SkyCaramba

Lucky people along a certain path from part of Russia, across the North Pole, to North America get to see an annular solar eclipse this week. Some people may be able to detect the eclipse, even though the sun won't be up, by its effect on the dawn's light. Also, watch Venus and Mars making their way into the evening sky. And next week, the moon will pass near the asteroid Vesta.

Mercury retreats from the evening sky. Venus pursues Mars through a beehive. Saturn and Jupiter share a morning reign. And Mercury reappears before dawn. Meanwhile, there's a solar eclipse and a daytime meteor shower.

The second most important star in the sky is up all night this time of year. And perhaps you've heard of the day length that's about four minutes short of 24 hours.

We have a total lunar eclipse this month. Find out if you have a chance to see it. The results of an astronomy survey done every ten year are being compiled. Some new space telescopes could be built because of astronomers' answers. And Wasat? Seriously, there's a star called Wasat.

Most of the stars we see in our night sky are within a few hundred light years of us. There's one in Cassiopeia right at the edge of naked eye visibility that's more than 16,000 light years away. And you don't see the individual stars in the Andromeda Galaxy, but it's more than two million light years away. Just how do astronomers know how far away any stars are when we can't travel to them, let alone unroll a tape measure?

Also learn about Gemini, the twins Castor and Pollux.

Two horses (one with wings), a dolphin, a pair of fish, an eagle, a wolf, and a swan are part of the celestial May morning menagerie.

And find out where the M comes from in object names like M44.

In May 2021: Mercury and Venus are evening objects, Mars visits the twins, Saturn and Jupiter shine in the morning, and there's a total lunar eclipse.

A comet discovered about 150 years ago has left traces of its existence for us to see for thousands of years. Get ready for the April Lyrid meteor shower.

And when you see the sun or moon rise or set, you're seeing it over the horizon.

The beliefs we cling to most are the ones we convince ourselves of. Percival Lowell's conclusions about canals on Mars and Venus are examples. What did he really see?

Many people, even some who like astronomy, do something that's harmful to it. Our modern lifestyles require lighting at night. But do we really need so many lights on in so many places casting so much light where it's not useful? Light pollution keeps us from enjoying the night sky--a most wondrous natural resource above us.

And we don't talk about a full Venus or a first quarter Venus. But somewhat like the moon, the planet has phases.