When the sun rose over Russia's Ural Mountains on Friday, Feb. 15th, many residents of nearby Chelyabinsk already knew that a space rock was coming. Later that day, an asteroid named 2012 DA14 would pass by Earth only 17,200 miles above Indonesia. There was no danger of a collision, NASA more »
The final major meteor shower of every year is always the December Geminid shower, often producing 50 or more meteors per hour. The shower will peak late night on December 13th and last until dawn. The Geminids is a beloved shower, because, as a general rule, it’s either the August more »
A penumbral lunar eclipse on November 28, 2012, will be the last eclipse of the year. People in Alaska, Hawaii, New Zealand, Australia, and most of Asia can see the eclipse. You must be in Alaska, Hawaii, Australia, or east Asia to watch the entire eclipse. Observers in western more »
A gigantic explosion happened on the sun Friday, November 16th. Magnetic fields snaking halfway across the sun's southern hemisphere erupted in tandem, producing a prominence so big, it doesn't fit inside this image from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO). The red-glowing looped material is plasma, a hot gas made of more »
The Leonids Meteor Shower will peak late night on November 16 until dawn November 17. However, the best viewing will be several hours before dawn on November 17th. With clear skies, viewers can expect to see 15 to 20 meteors per hour. Even though the meteors radiate from the more »
A moderate solar flare measuring M2.8 erupted from Region 1613 at 20:54 UTC, November 13, 2012. A 10cm Radio Burst was associated with the event, this can be indicative of significant radio noise in association with a solar flare. A 10cm radio burst indicates that the electromagnetic burst associated with more »
The Leonids Meteor Shower will peak late night on November 16 until dawn November 17. Radiating from the constellation Leo, the Leonid meteor shower is famous for spectacular shows. Historically, this shower has produced some of the greatest meteor storms in history – at least one in living memory, more »
An interplanetary shock wave (probably the leading edge of a CME) hit Earth's magnetic field on Nov. 12th at approximately 2300 UT, filling skies over northern Scandinavia with bright auroras. More auroras are to come as Earth passes through the magnetized wake of the CME. Our planet's polar magnetic field more »
If you are lucky enough to be able to see a solar eclipse, you should make sure you protect your eyes and never look directly at the sun without proper protection. This is because the sun’s photosphere emits intense infrared and ultraviolet (UV) radiation. Just as UV radiation causes sunburn more »
The long standing Taurids Meteor Shower is from October 12th through December 2. At its peak this year's numbers are forecast at about 7 meteors per hour. Typically, you see the maximum numbers at around midnight to 1 a.m., when the constellation Taurus moves nearly overhead. This year, the thin more »
Attention skywatchers! Be on the alert for Taurid fireballs in the nights ahead. Earth is entering a swarm of debris from the comet Encke. Meteoroids the size of pebbles are hitting the Earth's atmosphere at 25 km/s producing a slow drizzle of very bright fireballs from the constellation Taurus. Expect more »
Police in southwest England say they were inundated with calls after a sonic boom, believed to be caused by a meteor, rocked Devon and Cornwall counties. Staff at a police station in Devon said floors in the building shook while doors were also blown open at another station, the more »
NASA and the SETI Institute are asking the public to check their video surveillance camera footage from Wednesday night around 7:44 p.m. PDT for a meteor that lit the sky over the San Francisco Bay Area. Peter Jenniskens of the NASA Ames Research Center reported that a small asteroid more »
An active sunspot located just over the sun's northeastern limb exploded during the early hours of Oct. 14th. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory photographed a bright loop of hot plasma twisting over the blast site. The eruption hurled a coronal mass ejection into space. The cloud will not affect Earth more »
The Perseid Meteor Shower is considered to be among the best of the annual displays thanks to its high rate of up to 90 meteors per hour. Every August the night sky is peppered with bits of comet debris in what is called the annual Perseid meteor shower. The more »
NASA is asking for all skywatchers to count the number of meteors they see in the night sky from August 11th through August 13th during the Perseid Meteor Shower. The number of shooting stars is valuable to NASA. Meteor numbers by amateur skywatchers can be used by NASA's Meteoroid Environmental more »
The Perseid Meteor Shower is considered to be among the best of the annual displays thanks to its high rate of up to 90+ meteors per hour. This year, watch the shower on the nights of August 11th through August 13th. The shower can be seen anytime after 10-11:00 PM more »
The Perseid Meteor Shower is considered to be among the best of the annual displays thanks to its high rate of up to 90 meteors per hour. This year, watch the shower on the night of August 12th. Every August the night sky is peppered with bits of comet debris more »
Use this tool to locate the correct time, date and trajectory for viewing the Transit of Venus in your area.
Want to watch the Transit of Venus but unsure of the date and time? The date depends on your time zone. Generally, for the Americas where it is visible (blue color on map below) the 2012 transit occurs the evening of Tuesday, June 5, 2012. For Eurasia and Africa more »