A farewell to Saturn

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Two days before it plunged into Saturn's atmosphere last September 15, the Cassini spacecraft returned this final, full mosaic image of the planet.

Editors of EarthSky

November 22, 2017

Last night’s moon, Saturn, Mercury

If you've been watching the west after sunset, you know the young moon is back. It has swept past the planets Saturn and Mercury and still hovers not far from them, with its lighted face pointed toward them.

Deborah Byrd

November 22, 2017

Flowing sand, not water, on Mars

The dark streaks on Mars known as recurring slope lineae are likely the result of repeated avalanches of sand and dust, rather than seeping water, new research shows.

Deborah Byrd

November 21, 2017

What monarch butterflies prefer

Will our survival strategy for monarchs work? Initiatives emphasize milkweed plantings along roadsides. New research shows egg-laying monarchs much prefer off-road farmlands.

Shireen Gonzaga

November 21, 2017

Fern, contrail shadow, singing dunes

It was a beautiful day for natural phenomena in the sky, and on the ground.

Deborah Byrd

November 21, 2017

It’s the 1st known interstellar asteroid

It swept nearest the sun in September, then sped away again, back to interstellar space. Astronomers named it `Oumuamua. It's dark red, very elongated and unlike anything in our solar system.

Deborah Byrd

November 20, 2017

Zimbabwe sunset and young moon

Following several days of cloud, rain and uncertainty, the skies suddenly cleared to reveal the sun and moon setting on what was expected to be the end of an era in Zimbabwe.

Peter Lowenstein

November 20, 2017