Galaxies

On Sunday night, June 1, enjoy an easy and beautiful sky show: a crescent Moon pairs with two bright stars—one blue-white, one orange. The star just below the Moon is Regulus, the brilliant heart of Leo the Lion, once known as “Qalb” and later named by Copernicus. To the Moon’s right, the orange glow of Mars adds a planetary touch, though it’s dimmer now, sitting on the far side of its orbit. Look west anytime between nightfall and midnight for this celestial trio—no telescope needed.

This month look up for a colorful celestial display! Just find the crescent moon in the western sky—sitting in a line with orange-hued Mars and pale blue Regulus, the brightest star in Leo. Together, they create a striking trio of white, orange, and blue—a patriotic parade in the night sky. Tune in to hear when the magic will happen.

As we enter the moonless phase of the month — ideal for stargazing — it’s worth noting that even the darkest rural skies aren’t truly black. Natural skyglow, made up of airglow, Zodiacal Light, scattered starlight, and the unresolved shimmer of our galaxy, keeps the night subtly illuminated. During this period of solar maximum, the upper atmosphere glows more intensely, making the phenomenon even more striking. Despite urban light pollution, nature still puts on a quietly radiant show overhead.

When darkness first falls these nights, the sky’s brightest star hovers in the west. This is the planet Jupiter. And just above it is a truly awesome object. It’s the twisted remains of one of the greatest start explosions. Tune in to hear how it could possibly be reached and what exactly happened.

For anyone with a telescope, Saturn is a knockout. Check out the magnificent rings! Once every 50 years those rings are angled towards us and the sun. This spring is Saturn’s equinox, so it’s time to celebrate.

Tune in to hear about an upcoming vernal equinox! Many civilizations have made vernal equinoxes into special or even sacred days. Learn how the sun is shifting into new constellations, and what most people get wrong.

Tune in to hear about an upcoming vernal equinox! Many civilizations have made vernal equinoxes into special or even sacred days. Learn how the sun is shifting into new constellations, and what most people get wrong.

If someone you know has their head in the stars, here are some last minute gift ideas. Binoculars, which can provide mind-blowing images of the things like the Pleiades, star clusters, Andromeda Galaxy and the Milky Way.

If you REALLY watch the moon — the way the Babylonians did 3,700 years ago — you'll notice that its path keeps changing. We're not talking about super-obvious lunar behavior like its rapid sky movement, or the nightly shift in where it rises and sets. Some years the moon's nightly motion can mimic the sun's daytime path across the sky. Other years the moon never quite ascends as high as the sun. But the most dramatic part of the cycle is the brief three-year period when the moon gets much higher than the sun.

Astronomers have long sought the origin of the universe, and hence ourselves as well. Using our best equipment, we observe that every galaxy cluster is rushing away from us, and from all others. For every extra one million light-years of distance, galaxy clusters recede 13 miles per second faster. When we retrace their paths we see that everything must have been in a single spot 13.8 billion years ago, which was right here. Clearly, the universe originated then and there. This week: The Big Bang!