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Mercury returns to the eastern, predawn sky
Mercury has returned to the east before dawn. It'll have a long apparition extending through April. Start watching Mercury now, and enjoy it for a month!
February 28, 2014
No new moon for February 2014
In nearly all months, the moon goes through all four major phases - new, first quarter, full, last quarter. February 2014 doesn't have a new moon.
February 28, 2014
Great Lakes are mostly frozen
Ice cover on North America’s Great Lakes reached 88 percent in mid-February 2014, levels not observed since 1994.
February 27, 2014
Closest, brightest supernova in decades is also a little weird, say astronomers
Analysis of the supernova discovered last month is suggesting to Berkeley scientists that what we think of as ‘normal’ supernovae behavior is actually unusual.
February 27, 2014
Zodiacal light over New Mexico
For northerly latitudes, it's the beginning of zodiacal light season in the evening. Look in the sunset direction, about an hour after the sun goes down.
February 27, 2014
Kepler confirms a whopping 715 new planets
Some of the new worlds are similar in size to Earth and orbit in the habitable zone of their parent stars.
February 26, 2014
Fukushima radiation reaches Canadian waters
Radiation from Japan's leaking Fukushima nuclear power plant has reached ocean waters offshore Canada, researchers said on February 24.
February 26, 2014
This zircon crystal is oldest known piece of Earth’s crust
A tiny zircon crystal found on a sheep station - or ranch - in western Australia is now the oldest known piece of our planet, dating to 4.4 billion years ago.
February 26, 2014
Everything you need to know: The polar vortex
The polar vortex never seeps into your house, to freeze you and your family inside. It can't do that because it stays in the mid to high atmosphere.
February 26, 2014
Dramatic photos of Venus disappearing behind the moon
Ravindra Aradhya in Bangalore, India caught these dramatic photos of the February 26 daytime occultation of the planet Venus by the moon.
February 26, 2014
