The longer nights of August beckon with several treats this month. Saturn and Neptune undergo their second conjunction of the year, appearing together in a low-power telescope eyepiece. Telescopic observers also get two shadow transits of Titan across Saturn. Early risers enjoy a spectacular conjunction of the two brightest planets in the sky, Venus andContinue reading "August 2025: What’s in the sky this month? Two planetary conjunctions, two Titan shadow transits, and the Perseids’ peak"

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Although Mars reached opposition in January, it remains a fixture on August evenings. In fact, it’s the only planet visible as twilight fades to darkness. The planet moves eastward against the background stars of Virgo, approaching that constellation’s luminary, 1st-magnitude Spica. The magnitude 1.6 Red Planet makes a nice color contrast with the blue-white star.Continue reading "August 2025: What’s in the Southern Hemisphere sky this month?"

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First Quarter Moon occurs at 8:41 A.M. EDT. Rising early in the afternoon, the Moon then reaches apogee — the farthest point from Earth in its orbit — at 4:36 P.M. EDT, when it will be 251,134 miles (4041,61 km) away. Readily visible in the south at sunset, our satellite is now half-lit and showsContinue reading "The Sky Today on Friday, August 1: August brings the First Quarter Moon"

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Sky This Week is brought to you in part by Celestron. Friday, August 1First Quarter Moon occurs at 8:41 A.M. EDT. The Moon then reaches apogee — the farthest point from Earth in its orbit — at 4:36 P.M. EDT, when it will be 251,134 miles (4041,61 km) away. Corona Borealis the Northern Crown isContinue reading "The Sky This Week from August 1 to 8: A conjunction of Saturn and Neptune"

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Author(s): Ryan Wilkinson

Evidence that quantum information can get scrambled unconventionally in a chain of atoms could improve our understanding of quantum many-body dynamics.

[Physics 18, s103] Published Thu Jul 31, 2025

Author(s): Marric Stephens

Researchers have analyzed “blank” calibration images, seeking signs of dark matter moving through the telescope.

[Physics 18, s105] Published Thu Jul 31, 2025

Complex organic molecules that could be the precursors to the building blocks of life as we know it have been discovered in a disk of gas and dust swirling around an infant star.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched 19 Starlink satellites from California's central coast today (July 31), then came back to Earth for a landing on a ship at sea.

A hidden lake beneath the Greenland Ice Sheet unexpectedly drained more than a decade ago, fracturing the ice surface and forming a large crater — an event only recently uncovered by Earth-observing satellites.

Blue Origin is targeting Sunday (Aug. 3) for the launch of its next suborbital tourism mission, which will send crypto billionaire Justin Sun and five other people to the final frontier.

SpaceX scrubbed the launch of its Crew-11 astronaut mission for NASA just a minute before liftoff today (July 31) after clouds intruded.

The Southern Delta Aquariid meteor shower peaks this morning with no moonlight to interfere with your view of shower meteors.  These meteors appear to radiate from a point in the sky to the lower right of the star Skat (magnitude 3.3) in Aquarius as the constellation sets in the early-morning sky. An hour before sunrise,Continue reading "The Sky Today on Thursday, July 31: The Southern Delta Aquariid meteor shower peaks"

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Fernando Oliveira de Menezes, taken from Munhoz, Brazil The Prawn Nebula (IC 4628) lies around 6,000 light-years away in Scorpius. This star-forming region displays striking striations of ionized gas sculpted by stellar winds and radiation. The photographer took 83 hours of exposure in the Hubble palette with a 6-inch f/7 refractor.

The post Hot crustacean bands appeared first on Astronomy Magazine.

Recently, I posted two lists of Moon facts, each containing 10 that were pretty cool. They’ll also help you answer questions about our lone natural satellite. You’ll find them here and here. Well, here are 10 more … #21. A total of 12 American astronauts have walked on the Moon. They traveled there as partContinue reading "Michael’s Miscellany: 10 More Cool Things About the Moon"

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With the Space Race heating up, the Ranger program was developed as an answer to Sputnik: The U.S. would land spacecraft on the Moon. When President John F. Kennedy vowed in 1961 to put a man on the lunar surface, the project evolved. Instead of being purely scientific or exploratory, Ranger spacecraft would also beContinue reading "July 31, 1964: Ranger 7 returns the first close pictures of the Moon"

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This is a tale of rediscovery. I have been an astronomer for more than half a century. My current observing concentrates on showcase nebulae and galaxies or the pursuit of fine lunar detail. But recently, I had a reawakening that transported me back to when I received my first “serious” telescope, a 4-inch reflector, atContinue reading "Discover great star clusters of the New General Catalogue"

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Roughly 11,000 years ago, a massive star in the constellation Cassiopeia reached the end of its all-too-brief life. When the star’s iron core collapsed, it triggered a shock wave that ripped the rest of the star apart and lit up its small corner of the galaxy. Unfortunately for earthbound observers, thick dust clouds in theContinue reading "JWST spies the aftermath of a famous supernova"

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The Sculptor galaxy is a treasure trove of information that astronomers around the world cannot wait to pick apart.

Venus reaches its highest altitude above the eastern horizon in 2025 on Aug. 1.

A possible planet may be carving the disc around the young star

Spock may be renowned for his impeccable logic, but "Strange New Worlds" has offered a glimpse of the Vulcan's surprisingly complicated love life

Meet the astonishing phenomenon of megaflash lightning.

The search for life beyond the solar system is heating up. Though biosignatures around super-Earth K2-18b remain unconfirmed, the JWST has found the planet could be a water-rich ocean world.

The four astronauts of SpaceX's Crew-11 mission are scheduled to launch toward the International Space Station today (July 31), and you can watch the action live.

Mission managers with NASA and SpaceX polled 'go' to proceed with a launch attempt of the Crew-11 astronaut mission to the ISS on Thursday (July 31).

The James Webb Space Telescope's investigations of the planetary nebula NGC 6072 suggest a second star played a hand in sculpting the death of the primary star.

Author(s): Ryan Wilkinson

A thermal version of a transistor could help control heat flow in cryogenic quantum systems.

[Physics 18, s97] Published Wed Jul 30, 2025

When you think of the great popularizers of astronomy in the past, two names stand out in particular — Carl Sagan and Sir Patrick Moore. Patrick (1923–2012) holds the world’s record for popularizing the subject; his BBC TV program The Sky at Night, the staple for those learning about the universe in the UK, wasContinue reading "Watch a film on Sir Patrick Moore online"

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Astronomers have long sought signs of life beyond Earth, with exoplanets like K2-18 b — a world about 124 light-years away — offering tantalizing possibilities. In 2023 and again in April 2025, a team using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) detected molecules in K2-18 b’s atmosphere they claimed could be a biosignature: dimethyl sulfideContinue reading "New study revisits signs of life on K2-18 b"

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From rocketships and exoplanets, to FTL and black holes, there's something for every space fan in Marvel's "The Fantastic Four: First Steps."

NASA's next moon astronauts underscored the importance of their upcoming Artemis 2 mission despite a turbulent time for the space agency full of budget cuts and workforce reductions.

The U.S. Space Force plans to launch the eighth mission of its mysterious X-37B space plane on Aug. 21 atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. The flight will study experimental technology in orbit.

NASA astronaut Kathleen “Kate” Rubins has retired from the space agency after 16 years, two missions on the International Space Station, four spacewalks and 300 days in space.

Martian glaciers are mostly pure ice across the Red Planet, suggesting they might potentially be useful resources for any explorers that might land there one day, a new study finds.

Efrain Morales captured the image of Titan's shadow darkening Saturn on July 18, while the gas giant was over 800 million miles from Earth.

Satellites don't stop at borders and neither should science.

The satellite will scan the Earth twice every 12 days.

The Smithsonian Institution says NASA relinquished full ownership of Space Shuttle Discovery, but Congress wants to force the vehicle's relocation.

The U.S. and India just launched NISAR, a powerful radar satellite that will be able to monitor changes in Earth's surface that are as small as a centimeter.

Using the James Webb Space Telescope, astronomers have made the shock discovery that giant rogue exoplanets can grow their own planetary systems without needing a parent star.

Using the Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers have discovered a new rogue planet that was orphaned from its home planetary system. The discovery was possible with a little luck and some help from Einstein.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying 28 Starlink satellites was launched from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on Tuesday, July 29, 2025.

Gilmour Space made history today (July 29), conducting the first-ever orbital launch attempt with an Australian-built rocket. That vehicle, named Eris, didn't get very far.

SpaceX has moved its Starship spacecraft to the launch pad for testing ahead of the vehicle's 10th flight, which is expected to take place next month.

James Cameron's third Avatar movie is turning the rules upside down, introducing a nefarious Na'vi clan as the human invaders go all-out.

India will launch the NISAR Earth-observing spacecraft, a joint effort of ISRO and NASA, on July 30, and you can watch the action live.

Unfairly dismissed as a flop on release, 'Waterworld' is a spectacular example of the '90s action genre. If only they didn't give him gills…

The BOAT is the ruler of all gamma-ray bursts, releasing as much energy in seconds as the sun will in 10 billion years — and it could be revealing the secrets of these extreme cosmic blasts.

Living in space changes the human body — but arteries seem particularly resilient to microgravity's effects.

A controversial new paper questions whether the interstellar object 3I/ATLAS is a potentially dangerous alien probe, similar to claims made about 'Oumuamua. But experts have called it "nonsense".

Spica and the moon will appear over the southwestern horizon at sunset

'You here now. You weave together the future. So go out and seek, explore'

India recently rolled out the rocket that will launch the NISAR Earth-observing spacecraft, a joint effort between ISRO and NASA. Liftoff is scheduled for the morning of July 30.

Whether you're a Falcon 9 fan or want to go to Mars, this quiz is your chance to prove it.

Using the James Webb Space Telescope, astronomers hunted supermassive black holes devouring stars in dusty galaxies — but laying in wait for their stellar victims.

Residents both on the ISS and in Singapore were treated to a spectacular show at 3:18 am local time.

The best Sony lenses are the best glass you can get for your Sony camera. Our guide takes you through models that suit a range of budgets and photography styles.

Want to bring the cosmos closer? Save nearly 40% on these Celestron Skymaster 15x70 binoculars, but with Prime Day ending soon you'll have to be fast!

Christopher Smith and the gang deal with parallel realities and ARGUS in the second trailer for DC Studios and HBO Max's Peacemaker season 2.

Hundreds of people lined up outside of the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum Monday (July 28) to see five newly renovated galleries devoted to aviation and space exploration history.

The hottest Hall H panel of the past weekend gave Predator fans a look at the first 15 minutes of Badlands, a new Killer of Killers ending, and more.

Here's how to watch the July 31 launch of SpaceX's Crew‑11 mission, which will send NASA astronauts Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, JAXA astronaut Kimiya Yui and cosmonaut Oleg Platonov to the ISS.

A retraction intends to bring to an end the acrimonious debate about the validity of the 15-year old findings that threatened to upend what we thought we know about life.

The updated Sony A1 II flagship borrows AI-enabled features from the company's most recent mirrorless cameras, including the A9 III. Does this make it a smart option for enthusiasts and pros?

The valiant commander of the Enterprise takes center seat as an adorable Starfleet puppet.

We praised both the Ruko F11PRO 2 and U11MINI 4K drones in our reviews and they're now nearly half price and at their lowest-ever cost.

We put the Sony FE 50mm f/1.4 G Master prime lens through its paces to see if this premium-performance optic justifies a premium price tag.

Astronomers have long voiced concerns about Starlink's satellite constellation interfering with observations of the universe, and a new survey by Curtin University confirms those fears.

What could we choose as the seven most remarkable celestial objects visible either with our eyes or with a small telescope?

The glowing light shows the intricate details that make this cutting-edge telescope work.

Looking at dunes and other rock formations on both Earth and Mars can tell scientists the environmental conditions that created them

The US West Coast is the world's worst mega-drying region.

Quite a number of small galaxies lie near us in the universe but are obscured by dust in our own galaxy and so are hard to see. Such is the case with Dwingeloo 1, a nearby barred spiral in Cassiopeia. So obscured is this galaxy that it remained undiscovered until 1994, when it was uncoveredContinue reading "Deep-Sky Dreams: Dwingeloo 1"

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In 1610, Galileo Galilei became the first person to observe Saturn with a telescope. However, he was puzzled by what he saw: At first, he thought the planet had two moons, like lobes on either side of it, almost making it look like Saturn had ears. Two years later, when he observed the planet again,Continue reading "July 30, 1610: Galileo sees Saturn’s rings"

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The constellation Andromeda the Princess is part of the largest mythologically connected group in the sky. Her parents are Cepheus the King and Cassiopeia the Queen. Perseus the Hero saved her from being sacrificed to Cetus the Whale (a sea monster in the tale). And Pegasus the Winged Horse was born when Perseus cut offContinue reading "Explore the wonders of the constellation Andromeda"

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Dave Doctor from Las Cruces, New Mexico NGC 7129 is a reflection nebula 3,000 light-years away in Cepheus, aglow with the red hues of hot hydrogen gas and the blue reflected light of hot, young stars. The imager took 30⅓ hours of exposure in HαLRGB filters with a 14-inch f/3.8 scope.

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Asteroid 4 Vesta remains an easy-to-spot target in western Libra, just 5° north of Zubenelgenubi, the Balance’s double alpha star. Tonight and tomorrow offer an excellent opportunity to see the 7th-magnitude space rock move relative to the background of stars, as it currently lies less than 0.5° from a slightly fainter 8th-magnitude background star (HDContinue reading "The Sky Today on Wednesday, July 30: Vesta passes a field star"

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Author(s): Marric Stephens

A laser-plasma-driven free-electron laser achieves record performance, marking a step toward making intense, ultrafast x-ray sources more accessible.

[Physics 18, s100] Published Tue Jul 29, 2025

Author(s): Daniel Schick

Using ultrafast x-ray pulses, researchers have probed the chirality of spin spirals in synthetic antiferromagnets.

[Physics 18, 139] Published Mon Jul 28, 2025

Did time start at the big bang? What happens if you fall into a black hole? What explains the mysterious dark matter? Weigh in on the toughest questions facing physicists today.

[Physics 18, 140] Published Mon Jul 28, 2025

All amateur astronomers, both visual observers and imagers, want their views to display great contrast. Contrast is the difference in brightness between various parts of a telescopic image. When light is scattered in the field of view, for whatever reason, it reduces the difference between the dark and bright areas of the image. Contrast isContinue reading "Michael’s Miscellany: Image contrast"

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Mobile Porta Mount VixenSaitama, JapanThe Mobile Porta Mount is the new, easily portable piece in the popular Porta line. The alt-azimuth accessory has friction stop motion to locate objects quickly. Telescopes weighing up to 7.7 pounds (3.5 kilograms) can be attached. The mount head can be detached and the multiarm can be folded, both forContinue reading "Heat up your observing with these new products"

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When the Soviet Union launched Sputnik in 1957, the Space Race exploded as the U.S. and Soviet Union competed to show their dominance in the technology and military spheres. Sputnik 2 and then 3 followed, and real concerns about the U.S. falling behind were raised. Congressional hearings began in 1957, and President Dwight D. EisenhowerContinue reading "July 29, 1958: NASA is founded"

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Marty Weintraub from Duluth, Minnesota Aurora borealis glimmer over the peaks above Steinfjord on the Norwegian island of Senja, located around latitude 69° north. The photographer used a Sony mirrorless camera and 14mm lens at f/2 to take a 0.6-second exposure at ISO 3200.

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Saturn still stands out in the early-morning sky as a bright, 1st-magnitude point of light in southwestern Pisces. Two hours before sunrise, the ringed planet is roughly 50° high in the south and offers an easy stepping-stone to Neptune, which lies 1° north of Saturn — close enough to catch both worlds in a singleContinue reading "The Sky Today on Tuesday, July 29: Saturn and its moons"

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Professional and amateur astronomers post amazing photos of the sky. A colorful, star-filled Milky Way is often shown rising above a landscape, and photos from the Hubble Space Telescope reveal amazing and vivid colors in galaxies and nebulae. As beautiful as these pictures are, they also can be misleading because they don’t truly represent whatContinue reading "Observe the sky’s colorful stars"

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Mission highlight: NISAR and SpaceX Crew-11 prepare for takeoff On Wednesday, July 30, at 8:10 a.m. EDT, India’s GSLV Mk II will launch from the Second Launch Pad at Satish Dhawan Space Centre carrying NISAR (NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar). NISAR is designed to chronicle changes in Earth’s land and ice in unprecedented detail. The satellite’s dual-radar system willContinue reading "NISAR and ISS crew exchange headline a busy week of launches"

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Jamie Cooper from Northamptonshire, U.K. Rupes Recta, or the Straight Wall, is a 70-mile-long (110 kilometers) lunar fault. When the Sun is low, it casts a shadow that makes it appear like a dramatic cliff, though in reality, its slope is gentle.

The post A great ‘wall’ appeared first on Astronomy Magazine.

I have an unusual affliction, and have suffered from it since I was a kid. My dad, John, was a professor of organic chemistry and also very involved in a range of other interests, one of which was history. So I was marched all over historical sites as a kid, and as soon as theContinue reading "A voice from the past"

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In this episode, Astronomy magazine Editor Dave Eicher invites you to head out on the evening of July 28 and observe a close grouping of the thin crescent Moon and Mars. Be sure to look for these objects on the 28th because each night after that the Moon will move farther to the east, away from theContinue reading "This Week in Astronomy with Dave Eicher: The Crescent Moon meets Mars"

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The total solar eclipse of July 28, 1851 is important for two reasons. First, English amateur astronomer and author George F. Chambers wrote that it was the first that spawned dedicated eclipse expeditions. The path of totality stretched from what is today western Canada to Ukraine. European astronomers, however, targeted Norway and Sweden. Bergen, Norway,Continue reading "July 28, 1851: The first photo of a total eclipse"

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Ultimately, we do not understand where glitches come from or exactly what's going on inside pulsars.

The cast of "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" has to cover a wide range of dramatic genres, aided in part by the show's ample stockpile of wigs.

A new behind-the-scenes featurette from Hulu's upcoming 'Alien: Earth' show why the series will be pure nightmare fuel.

The European company Eos X Space has acquired Space Perspective, one of its key rivals in the nascent field of stratospheric balloon tourism.

Satellite data allows meteorologists to keep track of the location, structure and intensity of severe weather, helping to keep people safe. Now they're losing access to these satellites.

Mars will be less than four degrees from the crescent moon around sunset on July 28.

After an early morning launch from Florida, SpaceX sent another 24 Starlink satellites into orbit on a Falcon 9 launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California early on Sunday, July 27, 2025.

The Moon passes 1.3° south of Mars at 4 P.M. EDT and sits horizontally in line with the Red Planet after sunset this evening. By 9 P.M. local daylight time, the pair is 15° high in the west, both now in Virgo the Maiden. They are visible for about two hours, setting shortly before 10:30Continue reading "The Sky Today on Monday, July 28: The Maiden hosts the Moon and Mars"

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During its July 26, 2005, launch, cameras captured a large piece of foam falling from space shuttle Discovery’s fuel tank. Since the Columbia disaster two years prior – the break-up of the shuttle on entry and the deaths of the seven crewmembers – had been caused by foam hitting the wing and rupturing a heatContinue reading "July 27, 2005: NASA grounds the space shuttles"

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This evening, look high in the southeast a few hours after sunset to find the stately constellation Aquila the Eagle, anchored by its brightest star, magnitude 0.8 Altair. In the northwestern regions of this constellation, near where it borders Ophiuchus, the bright open cluster NGC 6709 is our target for study tonight. Shining at magnitudeContinue reading "The Sky Today on Sunday, July 27: An open cluster in the Eagle"

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The NASA, JAXA and Roscosmos crew members set to launch next to the International Space Station arrived at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Saturday, July 26, 2025.

On Episode 170 of This Week In Space, Rod Pyle and Tariq Malik are joined by Dr. Robert O'Brien to discuss powering spacecraft by radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTGs).

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying 28 Starlink internet broadband satellites launched from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on Saturday, July 26, 2025.

'Foundation' Season 3 stars Jared Harris & Lou Llobell discuss the upcoming season of Apple TV+'s adaptation of Isaac Asimov's science fiction epic.

Scientists working to study black holes use specific radio frequencies to track black holes, the same frequencies often used by phones and wifi.

The bright star Regulus will appear close to the waxing crescent moon at sunset on July 26

Author(s): Mark Buchanan

An imaging method provides unprecedented resolution for studies of quantum materials by relying on superconductors’ extreme sensitivity to light.

[Physics 18, 138] Published Fri Jul 25, 2025

Author(s): Michael Schirber

The time delay experienced by a scattered light signal has an imaginary part that was considered unobservable, but researchers have isolated its effect in a frequency shift.

[Physics 18, s95] Published Thu Jul 24, 2025

Author(s): Ryan Wilkinson

A new protocol determines if quantum information has been faithfully transmitted in cases where transmission hardware may not work as intended.

[Physics 18, s93] Published Wed Jul 23, 2025

In September 1999, the Lincoln Near Earth Asteroid Research (LINEAR) project discovered a comet – Comet C/1999 S4, or Comet LINEAR – on a course for the Sun. Its unusual behavior drew attention: By July 5-7 of the following year, the Hubble Space Telescope had watched a piece of its crust blow off as ifContinue reading "July 26, 2000: Comet LINEAR disintegrates"

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The Crab Nebula (M1) has one of the most famous origin stories around: The light from the supernova that created the nebula was recorded by ancient astronomers when it appeared as a “guest star” in July 1054. The new star, which sat near Zeta (ζ) Tauri, one of the horns of Taurus the Bull, wasContinue reading "The Sky Today on Saturday, July 26: Venus recreates the Crab Nebula’s supernova"

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Nearly 4,000 NASA employees have chosen to accept the Trump administration's "deferred resignation" option, reducing the agency's workforce by more than 20%.

Webb has been orbiting more than a million miles from Earth, capturing breathtaking images of deep space. But how does it actually work?

The Crew Dragon capsule that will fly SpaceX's Crew-11 astronaut mission to the ISS for NASA has arrived at Kennedy Space Center ahead of its planned July 31 launch.

A Vega C rocket launched the MicroCarb carbon dioxide mapper and four Earth-observation satellites tonight (July 25) from South America.

The Hubble Telescope and Chandra X-ray Observatory saw an enigmatic intermediate-mass black hole lighting up in X-rays, potentially revealing a way of finding more of them in the future.

The four members of SpaceX's Crew-10 mission on the Expedition 73 crew began packing for home, while also calling down to Earth to share their ongoing work aboard the ISS.

Unlike other superhero superstars, the Fanastic Four have traditionally struggled with the transition to the big screen.

Crew-11 will launch from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on July 31 atop a Falcon 9 rocket, if all goes to plan.

Blue Origin has announced the payload for the first-ever flight of its Blue Ring spacecraft —Scout Space's Owl space domain awareness sensor.

Senegal has officially joined the Artemis Accords, becoming the 56th nation — and the fourth African country — to commit to a shared vision for peaceful and transparent space exploration.

NASA currently leads the nation's planetary defense efforts, but some are calling for the Space Force to take control.

The spacecraft streaks through the darkness of space to reenter Earth's atmosphere.

It's no coincidence that a Klingon with a grudge follows the Enterprise's away mission to Kenfori.

NASA employees and allies protested sweeping science cuts they say are gutting the agency from within. As Congress pushes back on NASA leadership, workers warn the damage is already underway — and the future of U.S. space exploration is at risk.

It's 1961, and four intrepid cosmic explorers journey to space under the leadership of Reed Richards, where they encounter cosmic rays that change them forever. But what are cosmic rays?

The far-northern constellation Camelopardalis the Giraffe rarely garners significant attention from sky observers. But this faint grouping of naked-eye stars does hold a number of unusual treats, and one of them is known as Pazmino’s Cluster. Catalogued in the 1950s by German astronomer Jürgen Stock, and given the designation Stock 23, the small group ofContinue reading "Deep-Sky Dreams: Pazmino’s Cluster   "

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NASA’s TRACERS (Tandem Reconnection and Cusp Electrodynamics Reconnaissance Satellites) mission is officially underway following a successful launch Wednesday at 2:13 p.m. EDT. The twin satellites rode a SpaceX Falcon 9 from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. Ground controllers confirmed contact with both satellites three hours after separation, marking the beginning of a four-week commissioningContinue reading "NASA’s TRACERS mission launches to study space weather"

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Born on July 25, 1920, Chushiro Hayashi graduated from the University of Tokyo with a degree in physics in 1942. After World War II service in the navy, he returned to school, finishing his doctorate in 1954 and becoming a professor at Kyoto University in 1957. An innovator, he applied fundamental physics to astronomy andContinue reading "July 25, 1920: The birth of Chushiro Hayashi"

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Bob Fera/Steve Mandel, taken from El Sauce Observatory, Chile The Statue of Liberty Nebula (NGC 3576) in Carina glows with intricate ribbons and pillars of gas and dust shaped by powerful stellar winds and radiation from young, massive stars. The imagers used a 17-inch f/6.8 scope to take Hα/OIII/RGB exposures of 600, 600, 120, 120,Continue reading "Lady Liberty"

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A Russian Soyuz rocket launched the Ionosfera-M 3 and 4 satellites, along with an Iranian spacecraft and 17 cubesats, toward orbit early Friday morning (July 25).

Sky This Week is brought to you in part by Celestron. Friday, July 25Pluto reaches opposition at 3 A.M. EDT. Opposition is when objects typically appear at their best, and with no Moon in the sky, observers with large scopes and little light pollution may be able to visually snag the dwarf planet. Pluto mayContinue reading "The Sky This Week from July 25 to August 1: See the Southern Delta Aquariids peak"

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Pluto reaches opposition at 3 A.M. EDT. Opposition is when objects typically appear at their best, and with no Moon in the sky, observers with large scopes and little light pollution may be able to visually snag the dwarf planet. Pluto may be at its best, but it is still magnitude 14.4. According to AstronomyContinue reading "The Sky Today on Friday, July 25: Pluto reaches opposition"

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Thanks to auroras and other space weather, humans have adapted techniques to overcome these issues.

Our Milky Way Galaxy is filled with stars — perhaps as many as 400 billion — although it’s hard to estimate the number because the faintest stars, M dwarfs, are very hard to see over long distances. In any case, stars are being born and dying all around us, and we only see “snapshots” of theseContinue reading "Deep-Sky Dreams: Perseus Moving Group "

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The Spanish government may have a way to save the Thirty Meter Telescope.

"With six helicopters, Skyfall offers a low-cost solution that multiplies the range we would cover, the data we would collect, and the scientific research we would conduct."

Scientists made an antimatter qubit made from an antiproton that is in a state of quantum superposition. This breakthrough will allow the strength of the particle's magnetic moment to be measured with unprecedented precision.

On July 21, 2025, NSF NOIRLab issued a press release stating that astronomers had detected a long-anticipated companion star to the red supergiant Betelgeuse. The team of astrophysicists, led by Steve Howell, senior research scientist at NASA’s Ames Research Center, observed Betelgeuse’s companion using ‘Alopeke, a speckle imager mounted on the Gemini North Telescope locatedContinue reading "Betelgeuse’s long-lost companion emerges from the shadows"

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Pascal Fouquet The rocket contrail from an early-morning SpaceX Starlink launch on July 8 formed high-altitude noctilucent clouds stretching across the Florida sky, seen in this image near Venus and the Pleiades (M45). The photographer took an 8-second exposure with a Nikon DSLR at ISO 160 and 50mm lens at f/4.

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The impacts ripple into human systems — reducing fishery yields, straining aquaculture and affecting industries that rely on stable ocean conditions.

Protected regions of the ocean are doing their job and keeping illegal fishing at bay, according to new research combining satellite imagery with artificial intelligence.

NASA has unveiled a dazzling new collection of cosmic images from the Chandra X-ray Observatory, capturing spectacular stars and galaxies in unprecedented detail.

A viral claim says the world will go dark on Aug. 2. It won't — but a record-breaking solar eclipse is coming in 2027.

A super-Earth exoplanet has been detected within the habitable zone of a nearby red dwarf star, where liquid water might exist on its surface under the right atmospheric conditions.

The theorists predict that the beginning of the end will be in about 10 billion years — less than the present age of the universe.

Astronomers have discovered a new member of a rare and mysterious class of solar system objects known as sednoids — a subset of extreme trans-Neptunian objects (ETNOs) with exceptionally distant, elongated orbits. Even at their closest approach to the Sun, these icy bodies remain far beyond Neptune’s gravitational influence, traveling on paths that defy easyContinue reading "New sednoid “Ammonite” discovery deepens Planet Nine mystery"

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Saturn will be quite distinct in the Pisces constellation.

'Here today, Gorn tomorrow. I think it's now time for other scary things to take their place.'

Having launched on July 16, 1969, and landed on the Moon on July 20, the Apollo 11 astronauts returned home and splashed down in the Pacific on July 24, 1969. In a historically momentous trip, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin had become the first people to step onto the Moon. (The third member of theirContinue reading "July 24, 1969: Apollo 11 returns home"

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Astrophotography is a hobby with a huge learning curve, and one aspect that can muddy the waters is the dizzying array of filters on the market. What is narrowband? What size do I need? Which are good for monochrome and one-shot color? Let’s cover some of the basics. There are two types of filters forContinue reading "The basics of astroimaging filters"

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Marvel's new superhero movie isn't the only thing featuring some of the brightest stars.

A catalog of over 2,000 exploding white dwarf vampire stars, the largest ever gathered, has provided further evidence that dark energy is weakening.

New Moon occurs at 3:11 P.M. EDT, leaving the sky dark and perfect for observing faint objects such as 3I/ATLAS, our newest interstellar interloper. Currently around 17th magnitude and gliding through Ophiuchus, you’ll want a scope that’s on the larger side (at least 6 inches, preferably more) to nab your own photograph of this ancientContinue reading "The Sky Today on Thursday, July 24: Can you photograph 3I/ATLAS?"

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Japan's Himawari-8 and Himawari-9 satellites, designed to study weather here on Earth, have also been quietly collecting valuable data on Venus for nearly a decade, scientists recently discovered.

Purdue University's new Neil Armstrong Space Prize, named for the school's most famous astronaut-alum, will honor achievements in "space discovery, innovation and human achievement."

The Tianzhou 9 freighter arrived at China's Tiangong space station last week, packed with supplies. Watch its arrival in this video.

A long-standing mystery about the presence of hydrogen peroxide on Jupiter's icy ocean moon Europa may be closer to being solved.

The head of the Trump administration's Golden Dome program says the technologies needed to create such an ambitious space-based missile defense system already exist.

Scientists have examined the interstellar invader 3I/ATLAS, finding evidence that it is packed with water that could be older than the solar system.

A Space.com obituary for the ‘Prince of Darkness' Ozzy Osbourne.

The 2024 YR4 asteroid may come close to Earth, but how do experts calculate this potential impact?

Our galaxy will make for a particularly splendid sight on the dark nights surrounding the new moon phase on July 24.

A death-defying star survived destruction by a ravenous supermassive black hole in a tidal disruption event, and came back to let the cosmic titan take another bite!

The Atacama Desert in Chile recently received some snowfall, causing issues for the ALMA (Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array) telescope.

NISAR, a joint mission of NASA and ISRO set to launch on July 30, will be able to see shifts in the landscape smaller than a centimeter to give warning of potential natural disasters.

غبار همه‌جا هست؛ نه فقط روی قفسه‌ی کتاب‌ها، که در دل فضای میان ستارگان، و بی‌صدا داستانی را که از نورشان می‌خوانیم بازنویسی می‌کند. دانه‌هایی میکروسکوپی که حدود نیمی از فوتون‌های فرابنفش و مرئی کهکشان‌ها را می‌بلعند و انرژی‌شان را در فروسرخ بازمی‌تابانند. در بعضی کهکشان‌ها، به‌ویژه آن‌هایی که غبارِ غنی از کربن دارند، این جذب نوری، ویژگی مشخصی در منحنی جذب غبار (منحنی تضعیف برحسب طول موج) بر جای می‌گذارد. یک برآمدگی‌ پهن حوالی ۲۱۷۵ آنگستروم که به‌نام «برآمدگی فرابنفش^۱» شناخته می‌شود و آن را به ذراتی ریز از جنس هیدروکربن‌های آروماتیک چندحلقه‌ای^۲ نسبت می‌دهند.

برای درک بهترِ مفهوم برآمدگی فرابنفش (۲۱۷۵ آنگستروم)، لازم است به منحنی «جذب غبار یا خاموشی^۳» نگاهی بیندازیم (شکل ۱). این منحنی‌ها نشان می‌دهند که غبار کیهانی چگونه در طول‌موج‌های مختلف نور ستارگان را جذب می‌کند و شدت این جذب را به‌صورت تابعی از طول‌موج نشان می‌دهند. محور عمودی شدت جذب را نشان می‌دهد و محور افقی طول‌موج برحسب آنگستروم است. همان‌طور که در این نمودار مشاهده می‌کنید، در منحنی‌های غبار کهکشان راه شیری که توسط افراد مختلف به‌دست آمده‌است (منحنی‌های صورتی و قرمز) حوالی طول‌موج ۲۱۷۵ آنگستروم، یک «برآمدگی» واضح دیده می‌شود که به معنای افزایش جذب نوری در این ناحیه است. این ویژگی، نشان‌دهنده‌ی حضور ذرات غبار کربنی است که نور را در این طول موج خاص به‌شدت جذب می‌کنند و باعث مشاهده‌ی فرورفتگی در طیف رصد شده از کهکشان در حوالی طول‌موج ۲۱۷۵ آنگستروم می‌شود.

به لطف تلسکوپ فضایی جیمز وب، اکنون توانسته‌ایم اثر این برآمدگی را در کهکشانی دوردست به نام GNWY-7379420231 رصد کنیم- کهکشانی که تنها ۷۰۰ میلیون سال بعد از مه‌بانگ رصد شده و گرفتار ادغام^۴ شده است. همین برآمدگی کوچک، پرسش‌هایی بزرگ درباره‌ی زمان و چگونگی پیدایش نخستین غبارهای کیهانی پیش روی ما می‌گذارد.

اما اهمیت این برآمدگی کوچک در چیست؟ برای اخترشناسان، غبار مانند شیشه‌ای دودی‌ است که نور ستارگان را تحریف می‌کند و اگر این اثر اصلاح نشود، نرخ‌ ستاره‌زایی^۵ کم‌تر از مقدار حقیقی آن برآورد می‌شود، جرم ستاره‌ای با خطا محاسبه می‌شود، و حتی زمان‌بندی بازیونش^۶ کیهان به‌درستی تعیین نمی‌شود. همان‌طور که در شکل ۱ دیده می‌شود، منحنی جذب غبار^۷ در کهکشان راه شیری، شیب ملایمی دارد و در ۲۱۷۵ آنگستروم یک برآمدگی متمایز را نشان می‌دهد (درباره‌ی منحنی غبار این‌جا و این‌جا بیشتر بخوانید). یافتن چنین ویژگی‌ در کهکشانی با انتقال به سرخ بالا، به این معنی است که ذرات غبار در همان اوایل عمر کیهان به سرعت تحول یافته و به ساختاری پیشرفته رسیده‌اند. این کهکشان در میدان دید GOODS-North قرار دارد که طیف‌سنج دقیق NIRSpec آن را در همان اوایل مأموریت جیمز وب نشانه گرفته‌است. انتقال به سرخ دقیق این کهکشان، ۷/۱۱۲۳۵ گزارش شده است؛ این بدان معناست که با رصد این کهکشان، در حال مشاهده‌ی کیهان در زمانی هستیم که تنها پنج درصد امروز عمر داشته‌است.

در این مقاله، با استفاده از طیف این کهکشان، دو مدل برای منحنی جذبِ غبار آزمایش شده‌است: نخست، یک مدل ساده که جذب غبار را به‌صورت پیوستاری توانی^۸ بدون ویژگی خاصی فرض می‌کند؛ دوم، همان مدلِ پیوستار توانی، ولی این‌بار با افزودن یک برآمدگی (از نوع پروفایل درود^۹) در حوالی ۲۱۷۵ آنگستروم برای توصیف بهتر جذب اضافی ناشی از غبار کربنی. با اعمال این مدل‌های جذب روی طیف کهکشان، نویسندگان دریافتند که مدل دوم با داده‌ها تطابق بیش‌تری دارد (شکل ۲).

تصاویر دقیق NIRCam نیز داستان را تکمیل می‌کنند (شکل ۳). در این تصاویر دو هسته‌ی درخشان، توده‌های ستاره‌زای پراکنده، و ساختارهای پیچیده‌ای دیده می‌شود که همه نشانه‌هایی از یک ادغام کهکشانی هستند. برازشِ توزیع انرژی طیفی^۱۰، در مقیاس پیکسلی، سه نسل ستاره‌ای متفاوت را آشکار می‌کند: نسلی با سن بالا (حدود ۲۵۰ میلیون سال)، و دو موج ستاره‌زاییِ جوان‌تر با سن تقریبی ۵۰ و ۳ میلیون سال، که تحت‌تأثیر برخورد و آشفتگی ناشی از ادغام پدید آمده‌اند.

در ناحیه‌ای که ستاره‌های تازه متولد شده و غبارِ متراکم گرد آمده‌اند و خطوط نشریِ قوی از آن به چشم می‌خورد، برآمدگی فرابنفش به بیشینه‌ی درخشندگی خود می‌رسد. چنین مشاهده‌ای، تصادفی نیست. نمودارهای توزیع مکانی که از پارامترهایی مانند نرخ ویژه‌ی ستاره‌زایی^۱۱، چگالی جرم ستاره‌ای^۱۲، شیب فرابنفش (β)، و شدت برآمدگی به دست آمده، نشان می‌دهند که مقادیر بیشنه‌ی تمامی این پارامترها دقیقاً در همان ناحیه‌ای قرار دارد که نشانه‌های ادغام کهکشانی در آن‌جا دیده می‌شود (شکل ۴).

از سوی دیگر، بررسی خطوط نشری اکسیژن در طیف کهکشان‌ها، دمای گاز ستاره‌زا را آشکار می‌کند. در GNWY-7379420231، نسبت شار خطوط [O III]+Hβ به نور پیوستار زمینه حدود پنجاه برابر است که نشانه‌ای از طغیان ستاره‌زایی و تعداد زیاد فوتون‌های پرانرژی است. این فوتون‌ها و آشوب‌های ناشی از ستاره‌زایی، ذرات بزرگ غبار را می‌شکنند و به تشکیل ریزدانه‌هاب کربنی مانند هیدروکربن‌های آروماتیک چندحلقه‌ای می‌انجامند. این فرآیند، برآمدگی فرابنفش را در طیف برجسته می‌کند. جایگاه این کهکشان در نمودار O32 در مقابل R23 (به ترتیب نسبت خطوط نشری [O III] به [O II] و مجموع خطوط نشری [O II] و [O III] به خط نشری Hβ) نشان می‌دهد که در ناحیه‌ای متفاوت از باقی کهکشان‌ها قرار دارد (شکل ۵).

این نتایج نشان می‌دهند که شکل‌گیری برآمدگی فرابنفش، نیازمند دو فرایند مکمل است: نخست، ستارگان پیر شاخه‌ی غول مجانبی^۱۳ دانه‌های غبار کربنی به فضای میان‌ستاره‌ای پس‌ می‌زنند و فضای میان‌ستاره‌ای را غنی می‌کنند، و دوم، ادغام کهکشانی شوک و تلاطم شدید ایجاد میکند و باعث شکسته شدن ذرات غبار به ذرات کربنی کوچکتر می‌شود که عامل ایجاد برآمدگی فرابنفش در طیف هستند.

این یافته‌ها پیامدهایی مهم برای کیهان‌شناسی دارد. تاکنون تصور می‌شده‌است که تشکیل غبار کربنی پیچیده چندین میلیارد سال طول می‌کشد. اما GNWY-7379420231 نشان می‌دهد که عالم آغازین در تشکیل و بازآرایی غبار بسیار سریع‌تر از آن بوده که تصور می‌شده‌است. اکنون پرسش این است: آیا این کهکشان یک استثناست یا نشانه‌ای از یک روند گسترده؟ مشاهدات آینده‌ی جیمز وب خواهند گفت که آیا برآمدگی فرابنفش در کهکشان‌های آغازین رایج بوده یا تنها محصول ادغام‌هایی پرآشوب است.

شاید وقتی بار دیگر گردوخاک میزتان را پاک می‌کنید، به یاد بیاورید: همان لحظه، جایی در عالمِ جوان، دو کهکشان نوزاد در آغوش هم می‌پیچند و دانه‌هایی از غبار به وجود می‌آورند—دانه‌هایی که سرنوشت نور را برای همیشه دگرگون می‌کنند.

In our September 2025 issue, astronomer and Pluto mission leader S. Alan Stern explores how the field of planetary science has transformed during his decades-long career. From the discovery of exoplanets to finding hidden oceans throughout the solar system to the rise of commercial spaceflight, he lists his top five revolutions in planetary science inContinue reading "What are your top five revolutions in planetary science?"

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Georgii Konkov from Williamsburg, Virginia The Monkey Head Nebula refers to NGC 2174/5, a star-forming region featuring a nebula surrounding an open cluster roughly 5,300 light-years distant in Orion. The imager took 148.4 hours of SHORGB data with a 5-inch scope at f/5.6.

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On July 23, 1999, the Chandra X-Ray Observatory launched aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia; it would see first light a few weeks later, on Aug. 26. With resolution eight times greater than any previous scope, Chandra is the most powerful X-ray telescope ever built. The observatory is intended to help scientists understand the universe’s evolutionContinue reading "July 23, 1999: Chandra X-Ray Observatory launches"

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If you are a frequent reader of Astronomy, then you likely have seen images on its pages of objects from the famous Lynds’ Catalogue of Dark Nebulae. These mysterious dark clouds of interstellar dust are denoted by the letters LDN followed by a catalog number, such as LDN 881. I have contributed some of thoseContinue reading "The quest for the ultimate catalog of dark nebulae"

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The Moon and Jupiter share the morning sky as they rise together in Gemini the Twins. The pair is about 3° high in the northeast an hour and a half before sunrise, forming an elongated triangle with 3rd-magnitude Epsilon (ε) Geminorum between and slightly above them.  The Moon is a delicate crescent that is justContinue reading "The Sky Today on Wednesday, July 23: Jupiter shares the morning sky with the Moon"

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A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched two of SES's O3b mPOWER communications satellites toward medium-Earth orbit today (July 22), then aced its landing on a ship at sea.

Author(s): Marric Stephens

The material with the highest-temperature superconductivity at ambient pressure has received less attention than its easier-to-prepare relatives—until now.

[Physics 18, s90] Published Tue Jul 22, 2025

Author(s): Djordje Minic

A proposed experiment could shed light on the unknown interplay of quantum theory and general relativity.

[Physics 18, 135] Published Mon Jul 21, 2025

The Soul Nebula, catalogued as IC 1848 and Westerhout 5, is a sprawling emission nebula lying very close in the sky to another mammoth star forming region, its neighbor IC 1805, the Heart Nebula. Both lie in Cassiopeia and are so large they are quite faint to see visually, but make for great astroimaging targets. Continue reading "Deep-Sky Dreams: The Soul Nebula   "

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José Rodrigues The Milky Way arcs above the Tua River in northern Portugal in this tracked panorama. The photographer used an astromodified Canon mirrorless camera at ISO 6400 and a 28mm lens at f/2.2 to blend exposures of the ground (fourteen panels of 120-second exposures), sky (nine panels of ten 30-second exposures), and the MilkyContinue reading "Milky Way over the Tua Valley"

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Astronomers have discovered a 200-light-year-wide Giant Molecular Cloud dubbed the Midpoint cloud that seems to be feeding star-building material to the heart of the Milky Way.

The thin crescent moon and Jupiter will be visible to the naked eye for early risers on July 23.

'A malfunctioning program who wants to live. Why is that?'

Miguel Claro took one last look at Comet C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan-Atlas as it bid farewell to Earth for the next 80,000 years.

Solar expert Dr. Ryan French explains how to safely photograph the sun and all of its wondrous features!

Makenzie Lystrup will step down as head of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center on Aug. 1. She'll be the second NASA center director to depart in just a two-month span.

The Perseid meteor shower peaks on August 12 so be ready with the Sony A7R V, on sale for $3198 from Walmart.

You can save over 40% on a range of Disney Plus subscriptions, which is perfect for catching up on Marvel content ahead of Fantastic Four's release.

Nearly 300 current and former NASA employees — including astronauts, engineers and scientists — have signed the "Voyager Declaration," a formal statement raising alarm over recent actions and steep budget cuts proposed by the Trump administration.

The second Predator: Badlands trailer is full of alien beasts, gorgeous sci-fi vistas, and a Yautja hero who finds an unlikely ally in a synthetic.

NASA's TRACERS mission blasted off July 23 on a Falcon 9 rocket with three other small agency satellites that will act as technology demonstrators to monitor space weather.

A giant parachute built for the beleaguered European ExoMars mission has aced a drop test in the Arctic stratosphere.

Justin Sun, the billionaire founder of the blockchain platform Tron, is one of the six people who will fly to suborbital space on Blue Origin's next tourist mission.

The Vera Rubin Observatory in the Atacama Desert recalibrated under a purple night sky.

The long-serving space telescope saw the third interloper to enter the solar system from beyond its limits late on Monday morning (July 21).

SpaceX aborted the planned launch of two of SES' O3b mPOWER communications satellites just before liftoff on Monday evening (July 21). The company will try again tomorrow (July 22).

New observations from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) are painting a new picture of Jupiter's moon Europa and revealing the hidden chemistry of the icy moon's interior.

Our expert travel guide to the 2026 total solar eclipse in Greenland, Iceland and Spain is packed with insider tips, travel advice and skywatching secrets from seasoned eclipse chasers.

U.K. scientists plan to send a small spacecraft to the moon's far side to detect faint radio signals emitted shortly after the Big Bang.

NASA recently took its new X-59 "quiet' supersonic jet for a drive during taxi tests, one of the final hurdles between the aircraft and its first flight.

The Orion Nebula, the Pleiades and the Hyades open clusters could represent the different phases of star clusters: baby, adolescent and elderly.

Researchers Pieter van Dokkum of Yale University and Gabriel Brammer of the University of Copenhagen have uncovered a remarkable cosmic system in archival data from the James Webb Space Telescope’s COSMOS-Web survey: a pair of colliding disk galaxies whose overlapping rings create a glowing figure-eight, dubbed the “Infinity Galaxy.”  But it’s not just the shapeContinue reading "Webb Telescope discovers possible direct collapse black hole in galaxy collision"

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About 10,000 years ago, a new star appeared in what we now recognize as Cygnus the Swan. It was the light from a supernova explosion that occurred about 2,400 years earlier, when a star with roughly 20 times the Sun’s mass had exhausted its nuclear fuel. This caused the core to collapse, triggering a shockContinue reading "HST captures the Veil Nebula in prismatic color"

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Born in 1746 in Ponte, Italy, Giuseppe Piazzi was ordained as a priest in 1769. He taught theology, philosophy, and mathematics at various points in his career, but in 1787 became a professor of astronomy, and King Ferdinand of Sicily appointed him as the director of the Palermo Astronomical Observatory. On New Year’s Day 1801,Continue reading "July 22, 1826: Fr. Giuseppe Piazzi dies"

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Can you find Lacerta the Lizard? This small, dim constellation is visible in the northeast after sunset, sitting below the flying form of Cygnus and to the lower right of house-shaped Cepheus.  Lacerta’s alpha star shines at magnitude 3.8; you can find it about 19° east of bright Deneb in Cygnus. This luminary may seemContinue reading "The Sky Today on Tuesday, July 22: NGC 7243, Lacerta’s open cluster"

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More than 280 current and former NASA employees have warned that “rapid and wasteful changes” dictated by the White House will have “dire” consequences for the space agency. On Monday, the 56th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing, personnel from every NASA center and mission directorate addressed a letter to the agency’s interim administrator,Continue reading "NASA personnel warn of ‘dire’ consequences of proposed cuts"

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One of the most interesting areas to explore with a wide-field scope exists in the rich Milky Way of Cassiopeia. You might think of Orion, Taurus, Scorpius, or Sagittarius. But Cassiopeia is loaded with small, interesting deep-sky objects, mostly clusters and nebulae, and has a few big nebulae too. One of them is IC 1805,Continue reading "Deep-Sky Dreams: The Heart Nebula"

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Mission highlight: NASA TRACERS on the cusp of launching NASA’s TRACERS mission (Tandem Reconnection and Cusp Electrodynamics Reconnaissance Satellites) headlines a July 22, 2:13 p.m. EDT Falcon 9 rideshare launch, flying alongside several secondary payloads from Vandenberg. TRACERS consists of two identical spacecraft designed to study magnetic reconnection — the explosive process that drives spaceContinue reading "NASA’s TRACERS leads busy spaceflight schedule"

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Analysis of an ancient meteorite suggests that rocky planets both near and distant from the sun may have formed at the same time, challenging current models of our solar system’s evolution.

Propstore will also trot out this rare relic for a 3-city press tour this August

Astronomers have finally imaged the long theorized companion star of Betelgeuse, solving a mystery regarding its dimming that has persisted for millennia.

Germany's Isar and RFA, France's Maiaspace, Spain's PLD Space, and UK-based Orbex have been pre-selected for ESA's €169 million launcher initiative.

"There's some great targets in the southern hemisphere, including the Carina Nebula."

Astronauts aboard the International Space Station collect blood samples as part of a project to study human health in space.

Astronomers have discovered a baby exoplanet "spiral architect" carving complex swirls into a disk of gas and dust around the young star HD 135344B.

Our planet has been rotating at its fastest since records began in 1973.

Fabrizio Melandri from Voltana, Italy Thousands of fireflies fill the open air as Planet Earth turns slowly in this stack of 42 thirty-second exposures taken with an 18mm lens at f/4 and at ISO 200.

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In this episode, Astronomy magazine Editor Dave Eicher invites you to head out and observe the sky’s sixth-brightest open cluster, NGC 6231, in the constellation Scorpius the Scorpion. This object has been dubbed by amateur astronomers the “Northern Jewel Box.” Although sharp-eyed observers may pick this up with their naked eyes, its swarms of stars look bestContinue reading "This Week in Astronomy with Dave Eicher: Open cluster NGC 6231"

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Born in New Hampshire in 1923, Alan Shepard served in the Navy during World War II, subsequently entering flight training and graduating from the Navy Test Pilot School in 1951. In 1959, he was selected for Project Mercury as one of America’s first seven astronauts, alongside Gil Grissom, Deke Slayton, and John Glenn. On MayContinue reading "July 21, 1998: Alan Shepard dies"

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Saturn’s tidally locked, two-toned moon Iapetus reaches eastern elongation today, standing a full 9′ east of Saturn. The moon appears faintest at eastern elongation, when its darker hemisphere is turned toward us and it glows a faint 12th magnitude. However, without our Moon lighting the early-morning sky, you might try to spot faint Iapetus —Continue reading "The Sky Today on Monday, July 21: Iapetus reaches eastern elongation"

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Viking 1 landed on Mars on July 20, 1976, the first spacecraft to do so and successfully return data. (The Soviet Mars 3 lander had touched down in 1971, but contact was cut off before any data could be received.) The two Viking spacecrafts were designed to be both orbiters and landers; the orbiter’s primaryContinue reading "July 20, 1976: Viking 1 lands on Mars"

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South Korea just laid out its long-term space exploration road map, which features the planned construction of a moon base two decades from now.

Scientists have grown algae in bioplastic habitats under Mars-like conditions, a step that could bring long-term space colonization closer to reality.

Find the locations of the five landing zones considered as the setting for humanity's first steps on another world.

Supernovas, kilonovas, gamma-ray bursts... oh my! The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will uncover 100,000 of these explosions and many more powerful and violent cosmic events.

The Moon passes in front of several stars in the Pleiades cluster in an occultation this morning, best seen from North and Central America. Both the view and its timing are heavily location dependent — you can check this International Occultation Timing Association’s page to find when Electra (17 Tauri), the first star to vanish behindContinue reading "The Sky Today on Sunday, July 20: The Moon occults the Pleiades"

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The moon's crescent limb will cloak and uncover stars from the iconic cluster before sunrise.

On Episode 169 of This Week In Space, Rod Pyle and Tariq Malik are joined by JPL Chief Engineer Emeritus Rob Manning to look back at the Mariner 4 Mars mission 60 years later.

From "Star Wars" film sets to baboons in Saudi Arabia, here's how to experience the "eclipse of the century" in style on Aug. 2, 2027.

Blue Origin's powerful New Glenn rocket now has a payload for its second-ever flight —NASA's ESCAPADE Mars mission.

The new TRACERS mission will track magnetic reconnection that drives particles down into Earth's atmosphere when space weather turns bad.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying 24 Starlink satellites launched from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Friday, July 18, 2025.

July 19, 418 C.E., marks the first total solar eclipse (of which we have a record) during which a comet was seen. Turkish-born Church historian Philostorgius wrote in Book XII of the Epitome Historiae Ecclesiasticae: “When Theodosius had reached adolescence, on the nineteenth of July at about the eighth hour, the sun was so completelyContinue reading "July 19, 418: A solar eclipse/comet combo"

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Author(s): Philip Ball

Not all genes respond in the same way to regulation by the same molecule—a property that might enable cells to produce complex genetic responses.

[Physics 18, 137] Published Fri Jul 18, 2025

Author(s): Michael Schirber

Scientists observe the most massive merger event yet, with the colliding black holes lying in a mass range that is incompatible with the standard stellar-formation scenario.

[Physics 18, 136] Published Thu Jul 17, 2025

Author(s): Rachel Berkowitz

Simulations explore how to optimize a sail for changing direction.

[Physics 18, s89] Published Thu Jul 17, 2025

Seventh-magnitude 4 Vesta is an easy catch from any location and with any equipment: binoculars or a telescope. Tonight, it’s just 5’ from a magnitude 7.5 field star, creating a temporary artificial double star to enjoy.  You’ll find Vesta in the northwestern corner of Libra, near that constellation’s border with Virgo. It now sits aboutContinue reading "The Sky Today on Saturday, July 19: Vesta forms a double star"

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At 7:15 a.m. EDT on July 14, the crew of Axiom Mission 4 (Ax-4) undocked from the International Space Station, wrapping up an 18-day stay that marked new milestones in commercial and international spaceflight.  The team — led by veteran NASA astronaut and current Axiom Space human spaceflight director Peggy Whitson — splashed down safelyContinue reading "Axiom Mission 4 crew returns to Earth after historic ISS stay"

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Astronomers have discovered an object at the edge of the solar system that is locked in a strange rhythmic dance with the ice giant Neptune.

Two teams of astronomers have simultaneously discovered a strange, spinning dead star that seems to defy our current understanding of both neutron stars and white dwarfs.

Fernando Oliveira de Menezes from São Paulo, Brazil Globular cluster M4 lies just west of Antares (Alpha [α] Scorpii). To a visual observer, a 6-inch scope reveals dozens of stars; this image comprising 2.6 hours resolves nearly the entire cluster, yielding a star field that feels like you could fall into it. Click to seeContinue reading "Glorious resolution"

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Many faint planetary nebulae went undiscovered for surprisingly long times after Charles Messier and the Herschels stopped cataloguing nebulous objects lying around parts of the sky. It wasn’t until 1980 that two Austrian astronomers, Alois Purgathofer and Ronald Weinberger, found a large, faint planetary nebulae as they searched plates of the Palomar Observatory Sky Survey. Continue reading "Deep-Sky Dreams: PuWe 1   "

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The Southern Delta Aquariids are active alongside the trusty Perseid meteor shower.

'I'm trying to make it as realistic as possible, so that a modern day Scottish person could see themselves in space one day.'

"The mountaineer defies gravity; the astronomer looks up. Both seek to reach the unreachable."

The Expedition 73 and Axiom Mission 4 crews wrapped up their time together as science and maintenance activities continued aboard the International Space Station.

A meteorite impact thousands of years ago may have triggered a landslide in the Grand Canyon and reshaped the Colorado River that runs through the national park.

Baumgartner is most well-known for breaking the sound barrier with his body during a freefall from the stratosphere in 2012.

Rise and shine! Venus, Aldebaran and the moon team up for a dazzling dawn display.

Hulu released a new trailer for "Alien: Earth," a new sci-fi horror miniseries from "Fargo" creator Noah Hawley that premieres on Aug. 12.

As astronomers rush to study a newly discovered comet from beyond our solar system, a powerful new observatory may turn rare interstellar sightings into routine events.

We've tested numerous star projectors and one of the best value options, the YGiTK Northern Galaxy Lights projector, is 26% off on Amazon, now under $14.

Astronomers have used the Chandra X-ray telescope to observe an exoplanet as it disintegrates because its parent star is bombarding it with radiation.

A lunar eclipse was seen over the U.S. Naval Observatory Deep South Telescope in Chile.

Workers from within NASA will protest the space agency leadership's "preemptive over-compliance" of the White House's proposed budget, gutting science and eliminating jobs.

Dr Korby once crossed paths with Kirk's Enterprise, though he was a very different man at the time…

A massive doomed exoplanet on a death spiral toward its parent star has three possible catastrophic fates.

You’ve set your telescope up and are showing people some of the wonders in the sky. Of course, they’re going to ask you questions. Here are some you might be asked. How many do you know the answers to? Question 1: Approximately how old is the universe? Question 2: Which planet in our solar system has theContinue reading "Michael’s Miscellany: 25 Questions About Astronomy"

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Born on July 18, 1921, John Glenn grew up in Ohio and joined the Marine Corps in 1943. He flew 59 combat missions in World War II and 63 in the Korean War before being selected by NASA for the Mercury program. In 1962, he spent five hours orbiting the Earth in the Friendship 7Continue reading "July 18, 1915: The birth of John Glenn"

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Titan’s shadow transits the cloud tops of Saturn this morning, beginning around 2:50 A.M. EDT. At that time, Saturn (in the constellation Pisces) should be above the horizon for most of the U.S., with the Last Quarter Moon a good distance away, straddling the border of Pisces and Aries.  Saturn, at magnitude 0.9, is theContinue reading "The Sky Today on Friday, July 18: Titan’s shadow transits"

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Sky This Week is brought to you in part by Celestron. Friday, July 18Mars remains close to Sigma (σ) Leonis, Leo the Lion’s back foot, in the evening sky for several days. Shining at magnitude 1.5, the Red Planet is just over 1° southwest of the 4th-magnitude star tonight.  An hour after sunset, Mars isContinue reading "The Sky This Week from July 18 to 25: Have you seen our interstellar visitor?"

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Superman is full of awesome sci-fi elements, but the most fascinating one might be Lex Luthor's pocket dimension. How does that even work?

Soil excavated from the moon could be used to produce oxygen and methane, which could be used by lunar settlers for breathing and for rocket fuel.

China has taken a new step in its long-term planning for lunar exploration with the completion of a "simulated moon underground space."

The European Space Agency is funding the development of a hypersonic space plane pathfinder, which will start flying by 2031, if all goes according to plan.

The sky is filled with interesting and unusual planetary nebulae, which give us a forward look at the end state of our own star and solar system. Some of the faintest and most unusual planetaries were discovered long after the NGC and IC catalogs, and so bear strange designations. Such is the case with aContinue reading "Deep-Sky Dreams: Jones-Emberson 1  "

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In 2021, the United Nations General Assembly declared July 20 International Moon Day, a celebration of our nearest celestial neighbor on the anniversary of the day Apollo 11 landed on the Moon in 1969. The Starmus Festival, founded by astronomer Garik Israelian and astronomer and musician Brian May, is involved with many astronauts and hasContinue reading "Celebrate International Moon Day with Starmus"

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Astronomers are continuing to gather data on 3I/ATLAS, the third confirmed interstellar object (ISO) to pass through our solar system — and possibly the most intriguing yet. Since its discovery on July 1, 2025, new analyses have revealed clues about its origins, composition, age, and potential for future observation. Here’s what the latest research tellsContinue reading "What we know so far about 3I/ATLAS, the interstellar visitor"

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The basaltic meteorite is a piece of lunar rock that formed in a lava flow 2.35 billion years ago, long after volcanism on the moon was supposed to have ended.

Titan shadow transit seasons occurs just once every 15 years.

All of the telescopes here are easy to set up on a tabletop, making them an easy option for beginners and professional stargazers.

China's Tianwen 2 mission captured stunning views of Earth and the moon from deep space just days after launch.

'It's fun to see Una come down on someone. We don't get to see that very often.'

Up to 200 worlds investigated by NASA's exoplanet-hunting TESS satellite could be bigger than predicted, a finding that could impact our search for alien life.

Astronomers unveiled a striking view of the new interstellar visitor 3I/ATLAS on its journey toward the inner solar system.

These are the best telescopes for professional astrophotography and will allow you to capture high-definition images of planets, nebulas and galaxies.

On July 17, 1975, an American Apollo crew and a Soviet Soyuz crew met up in Earth orbit for the first time, setting the foundation for continued cooperation in space over the past 50 years.

These modern-day Gorn are a major upgrade on the lizard man Captain Kirk battled in the Original Series.

NASA moved its payload adapter at the Space Flight Center in Huntsville to prepare for the upcoming Artemis IV mission

The left-hand side of the moon will appear lit by direct sunlight, with the right bathed in shadow.

NASA and Boeing are still working on the thruster issues that Starliner experienced on its first crewed flight last year, and the spacecraft's next mission will likely launch without astronauts.

The Apollo-Soyuz mission, which occurred 50 years ago this month, was the culmination of a series of fitful attempts at possible international cooperation on human spaceflight. But before one astronaut and one cosmonaut met in an airlock in orbit over the Earth, there were wiretaps and hot dogs, language lessons and vodka toasts. And thoughContinue reading "50 years since the ‘Handshake in Space’: The legacy of Apollo-Soyuz"

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After years of planning, training, and international negotiation, the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project mission culminated in 1975 when spacecraft from the U.S. and the Soviet Union docked in space. On July 17, the Apollo and Soyuz capsules locked together, utilizing an “androgynous” system of petal-shaped plates, and their commanders, Thomas Stafford and Aleksey Leonov, shook hands.Continue reading "July 17, 1975: The Apollo-Soyuz Test Project link-up"

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Gerardo N. Rigiroli from Buenos Aires, Argentina The nebula NGC 3503 in Carina is a stellar nursery that glows brightly at the center of this image, surrounded by ghostly tendrils of gas and dust. At bottom left is the open cluster NGC 3532. The image comprises just over 17 hours of SHORGB data taken withContinue reading "Starbirth in the Keel"

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Mercury stands stationary at 3 A.M. EDT amid the stars of Cancer. The solar system’s smallest planet will now start sliding westward, or retrograde, appearing to “fall” back toward the Sun as it moves through its tight, 88-day orbit.  You can catch Mercury in the evening sky, but only if you’re quick — it’s justContinue reading "The Sky Today on Thursday, July 17: Mercury stands still"

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Observations of a pulsar, consisting of a dead star spinning 600 times a second, and feasting on a stellar companion reveal the source powering its emissions.

NASA will not host the U.S. government's primary climate assessment reports on its website after all, despite a White House claim that they would be available via the space agency.

The fan favorite author of 'The Martian' admits, 'I'm really happy with how the film is turning out.'

These are the best cameras for children interested in photography, shooting videos and content creation, as tested and rated by our experts.

Lightning-ignited Grand Canyon wildfires burn tens of thousands of acres, as NOAA’s GOES satellites continue to monitor the fires.

The high winds that birth dust devils can also revitalize robots by cleaning their solar cells.

Astronomers using the Subaru Telescope have discovered a strange new body in a weird orbit at the edge of the solar system, which could be bad news for Planet Nine theories.

Sotheby's in New York City auctioned off a giant chunk of Mars found in Africa. It sold for $4.3 million.

10 supernova explosions have been seen brightening the Fireworks Galaxy over the past century.

Bring the universe closer — here’s our round-up of the best binoculars by price for those looking for something cheap, looking to invest a little more or those 'forever home' binoculars

Everything about the Infinity Galaxy, recently discovered by the JWST, is strange. One odd feature could be the 1st evidence of a "direct collapse" black hole.

On November 23, 2023, a groundbreaking astronomical event unfolded as scientists from the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA Collaboration detected the most massive black hole merger ever observed. The finding was detailed in a July 13, 2025, press release shared by the University of Birmingham. This cosmic collision occurred when two colossal black holes, approximately 100 and 140 timesContinue reading "Astronomers detect the most massive black hole merger ever"

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A newborn planetary system is forming around HOPS-315, a protostar (one that recently formed) that sits some 1,300 light-years away in the constellation Orion the Hunter. This star isn’t in the star-forming region known as the Orion Nebula, however. It lies in a region of space known as the L1630 molecular cloud. Astronomers often seeContinue reading "Astronomers see a new solar system forming for the first time"

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Astronomers have witnessed the birth of an entirely new star system for the first time. The budding planets are forming around the infant star HOPS-315.

Planck’s constant is one of the most important numbers in all of physics. It is, essentially, the ultimate guide to the quantum world. It tells us where quantum effects are important, the fundamental energy carried by light and matter, and more. And it all started as an ugly hack. The black body In the lateContinue reading "What is Planck’s constant?"

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The sky is full of interesting and unusual asterisms. If you look around hard enough, or are tired enough, you can convince yourself that you see patterns of stars that resemble practically anything.  But certain asterisms, simply patterns of stars that are composed of members not physically associated with each other, stand out more thanContinue reading "Deep-Sky Dreams: The Broken Engagement Ring"

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NASA and the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) tested a model of the X-59 experimental aircraft in a supersonic wind tunnel to measure the noise underneath the jet.

New research suggests that the Milky Way should be surrounded by as many as 100 undetected tiny and faint "orphan" galaxy companions.

In 1839, the president of Harvard University invited William Bond to move into a house on campus and, by virtue of bringing along his own astronomical equipment, become the university’s first astronomer in residence. With public interest spurred by the 1835 passage of Halley’s Comet and the Comet of 1843, Harvard soon had enough moneyContinue reading "July 16, 1850: Bond and Whipple photograph Vega"

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"Our work is a new piece of evidence that suggests that Mars was once a much more complex and active planet than it is now."

A massive filament eruption carved a 250,000-mile-long "canyon of fire" into the sun — and sent a CME sailing into space.