Good morning, space fans. I know it's been awhile since we posted a Look Up column (every winter, space takes a backseat to photography, as you know), but we have a few good bits for you today. Read on for once-in-a-lifetime launch viewing opportunities, how the Japan earthquake permanently altered the Earth, and some debunked space myths. more ›

Look up to see an incredibly bright Jupiter this month. Tonight, in fact, the gaseous planet and Earth are closer than they will be for another 12 years. more ›

The news is all about the planets this week. For fiery flashes on Jupiter, Mars and Venus aligning with stars, nearby comets, and possible alien life in our solar system, keep on reading. more ›

The Earth travels around the Sun at a brisk 18 miles per second. At the same time, the Sun, dragging the solar system with it, orbits around the center of the Milky Way Galaxy at around 155 miles per second. The Milky Way orbits within our Local Group, which is being pulled by the gravity of the massive Virgo Cluster. And finally, we move relative to the expanding Universe at a speed of almost 400 miles per second. more ›

It's a regular week of summer nights coming up. No meteor showers or amazing celestial events mark the calendar, but with the waxing Moon and (hopefully) some clear nights, it should be a great time to put on some bug spray and check out the regulars -- start with the Summer Triangle we pointed out last week. more ›

Did you look up last Wednesday and Thursday to see two of the brightest objects in the sky -- the Moon and Jupiter -- trek ever so close to each other? It's tough to say that maxedaperture's photo above doesn't really do it justice (because it sure as hell does the Moon itself justice), but the real view was so bright to make even non-fans of astronomy look up and, as a friend told me later, make him nearly run his car into a ditch. (Please practice safe sky viewing and pull over!) more ›

We mentioned last week that the two brightest planets in our sky would soon converge together with the crescent Moon in the early evening, making their final swoop towards each other tonight. Flickr user (and our reliable astro-photographer) philliefan99 took this image on Saturday night, when they were still fairly far apart, but knowing the rain would make it tough to photograph on Sunday. We're looking at partly to very cloudy skies tonight, but try to scope them out anyway. If it's clear, the three will be visible just after sunset -- as you can tell from the photo above -- so look up while you're leaving the office today. Venus, Jupiter and the Moon will be huddled in the southwestern sky near the horizon and will be so close that you can cover all three with your thumb at arms length. Enjoy the show! more ›