The Bull of the winter sky, one of the oldest zodiac figures.
Autumn has delivered a run of visible celestial events: a partial lunar eclipse in late August that reddened much of the Moon, close pairings of the young crescent Moon with Venus and Jupiter in September, and a string of upcoming spectacles — the Pleiades, the Orionid and Leonid meteor showers, a planetary parade on 14 November and a Beaver supermoon on 24 November.
A South Korean team has matched Van Gogh’s Starry Night to a predawn sky over Saint-Rémy-de-Provence around July 22, 1889, suggesting the painting may reflect a real sky rather than pure imagination. The study, published in Scientific Reports, notes three possible dawns fit the crescent Moon above Venus and the Hyades; July 22 is the closest match, though not conclusive. Leading institutions challenge the dating, citing June 1889 as the painting’s creation.