The supergiant star Antares could use a supergiant dust mop. The star has created clumps of dust that can be more than a billion miles across. The dust can be both a help and a hindrance. It tells us something about the star itself. But it also makes it more difficult to see the “edge” of the […]

Two bright orange stars pass high across the south this evening: Betelgeuse, at the shoulder of Orion the hunter; and Aldebaran, the eye of the bull, well to its upper right. An even redder star perches below Orion’s feet, although you need binoculars or a telescope to see it. Hind’s Crimson […]

Dying stars are among the most beautiful objects in the universe. They create colorful bubbles that can glow for thousands of years. And depending on our viewing angle, they can look like a butterfly, a cat’s eye, an hourglass, or other fanciful forms. An example is NGC 3242. It’s known as the […]

Whether you like your mythology impish or scary, the constellation Hydra has a story for you. It represents a serpent – a water snake or a dragon. It either got involved with a sneaky crow, or had to be destroyed by the strongman. In one version, Hydra was a multi-headed monster that lived in a […]

The Moon has an especially close companion at dawn tomorrow: Spica, the brightest star of Virgo. Depending on your location, they might be separated by as little as the width of a pencil held at arm’s length. And from some parts of the world, the Moon will briefly cover the star. Spica is a […]