A long snake slithers across the evening sky, taking a bird and a bowl with it. And some sky watchers can see Saturn disappear behind the moon.

Saturn and Mars are easy to spot in the morning. Some people may spot Mercury. The moon occults Antares this week.

And sometimes, successfully finding something in your telescope means blocking something else out. It costs practically nothing to go to the extra trouble.

A star about 3,000 light years away is normally very dim--requiring a telescope and a dark sky to see. About 80 years ago, it flared up to easy naked eye visibility. Some astronomers think it might be about to flare up again.

Also, the moon is about to pass in front of one of the stars in Virgo. The event will be visible from most of a continent.

All the planets will soon by on the same side of the sun. When something like that happened in 1982, some people carried on like the world would come to an end. Most scientists recognized the so-called alignment as an important opportunity.

Mars and Neptune will appear very close. To see this super close conjunction, you will need to be in a place where it's still dark when they're up. And you'll need magnification. How much? Not much. But you need something else too.

Earth is passing through the dust stream that produces the April Lyrid meteor shower this week. There are sometimes bright fireballs. The full moon is interfering though.

What an exciting week that just ended with a total solar eclipse. Red prominences showed in the corona. Why are they that color? And what did scientists learn about the sun by analyzing the corona's spectum?

Several planets are lined up in the morning. The moon is with them at first. One more admonition to protect your eyes during the solar eclipse. Several planets appear close to the sun during the eclipse. Then the moon passes Mercury and Jupiter in the evening.

Mercury's leaving the evening sky. Jupiter is heading toward Uranus. Three planets are leaving the morning sky, but there's time for the moon to meet up with them. And here's some more advice on how to experience the total solar eclipse.

Legends abound about seven stars and why only six of them are visible. We review what the ancient Greeks said about the Pleiades and which Pleiad is missing.

As Comet Halley is at the halfway point between appearances, another comet with an orbit almost as long is showing in the evening sky. Find out about Comet Pons-Brooks.

And planets keep working their way out of the evening and morning skies.