16.

Great Square of Pegasus gallops into the autumn sky

The Great Square of Pegasus consists of 4 stars of nearly equal brightness in a large square pattern. It's a great jumping-off point for star-hopping.

Orion’s Belt points to Sirius on September mornings

Sirius is the sky's brightest star. But sometimes bright planets outshine it. Orion's Belt is your ticket to identifying Sirius.

Virga is rain that doesn’t reach the ground

Learn what virga is and how it forms, and see great photos to help you learn how to identify it yourself! Plus, learn if radar can pick up virga.

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!

Voyager 2: Our 1st and last visit to Neptune

On today's date, August 25, 1989, Voyager 2 flew over the north pole of Neptune, making its closest approach to a planet in its outer solar system Grand Tour.
Favorite Star Patterns

Teapot of Sagittarius points to Milky Way center

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

LIVE on Monday: Super Blue Moon

Join EarthSky team members LIVE beginning at 12:15 p.m. (17:15 UTC) on Monday, August 19, 2024 ... to talk about Monday night's Super Blue Moon.

What’s a Blue Moon? The next one is August 19

What is a Blue Moon? The 2nd of 2 full moons in a calendar month? Or the 3rd of 4 full moons in a single season? The answer is ... both!

What’s a supermoon? We’re about to have 4 in a row

What's a supermoon? We had 5 new supermoons earlier in 2024. Now, beginning with the August full moon, we're about to have 4 full supermoons in a row.