SkyCaramba

Mars and Venus straddle Gemini. The moon goes as far south as it can this month. Saturn and Jupiter greet us in the morning. Uranus goes through conjunction while Mercury emerges from it.

Scientists tried for a few decades to detect radio waves from outer space. Their crude equipment didn't find any. After the discovery of the ionosphere, some concluded that radio astronomy would never be possible. It's been nine decades since a telephone company engineer's happenstance discovery proved otherwise. This is part one in a series on radio astronomy developments that happened unexpectedly.

This week's full moon comes with a penumbral eclipse. Mercury goes through inferior conjunction. The Eta Aquariid meteor shower peaks. Watch Venus and Mars continue a dual reign in the evening sky. Jupiter and Saturn share the morning.

Vanishing Mercury. The moon and Venus. Mars by Pollux. Saturn in the morning. And still no Jupiter.

Virgo is a constellation of many identities. Just who she is depends on who's telling you.

Astronomy Day is this week.

Mercury sinks sunward. Uranus goes with it. Venus plows past the Pleiades. Mars in Gemini. A Saturn-moon pairing. Jupiter still too close to the sun to see.

A reminder about the hybrid solar eclipse.

And a comet that last came close to the sun in 1861 provides the annual meteor shower called the April Lyrids. The shower peaks at the end of this week.

Mercury at greatest elongation with Uranus nearby. Venus slides by the Pleiades. Mars makes way through Gemini. Saturn stays in Aquarius. Jupiter greets the sun. Last quarter moon.

A hybrid solar eclipse--annular in some places, total in others--happens next week. Learn why it's that way and where you can see it.

Mercury marches into the evening. Venus approaches the Pleiades. Jupiter heads toward the sun. Full moon.

Do what you can to preserve dark skies. Light pollution isn't just ruining astronomy. It's bad for nature.

The James Webb Space Telescope captured an image of Neptune that some describe as ghostly. A chemical compound detected near the center of the Milky Way galaxy is partly responsible for a fruit's taste. Jupiter disappears into the sunset and has a close call with Mercury along the way. Venus passes by Uranus. Mars passes by Castor's feet.

Mercury joins Jupiter and Venus in the evening. Equinox is this week. The sun isn't entering Aries now, no matter what you've been told. A daytime occultation of Venus. And Ceres is at opposition.

Venus dominates the early evening. Mars remains up until around midnight. Jupiter and Vesta are close. Mercury's at superior conjunction.

The anniversary of the first detailed picture of the moon is coming up. That was more than 180 years ago.

Mercury's already in retreat in the morning. Venus marches more into the evening. There's still time to see Jupiter while it begins a long goodbye to the evening sky. And learn what is meant by the different ways of measuring how close two objects are when they're in conjunction.