Greatest brilliancy for Venus is a delicate balance between how much we see of its day side, and the changing distance between our 2 worlds. Conditions are now optimum! Venus looms low in western twilight, dazzlingly bright. Read more.
We're coming up on an equinox, a word that means equal night. Days and nights are nearly equal across the globe now. Nearly, but not quite. Here's why.
In recent decades, astronomers and Star Trek fans had fun speculating on what might serve as Spock's home star. Many settled on 40 Eridani A, about 16 light-years away. Now a Vulcan-esque planet has been found for this star! Read more.
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There are 4 bright planets in the evening sky now. This image from Yuri Beletsky in Chile's Atacama Desert shows them all. Venus is the brightest one, near the bottom of the image. Jupiter, Saturn and Mars extend upward in a line. Yuri wrote on September 10: "These nights, the sky is quite colorful in Atacama desert due to airglow. Here is the view of the Magellan telescopes of Carnegie Las Campanas Observatory under the stars. The bright cone of zodiacal light is also visible, just behind the telescopes ..." How to see Venus at its brightest.
Wow! John Entwistle captured this rare supernumerary rainbow over the Jersey Shore, New Jersey, on Tuesday evening. John wrote: “My daughter and I watched rainbows fade in and out for a half hour at sunset. Some of the brightest rainbow colors I’ve ever seen in my life.” Read more.
