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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.

Find the Geminids’ radiant point

By and in Astronomy Essentials | Space | 1 week ago
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Why is the Geminid meteor shower best around 2 a.m.? It’s because that’s when the shower’s radiant point – near the bright star Castor in the constellation Gemini – is highest in the sky.

The spectacular Large Magellanic Cloud

By in Astronomy Essentials | Clusters Nebulae Galaxies | 2 weeks ago
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The Large Magellanic Cloud, which is visible to the unaided human eye, might look like a small, faint bit of the Milky Way that’s broken off. But really it’s a separate small galaxy, thought to be orbiting our larger Milky Way.

Can you see stars’ different colors?

By in Tonight | 2 weeks ago
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December is the perfect time for noticing the colors of the stars. Never noticed them? Today’s sky chart can help guide your eye.

The enduring mystique of Barnard’s Star

By in Astronomy Essentials | 1 month ago
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Sometimes called Barnard’s Runaway Star, it’s one of the best known stars in the history of astronomy and in popular culture.

How to see Venus in daytime

By and in Astronomy Essentials | Space | 1 month ago
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Another time of greatest brilliancy is coming up for Venus, when many spot this brightest of planets in a blue daytime sky. Here’s how you might try it.

Use Big Dipper to find North Star

By in Tonight | 4 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 | 4 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 | 4 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 | 4 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 | 5 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.