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Loading contentEvents and objects to watch for overhead — showers, comets, and bright constellations.
The constellation Antlia (Antliae) — 10 catalogued stars in this encyclopedia.
The constellation Apus (Apodis) — 13 catalogued stars in this encyclopedia.
A large equatorial constellation, one of the 88 modern constellations, lying along the zodiac.
Aquila is a constellation on the celestial equator, one of the 88 modern constellations.
The constellation Ara (Arae) — 18 catalogued stars in this encyclopedia.
Aries is a mid-sized zodiacal constellation representing the ram, with Hamal as its brightest star.
Auriga is a northern constellation, one of the 88 modern constellations.
The constellation Caelum (Caeli) — 4 catalogued stars in this encyclopedia.
The constellation Camelopardalis (Camelopardalis) — 45 catalogued stars in this encyclopedia.
A faint northern zodiacal constellation, one of the 88 modern constellations.
The constellation Canes Venatici (Canum Venaticorum) — 16 catalogued stars in this encyclopedia.
Canis Minor is a small constellation, one of the 88 modern constellations.
Capricornus is a faint zodiacal constellation traditionally represented as a sea goat.
Carina is a southern constellation representing the keel of the ship Argo, home to the bright star Canopus.
Centaurus is a bright southern constellation depicting a centaur and containing several of the sky's most luminous stars.
The constellation Cepheus (Cephei) — 48 catalogued stars in this encyclopedia.
A large constellation in the southern sky, one of the 88 modern constellations, often called the Whale or Sea Monster.
The constellation Chamaeleon (Chamaeleontis) — 13 catalogued stars in this encyclopedia.
The constellation Circinus (Circini) — 10 catalogued stars in this encyclopedia.
The constellation Columba (Columbae) — 19 catalogued stars in this encyclopedia.
The constellation Coma Berenices (Comae Berenices) — 24 catalogued stars in this encyclopedia.
A long-period comet that was widely visible to the naked eye in 1997.
A comet that passed very close to Earth in 1996.
A long-period comet discovered in 2020 that became a bright naked-eye object in the Northern Hemisphere sky.
A comet that broke apart and collided with Jupiter in 1994.
A periodic comet (109P/Swift–Tuttle) that is the parent body of the Perseid meteor shower.
The constellation Corona Australis (Coronae Australis) — 21 catalogued stars in this encyclopedia.
The constellation Corona Borealis (Coronae Borealis) — 19 catalogued stars in this encyclopedia.
The constellation Corvus (Corvi) — 11 catalogued stars in this encyclopedia.
The constellation Crater (Crateris) — 11 catalogued stars in this encyclopedia.
Crux, the Southern Cross, is the smallest of the 88 modern constellations and a prominent southern-sky asterism.
Cygnus is a northern constellation lying along the plane of the Milky Way, one of the 88 modern constellations.
The comet with the shortest known orbital period (about 3.3 years) and the parent of the Taurid meteor stream.
The constellation Equuleus (Equulei) — 6 catalogued stars in this encyclopedia.
Eridanus is a long southern constellation representing a celestial river, terminating at the bright star Achernar.
Gemini is a zodiacal constellation of the northern sky, one of the 88 modern constellations.
A reliable December meteor shower whose radiant lies in the constellation Gemini.
A Jupiter-family comet, parent of the Draconid meteor shower, and the first comet ever visited by a spacecraft — NASA's ICE probe flew through its tail in 1985.
A Jupiter-family comet visited by ESA's Giotto in 1992 during its extended mission, after Giotto's earlier encounter with Halley.
The constellation Grus (Gruis) — 22 catalogued stars in this encyclopedia.
A short-period comet (1P/Halley) that returns to the inner Solar System roughly every 76 years.
A small, hyperactive Jupiter-family comet flown past by NASA's EPOXI mission (the repurposed Deep Impact spacecraft) in 2010.
The constellation Hercules (Herculis) — 77 catalogued stars in this encyclopedia.
The constellation Horologium (Horologii) — 10 catalogued stars in this encyclopedia.
The constellation Hydra (Hydrae) — 71 catalogued stars in this encyclopedia.
The constellation Hydrus (Hydri) — 10 catalogued stars in this encyclopedia.
The constellation Lacerta (Lacertae) — 21 catalogued stars in this encyclopedia.
Leo is a zodiacal constellation of the northern sky, one of the 88 modern constellations.
The constellation Leo Minor (Leonis Minoris) — 14 catalogued stars in this encyclopedia.
A November meteor shower whose radiant lies in the constellation Leo, associated with comet Tempel–Tuttle.
The constellation Lepus (Leporis) — 26 catalogued stars in this encyclopedia.
A southern zodiacal constellation, one of the 88 modern constellations.
A Kreutz sungrazing comet that unexpectedly survived a passage through the Sun's corona in December 2011, emerging to display a bright tail.
The constellation Lupus (Lupi) — 48 catalogued stars in this encyclopedia.
The constellation Lynx (Lyncis) — 29 catalogued stars in this encyclopedia.
The 'Great Comet of 2007', the brightest comet in decades, whose vast fanned dust tail was a spectacular sight from the Southern Hemisphere.
The constellation Mensa (Mensae) — 7 catalogued stars in this encyclopedia.
The constellation Microscopium (Microscopii) — 15 catalogued stars in this encyclopedia.
The constellation Monoceros (Monocerotis) — 37 catalogued stars in this encyclopedia.
The constellation Musca (Muscae) — 18 catalogued stars in this encyclopedia.
The constellation Octans (Octantis) — 17 catalogued stars in this encyclopedia.
Ophiuchus is a large equatorial constellation depicting a man holding a serpent, straddling the celestial equator.
An October meteor shower whose radiant lies in the constellation Orion, produced by debris from Halley's Comet.
The constellation Pavo (Pavonis) — 28 catalogued stars in this encyclopedia.
A northern constellation, one of the 88 modern constellations, recognizable by the Great Square asterism.
A prominent summer meteor shower whose radiant lies in the constellation Perseus, produced by debris from comet Swift–Tuttle.
The constellation Phoenix (Phoenicis) — 26 catalogued stars in this encyclopedia.
The constellation Pictor (Pictoris) — 15 catalogued stars in this encyclopedia.
The constellation Pisces (Piscium) — 50 catalogued stars in this encyclopedia.
Piscis Austrinus is a southern constellation, one of the 88 modern constellations.
The constellation Puppis (Puppis) — 89 catalogued stars in this encyclopedia.
The constellation Pyxis (Pyxidis) — 12 catalogued stars in this encyclopedia.
The constellation Sagitta (Sagittae) — 8 catalogued stars in this encyclopedia.
The constellation Sagittarius (Sagittarii) — 69 catalogued stars in this encyclopedia.
A Jupiter-family comet that began fragmenting in 1995 and has since broken into dozens of pieces — a rare chance to watch a comet disintegrate over successive returns.
Scorpius is a zodiacal constellation of the southern sky, recognized as one of the 88 modern constellations.
The constellation Sculptor (Sculptoris) — 17 catalogued stars in this encyclopedia.
The constellation Scutum (Scuti) — 11 catalogued stars in this encyclopedia.
The constellation Serpens (Serpentis) — 37 catalogued stars in this encyclopedia.
The constellation Sextans (Sextantis) — 6 catalogued stars in this encyclopedia.
A long-period comet that made an exceptionally close pass of Mars in October 2014, observed up close by the fleet of Mars orbiters and rovers.
An extended autumn meteor shower with a radiant in the constellation Taurus, associated with Comet Encke.
Taurus is a large zodiacal constellation of the northern sky, one of the 88 modern constellations.
The constellation Telescopium (Telescopii) — 15 catalogued stars in this encyclopedia.
Periodic comet — 9P/Tempel.
The parent comet of the Leonid meteor shower, whose 33-year returns produce the periodic Leonid storms.
A long-period comet on a roughly 415-year orbit, the parent body of the Lyrid meteor shower seen each April.
The constellation Triangulum (Trianguli) — 11 catalogued stars in this encyclopedia.
The constellation Triangulum Australe (Trianguli Australis) — 11 catalogued stars in this encyclopedia.
The constellation Tucana (Tucanae) — 19 catalogued stars in this encyclopedia.
The constellation Vela (Velorum) — 75 catalogued stars in this encyclopedia.
Virgo is the second-largest constellation and a zodiacal constellation, one of the 88 modern constellations.
The constellation Volans (Volantis) — 14 catalogued stars in this encyclopedia.
The constellation Vulpecula (Vulpeculae) — 25 catalogued stars in this encyclopedia.