Look west after sunset to see Venus in conjunction with Regulus, the brightest star in the constellation Leo the Lion. Dazzling planet! Fainter star near it ... very cool to see.
Astronomers detected this small asteroid just 8 hours before it struck Earth's atmosphere over southern Africa on June 2, producing a terrific explosion. Now researchers report finding its meteorites.
We passed aphelion, Earth's farthest point in orbit around the sun, on July 6. The eye can't detect it, but a camera shows that the sun around now appears at its smallest in our sky. Composite image and story by Peter Lowenstein.
Earth transits seen from Pluto are rare. It hasn't happened since 1931, a year after Clyde Tombaugh discovered Pluto. It won't happen again for 161 years.
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On Monday - and for several evenings after that - Venus and Regulus will fit easily inside a single binocular field. After tonight, the gap between them will widen, as Venus climbs upward and Regulus sinks into the sunset.
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