Quick, what's the reddest star visible to the naked eye? Depending on your sky conditions, your answer may well be this week's astronomical highlight. Mu Cephei, also known as Herschel's Garnet Star, ...

Autumn brings the gentle glow of the Milky Way high overhead. To the west, it arises from the stars of Cygnus, while to the east, it flows toward Cassiopeia. In between those two dominant ...

Yesterday we looked at the obscure yet up-close-and-personal Wolf 359. Today I thought it would be fun to touch the other extreme and visit with two of the most distant stars visible with the naked ...

Simply put, a variable star is one that changes brightness by any means. Backyard observers can estimate a variable star’s apparent magnitude as it rises and falls over the course of time and then ...

One of the largest known stars, UY Scuti is a red supergiant with a radius 1,700 times that of the Sun, located 9,500 light-years away. Known as “Herschel’s Garnet Star” due to its red hue, Mu Cephei ...