Sky Guides
How to Work Out the Moon Phase for Any Date by Hand
You can work out the Moon’s phase for any date, past or future, with one reference new moon, the length of the lunar month and a bit of…
Sky Guides
18 posts in Sky Guides · Practical guides to the night sky: finding your way around the stars, what equipment helps, how to photograph the Moon and meteors, and what the sky is doing this month.
Sky Guides
Why the Rising Moon Looks Orange (and Sometimes Red)
A rising Moon looks orange for the same reason a setting Sun does: its light reaches you through the thickest possible slice of the atmosphere, and air scatters…
Sky Guides
Where the Moon Rises, and Why the Spot Moves Every Night
The Moon does not rise in the east. It rises somewhere along a stretch of the eastern horizon that is far wider than the Sun’s, and it crosses…
Sky Guides
Why You Can See the Moon During the Day
The Moon is above the horizon for about twelve and a half hours out of every twenty-four, and half of that time, on average, is daylight. It is…
Sky Guides
November 2026 Night Sky Guide: Moon, Planets, Meteor Showers
November 2026 is a morning month. Jupiter and Mars meet before dawn on the 16th, Venus returns as the Morning Star and reaches its brightest on the 27th,…
Sky Guides
Lunar Libration: How to See Around the Edge of the Moon
The Moon always shows us the same face, but not quite the same face. Over a month it nods up and down by nearly 7 degrees and rocks…
Sky Guides
Lunar X, Lunar V and the Jewelled Handle: When to See Them
Three of the Moon’s best-known tricks of light are the Lunar X, the Lunar V and the Jewelled Handle. None of them is a real structure. Each is…
Sky Guides
Clocks Go Back November 1: What Changes in the Night Sky
At 2 AM on Sunday, November 1, 2026, clocks in most of the United States and Canada go back to 1 AM, and the sky does not care…
Sky Guides
Why the Moon Rises Later Each Night and Sometimes Not at All
The Moon rises about 50 minutes later each day on average, because it moves eastward around its orbit by roughly 13 degrees a day and the Earth has…