Starry Night This Week

Each week most PBS stations air "Jack Horkheimer: Star Gazer", the world's first and only weekly TV series on naked-eye astronomy. The Starry Night images on this page illustrate the show for the week of Monday August 12, 2002. You can view the complete show script, or watch a RealPlayer video of the show.

The Great Mars Approach Begins! As Mars Prepares For Its Closest Meeting With Earth In 60,000 Years!

Mars reached conjunction with the Sun on August 10th. Meaning that it was in line with the Earth but on the opposite side of the Sun.

On August 27th, 2003 Mars will get really close to the Earth, a mere 34 million miles away. At this time it will be the second brightest planet in the sky after Venus.

Still want to know more?

Click here for an archive of the past shows.

Introduce yourself to the wonders of the night sky with Starry Night Backyard. Astronomy software so realistic and easy to use that learning your way around the night sky has never been easier. Learn how to identify planets, stars and constellations. View the heavens from your own backyard or anyplace on Earth. Blast-off and explore the solar system, ride a comet or check out the view from the International Space Station. Do it all using Starry Night Backyard.

And for those whose interest in the night sky goes even deeper, you'll want to get the new advanced Starry Night Pro. With extended data sets, dozens of new Pro-only features and Internet support not found in any other program you'll wonder how you ever observed without it!

See the wonders of our Universe in all its three-dimensional glory. Pilot a starship through 700 million light years of space and 30,000 galaxies. See what's really out there, with Deep Space Explorer.

Feel free to send us an email if you have any questions about Starry Night that you can't find answered here on our website. We also welcome your feedback and suggestions.