A Stargazer’s Calendar
A Year Under
the Night Sky
Twelve months of a sky that keeps its schedule — and how to be there when it performs.
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A Year Under
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The night sky is the oldest calendar
we have — and it still keeps time.
Long before clocks, people read the seasons in the stars. From any dark hill, on any clear night, you still can.
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The northern sky, turning
Four Seasons, Four Skies
1
Winter. Orion climbs high, surrounded by the brightest stars of the year.
2
Spring. Leo rises in the evening and the Big Dipper rides nearly overhead.
3
Summer. The Summer Triangle — Vega, Deneb, Altair — frames the bright band of the Milky Way.
4
Autumn. The Great Square of Pegasus points the way to the Andromeda Galaxy.
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Each night, every star rises about
four minutes earlier than the night before.
Those minutes add up. Over a year the whole sky makes one full turn, and each season gets its own constellations.
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Mark the calendar
A Year of
Falling Stars
Five meteor showers return every year, on schedule.
Quadrantids · Jan
Lyrids · Apr
Perseids · Aug
Orionids · Oct
Geminids · Dec
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The Perseids peak in mid-August —
warm nights, no telescope required.
Under truly dark skies, the peak can bring on the order of a hundred meteors an hour.
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How a night of watching unfolds
Plan One Good Night
Dusk falls
Eyes adapt
After midnight
Dawn ends it
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Light, measured in time
Every Glance Is Time Travel
8 min
Sunlight’s journey to Earth
1.3 s
Moonlight’s journey to Earth
2.5M
Light-years to the Andromeda Galaxy
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Getting started
All You Really Need
1
Dark skies. Get away from city lights — the Milky Way appears where streetlights don’t.
2
Patience. Your eyes take roughly twenty to thirty minutes to fully adapt to the dark.
3
Binoculars, optionally. Enough to show the Moon’s craters and Jupiter’s four largest moons.
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See you out there
Look Up
Tonight
The sky is free, and it keeps its schedule. Pick a date from this calendar and go.
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