Daylight Savings Time Ends this Sunday morning, November 1, at 2am. With the resumption of standard time, midday (the time when the sun reaches its maximum altitude in the south part of the sky) will again be close to 12 …

The Planet Jupiter gleams high in the southern sky after dark during the entire month of October. Jupiter's Galilean satellites, the four largest and brightest moons circling the planet, can be easily observed this month using equipment as simple as …

The Orionid Meteor Shower peaks on the evening of Tuesday, October 20 and the morning of October 21. Viewing of this relatively minor meteor shower will start when Orion rises (around 10pm). Meteor rates will continue to rise into the …

A delicate crescent moon, its cusps diagonally inclined, sinks to the western horizon as twilight fades on Monday evening, October 19. On the following evening, a somewhat more robust crescent moon follows a similar but more delayed trek to the …

Coinciding with afternoon hours on sequential days, low tides usher in several months of excellent tidepooling opportunities. A -0.5 foot tide occurs at 3:24pm on Saturday, October 17, a -0.6 foot tide occurs at 4:05pm on the 18th, and a …

Spider Webs, decorated with myriads of tiny dew droplets, are a beautiful sight on foggy autumn mornings. Look for them in San Diego's wild canyons and park areas, or in your own backyard. Leaves are beginning to turn in coastal …

Venus, Saturn and Mercury, perform an intricate "dance" in the eastern sky at the first light of dawn during the first half of October. Venus, overwhelmingly the brightest of the three, hovers conspicuously a moderate angle above the horizon the …

Dense ground fogs are a trademark of the onset of autumn along San Diego's coastal strip. Fog materializes during the night and early morning hours when moist marine air that has settled in valleys and low areas is chilled below …

The tawny hues of the black oak tree are just beginning to highlight the slopes of San Diego County's higher mountains. Named for the dark coloring of its bark, especially when wet, the black oak is the only deciduous oak …

Chinese flame trees are now displaying colorful clusters of orange, reddish, or salmon-pink seed pods. Good specimens line the south end of Balboa Drive in Balboa Park, and Lake Murray Boulevard through San Diego's San Carlos district. Most of the …

As the beach season winds down, San Diego County's coastline is padded by what is likely the deepest and widest accumulations of sand we'll see this year. Many stretches of the coastline are vulnerable to powerful waves associated with winter …

San Diego's Coastal Sage-Scrub Vegetation is now at the very nadir of its growth cycle. Shades of gray and yellow have replaced the bright greens that carpeted many of the still-wild coastal hillsides up until April or May of this …