One EarthSky reader captured a photo of a rainbow patch hanging below a cloud, looking almost like a sheet of rain. What was it?

In recent years, earthly observers couldn't see Saturn's southern hemisphere. It was largely hidden behind Saturn's rings. In 2021, Saturn's rings and north pole reached their maximum tilt toward Earth, and now the southern hemisphere is coming back into view ... colored blue.

What a catch! This EarthSky community member caught the International Space Station (ISS) slicing across the night sky on May 17, 2021, passing Polaris, the North Star.

The brightest planet Venus has now returned to the evening sky, joining Mercury. It'll surprise you by appearing so bright, low in the western twilight. The moon swept past Venus Wednesday and Mercury Thursday ... this weekend, Mars!

A nova that first brightened in March of 2021 has now flared bright enough to be seen without binoculars or a telescope.

EarthSky readers submit wonderful photos to us every day. This week we received this interesting composite image of the sun, our nearest star.

The core stage of China's Long March 5B rocket - which launched the Tianhe space station module - plummeted into the Indian Ocean on May 8, 2021. In a statement issued that day, new NASA administrator Bill Nelson criticized China's handling of the re-entry.

A couple of charts from master chart-maker Guy Ottewell, showing Mercury in the sky now and throughout 2021. Plus a word about a lost whale ...

Check out these pics from the annual Eta Aquariid meteor shower. The peak morning was likely May 5, 2021, but the following morning, May 6, might be good, too.

Venus and Mercury are both in the western sky after sunset now, but both are exceedingly low in the sky, in the midst of bright twilight, and so difficult to spot. These photos captured them.