UCLA astronomers and colleagues at Caltech and UC Santa Cruz have built a new scientific instrument, referred to as a "time machine," that allows the human eye to peer through interstellar dust to the beginnings of our universe. more ›

Did you see a couple of bright objects close to the moon this weekend? It's what astronomers call a "triple conjunction," when three celestial bodies are together and visible to us on Earth. In this case, it was Venus and Jupiter joining the moon, seemingly very close to each other in the sky. more ›

Pasadena's California Institute of Technology (Caltech) announced today that a team of astronomers led by Caltech scientists have discovered three of the smallest confirmed planets ever detected outside our solar system, increasing the likelihood of the existence of habitable planets. more ›

Tonight is a great night to look up at the sky, because you're likely to catch a glimpse of the annual Quadrantids meteor shower. "This annual shower has one of the highest predicted hourly rates of all the major showers," explains Spacedex. more ›

Mystics and Skeksis, grab your shards and look to the pre-dawn skies this week for a preview of the Great Conjunction. Four planets, Venus, Mercury, Mars, and Jupiter are now visible to the naked eye, each spaced within 10 degrees of each other. more ›

Last night's total lunar eclipse was a rare event, and one that we missed out on witnessing here in Southern California thanks to our stormy skies. Sharing a date with the Winter Solstice for the first time since 1554, North America reportedly had some of the best views on earth...except for Californians under the cover of rain-choked skies. Here's what the total lunar eclipse looked like in places where it wasn't Rainpocalypse 2010. more ›

Night owls and early risers, budget in some time to look up in the sky tomorrow morning to catch a glimpse of the annual Leonid meteor shower. The shower " is expected to put on a normal, weak showing this year of about 18 meteors per hour from dark skies," notes the Griffith Observatory's Sky Report. "The best time to look is between moonset (2:40 a.m.) and dawn on Wednesday morning, the 17th. Recline while watching, and face upwards toward the east." Enjoy the show! more ›

Yesterday spring gave way to summer, and the transition is known as the Summer Solstice. LAist Featured Photos pool contributor and blogger Lydia Marcus captured its "local noon" moment with her camera at Griffith Observatory's Gottlieb Transit Corridor yesterday, then explained on her blog: "Sunlight hits the Transit Corridor at 12:55pm on June 21, 2010 marking high noon and this year's Summer Solstice - the day the sun is at it's highest position all year long, also making it the longest day of the year. " more ›

It's a space nerd weekend, folks. Not only is the Griffith Observatory celebrating its 75th Anniversary (with events all day today), the Jet Propulsion Laboratory is hosting their annual open house this weekend. Then add to that this: "This weekend, Venus and the crescent Moon are gathering in the western sky for a spectacular conjunction, and they’re not alone. The International Space Station and, very likely, space shuttle Atlantis will join them for a rare four-way meeting of spaceships and planets over many locations," says Space Fellowship. Anthony Cook at the Observatory's Sky Report offers up some more information. more ›

This trio of planets were seen from around the world last night. And hopefully you saw it too because it won't be happening until 2052 (though, on New Year's Eve, Venus and the moon will be in view). This conjunction of planets have been seen in our skies since Thanksgiving night, but last night was when they appeared closest together. more ›

Since Thanksgiving night, Jupiter and Venus have been in our skies for our viewing pleasure. Tonight will be the "most attractive," says Anthony Cook of the Griffith Observatory Sky Report. The two planets will appear close together--about the width of your finger when you stretch your arm out--with the moon 4 degrees--or about two finger widths--to the upper right. The planets will set around 7:40 p.m. more ›

If tonight ends up being (another?) a late night for you, you might want to step outside and take a look up in the skies:

After the Moon sets – around 11 p.m. local time on Nov. 5, later on subsequent nights – some 10 to 15 meteors may appear per hour. They are often yellowish-orange and, as meteors go, appear to move rather slowly. Their name comes from the way they seem to radiate from the constellation Taurus, the Bull, which sits low in the east a couple of hours after sundown and is almost directly overhead by around 1:30 a.m. [Yahoo! News]

With up to two meteors flying by per minute, tonight's big Perseid meteor shower (around 1 a.m. to 4 a.m.) is probably one of the best. Of course, being in the city, gazing at the sky can be pretty useless when trying to find stars. more ›

Quiz Question: So it is four in the morning, September 1st, the bars have long since stopped serving alcohol for the night, and you've had too many of those in-lieu-of-booze Red Bulls, and you are wide awake. What should you do next? Should you...? a) go home and watch television until you pass out on the sofa b) go to the after-party of your friend's friend c) stumble around the streets of West Hollywood for... more ›

I lived in New York my whole damned life up until l made the move to Los Angeles in 2006, and even though I've been here at least a year already, I still get harassing phone calls from my friends that entail the sentence "yo, what you got over there in la-la land that we ain't got here in the greatest city in the world?" I've gone through the natural beauty, beaches and mountains,... more ›

As happens every year, the wattage from the collective star-power gathered for the Oscars turns the universe into a dim bulb. But just before the big day, local braniacs at Cal-Tech have managed up another amazing astronomical feat. Using the Spitzer infrared Space Telescope, scientists peered at two planets, (360 and 904 trillion miles away) and for the first time, were able to identify molecules in an extra-solar atmosphere. The problem observing planets orbiting... more ›