No joke! On Friday, astronomers announced a new paper laying out the case for the atmosphere of Venus as a possible niche for extraterrestrial microbial life.
April finds Venus blazing in the west at evening twilight and Jupiter rising mid-to-late evening. If you miss Mars and Saturn Monday, never fear. They'll be in the same binocular field all week.
The super-black feathers of Birds of Paradise absorb almost every last bit of light that strikes them. This black is so dark your eyes can't focus on its surface.
This chart is for Saturday morning. Watch all week - in the hours before dawn - as the moon edges toward these planets on the sky's dome. You'll be watching the moon moving in orbit around Earth!
