Mercury passes 1.2° north of Regulus at 6 A.M. EDT; the pair is visible in the east just before sunrise, but it might be a challenging observation. You’ll want to get to a location above the surrounding terrain if possible, with an eastern horizon free of tall trees or buildings.  Rising around 5:30 A.M. localContinue reading "The Sky Today on Tuesday, September 2: Mercury meets Regulus"

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In this episode, Astronomy magazine Editor Emeritus Dave Eicher invites you to head out during the early morning hours the first week of September. It’s then when you’ll see the brilliant planet Venus pass by the Beehive Cluster, which lies in the constellation Cancer the Crab. Venus will be easy to spot but if twilight has started,Continue reading "This Week in Astronomy with Dave Eicher: Venus and the Beehive"

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Humanity is obsessed with astronomical record keeping. The Babylonians compiled their first listing of the stars in the 12th century b.c.e. Around 1000 b.c.e., they followed it with an expanded catalog that includes familiar constellations and star clusters, as well as motions of the Sun, the Moon, and the planets. The Mayans inscribed into stoneContinue reading "An introduction to common astronomical catalogs"

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Cepheid variables are some of the most well-known variable stars in the sky, responsible for helping astronomers accurately measure cosmic distances and famously clueing Edwin Hubble in to the fact that the Andromeda Galaxy was far beyond the Milky Way. So, tonight let’s begin September by finding the Cepheid variable that started it all: DeltaContinue reading "The Sky Today on Monday, September 1: Observe Delta Cephei"

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On Sept. 1, 1804, German astronomer Karl Ludwig Harding peered through a 5-centimeter refracting telescope at a private observatory near Bremen, and discovered a celestial body he named Juno. Harding was part of the so-called Celestial Police. This group of astronomers had dedicated themselves to the search for the “missing planet” that the Titius-Bode lawContinue reading "Sept. 1, 1804: Karl Harding spots 3 Juno"

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September’s sky is rich with opportunities. Titan’s shadow continues to transit Saturn. The ringed planet reaches opposition along with Neptune, with both worlds in the same region of the sky. Mars is descending toward solar conjunction. Uranus is a fine binocular target, while Jupiter dominates the early morning. Venus starts the month near M44, thenContinue reading "September 2025: What’s in the sky this month? Saturn and Neptune reach opposition, as Jupiter and Venus greet the dawn"

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The evening sky boasts two naked-eye planets. Start your night’s viewing with ruddy Mars, which lies in the west as darkness falls. It treks eastward against the backdrop of Virgo, passing 2° north of the Maiden’s brightest star, 1st-magnitude Spica, on Sept. 12. The Red Planet shines at magnitude 1.6, slightly fainter than the blue-whiteContinue reading "September 2025: What’s in the Southern Hemisphere sky this month?"

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On Aug. 31, 1913, Alfred Charles Bernard Lovell was born in England. When he was 15, a school trip to hear a lecture on electricity prompted a keen interest in science and math, and Lovell would go on to study physics at Bristol University. He graduated with honors in 1934 and finished his Ph.D. onlyContinue reading "Aug. 31, 1913: Birth of Bernard Lovell"

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Bright Venus hangs near the lovely Beehive Cluster (M44) in Cancer this morning. Both rise more than two hours before the Sun and reach nearly 20° high in the east an hour before sunrise. Venus shines at magnitude –3.9, a blazing beacon just 1.4° southwest (to the upper right) of the Beehive.  At magnitude 3.1,Continue reading "The Sky Today on Sunday, August 31: Venus hangs with the Beehive"

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The third member of NASA’s space shuttle program, Discovery had a fraught journey to its launch. First, a test in June of 1984 found a flaw in the thermal shield; then a launch scheduled for later the same month was delayed due to a computer failure. Attempt No. 2 was halted only four seconds beforeContinue reading "Aug. 30, 1984: Space Shuttle Discovery launches"

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Saturn’s moon Iapetus reaches greatest western elongation today, now located 9.5’ west of the ringed planet. Iapetus has two vastly different hemispheres, one light and one dark. As the moon orbits Saturn, it slowly rotates so that one and then the other side faces us, with its brightness varying vastly depending on which region isContinue reading "The Sky Today on Saturday, August 30: Iapetus reaches western elongation"

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On Saturday, September 20, an ambitious project will be announced and celebrated in Animas, New Mexico, which lies near the Arizona border. And you’re invited. Dubbed “Lunar Base Alpha,” it will replicate the lunar landscape and feature rovers conducting science experiments and habitats that you’ll be able to stay in. The initial project will coverContinue reading "Experience the Moon on Earth"

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The first light from the explosion that was the death of a massive star in the nearby Large Magellanic Cloud reached Earth on Feb. 23, 1987. Supernova 1987A’s proximity gave astronomers unprecedented access into the final stages of stellar life, and in 1990, the Hubble Space Telescope began taking high-res images of the former star.Continue reading "Aug. 29, 1990: Hubble sees Supernova 1987A clearly"

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Rodney Pommier, taken from Portland, Oregon Roughly 40 million years ago near the core of the spiral galaxy NGC 7331, a white dwarf star ended its life in a thermonuclear explosion. The light from that explosion was detected July 14 by the Gravitational-wave Optical Transient Observer project. This astroimager acquired the shot on the leftContinue reading "Spot the supernova"

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This evening Titan stands east of Saturn and Iapetus is far to the west, the latter approaching its greatest western elongation tomorrow. You can find the ringed planet already 15° high in the east at 10 P.M. local daylight time, continuing to rise until around 2:30 A.M., when it reaches the highest point in itsContinue reading "The Sky Today on Friday, August 29: Saturn’s moons line up"

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Sky This Week is brought to you in part by Celestron. Friday, August 29The waxing Moon lies in southern Libra tonight. Our satellite is quickly approaching Scorpius, where it will meet the Scorpion’s brightest star in just a few days.  High in the southeast in the few hours after sunset is the small constellation SagittaContinue reading "The Sky This Week from August 29 to September 5: Saturn’s time to shine"

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Patrick A. Cosgrove from Honeoye Falls, New York Sharpless 2–124 is a faint emission nebula located around 15,000 light-years away in Cygnus. This image reveals intricate filaments of dust crossing the bright central region, reminiscent of the Trifid Nebula (M20). The imager took 14.2 hours of SHO and LRGB data with a 2.8-inch f/5.6 astrograph.

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iAFS2 automatic focuser  iOptronWoburn, MA The iAFS2 automatic focuser is designed to stay focused even after it is adjusted. It allows the user to control its movement three ways: by connecting to a computer, with affixed adjuster buttons, or with a manual focus wheel. The focuser also features a built-in temperature sensor and two USBContinue reading "Make summer last with these new astronomy products"

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A team of scientists claims a computational tool for studying black hole collisions could be our best bet for answering mysterious questions about the universe’s origins. In a new paper in Living Reviews in Relativity, they argue for applying a technique called numerical relativity to peer into the moment before the Big Bang.  At itsContinue reading "Scientists seek to discover what came before the Big Bang"

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The Northern Hemisphere’s summer is — by far — the best time to view our galaxy’s rich star fields. And it’s during summer that the spectacular Wild Duck Cluster flies through the Milky Way. German astronomer Gottfried Kirch discovered the Wild Duck Cluster in 1681. Messier made it his 11th catalog entry May 30, 1764,Continue reading "Michael’s Miscellany: Observe the Wild Duck Cluster"

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Engineers at NASA successfully tested key hardware for the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope in a crucial two-day sequence on Aug. 7 and 8, according to an Aug. 26 press release from the agency. In simulated space-like conditions, the team confirmed that the telescope’s four solar panels and a unique, visor-like sunshade will unfold asContinue reading "Watch as the Roman Space Telescope unfurls its solar panels and visor in successful test"

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The space probe Galileo was launched in 1989 with the goal of studying Jupiter and its moons. On its way to the gas giant, it became the first spacecraft to do a flyby of an asteroid as it zoomed past 951 Gaspra on Oct. 29, 1991. Then, on Aug. 28, 1993, Galileo made its secondContinue reading "Aug. 28, 1993: An asteroid harbors a surprise"

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Comet C/2024 E1 (Wierzchoś) is passing less than 0.5° from magnitude 5.4 Lambda (λ) Coronae Borealis in the western sky this evening. The comet is quite faint at 15th magnitude, so you’ll want a dark observing site and a large scope to net it. Fortunately, you have the luxury of waiting until the sky isContinue reading "The Sky Today on Thursday, August 28: Comet Wierzchoś passes Lambda Coronae Borealis"

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In the late 20th century, when we still captured celestial images on film, the few days around New Moon were the only times we could image deep-sky objects. The grainy, low-sensitivity films we used back then demanded the darkest skies possible for quality portraits. When First Quarter arrived, it was time to say goodbye toContinue reading "Tips for imaging during a Full Moon"

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SpaceX’s more than 400-foot-tall Starship rocket returned to form Tuesday, deploying its first payload and completing critical heat shield tests following a string of in-flight and preflight failures. The spacecraft experienced different issues on each of its previous three test flights, with explosions in January and March disrupting air travel. In June, a Starship exploded on the test stand asContinue reading "SpaceX Starship Flight 10 viewed as roaring success"

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New research suggests a giant impact may not have been responsible for the formation of Jupiter’s core. Most planetary scientists thought that a colossal collision with an early planet containing half of Jupiter’s core material could have mixed up the central region of the gas giant enough to explain its interior today. But a newContinue reading "A new theory explains how Jupiter’s core formed"

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When the Sun, Earth, and Mars all align so that from an earthly perspective, Mars is opposite the Sun, Mars is said to be at opposition. Mars oppositions happen about every other year, and at opposition – or rather, within a few days of it – Mars is also at its closest approach to EarthContinue reading "Aug. 27, 2003: Mars zooms in"

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José J. Chambó, taken from Farm Hakos, Namibia Comet C/2025 K1 (ATLAS) glides by the star 9 Herculis in this Aug. 21 image, glowing with a greenish coma about 2′ wide and a 20″ tail. Captured at roughly magnitude 12.5, this icy visitor was 0.33 astronomical units (the average Earth-Sun distance) from the Sun. TheContinue reading "A comet in Hercules"

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The Moon moves 1.2° south of Spica during the daylight hours, sitting due south of Virgo’s luminary at 11 A.M. EDT. By this evening, a new line has formed in the sky, with Spica now between Mars and the Moon, which sits to the star’s left. An hour after sunset, Spica is still some 7°Continue reading "The Sky Today on Wednesday, August 27: The Moon moves past Spica"

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داده‌های تلسکوپ فضایی جیمز وب اطلاعات ارزشمندی درباره‌ی فرآیند ستاره‌زایی درون کهکشان‌ها به دانشمندان می‌دهد. توان تفکیک بالای این تلسکوپ، همراه با پوشش گسترده‌ی طول‌موجی ( از ۰/۵ تا ۳/۵ میکرومتر)، امکان مطالعه‌ی کهکشان‌ها را در انتقال‌به‌سرخ‌های بالاتر و با درخشندگی‌های سطحی پایین‌تر برای منجمان فراهم می‌سازد. یکی از موضوعات کلیدی در مطالعه‌ی ستاره‌زایی کهکشان‌ها، بررسی توده‌های^۱ چگال و ستاره‌زا است. این توده‌ها که در طول‌موج فرابنفش^۲ و تابش هیدروژن-آلفا^۳ به‌وضوح قابل مشاهده‌اند، بخش قابل‌توجهی از نرخ تشکیل ستاره‌ در کهکشان را به خود اختصاص می‌دهند. در انتقال‌به‌سرخ‌های پایین (کم‌تر از ۰/۱۵)، پژوهش‌های گسترده‌ای درباره‌ی ارتباط میان نرخ ستاره‌زایی و فلزیت^۴ در توده‌ها انجام شده است. در مطالعه‌ی ساختار کهکشان‌ها، «فلزیت» به میزان حضور عناصر سنگین‌تر از هیدروژن — که حاصل فرایندهای هسته‌ای در ستارگان هستند — در محیط گازی یا درون خود ستارگان گفته می‌شود. این نتایج نشان می‌دهند که ورود گازهای با فلزیت پایین به درون کهکشان می‌تواند با افزایش منابع سوخت ستاره‌زایی، موجب تشدید نرخ تشکیل ستاره شود. در عین حال، ورود این گازها موجب تغییر در ترکیب شیمیایی گازهای درون کهکشان شده و با رقیق کردن آن، میزان فلزیت درون توده‌های ستاره‌زا را کاهش می‌دهد.

نویسندگان این مقاله با بهره‌گیری از داده‌های تصویری و طیفی تلسکوپ فضایی جیمز وب، به مطالعه‌ی کهکشان‌هایی می‌پردازند که توده‌های ستاره‌زایی در آن‌ها دیده شده‌اند. هدف اصلی این مطالعه، بررسی فلزیت و میزان تغییرات آن در این نوع از کهکشان‌ها در انتقال به سرخ بین ۰/۶ تا ۱/۳۵ است. این بازه‌ی انتقال‌به‌سرخ به‌گونه‌ای انتخاب شده است که خطوط نشری هیدروژن-آلفا (Hα) و گوگرد ۳ (SIII) در طیف این کهکشان‌ها قابل مشاهده باشند. خط هیدروژن-آلفا نشان‌دهنده‌ی تابش ناشی از بازترکیب هیدروژن یونیزه است. در نواحی ستاره‌زا، مناطقی از گاز هیدروژن یونیزه وجود دارد که پیرامون ستارگان جوان و پرجرم تشکیل می‌شوند. این ستارگان با تابش فوتون‌های پرانرژی، اتم‌های هیدروژن اطراف را یونیزه کرده و باعث جدا شدن الکترون‌های آن‌ها می‌شود. زمانی که این الکترون‌ها دوباره با هسته‌های هیدروژن ترکیب می‌شوند، در طول‌موج‌های مشخصی تابش می‌کنند، که شامل خطوط بازترکیب هیدروژن مانند هیدروژن-آلفا (از سری خطوط بالمر هیدروژن با طول موج ۶۵۶۳ آنگستروم) می‌شود. میزان تابش این خط مستقیماً با میزان فعالیت ستارگان جوان و در نتیجه نرخ ستاره‌زایی اخیر در کهکشان مرتبط است. گوگرد ۳ نیز یکی از مهم‌ترین خطوط طیفی برای مطالعه‌ی فلزیت است، زیرا نسبت شدت آن به خطوط دیگر، به‌ویژه خطوط دیگر گوگرد و اکسیژن، به دما و ترکیب شیمیایی گاز حساس است و می‌تواند برآورد دقیقی از فراوانی عناصر سنگین‌تر (فلزیت) در محیط ارائه دهد.

تصویر شماره ۱ چندین نمونه از کهکشان‌های مطالعه شده در این مقاله را نشان می‌دهد. یکی از مزایای داده‌های طیفی و تصویری جیمز وب، وضوح بالای آن‌ها از نظر توان تفکیک طیفی^۵ و مکانی^۶ است. این ویژگی امکان مطالعه‌ی کهکشان‌ها را در مقیاس‌های کوچک‌تر و با جزئیات بیش‌تر فراهم می‌کند. در هر ردیف نمایش داده شده در تصویر شماره ۱، تصویر رنگی از کهکشان، نقشه‌های تفکیکی^۷ از توده‌های ستاره‌زا، میزان ستاره‌زایی و فلزیت به ترتیب از چپ به راست نمایش داده شده است. با توجه به این تصاویر، به‌وضوح می‌توان مشاهده کرد که فلزیت این توده‌های ستاره‌زا نسبت به سایر نواحی نشان‌داده شده از کهکشان کم‌تر است .

شکل ۱. نقشه‌‌های تفکیک شده از سه کهکشان نمونه . هر ردیف شامل تصویر رنگی کهکشان، نقشه‌ی تفکیک شده‌ی توده‌های ستاره‌زا، نقشه‌ی لگاریتمی نرخ ستاره‌زایی و همچنین نقشه‌ی لگاریتمی فلزیت محاسبه شده در نواحی مختلف کهکشان (از چپ به راست) است.

نویسندگان در ادامه برای مقایسه‌ی فلزیت توده‌های ستاره‌زا با فلزیت نواحی اطراف آن، ابتدا فلزیت داخل توده‌ها و سپس دیسک خارج از آن‌ها را اندازه‌گیری می‌کنند. در نمودار سمت چپ تصویر شماره‌ی ۲، فلزیت مربوط به توده‌ها و دیسک اطراف آن‌ها نمایش داده شده است. برازش‌های خطی نشان می‌دهند که توده‌های ستاره‌زا عموماً فلزیتی کم‌تر از دیسک پیرامون‌شان دارند، که بیان‌گر رقیق‌شدن گاز در این توده‌ها است. نمودار سمت راست، میانه‌ی فلزیت اندازه‌گیری‌شده برای همه‌ی توده‌های ستاره‌زای هر کهکشان نشان می‌دهد. شواهدی از وجود دو جمعیت احتمالی در این کهکشان‌ها دیده می‌شود: کهکشان‌هایی که فلزیت توده‌های آن‌ها مشابه فلزیت دیسک پیرامونشان است، که با رنگ قرمز نشان داده شده‌اند و نزدیک به خط برابری قرار دارند و کهکشان‌هایی که توده‌هایشان اختلاف فلزیت بیش‌تری دارند، که با رنگ آبی نمایش داده شده‌اند.

شکل ۲. نمودار سمت چپ: فلزیت هر توده‌‌ی ستاره‌زا و دیسک پیرامونش به همراه خط برازش خطی و همچنین خط‌چین ۱:۱ (برابری فلزیت). نمودار سمت راست: مقدار میانه‌‌ی به دست آمده برای فلزیت توده‌ها در هر کهکشان. نقاط قرمز کهکشان‌هایی با اختلاف فلزیت کم و نزدیک به خط برابری و نقاط آبی کهکشان‌هایی با اختلاف بیش‌تر را مشخص می‌کنند.

آنچه احتمالاً در این‌جا مشاهده می‌کنیم این است که کهکشان‌هایی با اختلاف فلزیت کم‌تر بین توده‌های ستاره‌زا و دیسک پیرامونشان (رنگ قرمز در نمودار سمت راست شکل ۲) ممکن است عمدتاً توده‌های ستاره‌زای خود را از طریق ناپایداری‌های دیسکی تشکیل داده باشند و بنابراین این توده‌ها از گازی که پیش‌تر در خود کهکشان وجود داشته شکل گرفته باشند و منجر به اختلاف فلزیت کم بین آن‌ها و محیط پیرامون‌شان شده باشد. در مقابل، کهکشان‌هایی با اختلاف فلزیت بیش‌تر توده‌های ستاره‌زا و دیسک پیرامونشان (رنگ آبی در نمودار سمت راست شکل ۲) احتمالاً توده‌هایشان را از گازهای ورودی به کهکشان تشکیل داده‌اند. این گاز که فلزیت کمی دارد، می‌تواند باعث افزایش میزان ستاره‌زایی در این توده‌ها شود، و هم‌زمان با رقیق کردن محیط باعث کاهش فلزیت توده‌ها شود.

شکل ۳. توزیع فلزیت و تابش هیدوژن-آلفا در یک کهکشان نمونه. توده‌های ستاره‌زا به صورت نواحی بنفش کوچک بر روی پس‌زمینه‌ی نارنجی کهکشان دیده می‌شوند. پنل‌های سمت راست: نقشه‌های تفکیکی از کهکشان برای نرخ ستاره‌زایی به دست آمده از شار هیدوژن-آلفا، نرخ ستاره‌زایی ویژه، و فلزیت را نشان می‌دهند. پنل پایین، تغییرات هیدوژن-آلفا (نقاط سبز) و فلزیت (خطوط سفید) را در طول نواری که روی کهکشان مشخص شده، نمایش می‌دهد.

نویسندگان این مقاله پس از بررسی تغییرات فلزیت در نواحی مختلف کهکشان، به دنبال یافتن ارتباط میان نرخ ستاره‌زایی و فلزیت هستند. نقشه‌های نرخ‌ستاره‌زایی و فلزیت (تصویر شماره ۱) نشان می‌دهد که کاهش فلزیت در توده‌های ستاره‌زا با افزایش نرخ ستاره‌زایی ارتباط دارد. برای بررسی بیشتر این ارتباط، آن‌ها یک کهکشان خاص را که درتصویر شماره ۳ نشان داده شده است، بررسی کرده‌اند. برای ارزیابی رابطه‌ی میان نرخ ستاره‌زایی و فلزیت، شار هیدوژن-آلفا را بر روی نوار نشان داده شده در تصویر جمع زده و فلزیت را در طول این نوار اندازه‌گیری کرده‌اند. این نوار شامل سه توده‌ی‌ستاره‌زا و بخشی از برآمدگی مرکزی کهکشان است. نمودار پایین تصویر کهکشان، فلزیت (خطوط سفید) را به‌طور مستقیم با شار هیدوژن-آلفا (نقاط سبز) مقایسه می‌کند. این نمودار با تصویر رنگی هم‌تراز شده است تا محل دقیق اندازه‌گیری شار هیدوژن-آلفا و فلزیت به درستی مشخص شود.

هر توده نه‌تنها نرخ ستاره‌زایی بالاتر و فلزیت کم‌تری دارد، بلکه ناحیه‌ای که بیشترین چگالی نرخ ستاره‌زایی را نشان می‌دهد، کمترین فلزیت را نیز دارد. برآمدگی بخش مرکزی کهکشان در مجاورت یک توده‌ی ستاره‌زا قرار گرفته است. توزیع شار هیدوژن-آلفا نشان می‌دهد که بخش مرکزی مقدار زیادی شار هیدوژن-آلفا منتشر می‌کند و شار اندازه‌گیری‌شده از توده‌ی مجاور را تحت‌تاثیر قرار می‌دهد. با این حال، فلزیت در جایی که شار هیدوژن-آلفا در مرکز مقدار بیشینه را دارد، به کمینه‌ی محلی نمی‌رسد، بلکه کمینه‌ی محلی فلزیت با مکان توده‌ی ستاره‌زا ارتباط دارد. این موضوع نشان می‌دهد که اگرچه میان نرخ ستاره‌زایی و فلزیت یک ارتباط معکوس وجود دارد، اما سازوکار محرک ستاره‌زایی در برآمدگی مرکز کهکشان با سازوکار موجود در توده‌های ستاره‌زا متفاوت است. همچنین مطالعه‌ی جمعیتی از توده‌های ستاره‌زا در کهکشان‌هایی با جهت‌گیری عمود به خط دید، روندی را نشان می‌دهد که در آن توده‌های پرجرم‌تر، بیش‌تر به مرکز کهکشان نزدیک هستند؛ رفتاری که برای توده‌هایی که درون کهکشان تشکیل شده و به سمت برآمدگی مرکز کهکشان مهاجرت می‌کنند، انتظار می‌رود.

یافته‌های این مقاله نشان می‌دهد که توده‌های ستاره‌زا در این کهکشان‌ها فلزیتی کم‌تر از نواحی پیرامون خود دارند.  این امر می‌تواند بیانگر ورود گاز کم‌فلزیت به درون کهکشان باشد. ورود این گاز با فلزیت پایین می‌تواند نرخ ستاره‌زایی را افزایش دهد و همزمان ترکیبات شیمیایی محیط را رقیق کند. این پژوهش بر اهمیت درک پیچیدگی رابطه‌ی بین ستاره‌زایی و غنی‌سازی شیمیایی در ظهرکیهانی اشاره می‌کند و قدمی است رو به جلو برای بررسی دیدگاه‌های تازه‌ در مورد سازوکارهایی که شکل‌گیری کهکشان‌ها را در انتقال به سرخ‌های بالاتر (عالم جوان‌تر) کنترل می‌کنند.

Astronomers from Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, have discovered a huge expanding bubble of gas and dust surrounding a red supergiant star. It’s the largest structure of its kind ever seen in the Milky Way. The bubble was blown into space around 4000 years ago. The question scientists are asking is, “Why did the starContinue reading "A supergiant star’s expanding mystery"

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Born on Aug. 26, 1918, in West Virginia, Katherine Goble Johnson showed exceptional aptitude for mathematics from an early age. She skipped several grades, graduating high school by 14 and college by 18. Johnson was enrolled in West Virginia University in 1939 as one of the first three Black students to integrate the state’s graduateContinue reading "Aug. 26, 1918: The birth of Katherine Johnson"

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Asteroid 6 Hebe reaches opposition this morning at 10 A.M. EDT. Shining at magnitude 7.5, Hebe is located in Aquarius and rises shortly after sunset, remaining visible all night. You should be able to spot in binoculars or any small telescope. The best time to observe it is late in the evening and overnight intoContinue reading "The Sky Today on Tuesday, August 26: Asteroid Hebe reaches opposition"

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Mission highlight: A weekend of scrubs for Starship and New Shepard SpaceX was forced to scrub the highly anticipated tenth flight test of its Super Heavy Starship vehicle on Sunday, August 24, due to an undisclosed ground system issue. The call came just 30 minutes before liftoff from the company’s Starbase facility in Texas. TheContinue reading "SpaceX’s tenth Starship flight test now targeting Monday, August 25, after scrub"

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Owain Scullion New Zealand’s Arrowsmith Range, on the nation’s South Island, is the setting for this Milky Way panorama. The photographer used an astromodifed Fujifilm mirrorless camera to take two panoramas: the ground with a 23mm lens at f/2 and the sky with a 27mm f/1.4 lens and Hα and star glow filters. Subframes wereContinue reading "Home on the range"

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In this episode, Astronomy magazine Editor Dave Eicher invites you to head out on the evening of August 26 and observe the pairing of a thin crescent Moon with Mars. A good strategy is to start looking around half an hour after sunset through binoculars. You’ll easily spot the Moon. Look just to the right of itContinue reading "This Week in Astronomy with Dave Eicher: The Moon meets Mars"

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What is the circle that Earth’s axis traces out in its 26,000-year precession cycle? What bright stars are close to it? Tim BoyleNishinomiya, Japan As Earth orbits the Sun, it also spins about its axis in just less than 24 hours. Our planet exhibits other motions as well — the most dramatic of them isContinue reading "As Earth’s axis precesses over 26,000 years, what bright stars become the North Star?"

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NASA’s Great Observatories were intended to peer at the universe in different wavelengths: the Hubble Space Telescope in visible light, the Compton Gamma Ray in gamma rays, the Chandra X-ray Observatory in X-rays, and the Spitzer Space Telescope in infrared. The last of the four to be launched, Spitzer was carried into space on Aug.Continue reading "Aug. 25, 2003: The Spitzer Space Telescope launches"

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Observers who are quick to step outside after sunset can catch a delicate crescent Moon sinking in the west, now just 8 percent lit as sunrise begins to creep over the lunar nearside.  Magnitude 1.6 Mars sits 7° to the upper left (east) of the Moon, slowly becoming visible as the sky darkens. You canContinue reading "The Sky Today on Monday, August 25: The Moon reappears in Virgo"

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After much discussion and debate, an International Astronomical Union (IAU) vote on Aug. 24, 2006, reclassified Pluto as a dwarf planet. “Throw away the placemats. Grab a magic marker for the classroom charts. Take a pair of scissors to the solar system mobile,” crowed the New York Times coverage. While sentiment from the general publicContinue reading "Aug. 24, 2006: Pluto is demoted"

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Mars is just less than 3° south of the gorgeous double star Porrima (Gamma Virginis) this evening. At magnitude 1.6, Mars is about a full magnitude brighter than Porrima (magnitude 2.7); the star will appear to the planet’s upper right in the western sky an hour after sunset, when they are roughly 7° high. ToContinue reading "The Sky Today on Sunday, August 24: Virgo’s double star, Porrima"

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On Aug. 8 and Aug. 23, 1991, scientists from CalTech and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory turned the 70-meter dish antenna at the Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex on Mercury. The goal was to produce a radar map of the portions of Mercury not photographed by Mariner 10 during its 1974-75 flybys. But to the researchers’Continue reading "Aug. 23, 1991: Water on Mercury"

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Author(s): Mark Buchanan

A 10-µm-wide microchip can generate light with any desired direction, polarization, and intensity, which will be handy for future quantum technologies.

[Physics 18, 151] Published Fri Aug 22, 2025

New Moon occurs at 2:07 A.M. EDT. This particular New Moon has been garnering headlines as a Black Moon — specifically, a seasonal Black Moon. This is a non-scientific name that can be attributed to the third of four New Moons to occur in an astronomical season — e.g., between the summer solstice and theContinue reading "The Sky Today on Saturday, August 23: The Black Moon"

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Everything we see around us, from the ground beneath our feet to the most remote galaxies, is made of matter. For scientists, that has long posed a problem: According to physicists’ best current theories, matter and its counterpart, antimatter, ought to have been created in equal amounts at the time of the Big Bang. ButContinue reading "How a mysterious particle could explain the universe’s missing antimatter"

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American astronomer Edwin Hubble (after whom the Hubble Space Telescope is named) coined the term “Local Group” for the galaxies he had identified as moving through space with the Milky Way. The term appeared in his 1936 book, The Realm of the Nebulae. He identified 11 definite members with a possible 12th. Today, astronomers have shownContinue reading "Michael’s Miscellany: Meet the Local Group"

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Author(s): Nikhil Karthik

The MicroBooNE experiment’s five-year dataset has shown that an unpredicted neutrino-flavor oscillation is not the cause of anomalous results obtained by its predecessor.

[Physics 18, s115] Published Thu Aug 21, 2025

On Aug. 20, 1977, Voyager 2 launched from Cape Canaveral and began its epic journey to the outer planets – and beyond. Twelve years later, the spacecraft photographed Neptune as it approached the ice giant. Two days after that, on Aug. 22, 1989, NASA announced that Neptune had a ring system; the images had revealedContinue reading "Aug. 22, 1989: Voyager 2 reveals Neptune"

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Andrea Arbizza, taken from Modena, Italy The Omega Nebula (M17) in Sagittarius is also known as the Swan Nebula for its appearance in visual observations. But this deep image was taken with nearly 41 hours of exposure in Hα/OIII and SII/OIII dual-band filters with a 4-inch scope at f/4.8, revealing intricate detail in this star-formingContinue reading "Swan deep-dive"

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With no Moon in the evening sky, it’s time to check in with Comet C/2024 E1 (Wierzchoś), now in Hercules and visible for several hours after sunset. By 9:30 P.M. local daylight time, Wierzchoś is still 60° high in the west. You’ll find it about 9.5° west of magnitude 3.5 Eta (η) Herculis, one ofContinue reading "The Sky Today on Friday, August 22: Comet Wierzchoś passes planetary nebula NGC 6058"

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Sky This Week is brought to you in part by Celestron. Friday, August 22Reaching its highest point in the sky around 11 P.M. local daylight time tonight is the Swan Nebula (M17). This gorgeous deep-sky object is a fan favorite of amateur astronomers thanks to its brightness, which makes it easy to find and observeContinue reading "The Sky This Week from August 22 to 29: A Black Moon"

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A new study suggests a novel approach in the long-running scientific endeavor to find intelligent life beyond Earth. Instead of casting a wide, speculative net across the cosmos, researchers from Penn State and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory propose a more targeted strategy: listen for alien civilizations in the same way they might be listening forContinue reading "To find alien life, try eavesdropping on their conversations with spacecraft, astronomers suggest"

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An international team of scientists, led by Northwestern University astrophysicists, has detected a never-before-seen type of exploding star, or supernova, that is rich with silicon, sulfur, and argon. Astronomers long have theorized that massive stars (10 to 100 times heavier than our Sun) have a layered structure. The outermost layers are made of the lightestContinue reading "The first supernova of its kind"

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On Aug. 21, 1914, a total solar eclipse over Europe on the eve of World War I drew much attention. Albert Einstein had been waiting for an eclipse to verify his theory of relativity – specifically the light-bending effects of gravity – and enlisted help from Erwin Findlay-Freundlich of Berlin Observatory. Findlay-Freundlich was to leadContinue reading "Aug. 21, 1914: Total solar eclipse tensions"

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Author(s): Haiwang Yong

Scientists have used ultrashort x-ray pulses to directly observe the motion of electrons driving a chemical reaction.

[Physics 18, 149] Published Wed Aug 20, 2025

Author(s): Marric Stephens

Superconducting sensors can detect single low-energy photons. Researchers have now used this capability in a dark matter experiment.

[Physics 18, s104] Published Wed Aug 20, 2025

Venus passes 7° south of Pollux at 5 A.M. EDT and the crescent Moon is now close to Mercury, preparing to pass 4° north of the solar system’s smallest planet at noon EDT. Let’s start in Gemini, which rises first and sits higher in the eastern sky before sunrise. An hour before the Sun crestsContinue reading "The Sky Today on Thursday, August 21: Venus treks past Pollux"

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SpaceX’s powerful Starship rocket is nearing a return to action following an explosion on the company’s test stand in Texas and anomalies during three consecutive test flights. The FAA on Friday closed its mishap investigation into Starship Flight 9, during which the rocket reached orbit for the first time in 2025 but failed to hit its test objectives. That opens the doorContinue reading "SpaceX dissects Starship issues ahead of Flight 10"

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Oleg Bouevitch from Nepean, Ontario, Canada The dark nebula LDN 1251 in Cepheus — sometimes called the Rotten Fish Nebula — is a cold and dense cloud dotted by the occasional warm glow of forming stars within. The imager captured this region with a 14-inch scope at f/2 and 4 hours of exposure in RGBContinue reading "Spawning stars"

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Ursa Major III orbits the Milky Way at a distance of 32,600 light-years. Until now, it was considered a dwarf spheroidal galaxy. Normally such a faint object wouldn’t be classified as such, but astronomers did so because of its large mass, which they assumed contains a lot of invisible dark matter. Recently, however, an internationalContinue reading "The Milky Way’s faintest dwarf galaxy might actually be a star cluster"

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Scientists have a good idea how stars should form in the central galaxies of rich clusters. The hot gas surrounding a cluster’s dominant innermost galaxy cools rapidly, sparking furious star formation. The problem: No one had found evidence for this cooling gas, and most central galaxies don’t create many stars. Astronomers suspect the solution toContinue reading "JWST’s view of the Phoenix Cluster sparks scientific conundrum"

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Rising levels of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere aren’t just affecting climate on Earth — they could also make weather in space more dramatic, says new research. A team led by scientists from the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder, Colorado, reports that the Earth’s upper atmosphere is changing how it responds toContinue reading "Our atmosphere is responding differently to solar storms, and satellites will feel the effects"

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Recent observations from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) delivered a blow to hopes that the exoplanet TRAPPIST-1 d could be an Earth-like world, according to a new study published in The Astrophysical Journal. The data reveal that the rocky, Earth-sized planet does not possess a thick, Earth-like atmosphere. The finding is critical because aContinue reading "Earth-sized TRAPPIST-1 d does not have an Earth-like atmosphere"

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Born in 1915 in England, cosmologist Fred Hoyle attend Cambridge University, where he would later become a professor. Among other things, Hoyle would become known as the man who coined the term big bang – but, ironically, he used the phrase in his criticism of the theory. Instead of believing that the universe originated inContinue reading "Aug. 20, 2001: Cosmologist Fred Hoyle dies"

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Author(s): Michael Schirber

Researchers have expanded the quantum wave function of a levitated nanosphere, a step toward future tests of quantum physics.

[Physics 18, s107] Published Tue Aug 19, 2025