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Editors of EarthSky

Top 10 things about brown recluse spiders

It's their active season. Here are some things you might not know.

The colors of stars

A photographer compares the colors of the stars Rigel, Betelgeuse and Sirius.

Find Vincent van Gogh’s Big Dipper

Here's an easy astronomy lesson, from a master in the art of loving nature.

Use Big Dipper to find Little Dipper

The Big Dipper is easy to recognize, but the Little Dipper ... not so much. Here's a tip that can help.

Blue-white Rigel at Orion’s foot

Rigel is far, some 775 light-years away. It must be extraordinarily luminous to be so distant yet shine so brightly in our sky.

Somber Betelgeuse in Orion’s shoulder

Betelgeuse's red color indicates a star well into the autumn of its years. In fact, the star is a magnificently rare red supergiant.

What is radiocarbon dating?

At a very steady rate, unstable carbon-14 gradually decays to carbon-12. The ratio of these carbon isotopes reveals the ages of some of Earth's oldest inhabitants.

See it! Super Blue Moon eclipse photos

It was a Blue Moon, a supermoon and a moon in total eclipse. EarthSky community members around the world came through as always with awesome photos.

Ocean plastic killing marine turtles

Hundreds of marine turtles die every year after getting tangled in trash - such as plastic ‘six pack’ holders and discarded fishing gear - in oceans and on beaches.

Celebrating the Pleiades, or Seven Sisters

Photos from Project Nightflight and others in the EarthSky community of the famous star cluster Pleiades. Look for this tiny, misty dipper in your night sky.