SkyCaramba
by SkyCaramba
Latest episode
Two planets turn around and maybe Jupiter peaks out after sunrise
Two planets turn around and maybe Jupiter peaks out after sunrise
About this podcast
Podcast about astronomy and the joys of watching the skies at night--and sometimes during the day
Episodes
The newest 50 of 320 episodes
- Two planets turn around and maybe Jupiter peaks out after sunrise · 6 min · Season 7 Episode 45The moon makes it to the evening sky. Mars is at minimum illumination. Venus and Mercury are up in the morning, almost together, and turning around. Can you see Jupiter after…
- Davis's Dog · 5 min · Season 7 Episode 44The moon passes by Mars, Jupiter, and Regulus. The moon also passes Venus and Spica. Uranus is by an asterism called Davis's Dog. Does it look like a dog to you?
- Venus as a morning object · 5 min · Season 7 Episode 43The moon passes in front of the Pleiades. Mercury's harder to see in the evening. Venus, known as the evening star, spends a lot of time in the morning sky too.
- Finding the false dawn · 4 min · Season 7 Episode 42Mercury is about to go retrograde. Venus heads for conjunction with the sun. Mars pursues Jupiter on the way to the lion. In the right conditions, reflections off of cosmic dust…
- What we learned when Venus crossed the sun · 6 min · Season 7 Episode 41Venus is leaving the evening sky. Mercury's at greatest elongation. Saturn stays up all night. Mars crosses the crab. What we learn from transits of Venus.
- Staying up all night with the fishes · 6 min · Season 7 Episode 40Venus and Mercury pair up in the evening. The moon passes by Mars and Jupiter. The Draconid meteor shower peaks. Several objects are at opposition or close to it. And they're in…
- Jupiter's jaunt behind the moon · 5 min · Season 7 Episode 39Mars at equinox. The moon hides the Pleiades. Mercury farthest from the sun. Venus goes retrograde. And there's an upcoming occultation of Jupiter. The moon will pass in front of…
- Try to tune in to another meteor shower · 6 min · Season 7 Episode 38Neptune at opposition. Mercury passes Spica. Another daytime meteor shower. You may see some meteors early in the morning. But these meteors are mostly entering the atmosphere by…
- Equinox. Equal? NOT! · 5 min · Season 7 Episode 37The moon passes by Venus. Mercury makes headway into the evening. Mars is closest to Pollux. Southern lunistice and lunar apogee. Not everywhere gets 12 hours of sunlight on the…
- What's in a name? History! · 5 min · Season 7 Episode 36The moon at apogee and heading south. Uranus goes retrograde. Mercury moves toward Venus. What's in a name? Maybe a few thousand years of human oral history. It doesn't seem so…
- Star spangled with Spica · 5 min · Season 7 Episode 35The moon passes by Saturn. Venus is at aphelion. The moon reaches its farthest north. Venus passes by Spica, whose light left the star around the time of the American Revolution.
- A deep partial lunar eclipse · 5 min · Season 7 Episode 34We get a deep partial lunar eclipse this week. Just a little deeper and it would be total. Mars continues making its way through Gemini. Jupiter rises just before the sun. Venus…
- Mira on the downside · 6 min · Season 7 Episode 33The constellation Cetus rises about midnight. The variable star Mira remains beyond naked eye visibility. Mars reaches the feet of Gemini. Mercury zooms into the sunrise away…
- Total solar eclipse and Perseid meteor shower · 6 min · Season 7 Episode 32There's a total solar eclipse this week. Venus reaches greatest elongation. Mercury, Mars, and the moon delight in the morning. And watch for Perseid meteors.
- Eye to eye with Mars and both inner planets at dichotomy · 5 min · Season 7 Episode 31Earth is eye-to-eye with Mars in a manner of speaking. The moon passes by Neptune, Saturn, and Uranus. Venus approaches Porrima. Venus and Mercury could both appear at…
- Venus by the lion's tail · 5 min · Season 7 Episode 30Venus is the only naked eye planet in our evening sky. It's near the lion's tail. Or it's by what some ancient observers likened to a dog pen. Saturn and Mars shine in the…
- Two more faint objects at opposition together · 6 min · Season 7 Episode 29Venus is below the lion's belly. Saturn's rings are tipped to us. Mercury makes it to the morning. Two faint solar system objects were at opposition together earlier this month…
- About Earth's aphelion · 5 minJupiter is exiting the evening sky. The moon passes Regulus and Venus. Saturn's rings at their best for a while. Orion's hunting trip begins in the morning. Earth is getting…
- Two asteroids at opposition · 6 min · Season 7 Episode 27Two asteroids orbiting between Mars and Jupiter are up all night this week. One got its name because of two sad events that happened on the same date 13 years apart. Venus passes…
- Mercury retreats and what the American colonists saw when they didn't · 6 min · Season 7 Episode 26Mercury is leaving the evening sky. Jupiter's still there but won't be for long. Venus shines bright at dusk. Mars and Uranus have a close call. And find out what the people who…
- The moon in the room · 5 min · Season 7 Episode 25The moon passes through a part of the sky ancient Chinese observers described as a room. Mercury turns around. Mars is near the seven sisters.
- The moon by our evening planets · 5 minVenus enters the beehive. Mercury's at greatest elongation. The moon passes three planets in the evening sky. The sun at solstice.
- Three planets in one constellation · 5 min · Season 7 Episode 23Three planets are in one constellation. Mercury by Mebsuta. The moon will be at its closest since December. Two asteroids appear near Saturn.
- Three planets in the west and a meteor shower on the radio · 6 min · Season 7 Episode 22Three planets are in the west at dusk. Two planets are up in the morning. And there's a meteor shower whose radiant is up mostly in the daytime. But you may be able to detect the…
- Comparing the moon's sides · 5 min · Season 7 Episode 21Two constellations are each accompanied by two planets. The moon passes by the lion and the maiden. Why the far side of the moon looks different.
- Memories of the moon and something mysterious · 6 min · Season 7 Episode 20Mercury moves to the evening while Uranus leaves. Venus at the feet of the twins. The moon meets M44 and then hides Regulus. Pisces accompanied by planets. And what happened to…
- Mission accomplished and hungry for galaxy hunting · 5 min · Season 7 Episode 19The moon passes by the morning planets. Mercury goes behind the sun. Venus goes over Orion's head. Something to see--or not--in the control room. A galaxy named for a popular food.
- Picking out Pluto--and easier things to see · 5 min · Season 7 Episode 18The moon hides Antares. Pluto goes retrograde. Venus is by the V. What's that?--Wasat by Jupiter. Uranus gets hard to see but Neptune gets easier.
- Constellations and asterisms · 5 min · Season 7 Episode 17Venus passes by the Pleiades. Three planets remain close in the morning sky. Jupiter passes by Wasat. And learn the difference between a constellation and an asterism.
- Planetary proximity and plagues · 6 min · Season 7 Episode 16The Lyrid meteor shower peaks this week. The moon occults the Pleiades and Regulus. Southern solstice happens on Mars. Three planets appear very close in the morning. A fourth is…
- International Dark Sky Week · 5 min · Season 7 Episode 15Venus climbs the evening sky. Jupiter approaches Wasat. Mercury follows Mars in the morning. The Lyrid meteors are coming. And learn about International Dark Sky Week. Preserving…
- The Beehive and the Air Pump · 5 min · Season 7 Episode 14Jupiter's at quadrature. The moon hides Antares. The moon's at apogee. Saturn pokes into southern hemisphere skies. A smudge of light that looks like a beehive in a telescope is…
- A south pole sways toward us · 6 min · Season 7 Episode 13Mars appears to wobble if we watch long enough. Its south pole is tipping toward Earth this week. Jupiter is almost at quadrature. Maybe you can see it just before the sun goes…
- Saturn moves to the morning; Mercury approaches its best · 5 min · Season 7 Episode 12Saturn passes by the sun. Venus goes by the Pisces linkage. Mercury's up in the morning. Mars is at perihelion and also hard to find.
- Sirius before sunset · 6 min · Season 7 Episode 11You can see the night's brightest star in the daytime--just before the sun sets--if you know where to look. You can figure that out this week and be ready for the view next week.
- When darkness is called a defect · 6 min · Season 7 Episode 10Saturn and Venus appear close. Jupiter is stationary. The moon's at apogee. Southern sky watchers can spot Mercury and Mars. And just what is meant by "defect of illumination"?
- Total lunar eclipse and tracking two variable stars · 5 min · Season 7 Episode 9We get a total lunar eclipse this week. Jupiter is about to turn around in Gemini. Mercury passes by the sun. Mira is about as bright as it gets. And remember T. Corona Borealis?…
- Total lunar eclipse preview · 6 min · Season 7 Episode 8There's another so-called planetary alignment this week. The moon has its northernmost occultation of the Pleiades. Mars is out of sight while most of the planets are not. And…
- Annular eclipse; synodic periods · 6 min · Season 7 Episode 7Antarctica and the Southern Ocean get an annular eclipse. Mercury's at perihelion and greatest elongation. In a manner of speaking, it's closest to and farthest from the sun at…
- The animals around Orion · 5 min · Season 7 Episode 6Three naked eye planets can be seen setting in the evening this week, at least in some places. Mire continues to brighten. There's an annular solar eclipse next week. And several…
- George's Star · 5 min · Season 7 Episode 5Jupiter remains in Gemini. Mercury and Venus slowly make their way into the evening. The moon hides Regulus. And there once was a planet named George. Despite it being a planet…
- The moon in the middle of monthly meetings with the Pleiades · 5 min · Season 7 Episode 4Another of the monthly meetings of the moon and the Pleiades is about to happen. These have been happening every 27 nights or so. Saturn and Jupiter remain out at night. But the…
- What's that by Jupiter? Wasat! · 5 min · Season 7 Episode 3What's that by Jupiter? Wasat! It's named for being in the middle of the sky. Sometimes, planets pass right in front of it. Mercury goes through superior conjunction. Mars and…
- A wonderful star-spotting opportunity · 6 min · Season 7 Episode 2Three naked eye planets are out of sight. You can see them clustered in a planetarium program view. Saturn and Jupiter are still out at night. Try to find Uranus, Neptune, Hebe…
- The Local Group · 5 min · Season 7 Episode 1Mercury, Venus, and Mars are about to pass around the other side of the sun. Earth is getting farther from the sun. Jupiter and Saturn remain out at night. And find out about the…
- 2026 astronomy preview · 4 min · Season 6 Episode 53Eclipses, oppositions, a famous variable star brightens up, Venus rules the evening, and the closest full moon of the year are among the dozen events of 2026 previewed in this…
- Vera C. Rubin · 5 min · Season 6 Episode 52They don't name extremely advanced optics after just anyone. Some of the best deep sky pictures ever taken came from an observatory named for Vera C. Rubin. If that's all you…
- Solstice summary · 5 minEarth is about to have its December solstice. That means long, although cold, nights for northern sky watchers. Saturn's rings are coming more into view. Geminid meteors are…
- A not-so-great greatest elongation; three bright objects in a group; Geminids · 6 min · Season 6 Episode 50Mercury's at greatest elongation. This greatest elongation doesn't seem so great though. The moon, Jupiter, and Pollux are close as the week starts. And after the moon leaves the…
- Getting the light just right · 5 min · Season 6 Episode 49The full moon occults the Pleiades. Since the moon's so much brighter than the stars, this may be hard to see. It's an even harder challenge to photograph. Here's how some…
