Polaris, also known as the 'Pole Star' or 'North Star', is arguably the most famous stellar body to hang in the western hemisphere's night sky. For centuries it has served as a vital waypoint for ...

The northern stars turn around Polaris and the North Celestial Pole in a composite spanning multiple hours during a single night in the summer of 2014. The bright point at the center is Polaris, our ...

Every community has a tourist attraction everyone knows about but locals never visit. Perhaps it’s because it’s always there and can be seen anytime. And yet “anytime” often ends up translating to ...

Halfway between the celestial poles is the celestial equator, a projection of Earth’s equator onto the sky. The stars on the celestial equator rise due east and set due west. Delta Orionis, the ...

How much of the sky can you see at any one time? This, of course, assumes you are looking up from a wide-open, flat field or out on an ocean liner with nothing but a flat horizon no matter which way ...

As someone who has spent thousands of hours observing the night sky, I like to think that I’m pretty familiar with it and able to navigate my way around with some ease. That’s certainly true on the ...