For your Sunday nature moment: an Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterfly (the Virginia State insect, for that matter) on a zinnia in my yard.

That HUGE naked-eye (well, safely-protected-eye) sunspot is still easily visible using eclipse glasses. I just took this pic of it on my phone! And if you want to learn why they form and how to see them, read my new article in Scientific American!

Scientific American

How to See Sunspots with Your Own Eyes

Surging solar activity means enormous sunspots are in the space-weather forecast. Here’s how to view them safely

I got up shortly after 4:00 am to see Jupiter and Mars still as a tight pair (lower left). The Pleiades star cluster is at the upper right and the V of the Hyades cluster (the head of Taurus) to the lower right. Totally worth it. Beautiful.

Saturn — the real Lord of the Rings — is about to become a thing again, rising early enough to see easily in the night sky. Here's a spectacular shot of it and an explanation of what's going on.

Bad Astronomy Newsletter

Saturn’s getting easier to see, though its rings are not

Spotting Saturn in the night sky, plus a quake shifts the Earth in Japan

The Sun is littered with spots today, including the giant one on the right (Active Region 3780) and the one on the left (AR 3784) which are both visible to the (protected) eye. TWO NAKED-EYE SUNSPOTS on the Sun AT THE SAME TIME. Wow! I shot this with my phone thru a filter. Always use good protection (like eclipse glasses) to look at the Sun!

Sunspot 3780 is so big you can see it with your naked eye! If you still have your eclipse glasses give it a shot (only use proper equipment to view the Sun, please). I took this with the 5x setting on my phone through a solar filter for my telescope. Another spot, 3784, is visible to the upper left.

I have TWO articles up today in Scientific American! 1) If you get up early on the morning of Aug 14 you can see Jupiter and Mars kissing in the eastern sky. Bonus: meteors!

Scientific American

Perseid Meteor Shower Joins Stunning Mars and Jupiter Conjunction

Early risers get a double sky treat: a Mars and Jupiter conjunction and the Perseid meteor shower will occur at once

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The Moon is the pits! And that's hopeful news for future lunar explorers.

Bad Astronomy Newsletter

The Moon is the pits!

The collapsed roof of a lunar lava tube hints at what may become a future astronaut habitat