Aloha everybody! This will be my final Skywatch article. I am delighted, and a little wistful, to announce that I have accepted a position at the Liberty Science Center in Jersey City, N.J., across from lower Manhattan. Read more
For the United States, the biggest astronomy story for 2017 is the total eclipse of the sun that occurs over much of the continental U.S. on Aug. 21. Read more
While we lose the Southern Cross from the Hawaiian Islands by the time July starts, the month does provide a last chance to catch the brilliant stars Alpha and Beta Centauri, the best summertime stars we see in Hawaii and which are not visible from most of the United States. Read more
This June provides a great chance to see the solar system’s biggest planets, Jupiter and Saturn, throughout most of the evening. Read more
In the tropics, the sun passes overhead twice during the year. On these two days, the sun will be exactly overhead at midday and an upright object such as a flagpole will have no shadow. Read more
All five naked-eye planets are visible in March, and there is at least one planet visible at any time through the night. Read more
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The planets continue to put on a good show this February. The Big Dipper returns to our evening skies, as it does every winter, and the Southern Cross brightens the predawn sky. Read more
The “super” full moon of Nov. 13-14 was in fact the closest full moon since 1948. While the full moon of Dec. 13 is still referred to as a supermoon, it’s barely in the club. Read more
We will have the biggest, brightest full moon in decades in November. We also lose Saturn and regain Mercury in November as Venus and Mars, opposites in myth, behave in a similar, steady manner. Read more
Venus is that blazing light you see in the western sky at dusk throughout October, outshining all other points of light in the sky. Read more
This August features a gathering of planets just above the sun at dusk, and the return of the most famous meteor shower. Read more
In July we are able to see all five “naked eye” planets, a mere six months after the last time this happened. Read more
Sky watching will be very good in the islands in June. A trio of bright planets is visible in the evening sky, including Mars, which remains unusually bright throughout the month. Jupiter and Saturn are clearly visible from the midevening sky as well. Read more
May should be a great sky-watching month in Hawaii. Mars will be brighter and closer this May than any time in the past 10 years; Jupiter and Saturn dance in the midevening sky; Mercury transits the sun on May 9; and throughout the islands, the first of the year’s two “overhead sun” days occur, a phenomenon unique to the tropics. Read more
This April should be a great month for sky watching. Every year, April is the best month to see nearly every key star and constellation in the Hawaiian night sky, literally from the North Star to the Southern Cross. Read more
We will have a deep partial solar eclipse in Hawaii on the afternoon of March 8 when the moon passes between Earth and the sun and blocks part of the sun’s disk. Read more
Throughout February, all five naked-eye planets — Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn — can be seen in the morning sky at the same time. Read more
During January, star gazers can view four of five planets with their naked eyes in the morning sky (Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn). In the final days of the month, Mercury joins theparty, making it possible, at around 6 a.m., to see all five planets at the same time with the naked eye. Read more
