SkyCaramba

The moon helps you identify the planets in the morning lineup.

You've surely heard of Canis Major and Canis Minor. But there are two other celestial dogs: Canes Venatici.

An almanac may tell you when the moon is at ascending node or descending node. SkyCaramba tells you what that means.

The morning planet show continues. A reminder about this week's total lunar eclipse. And despite its reputation, the North Star isn't the brightest star in the night sky. But the star with that distinction will eventually be the South Star.

Next week, from Sunday night to Monday morning (exact times vary by where you are), the moon will spend almost an hour-and-a-half in the central part of Earth's shadow. The eclipsed moon will be next to Libra. The constellation represents the scales of justice. The scales don't have claws, but three of Libra's stars' names contain an old word for claw.

That amazing morning meeting of planets continues. Mercury maintains its place in the evening.

The most famous comet is almost as far from the sun as it gets, but it's responsible for a meteor shower that doesn't depend much on the comet's closeness.

Brush up on your knowledge of Berenice's Hair.

Some South American and southern Pacific Ocean sky watchers get to see a solar eclipse this week. Use eye protection!

Who's Virgo? The constellation was different women to different ancient cultures.

Astronomy Day is coming.

Morning sky watching continues to be wondrous. Evening isn't so bad either lately.

Get ready for the April Lyrids meteor shower.

And just why do comets have such long, strange names now?

There's more to sunlight than meets the eye. About two centuries ago, a thermometer next to a prism helped a scientist see our home star in a new light.

Mercury soon returns to the evening sky as a morning planet lineup continues.

Expect more sunspots, solar flares, and aurorae over the next few years. Aurorae are mesmerizing sky sights that happen when solar particles hit Earth's upper atmosphere. But sometimes, the sun throws off enough material to cause serious problems on Earth's surface.

Jupiter is leaving our morning lineup.

Two stars on opposite sides of the Milky Way stream represent separated lovers.

An orange star helped kick off a World's Fair

Some sky watchers may catch Jupiter and Mercury very close this week as the morning planet lineup continues. Uranus remains in the evening sky. The week begins with the solstice and Venus at greatest elongation.

Just like latitude and longitude lines on an earth map, there are lines showing where to plot points to represent starts, planets, and other object on a sky map. Find out about the two coordinate systems.