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  • “Exploration is in our nature.” - Carl Sagan

🔭 What's up this week:

Mars shines high in the evening sky, looking reddish. Uranus is near Mars, although you’ll likely need a star chart to find it and binoculars or a telescope to see it.

    Your current night sky view

    Want a map of tonight's sky for your location? We recommend Stellarium, available on the web and for mobile devices.

    Night Sky Toolkits

    The next generation of space explorers

    Astronomy for Beginners

    An introduction to backyard astronomy for amateur stargazers.

    Lunar surface through a small telescope

    How to Pick the Best Beginner Telescope

    Picking out your first telescope can be overwhelming. This easy-to-follow guide will help you find the best telescope that you'll actually use.

    The Milky Way at Mono Lake

    Night Sky Photography for Beginners

    An introduction to full-sky astrophotography using a digital camera.

    Moon Toolkits

    Moon Features You Can See From Earth (16:9 landscape)

    Moon Features You Can See From Earth

    What can you see on the Moon tonight? This guide from The Planetary Society will help you identify some features.

    The Moon from Apollo 12

    Your Guide to the Moon

    The Moon is the only world besides Earth ever visited by humans. By studying it, scientists can piece together Earth’s origin story.

    The Moon seen from its orbital plane

    Can the Moon be upside down?

    When you think about how the Moon looks in the night sky, you might never have considered that it looks different to people in other parts of the world. But really, perspective is all relative.