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Larry Sessions

Larry Sessions

Larry Sessions has written many favorite posts in EarthSky's Tonight area. He's a former planetarium director in Little Rock, Fort Worth and Denver and an adjunct faculty member at Metropolitan State University of Denver. He's a longtime member of NASA's Solar System Ambassadors program. His articles have appeared in numerous publications including Space.com, Sky & Telescope, Astronomy and Rolling Stone. His small book on world star lore, Constellations, was published by Running Press.

Use Big Dipper to find North Star

By in Tonight | 2 months ago
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The 2 outermost stars in the bowl of the Big Dipper point to Polaris, the North Star.

What is pareidolia?

By in Human World | 2 months ago
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Seeing a dragon in a patch of clouds, or a face in the moon, are examples of what’s called pareidolia. Look here for photos to test your own ability to see things that aren’t there.

Happy Chinese Valentine’s Day, from Vega

By in Astronomy Essentials | Brightest Stars | 2 months ago
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One of the prettiest stories in all skylore surrounds this star. “On the 7th night of the 7th moon …” The legend sets the date of Chinese Valentine’s Day – the Qixi Festival – this year on August 17.

61 Cygni is the Flying Star

By in Brightest Stars | 2 months ago
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61 Cygni isn’t bright. But it moves exceptionally rapidly against the background of more distant stars. Its motion reveals its nearness to Earth.

Moon, Pleiades, Aldebaran before dawn

By in Tonight | 3 months ago
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A beautiful view of the waning crescent moon, Pleiades star cluster and bright star Aldebaran in the dark eastern skies before dawn on July 9 and 10.

It’s summer. What’s noon to you?

By in Earth | 4 months ago
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What do you mean by noon? Do you define it by your clock or wristwatch? Or the gnawing in your stomach? Here’s how astronomers think about noontime.

Top 10 space objects to see during the day

By in Astronomy Essentials | Space | 4 months ago
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Love astronomy, but don’t like to stay up late? Here are 10 space objects you can see – under the right conditions – during the day.

Deneb is distant and very luminous

By in Brightest Stars | 5 months ago
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But – especially with last month’s 2nd data release from the Gaia satellite, whose job is measuring star distances – why don’t we know Deneb’s distance for certain?

Moon and Gemini stars May 18 and 19

By in Tonight | 5 months ago
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Gemini’s 2 brightest stars – Castor and Pollux – represent twins in many cultures.

How Leo the Lion lost his tail

By and in Constellations | 6 months ago
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And how we gained a new constellation. Read about the Lion and the Queen’s Hair, one of skylore’s most famous legends, here.