At an equinox, and for several days before and after, the midday sun is straight up at noon seen from Earth’s equator. At this equinox, the sun is crossing the celestial equator, moving from north to south.

The Andromeda galaxy is the closest big galaxy to our Milky Way. Here are 2 different ways to find it, both easy if you have a dark sky!

The constellation Cassiopeia the Queen has the distinct shape of a W or M. Find her in the north-northeast sky on September and October evenings.

When you look up on a starry evening, you might think you’re looking across the universe. In fact, all the stars we see with the unaided eye belong to our Milky Way galaxy.

The 2 outermost stars in the bowl of the Big Dipper always point to Polaris, the North Star.

Poor Ophiuchus. Nobody ever claims him as a “birth sign,” although the sun moves in front of his stars from about November 30 to December 18. Keep the big guy company. Find Ophiuchus in your sky tonight!

The Andromeda galaxy can be seen somewhere in our sky for much of every year. Every August, it’s ascending in the sky during the evening hours. This post explains how to use the Great Square of Pegasus to find the Andromeda galaxy.

You need a dark country sky to see these 3 small constellations: Vulpecula the Fox, Delphinus the Dolphin and Sagitta the Arrow.