The journal · The real sky
Sky events
Eclipses, meteors, conjunctions and aurora, with the figures computed, not copied.
8 articles.
Aurora forecasting: how to chase the northern lights
Two timescales. The three-day forecast is a guess. The hour-ahead numbers are the ones that work.
5 min read
Comet watching: what makes one visible
Comet predictions are notoriously unreliable. The reason is interesting, and it's dust.
5 min read
Planetary conjunctions coming this year
Computed, not copied. Several this cycle come within a fifth of the Moon's width.
4 min read
When and where to see the ISS pass overhead
Brighter than every star, across the sky in four minutes, and there are people on board.
4 min read
Meteor shower calendar 2027
Moon phase at each peak, computed, because that's what decides whether a shower deserves a late night.
5 min read
Next total solar eclipse: dates and where to go
The next is 2 August 2027 across southern Spain, North Africa and Egypt. Totality isn't a better partial. It's a different event.
5 min read
Supermoons explained (and why they're overhyped)
About 7% wider than an average full Moon. No eye can tell. Go and look anyway.
4 min read
How to safely view the Sun
Never through an instrument without a front-fitted solar filter. Never with anything that isn't certified. No exceptions but one.
5 min read
More in the real sky
The sky ahead · 2Practical stargazing · 10Solar system · 9Stars · 8Deep sky and cosmology · 8Instruments and missions · 7All sections