One of the earliest recorded eclipses is found in in the Shijing, a collection of ancient poetry whose compilation is also credited to Confucius. The eclipse in question occurred during the Zhou dynasty. Though the exact date is uncertain, some astronomers have pointed to the total eclipse of June 4, 781 B.C.E. (though this would have onlyContinue reading "June 4, 781 B.C.E: A great eclipse in China"

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Asteroid 2 Pallas is visible in the late evening and overnight into the early morning. Around local midnight, you’ll find this main-belt world some 16° high in the eastern sky, a few degrees east of the four-star lozenge in Delphinus also called Job’s Coffin.  This small, diamond-shaped asterism is made from four 4th-magnitude stars: Alpha,Continue reading "The Sky Today on Wednesday, June 4: Pallas swims with the Dolphin"

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One of the largest emission nebulae in the far northern sky can be found in IC 1396, a bright glow in Cepheus that contains several complex objects. Among them are the red supergiant star Mu Cephei; the double stars Struve 2816 and Struve 2819; the dark nebula van den Bergh 142, known as the ElephantContinue reading "Deep-Sky Dreams: Emission nebula IC 1396"

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Emmanuel Joly from Le Cannet-des-Maures, France Narrowband Hα, SII, and OIII filters were used to collect 31.6 hours of data with an 8-inch scope for this portrait of the Wizard Nebula, which surrounds the open cluster NGC 7380 in Cepheus. The star field comprises RGB exposure times of 45 minutes each.

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How did we get here? Few topics in astronomy intrigue us more than this simple five-word query. Yet the simplicity hides multiple layers of complexity. How did the universe come into existence? How did stars form out of an initial mix of mostly hydrogen and helium gas? How did planets grow in the dusty disksContinue reading "Live long and prosper: JWST images NGC 346"

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The brainchild of George Ellery Hale, the 200-inch Hale Telescope was dedicated June 3, 1948, at Palomar Observatory in California. In promoting and fundraising for the project, Hale had a firm science agenda for the scope, but also wrote more fancifully of “the lure of the uncharted seas of space”; though he died in 1938,Continue reading "June 3, 1948: Hale Telescope dedicated"

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Already high in the sky at sunset, the Moon is some 45° high in the southwest an hour after the Sun disappears. Fix your telescope on the center of the Moon, near the terminator dividing lunar night and day. Just south of the lunar equator is a series of three craters, starting with Ptolemaeus. AboutContinue reading "The Sky Today on Tuesday, June 3: A trio of craters"

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If you have the time and clear sky to the north, you might want to check out an open cluster that is seldom observed. An “average joe” open cluster in Cassiopeia nonetheless appears fairly bright and presents an almost circular pattern of stars.  This is NGC 225, sometimes called the Sailboat Cluster, or more recently theContinue reading "Deep-Sky Dreams: Open cluster NGC 225"

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The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has captured a breathtaking new deep field image of the galaxy cluster Abell S1063, surpassing Hubble’s previous view in both depth and detail. Abell S1063, located 4.5 billion light-years away in the constellation Grus the Crane, acts as a gravitational lens. This massive cluster bends and focuses the lightContinue reading "JWST gazes into the distant past through gravitational lens"

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On May 20, 2025, President Donald Trump announced plans to construct the “Golden Dome,” a multibillion-dollar missile defense system that would utilize space-based weapons and satellites to intercept ballistic attacks against the United States. This announcement stems from Trump’s Jan. 27 executive order titled “Iron Dome for America.” Inspired by Israel’s Iron Dome and PresidentContinue reading "Here’s how Trump’s Golden Dome would work — and why some call it “a fantasy”"

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Astronomers say our galaxy hasn’t seen a supernova in 400 years. Why don’t they count the 1987 supernova?  Judy PearceBelton, Texas The 1987 supernova (SN 1987A) occurred in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), not the Milky Way. The LMC is a smaller satellite of the Milky Way, but astronomers still consider it to be outsideContinue reading "When was the last supernova seen in the Milky Way?"

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On April 15, many of us in the eclipse community received this message from Fred Espenak, the man who for years was affectionately referred to as Mr. Eclipse: Dear Friends.  I want to share some sad news. I was diagnosed with Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF) five years ago. I did not have any significant symptomsContinue reading "Farewell, Mr. Eclipse: Fred Espenak dies at 71"

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In this episode, Astronomy magazine Editor Dave Eicher invites you to head out before sunrise and face east. There, you’ll spot Venus, sometimes called Earth’s sister planet. You won’t have any trouble finding it because only the Sun and the Moon shine more brightly. In fact, if your location is dark enough, the light from Venus mightContinue reading "This Week in Astronomy with Dave Eicher: Venus in the Morning Sky"

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Kfir Simon, taken from Tivoli Farm, Namibia Unlike a star cluster, whose members are bound by their own gravity, a star cloud is simply a dense concentration of stars, appearing exactly as it sounds. NGC 206 (at center) is the brightest star cloud in the Andromeda Galaxy (M31), captured here with a 24-inch scope atContinue reading "A distant star cloud"

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Four centuries ago, Johannes Kepler established three laws of planetary motion that accurately describe how planets in the solar system orbit the Sun. That might be enough for most; however, befitting the Renaissance period in which he lived, Kepler also revised the field of astrology, wrote a treatise on optics, established the field of crystallography withContinue reading "‘Astronomical Dream’: Johannes Kepler wrote the first science-fiction story"

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About 63 hours after its launch, Surveyor 1 landed on the Moon on June 2, 1966. The 2,200-pound (998 kilograms) craft touched down inside a 62-mile (100 kilometers) crater north of Flamsteed Crater in Oceanus Procellarum, or the Ocean of Storms. Surveyor 1 took more than 11,000 photos, and measured the Moon’s temperature and theContinue reading "June 2, 1966: Surveyor 1 lands on the Moon"

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The smaller constellation Leo Minor lies to the upper right (north) of Leo in the west this evening. Leo Minor appears crouched above its larger counterpart, sandwiched between Leo and Ursa Major. The easiest way to find it is to search the space between two famous asterisms: the Sickle of Leo and the Big Dipper. Continue reading "The Sky Today on Monday, June 2: The Little Lion"

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The innermost planets straddle nighttime, with Mercury in the evening and the greatest western elongation of Venus in the morning. Jupiter joins Mercury in early twilight for a few evenings, both setting quickly. Distant Mars lingers with Leo after dark, as our own planet hustles along its orbit well ahead of the Red Planet. SaturnContinue reading "June 2025: What’s in the sky this month? Titan’s shadow transits Saturn, and Mercury meets with Jupiter in the evening"

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The first evening of June finds Mars in the company of a lovely crescent Moon. The Red Planet reached opposition back in January and has faded considerably since then, glowing now at 1st magnitude. Mars spends the month moving eastward against the backdrop of Leo the Lion. It shares a small patch of sky withContinue reading "June 2025: What’s in the Southern Hemisphere sky this month?"

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The Moon passes 1.4° north of Mars at 6 A.M. EDT; the two are visible together this evening, slowly setting in the western sky and visible for a few hours after sunset. Both now lie in western Leo, with the Moon close to the Lion’s bright heart, Regulus (Alpha [α] Leonis). This magnitude 1.4 starContinue reading "The Sky Today on Sunday, June 1: The Moon passes Mars"

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The Trump administration announced Saturday, May 31, that it would withdraw the nomination of entrepreneur and private astronaut Jared Isaacman for NASA administrator. The move came just days before the Senate was scheduled to vote on his nomination, where he was widely expected to be confirmed. The Senate committee on commerce, science, and transportation hadContinue reading "Trump withdraws nomination of Jared Isaacman to lead NASA"

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Venus reaches its greatest western elongation (46°) from the Sun at midnight EDT. Earth’s sister planet is now visible in the early-morning sky, and today Venus rises in the east at 3:30 A.M. local daylight time — roughly two hours before the Sun. That gives observers plenty of time to view the bright morning planet,Continue reading "The Sky Today on Saturday, May 31: Venus at greatest western elongation"

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When you’re gazing at objects in the northern sky, do not forget to look at one of the richest open star clusters you’ll ever see. NGC 7789 in Cassiopeia is particularly notable for its huge mass of relatively faint stars, all set in a rich Milky Way star field, which makes for a great sceneContinue reading "Deep-Sky Dreams: NGC 7789"

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Overall Photons: Francisco Javier Pérez Olvera, Manuel Alejandro Chavarría Silva, George William Hoffman, Kollar Istvan, Jonathan Schwab, Giovanni Lombardi, Fumio Saito, Francesco Morini, David Serquera, Lorenzo Lilli & Giampiero Lilli, Gianni Melis, Richard Mongold, Emanuele La Barbera, Michele Mazzola, Ashley Brown, Satoshi Iino, Jeff Ratino, Ulli Wittur Fee, Marco Martinelli, Roberto Volpini, Krzysztof Gaudy, PatrickContinue reading "The hidden bridge of Markarian’s Chain"

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Because astronomers have divided the globe into 24 time zones, using one clock time worldwide is impractical. That’s why the times of astronomical events are often given in Universal Time (UT). This practice started in 1928, when the International Astronomical Union recommended that title for the time used in the compilation of astronomical almanacs. UTContinue reading "Michael’s Miscellany: Universal Time"

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Take a peek at the early-morning duo of Saturn and Neptune, rising together in Pisces around 2:30 A.M. local daylight time. By 4 A.M. local daylight time they are some 15° high, with blazing Venus visible to their lower left. Saturn stands out well to the naked eye at magnitude 1.1, but Neptune (magnitude 7.8)Continue reading "The Sky Today on Friday, May 30: Saturn and Neptune rise together"

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Sky This Week is brought to you in part by Celestron. Friday, May 30The crescent Moon lies in Cancer this evening, just a few degrees from the stunning Beehive Cluster (M44). If it seems that this cluster is mentioned in this column a lot — it is! The Beehive lies close to the ecliptic, theContinue reading "The Sky This Week from May 30 to June 6: All eyes on Venus"

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The world is overflowing with crazily-named deep-sky objects. However, I am guilty of one such naming, many years ago, in Astronomy and Deep Sky magazines — the Owl Cluster, NGC 457, in Cassiopeia.  This object was discovered by William Herschel on August 18, 1780. When I first looked at this cluster with my Celestron 8,Continue reading "Deep-Sky Dreams: The Owl Cluster"

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Vikas Chander from New Delhi, India The faint planetary nebula Abell 7 in Lepus the Hare has an overall spherical appearance — the result of a dying star blowing its outer layers off into space. But deep narrowband imaging reveals complex detail in this expanding shell. For this Hα/OIII/RGB image, the photographer captured 67⅓ hoursContinue reading "A planetary in the Hare"

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Astronomy is one of the fastest changing sciences, and the equipment we use to explore and record the universe is advancing just as quickly. Smart telescopes epitomize the evolving equipment scene, combining a telescope, digital camera, and automated tracking in one sleek package. They allow novice astrophotographers to capture stunning deep-sky images on their first clearContinue reading "Review: DwarfLab’s DWARF 3 Smart Telescope"

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Binocular observers, this one’s for you: Upgren 1, a small grouping of stars discovered in 1963 within the constellation Canes Venatici. High in the west around 10:30 P.M. local daylight time, the Hunting Dogs lie beneath the curve of the Big Dipper’s long handle.  Upgren 1 contains about 10 stars in an area roughly 14’Continue reading "The Sky Today on Thursday, May 29: Pull out binoculars for Upgren 1"

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As we’ve seen in recent posts, the northern constellation Cassiopeia is chock-full of intriguing nebulae and bright star clusters. A large and relatively bright emission nebula among this group, Sharpless 2–157, is rarely observed by amateur astronomers. It is sometimes called the Lobster Claw Nebula due to its distinctive shape.  This big nebula lies inContinue reading "Deep-Sky Dreams: Sharpless 2–157"

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The ninth integrated test flight of SpaceX’s Starship rocket and Super Heavy booster avoided previous issues but encountered new ones as the company aims to ramp up launches this year. Let’s begin with the good. Flight 9 marked the first time SpaceX used a previously flown Super Heavy booster, which was caught back at theContinue reading "SpaceX Starship reaches orbit but misses key targets"

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Ashish Sinojia/Santanu Sir/Amit Sengar, taken from Kasheli, Maharashtra, India Waves wash ashore at Devghali Beach beneath a cave lit by Sinojia, as the Milky Way arches overhead. The photographers used a Sony mirrorless camera and 20mm lens at f/2.2 to capture eleven 30-second sky frames at ISO 2500 and five 58-second foreground frames at ISOContinue reading "The cave and the galaxy"

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The Moon passes 5° north of Jupiter at 9 A.M. EDT. Just six percent illuminated by this evening, you can try to spot the young crescent Moon hanging above the gas giant in the western sky after sunset.  An hour after the Sun disappears, Jupiter (shining at magnitude –1.9) is just 4° high in theContinue reading "The Sky Today on Wednesday, May 28: Glimpse Jupiter and its Galilean moons"

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Update: The Long March 3B rocket carrying Tianwen-2 successfully launched from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in China’s Sichuan province at 1:31 P.M. EDT on Wednesday, May 28. Six centuries ago, Admiral Zheng He commanded seven “treasure voyages” around Asia in the halcyon days of China’s Ming Dynasty. His fleet of colossal four-masted wooden junksContinue reading "Tianwen-2 is voyaging to an asteroid and a comet"

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The far northern sky holds its richest region in Cassiopeia, a splendid area of bright Milky Way stars and gas. One of the greatest nebulae in the far north is NGC 7635, the Bubble Nebula, so named for its remarkable spherical bubble visible in images.  This object is an emission nebula with a reasonably highContinue reading "Deep-Sky Dreams: The Bubble Nebula"

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SpaceX’s colossal Starship rocket and Super Heavy booster are poised to return to action Tuesday evening after the company wrapped up its investigation into the 400-foot-tall vehicle’s eighth test flight in March. Starship exploded during both that mission and Flight 7 in January. The FAA issued a vehicle return to flight determination for Starship on Friday, clearing theContinue reading "SpaceX Starship set for ninth test flight"

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Gianni Tumino from Ragusa, Sicily, Italy A shower of glowing material erupts from Mount Etna next to the Pleiades star cluster (M45) at lower right in this 1.9-second exposure taken July 31, 2024 with a Canon DSLR and 300mm lens at f/4.

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In this episode, Astronomy magazine Editor Dave Eicher invites you to head out a bit later in the evening this time of year to see the Milky Way. Be sure to go out before the Moon comes up. The Milky Way rises in the east several hours after sunset and stretches from the north, where you’ll seeContinue reading "This Week in Astronomy with Dave Eicher: The Milky Way"

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If you’ve got binoculars or a small scope at your disposal, take them out tonight to observe the lovely — and bright — edge-on lenticular galaxy NGC 3115, sometimes called the Spindle Galaxy. Located in Sextans, you’ll find this galaxy still 25° high in the southwest 90 minutes after sunset, in a region to theContinue reading "The Sky Today on Tuesday, May 27: The Spindle Galaxy, bright and beautiful"

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Half a century after the Apollo astronauts left the last bootprints in lunar dust, the Moon has once again become a destination of fierce ambition and delicate engineering. This time, it’s not just superpowers racing to plant flags, but also private companies, multinational partnerships and robotic scouts aiming to unlock the Moon’s secrets and layContinue reading "Landing on the Moon is an incredibly difficult feat — here’s how 2025 is shaping up"

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With New Moon occurring late tonight at 11:02 P.M. EDT, today is an excellent opportunity for yet more deep-sky observing. This morning, we’re dipping into the Lagoon Nebula (M8) in Sagittarius. This stunning nebula is best seen around 3 A.M. local daylight time, when it stands 25° high in the south.  The Lagoon lies withinContinue reading "The Sky Today on Monday, May 26: Dip your toes in the Lagoon"

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On April 14, 2025, Blue Origin launched six women — Aisha Bowe, Amanda Nguyễn, Gayle King, Katy Perry, Kerianne Flynn and Lauren Sánchez — on a suborbital journey to the edge of space. The headlines called it a historic moment for women in space. But as a tourism educator, I paused — not because IContinue reading "Space tourism’s growth blurs the line between scientific and symbolic achievement — a tourism scholar explains"

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Mars has now crossed the border from Cancer into Leo, standing in the far western regions of the Lion’s domain. The Red Planet is visible after sunset this evening, slowly sinking in the west and setting around 1 A.M. local daylight time.  This offers plenty of time to inspect the ruddy world, which now glowsContinue reading "The Sky Today on Sunday, May 25: Mars joins the Sickle of Leo"

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Andy Weir’s bestselling story The Martian predicts that by 2035 NASA will have landed humans on Mars three times, perfected return-to-Earth flight systems and collaborated with the China National Space Administration. We are now 10 years past the Hollywood adaptation’s 2015 release and 10 years shy of its fictional timeline. At this midpoint, Mars exploration looks aContinue reading "How close are we to ‘The Martian’? A planetary scientist checks in"

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Michael John Griffin/Warren Keller The North America Nebula (NGC 7000) glows in Cygnus at magnitude 4 at a distance of 2,600 light-years. This image was taken from Los Angeles with a one-shot color camera and 8 hours of exposure, roughly half of which was taken with dual-band Hα/OIII and SII/OIII filters and processed in theContinue reading "Cosmic continent"

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The delicate waning crescent Moon stands directly to the left of the bright planet Venus before dawn. An hour before sunrise, the pair is some 10° high in the east, easily visible together in Pisces the Fish.  The Moon is now just 11 percent illuminated, well on its way to New in just two days.Continue reading "The Sky Today on Saturday, May 24: Revisit the Moon and Venus"

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In the world of deep-sky observing, we think of major classes of objects: star clusters, nebulae, and galaxies. But once in a while an exception to this classification arises as a favorite object for observers. Back in 1980, the great Walter Scott Houston wrote one of his celebrated columns in Sky & Telescope and addressedContinue reading "Deep-Sky Dreams: Kemble’s Cascade"

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Twentieth-century explorations answered many questions about our satellite and its place in the solar system. But they also raised many new and challenging questions that still remain unanswered.  One of these enduring mysteries has been the lunar magnetic field. The Moon generates no magnetic field of its own today. Yet analysis of Apollo rock samplesContinue reading "Asteroids hitting the Moon may have spiked its magnetic field"

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On May 21, the International Astronomical Union’s Minor Planet Center announced the discovery of 2017 OF201, which, because of its distance beyond Neptune, is classified as a trans-Neptunian object (TNO). The science team that found the new body was led by Sihao Cheng, Martin A., and Helen Chooljian Member of the Institute for Advanced Study’sContinue reading "Does our solar system have a new dwarf planet?"

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The Moon is now situated between magnitude 1.1 Saturn and magnitude –4.5 Venus in the east an hour before dawn.  If you were outside yesterday morning, you’ll note that the Moon is now a thinner crescent as it wanes toward New. Only its western limb is directly sunlit. But look for earthshine lighting up itsContinue reading "The Sky Today on Friday, May 23: The crescent Moon and Venus"

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Sky This Week is brought to you in part by Celestron. Friday, May 23The Moon passes 4° north of Venus at 8 P.M. EDT, although neither is visible at that time.  Instead, let’s look tonight for the small constellation Sagitta the Arrow, which lies north of Aquila the Eagle. Although Sagitta is small, covering justContinue reading "The Sky This Week from May 23 to 30: Mars moves into Leo"

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Let’s visit another galaxy in the mostly stark constellation Camelopardalis — which, although it is unexciting to naked-eye viewers, is an area of sky that contains some interesting, if somewhat isolated, deep-sky objects.  IC 342 is a big barred spiral galaxy of morphological type SAB(rs)cd. It glows brightly at magnitude 9.1 but has a lowContinue reading "Deep-Sky Dreams: Face-on spiral IC 342"

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Mark Germani from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada M35 and NGC 2158 are two open star clusters that appear next to each other in Gemini. M35 is the larger and closer of the two at a distance of 3,000 light-years; NGC 2158 is older and lies five times farther away. The imager took 2.4 hours ofContinue reading "An open cluster duo"

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While mosquitoes will attack whoever is handiest, they prefer adults to children, women to men, and pregnant women most. (They find ovulating women more attractive than those menstruating.) Movement attracts mosquitoes, so swatting at them is a good way to get them swarming around you. Contrary to popular belief, colors of clothing are not importantContinue reading "Michael’s Miscellany: Mosquitoes"

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The Moon hangs near Saturn and Neptune in the early-morning sky, and it’s best to catch them earlier rather than later. Try looking east 90 minutes before sunrise, where you’ll easily spot the crescent Moon in southwestern Pisces, below the Circlet asterism.  Just to the lower left of the Moon is 1st-magnitude Saturn, which standsContinue reading "The Sky Today on Thursday, May 22: The Moon hangs with Saturn and Neptune"

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One of the most enjoyable things about observing galaxies with your backyard scope is that there are so many unusual forms we can see. Another great example of a distorted galaxy lies in the northern constellation Camelopardalis, the Giraffe. It is NGC 2146, sometimes called the Dusty Hand Galaxy for its unusual appearance.  This strangeContinue reading "Deep-Sky Dreams: The Dusty Hand Galaxy"

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Virgo the Maiden is the second-largest constellation, covering 3.1 percent of the sky. It contains 11 Messier objects, tons of worthy targets from the New General Catalogue, and more faint galaxies than you can count. In this brief guide, I want to remove the intimidation of this constellation’s size and provide a list of the bestContinue reading "Michael’s Miscellany: Virgo’s finest galaxies"

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Salvo Lauricella, imaged from Syracuse, Italy The large pair of sunspots in the active region AR 14079 illustrates their magnetically bipolar nature — one with north polarity and one with south — in this series of images taken May 1 in Hα, Ca-K, and white light.

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Note: This post contains affiliate links. When you buy equipment through the links on this page, we may earn a commission. Listen, you really don’t want to get your dad a tie or another pair of socks for Father’s Day. And a gift certificate to some restaurant he goes to frequently is boring. Instead, why notContinue reading "Stellar gifts for Dad: 10 astronomy essentials for Father’s Day"

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Virgo the Maiden is draped across the southern sky late this evening, offering excellent views of a famous galaxy within its bounds: M104, also known as the Sombrero Galaxy.  Glowing at magnitude 8, this edge-on spiral is some 30 million light-years from Earth. It boasts a thin, dark dust lane that blocks light across itsContinue reading "The Sky Today on Wednesday, May 21: The Sombrero Galaxy"

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The sky is full of really weird stuff. Many of the strangest objects are galaxies — so numerous in the cosmos — that show unusual forms. One of these great objects lies in the constellation Camelopardalis, an area of sky that looks pretty stark. But if you look closely at certain areas in such places in theContinue reading "Deep-Sky Dreams: The Integral Sign Galaxy"

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The same side of the Moon always faces us. This means that we never get a chance to see the other side of it unless a spacecraft flies there. If we could see it in the night sky, though, it would be like a whole different world. Where the lunar face we’re used to, theContinue reading "The Moon’s two different faces"

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Sara Harvey from Cork, Ireland The region around Polaris is rich with gas and dust that lies within the Milky Way, captured here with a 3.4-inch refractor and 16½ hours of LRGB exposure. These “objects” are also called integrated flux nebulae as they are faintly illuminated by the combined light of the Milky Way’s stars.

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Last Quarter Moon occurs at 7:59 A.M. EDT. This phase of the Moon offers observers a chance to focus on our satellite’s western limb, including the huge, dark Ocean of Storms that stretches more than 1,600 miles (2,500 km) and is prominent in the lunar southwest.  A much smaller but nonetheless noticeable dark feature southwestContinue reading "The Sky Today on Tuesday, May 20: The Moon at Last Quarter"

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The sky is full of strange galaxies. A century ago Edwin Hubble discovered this, and a slew of researchers in the past century have cataloged these strange and troubled objects, perhaps most importantly Halton Arp with his Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies.  There’s a bright and highly distorted galaxy in the constellation Pisces, lying some 100Continue reading "Deep-Sky Dreams: Peculiar galaxy NGC 520"

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Amirreza Kamkar The Moon, Saturn, and Venus meet in a conjunction, seen Jan. 4 over the rocky shoreline of the Persian Gulf in southern Iran. The photographer used Canon mirrorless camera and wide-angle lens at 15mm to take a 4-second exposure at f/4 and ISO 1600.

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In this episode, Astronomy magazine Editor Dave Eicher invites you to head out in the early morning hours of May 22 and observe a close pairing of Venus and the Moon. About once a month these two celestial standouts come near each other, and this would be a nice one to photograph. The Moon will be aContinue reading "This Week in Astronomy with Dave Eicher: The Moon and Venus"

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The Orion Nebula (M42) and Carina Nebula (NGC 3372) may reign supreme among star-forming regions in the Milky Way, but they pale in comparison to the Tarantula Nebula (NGC 2070). The Tarantula resides in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy to our own located 160,000 light-years away. This nebula spans roughly 1,000 light-years andContinue reading "The Tarantula Nebula casts a wide web"

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An hour after sunset, you’ll find the constellation Leo the Lion pointing head-down toward the horizon in the southwest. The brightest star in this constellation is Alpha (α) Leonis, also known as Regulus. And just over 5° west of this star is a sun called R Leonis, the first variable star identified in the Lion. Continue reading "The Sky Today on Monday, May 19: The variable star R Leonis"

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The bright beacon of Jupiter stands 2° due north of Zeta (ζ) Tauri in the evening sky tonight. Look west and hour after sunset to find the magnitude –1.9 gas giant still 11° high. Zeta Tau, which shines at magnitude 3, lies to the planet’s lower left. Near this pairing is the location of M1,Continue reading "The Sky Today on Sunday, May 18: Jupiter and Zeta Tauri"

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Visible for some five hours after sunset is Mars, making its way through Cancer. Shining at 1st magnitude, this ruddy point of light is easy to find in the western sky during May evenings, standing directly above the bright star Procyon in Canis Minor as these constellations set.  Through a telescope, Mars’ disk spans justContinue reading "The Sky Today on Saturday, May 17: Mars crosses Cancer"

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Coddington’s Nebula is an obscure, fuzzy object discovered by the American astronomer Edwin Coddington (1870–1950) in 1898. The popular name for this object is a misnomer; it’s actually a galaxy, and was identified as such by the 1930s, in the era when Edwin Hubble was working through the initial classification of galaxies. It is alsoContinue reading "Deep-Sky Dreams: Coddington’s Nebula"

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The glowing veils of the aurora appear regularly in the sky above Earth and make for great images, but capturing this phenomenon on other planets has always been more of a challenge. Recent observations of Mars and Jupiter have now given scientists unprecedented views of these extraterrestrial aurorae that will help improve our understanding ofContinue reading "Our newest look at aurorae on Mars and Jupiter"

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Chirag Upreti from New York City Stetind Mountain — sometimes referred to as Norway’s “national mountain” — lies beneath a stunning display of aurora in this shot taken with a Sony mirrorless camera and 12mm fisheye lens.

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High in the southern sky around 10 P.M. local daylight time is the constellation Coma Berenices. Look for it to the upper right of the bright star Arcturus in Boötes and to the left of Denebola, the sun marking Leo the Lion’s tail.  Coma Berenices might be a relatively unobtrusive constellation, but it houses aContinue reading "The Sky Today on Friday, May 16: The Coma Cluster"

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Sky This Week is brought to you in part by Celestron. Friday, May 16Spring is a great time to observe star clusters, so tonight our target is the globular M68 in Hydra.  Look south after sunset and you’ll find the eastern end of the Water Snake just below Virgo and Corvus. M68 is a relativelyContinue reading "The Sky This Week from May 16 to 23: Venus meets the morning Moon"

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Of the approximately 3,000 planetary nebulae known in the galaxy, most are asymmetrical. But one planetary in Camelopardalis, just 7.5° from Polaris, is the poster child for symmetry.  The Lemon Slice Nebula (IC 3568) is a young planetary spanning only some 0.4 light-year. Its central star is dying and glows feebly at magnitude 12.3. The nebulaContinue reading "Deep-Sky Dreams: The Lemon Slice Nebula"

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Panagiotis (Panos) Vlachos, Queen’s University Belfast Satellites are the invisible backbone of modern life. They guide airplanes, help us find our way with GPS, deliver TV and internet, and even help emergency services respond to disasters. But a new kind of computer – quantum computers – could put all of this at risk. Quantum computersContinue reading "Quantum computers could crack the security codes used by satellites"

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India is home to some unique (and magnificent) landscapes spread across the country. This time, we travel to the extreme western parts of India to explore some of the ancient landscapes of the country. One of the biggest perks of doing astrophotography is to get a chance to explore these exciting places and photograph them.Continue reading "Imaging Earth and the sky above it"

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Stian Mulelid Rondestveit, taken from Stølsheimen, Norway The Crescent Nebula (NGC 6888) lies in a rich sea of hydrogen in Cygnus in this image taken with a 2-inch refractor and a one-shot color camera. The nebula was sculpted by the winds of a star belonging to the rare Wolf-Rayet set of hot and massive stars.

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The universe is full of extreme phenomena. Perhaps this is what draws some people to astronomy — it has some of the most extreme physics out there. And supernovae are some of the most extraordinary objects that also have the benefit of being visible to astronomers here on Earth, even long after the explosive eventContinue reading "Explore explosive supernovae from your backyard"

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The main-belt asteroid 3 Juno reached opposition yesterday afternoon, meaning it now lies directly opposite the Sun in our sky, rising at sunset and setting at sunrise.  Two hours after sunset tonight, Juno is 30° high in the southeast. Glowing at magnitude 10, it’s within reach of binoculars or a small telescope. You can findContinue reading "The Sky Today on Thursday, May 15: Juno and M5"

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The astronomer Halton C. Arp (1927–2013) was a very well-known researcher of galaxies and other distant objects. He is celebrated for a number of reasons, not the least of which is his magnificent Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies, published in 1966. I was privileged to know “Chip” Arp, as he was known, and he was aContinue reading "Deep-Sky Dreams: A great redshift controversy"

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Deep observations from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) have revealed an exceptionally large galaxy in the early universe. It’s a cosmic giant whose light has travelled over 12 billion years to reach us. We’ve dubbed it the Big Wheel, with our findings published March 17 in Nature Astronomy. This giant disk galaxy existed withinContinue reading "Astronomers have discovered the Big Wheel — here’s why it’s significant"

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Today, I want to talk about the equatorial coordinate system. Start with this: What if we could project Earth’s coordinates of longitude and latitude into the sky? Latitude wouldn’t be a problem, but longitude would change continuously because of Earth’s rotation. Somehow, we need to attach longitude to the sky. If we project Earth’s equatorContinue reading "Michael’s Miscellany: Coordinates"

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Jeffrey Horne, taken from Nashville, Tennessee Sharpless 2–240 — also known as the Spaghetti Nebula — is the visible legacy of an exploded star, its energy having propelled debris into its surroundings. This image represents 567 hours of exposure in SHO filters from Bortle 8/9 skies taken over three winters, plus 1¼ hours of RGBContinue reading "To a boil"

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The Moon passes 0.3° south of Antares in the constellation Scorpius at 1 A.M. EDT. The pair is high in the southern sky at this time, particularly for observers in the eastern half of the U.S., offering an excellent view. (Observers farther west will want to wait an additional hour or two for the regionContinue reading "The Sky Today on Wednesday, May 14: The Moon and Antares"

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With great, powerful space telescopes come great, powerful computational models. Astronomers have combined X-ray, optical, and infrared data from observatories including NASA’s Chandra X-Ray Space Telescope, the James Webb Space Telescope, the Spitzer Space Telescope, and the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescopic Array to create a new collection of 3D models: one of a young star andContinue reading "View the Cassiopeia A supernova remnant in 3D "

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One of the extreme northern sky’s most entertaining deep-sky objects, the Cat’s Eye Nebula in Draco (NGC 6543), is a planetary nebula with a high surface brightness. Discovered by William Herschel in 1786, it was the first planetary whose spectrum was observed, in 1864, by William Huggins. He therefore demonstrated that planetary nebulae are gaseous.Continue reading "Deep-Sky Dreams: The Cat’s Eye Nebula"

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April 2025 was a busy month for space. Pop icon Katy Perry joined five other civilian women on a quick jaunt to the edge of space, making headlines. Meanwhile, another group of people at the United Nations was contemplating a critical issue for the future of space exploration: the discovery, extraction and utilization of naturalContinue reading "The law doesn’t protect sites on the Moon – a lawyer describes a framework that could"

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Science textbooks may be in for another revision. Our solar system shrank from nine planets to eight after the International Astronomical Union demoted Pluto in 2006. But there may yet be another world lurking beyond Neptune — and astronomers may have just found it. In 2016, astronomers proposed that our solar system could harbor a stealthy ninth planet basedContinue reading "Have astronomers found Planet Nine?"

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Chris Schur, taken from Happy Jack, Arizona Sharpless 2-264 is a nebula with emission and a molecular cloud surrounding the star Lambda Orionis. Its nickname, the Angelfish Nebula, is due to its profile in shorter exposures, though it appears rounder in this deeper exposure. The imager used a 135mm f/2 lens and monochrome camera withContinue reading "The cosmic angelfish"

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Mercury is quickly dropping out of sight, so catch this early-morning planet while you still can. Today you’ll find the solar system’s smallest world just 3° high in the east 20 minutes before sunrise. Shining at magnitude –0.6, Mercury is readily visible, though not as eye-catchingly bright as blazing Venus (magnitude –4.6) some 26.5° toContinue reading "The Sky Today on Tuesday, May 13: Catch you last glimpses of Mercury"

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After failing to make it past Earth orbit on March 31, 1972, the remains of a Venus mission launched by the former Soviet Union circled our planet for years and was given the name Cosmos (or Kosmos) 482. While the rocket stage and other pieces returned to Earth weeks later, the lander itself made anContinue reading "Failed Soviet-era spacecraft returned to Earth on Saturday"

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Our Local Group of galaxies contains at least 80 members, the vast majority of which are dwarfs. These small galaxies are somewhat hard to detect in or near the plane of the Milky Way (thus, the uncertainty about the number); one such galaxy is the Ursa Minor Dwarf Galaxy. It was discovered by A.G. WilsonContinue reading "Deep-Sky Dreams: The Ursa Minor Dwarf Galaxy"

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I’ve long wondered whether dew point or relative humidity is more important for good seeing. Which would be better: a cool night with lower dew point but higher humidity, or a warm night with higher dew point but lower humidity? William ShepardTroy, Michigan Dew point/relative humidity questions come up fairly often and this is aContinue reading "Is dew point or relative humidity more important for good astronomical seeing?"

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When you put your hand out the window of a moving car, you feel a force pushing against you called drag. This force opposes a moving vehicle, and it’s part of the reason why your car naturally slows to a stop if you take your foot off the gas pedal. But drag doesn’t just slowContinue reading "How spacecraft ‘brake’ in space using drag"

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In this episode, Astronomy magazine Editor Dave Eicher invites you to head out and observe a planetary nebula in the constellation Ursa Major the Great Bear. Amateur astronomers call it the Owl Nebula because it has two dark circles superimposed on a bright round background. Overall, it looks like the face of an owl. Also known asContinue reading "This Week in Astronomy with Dave Eicher: The Owl Nebula"

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Just a few decades ago, when we glanced skyward, we didn’t know for certain whether any star visible to the naked eye hosts planets like our own. Now, NASA scientists estimate that, on average, there may be at least one planet for every star in the Milky Way. That’s billions of extrasolar planets in ourContinue reading "These five famous stars in the sky host exoplanets — observe them tonight"

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Chris Cook from Harwich, Massachusetts The salt flats of Badwater Basin — the lowest point in North America — are lit by a First Quarter Moon in in this star trail shot representing 6 hours of exposure.

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Full Moon occurs at 12:56 P.M. EDT this afternoon. May’s Full Moon is also called the Flower Moon and because our satellite is still near apogee, it will appear some 29’ across, slightly smaller than the Full Moon’s average size (about 31’) in the sky.  The Full Moon rises roughly opposite the Sun, so LunaContinue reading "The Sky Today on Monday, May 12: May’s Full Moon, Mars, and the Beehive Cluster"

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The gas giant Jupiter still dominates the constellation Taurus as it sets in the west after sunset. Jupiter now stands just to the right of Alheka (Zeta Tauri), one of the tips of the Bull’s two horns. The magnitude –1.9 planet remains the brightest point of light in the constellation, making it easy to centerContinue reading "The Sky Today on Sunday, May 11: Callisto grazes Jupiter"

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The Moon passes 0.4° south of Spica at 4 A.M. EDT. The best time for observing this pairing is in the few hours between midnight and 3 A.M. local daylight time, when they are still comfortably high above the horizon.  At that time, turn west to see the nearly Full Moon (now 95 percent lit)Continue reading "The Sky Today on Saturday, May 10: The Moon meets Spica"

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Venera 13, launched by the Soviets in 1981, captured this image of the surface of Venus. Dr. Ksanfomality/Astronomicheskii Vestnik Editor’s note: This story was originally published Aug. 26, 2020. It was updated May 9, 2025, with details of the failed mission Kosmos-482. The Pioneer and Voyager probes the United States sent to explore the outerContinue reading "The Venera program: Interplanetary probes from behind the Iron Curtain"

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In 1958 the great extragalactic astronomer George Abell of UCLA compiled a catalog of galaxy clusters. It was extended by Abell and collaborators in 1987 and eventually contained 4,076 clusters. Abell 2256 is a rich cluster lying in Ursa Minor. It contains more than 500 members and lies about 800 million light-years away. The clusterContinue reading "Deep-Sky Dreams: Abell 2256"

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Congratulations to all Catholics. Yesterday, your College of Cardinals elected a new pope. In honor of him taking the name Leo XIV, I thought this would be a good time to tell you some facts about the constellation Leo the Lion. Actually, to commemorate the new pope, 14 facts. I) Leo is a springtime constellation in the Northern Hemisphere.Continue reading "Michael’s Miscellany: Leo the Great"

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During the height of the Cold War in the 1960s and 1970s, the USSR launched 29 spacecraft towards Venus, the planet scientists call Earth’s “twin sister”. Three flew past Venus, and went into orbit around the Sun. Sixteen orbited or landed on Venus, where they experienced a climate often described as “hellish”. Ten got stuckContinue reading "More than 50 years later, a failed Soviet spacecraft is about to return to Earth"

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Mark Johnston from Scottsdale, Arizona This large ejection of plasma on the Sun “looks like a hummingbird catching a mosquito,” the imager noted. He captured the feature March 24 with a 6-inch apochromat, a Daystar Hα “eyepiece,” and a monochrome solar camera.

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Asteroid 9 Metis reaches opposition at 2 A.M. EDT in the constellation Libra — not far from Vesta, which reached opposition a week ago. Visible from sundown to sunup, the best time to look for Metis is around local midnight, when it is transiting and stands highest in the southern sky. Metis is shining atContinue reading "The Sky Today on Friday, May 9: Metis reaches opposition"

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Sky This Week is brought to you in part by Celestron. Friday, May 9Asteroid 9 Metis reaches at opposition at 2 A.M. EDT in the constellation Libra. The 10th-magnitude main-belt world is visible with binoculars or a telescope all night from sunset to sunrise. It stands highest around local midnight when it appears in theContinue reading "The Sky This Week from May 9 to 16: May’s Full Flower Moon blooms"

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Located between Mars and Jupiter lies Vesta, the second-largest body within the main asteroid belt. For generations, astronomers thought Vesta wasn’t an ordinary asteroid: It also contained properties of a planet, with layers forming a crust, mantle, and core. However, a recent analysis using data from NASA’s Dawn spacecraft mission may force astronomers to throwContinue reading "Vesta is simpler inside than previously thought"

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Northern Cepheus contains a strange nebula with a very long name. Gyulbudaghian’s Nebula (JAI-al-boo-dag-ian) was discovered by Armenian astronomer Armen Gyulbudaghian in 1977 and its variability was demonstrated by Martin Cohen in 1981.  It is a strange variable nebula associated with the variable star PV Cephei, which ranges from magnitude 14.6 to 18.1 and liesContinue reading "Deep-Sky Dreams: Gyulbudaghian’s Nebula"

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Today I want to talk about something beginning observers tend to overlook. It a process of the human eye called dark adaptation. In terrestrial terms, it helps us see better at night and in dark places. That makes it important for our safety. For amateur astronomers, however, it’s important because it allows us to seeContinue reading "Michael’s Miscellany: Dark adaption"

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Women have long contributed meaningful scientific discoveries to the field of astronomy; however, men have primarily dominated the vocation. As of 2019, women earn about 40 percent of the Ph.D.s granted in the field of astronomy, but that has not always been the case. And there are many cases of women working in astronomy onlyContinue reading "10 women who changed astronomy"

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Josh Dury, taken from Somerset, U.K. A parhelic circle — an optical phenomenon caused by sunlight reflecting off of atmospheric ice crystals — emerges in this photo from the Sun, which is simultaneously surrounded by a halo. A parhelic circle has the unique characteristic of circling sky at the same altitude (angle above the horizon)Continue reading "Circling the Sun"

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High in the southern sky around 4 A.M. local daylight time is the stunning Swan Nebula (M17), also known as the Omega Nebula. It glides serenely through northern Sagittarius, far above the spout of the Teapot asterism as it sits right-side up in the sky this morning.  With no Moon above the horizon, if you’veContinue reading "The Sky Today on Thursday, May 8: The swimming Swan Nebula"

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A recent study published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters has provided the most precise distance to the Coma Cluster of galaxies yet — and also has deepened a crisis in cosmology. The problem is that when we look around the local universe, the universe seems to be expanding faster than predicted by the current modelsContinue reading "Why some astronomers are starting to doubt cosmology’s standard model"

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High at northern latitudes lies a spectacular and unique nebula you should observe if you’re not already familiar with it. The Iris Nebula (NGC 7023) is an odd reflection nebula in Cepheus, not far from the border with Draco. Because of its slight resemblance to an iris flower, observers long ago gave it its popularContinue reading "Deep-Sky Dreams: The Iris Nebula"

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Beyond our solar system, sub-Neptunes — gassy planets larger than Earth but smaller than Neptune — reign as the most common type of exoplanet observed in our galaxy. Despite their prevalence, no such planets exist around our Sun, so these worlds have remained shrouded in mystery. NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) recently observed exoplanetContinue reading "JWST reveals secrets of a sub-Neptune exoplanet"

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On May 7, 1617, the German astronomer David Fabricius passed away. A contemporary of Johannes Kepler, the two frequently corresponded. I thought about him the other day when I was observing the Sun. And although I’d rather celebrate his birthday (March 9, 1564), I didn’t want to wait another 10 months to do so. FabriciusContinue reading "Michael’s Miscellany: Celebrating David Fabricius"

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Sérgio Conceição from Elvas, Portugal The Milky Way arches above the Menhir of Meada, thought to be the largest example on the Iberian Peninsula of a menhir — stones placed upright by Bronze Age (or possibly earlier) peoples for reasons unknown. The imager used a Canon mirrorless camera and 15mm lens to take two minutesContinue reading "Standing stone"

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Venus blazes a bright magnitude –4.7 in the morning sky today. To its right, 1st-magnitude Saturn is also readily visible to the naked eye, while elusive Neptune lies between them. You’ll have a brief opportunity to catch the distant magnitude 7.8 ice giant in your sights with binoculars — or, better yet, a telescope —Continue reading "The Sky Today on Wednesday, May 7: View Venus, Saturn, and Neptune"

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The sky is filled with thousands of amazing objects for you to explore with binoculars or a small telescope. I’ll be highlighting an interesting object or group of objects in this new daily series, Deep-Sky Dreams. This takes me back to my earliest days in amateur astronomy, when I had a pair of binoculars, aContinue reading "Deep-Sky Dreams: The Cepheus Molecular Cloud"

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NASA launched the SPHEREx Space Observatory this year on March 25 — and the first results are in. The orange-hued image was taken at an infrared wavelength of 3.29 micrometers, capturing a cloud of molecules similar to smoke or soot. The blue-toned image is of the same portion of the sky, but was taken atContinue reading "NASA’s SPHEREx space telescope makes its debut"

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The NASA and European Space Agency’s Hubble Space Telescope snapped a mesmerizing shot of an astronomical oddball, known as Arp 184 or NGC 1961. This strange spiral galaxy’s single broad arm earned it a place in Halton Arp’s Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies, published in 1966. That structure, along with multiple past supernovae, makes it anContinue reading "Hubble examines a twisted galaxy"

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I hope this series of thoughts (can I call them blogs?) help you become better observers. I’ll include observing tips and techniques, facts about constellations, reviews of books or websites, and trivia. Because there’s no right way to order this series, I’m just going to do the one I’m thinking about on that day. SomeContinue reading "Michael’s Miscellany: Aperture masks"

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Vikas Chander from New Delhi, India Abell 35 (Sharpless 2–313) is a nebula in Hydra surrounding a stellar binary, one of which is a white dwarf. The nebula resembles a planetary nebula, produced by a dying star in the process of becoming a white dwarf throwing off its outer layers. However, the prominent bow shockContinue reading "A shocking mystery"

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This morning is the best time to catch the annual Eta Aquariid meteors, born from the debris left by the famous Halley’s Comet.  The shower’s radiant lies in Aquarius, just to the lower left of the 3rd-magnitude star Sadalmelik as the constellation rises a few hours after midnight. That’s fine, though, because the best timeContinue reading "The Sky Today on Tuesday, May 6: The Eta Aquariids peak"

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On Wednesday, April 23, I set off for the Starmus Festival in La Palma, Canary Islands, along with my pal and fellow editor Michael Bakich and his wife Holley. But we didn’t get very far. Multiple delays from Tucson to Dallas meant we would miss our flight to Madrid. We had to wait until FridayContinue reading "Starmus Festival stretches continents"

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The Milky Way Galaxy is full of cosmic objects of varying shapes and sizes — sometimes resembling objects here on Earth. A galactic center radio filament called G359.13142-0.20005 (or G359.13 for short) is seen here in X-ray (blue) and radio (gray) light. Astronomers have likened the 230 light-year-long structure to a cosmic “bone” perpendicular toContinue reading "A speeding pulsar may have ‘broken’ this cosmic bone"

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Do black holes exist forever? If not, how do they die? If yes, is the number of black holes in the universe always increasing? Eliot H. GinsbergRiverview, Florida Black holes are known for their voracious appetites, consuming everything — even light — that falls inside them with no hope of escape.  But in 1974, StephenContinue reading "Do black holes exist forever?"

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In this episode, Astronomy magazine Editor Dave Eicher invites you to head out the evening of May 5 to see Mars close to the Beehive Cluster in the constellation Cancer the Crab. In fact, because Mars doesn’t move all that fast, you’ll be able to spot the Red Planet near the open star cluster several days beforeContinue reading "This Week in Astronomy with Dave Eicher: Mars and the Beehive Cluster"

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Look west this evening after sunset to catch a glimpse of bright Jupiter, slowly setting between the horns of Taurus the Bull. An hour after sunset, Aldebaran — the Bull’s eye — is getting low, but Jupiter remains some 20° high.  With a telescope, center the stately gas giant in your field of view. It’sContinue reading "The Sky Today on Monday, May 5: Europa vanishes behind Jupiter"

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Comets are notoriously unpredictable. Some of the most spectacular of these icy visitors pop up unexpectedly, careening toward the Sun and bursting out in spectacular fashion with little advance notice. Others are spotted over a year before they make their closest approach, but break apart and fizzle out. Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS was the rare comet thatContinue reading "Remembering Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS: The comet of the year"

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Emanuele La Barbera, taken from Piano Battaglia, Sicily, Italy This deep view of Bode’s Galaxy (M81; center), the Cigar Galaxy (M82; lower left), and NGC 3077 (lower right) is the result of more than 59 hours of HαLRGB exposure split across a a 3.3-inch refractor and 5-inch reflector. The wispy clouds this image reveals areContinue reading "Going deep"

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The White House on Friday released its fiscal year 2026 discretionary budget request, proposing a dramatic reduction in NASA’s overall funding from about $25 billion to $18.8 billion, or about 25 percent. But not all programs will be affected equally. The discretionary or “skinny” budget is akin to a blueprint and is an early stepContinue reading "NASA budget proposal boosts human exploration — at expense of science"

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The detection of life beyond Earth would be one of the most profound discoveries in the history of science. The Milky Way galaxy alone hosts hundreds of millions of potentially habitable planets. Astronomers are using powerful space telescopes to look for molecular indicators of biology in the atmospheres of the most Earth-like of these planets.Continue reading "How much evidence do scientists need to claim they’ve found alien life?"

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Giovanni Passalacqua, taken in Sicily, Italy A flow of glowing lava is echoed by star trails (most prominently Sirius at left) in the skies above an erupting Mount Etna. The photographer used a Canon mirrorless camera and 150mm lens to capture this scene.

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Open sky Sky View TentsBuena Vista, CO The new Sky View XL Stargazing Tent is for those who want coverage while seeking the stars. This 90-by-90-inch (228.6 by 228.6 centimeters) tent offers views of the sky from every angle with a bug mesh specifically crafted for high visibility. It offers enough room for three adultsContinue reading "New astronomy products blossoming this month"

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Sky This Week is brought to you in part by Celestron. Friday, May 2Asteroid 4 Vesta reaches opposition at 2 A.M. EDT this morning. The magnitude 5.7 main-belt world is visible all night throughout the month of May, arcing slowly through Libra the Balance. The best time to view it is overnight around local midnight,Continue reading "The Sky This Week from May 2 to 9: The Eta Aquariids peak"

The post The Sky This Week from May 2 to 9: The Eta Aquariids peak appeared first on Astronomy Magazine.

A brand-new instrument has captured a cluster of sunspots — dark surface spots caused by strong magnetic fields — on our glorious Sun in an unprecedented amount of detail. This image was taken during the first-light observation of the new Visible Tunable Filter (VTF), which was recently installed on the U.S. National Science Foundation’s DanielContinue reading "World’s biggest solar telescope captures sunspots as never seen before"

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There are tens of billions of Sun-like stars in the Milky Way, an immense tally that encourages the possibility that extraterrestrial life peppers the universe. Finding evidence for aliens — even microscopic ones — would confirm the widespread belief that life is not an unlikely event, constrained to a small number of planets and moons.Continue reading "Can we detect alien artifacts?"

The post Can we detect alien artifacts? appeared first on Astronomy Magazine.

David Gluchowski from Brooklyn, New York City Sitting in the middle of 42nd Street (waiting for a bus?) is a day-old crescent Moon in this shot taken at 9:10 p.m. on April 28. The photographer used a Canon mirrorless camera and 600mm lens, taking a 1/15-second exposure at f/6.3 and ISO 1600.

The post Moonhattanhenge appeared first on Astronomy Magazine.

Jupiter and Mars are on display during May evenings. It’s your last chance to grab a good view of Jupiter before it drops out of sight for midsummer. A gathering of planets in the morning sky offers some nice opportunities, and in the first week of May they’re joined by meteors from the annual EtaContinue reading "May 2025: What’s in the sky this month? Jupiter and Mars shine in the evening, while more planets gather before dawn"

The post May 2025: What’s in the sky this month? Jupiter and Mars shine in the evening, while more planets gather before dawn appeared first on Astronomy Magazine.

As twilight fades to night these May evenings, Mars stands out in the northern sky. It begins the month near the center of Cancer the Crab not far from the magnificent Beehive star cluster (M44). The planet passes less than 1° north of the cluster during May’s first week. Mars’ eastward motion carries it intoContinue reading "May 2025: What’s in the Southern Hemisphere sky this month?"

The post May 2025: What’s in the Southern Hemisphere sky this month? appeared first on Astronomy Magazine.

Wide-field imaging is a passion of mine. Something about capturing a large swath of the night sky filled with delicate billows of ionized hydrogen stimulates the imagination and creates a sense of awe at the beauty of our universe. For two years, my favorite wide-field refractor has been my William Optics RedCat 71, but I’veContinue reading "Review: The RedCat 91 is a refractor everyone should want"

The post Review: The RedCat 91 is a refractor everyone should want appeared first on Astronomy Magazine.

Our universe has been expanding ever since it was born in the Big Bang. For decades, most cosmologists believed the universe’s expansion was slowing. Gravity, pulling on all matter, would eventually overcome the momentum from the Big Bang, halting or even reversing the expansion. But in 1998, supernova observations revealed a surprise: the universe isContinue reading "New findings suggest dark energy may be changing over time"

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About 800 million miles (1.2 billion kilometers) from Earth lies cloud-cloaked Titan, largest of Saturn’s 146-strong retinue of moons. In this dark, subfreezing patch of the outer solar system, the Sun glows at barely 1 percent of its strength in Earth’s skies. It’s hardly an ideal place to search for life, but impossible as itContinue reading "NASA gives OK to build drone that will fly on Saturn’s moon Titan"

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Emil Andronic from Hemel Hempstead, U.K. The unusual shape of NGC 3718 is a barred spiral galaxy with an unusual, twisted shape — likely due to interactions with nearby NGC 3729. Lying around 120 million light-years away, it’s also listed as the 214th entry in Halton Arp’s Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies. This imager took 37⅓Continue reading "A twisted galaxy"

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In this episode, Astronomy magazine Editor Dave Eicher invites you to head out in the evening this spring to observe one of the sky’s finest deep-sky objects: the Whirlpool Galaxy, also known as M51. And as a bonus, you’ll also see a second galaxy — NGC 5195 — interacting with the Whirlpool. You’ll need a medium size telescope, such as aContinue reading "This Week in Astronomy with Dave Eicher: The Whirlpool Galaxy"

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Our universe is filled with particles, such as electrons and protons, which make up all the stuff on our planet and beyond: animals, plants, people, planets, asteroids, stars, gas clouds, and galaxies. Antimatter was first discovered in 1928 by physicist Paul Dirac, but it wasn’t through any experiment. Instead, he was working to blend theContinue reading "How does the universe make antimatter?"

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About 2,600 light-years away, a dead star is sending signals from beyond the grave.  Astronomers recently found the strange beacon, which appears to be a pulsar blinking in slow motion — something that shouldn’t be possible. “It’s incredibly exciting to discover such a long-period pulsar,” says Yuanming Wang, a postdoctoral researcher at Swinburne University inContinue reading "Astronomers find a strange pulsar blinking in slow motion"

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Sky This Week is brought to you in part by Celestron. Friday, April 25The Moon passes 1.9° due north of Neptune at 6 A.M. EDT this morning. Early rises will be able to catch the Moon hanging between Venus and Mercury in the predawn sky — check out last week’s column for details.   LaterContinue reading "The Sky This Week from April 25 to May 2: Venus at its brightest"

The post The Sky This Week from April 25 to May 2: Venus at its brightest appeared first on Astronomy Magazine.

Andrea Arbizzi from Modena, Italy In May 1980, Alois Purgathofer and Ronald Weinberger discovered this faint planetary nebula, now known as Purgathofer-Weinberger 1 (PuWe 1). It lies just 1,300 light-years away in Lynx and is the second-largest known planetary in apparent size, with a diameter two-thirds that of the Full Moon. The imager took 28Continue reading "A nearby planetary"

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In the 35 years since the Hubble Space Telescope flew to space, it has taken pictures of comets, merging galaxies, planets, supernova remnants, and more. The first-of-its-kind telescope — a joint NASA and European Space Agency effort — was lofted aboard the shuttle Discovery on April 24, 1990. Since then it has made nearly 1.7Continue reading "Hubble’s best images, 35 years since its launch"

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Last month, the European Space Agency (ESA) released a huge dataset from its space telescope Euclid. The release featured three deep-field mosaics glittering with 380,000 galaxies and hundreds of examples where the light of distant objects is bent and magnified by the gravitational influence of massive galaxies. The mosaics were captured in the constellations ofContinue reading "Euclid unveils treasure trove of 380,000 galaxies in first major data release"

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NASA’s Lucy spacecraft visited the asteroid 52246 Donaldjohanson on Sunday, April 20, coming within 600 miles (920 kilometers) of the object located in the inner region of the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.  The asteroid was named after the paleontologist Donald Johanson, who in 1974 co-discovered the first identified example of previously unknown typeContinue reading "Peanut-shaped surprise for Lucy in asteroid flyby"

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Steve Leonard from Markham, Ontario, Canada The visual appearance of the March 13/14 total lunar eclipse was captured in this composite of three stacks of images: One for the eclipsed Moon, one for the background star field, and a third stack of overexposed frames to capture the diffuse glow around the Moon. The imager usingContinue reading "Blood glow"

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In this episode, Astronomy magazine Editor Dave Eicher invites you to head out before sunrise and view brilliant Venus. The planet, which is only outshone by the Sun or the Moon, will lie low in the eastern sky. It will rise and hour or so before the Sun. Even as morning twilight begins to brighten the sky,Continue reading "This Week in Astronomy with Dave Eicher: Venus in the Morning Sky"

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Huang Dandan/Liu Dongyu, taken from Ming’antu Town, Xilin Gol League, Inner Mongolia, China The stars spin above the north-south-aligned antennas of the Interplanetary Scintillation Observation (IPS) Telescope, China’s first radio telescope for studying interplanetary scintillation. This stacked image was captured with a Sony mirrorless camera and 14mm lens, with 15-second exposures at f/3.2 and ISOContinue reading "Scintillating star trails"

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NASA’s Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere (PUNCH) mission launched March 12, sending up a constellation of four Earth-orbiting satellites with the goal of studying how the Sun’s activity influences the space environment around Earth. This week, the four satellites opened their cameras to the sky and captured their so-called first light images inContinue reading "PUNCH sees first light, prepares to study how the Sun creates our space weather"

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Looking like a bird ready to take flight from atop a post, this dusty filament within the Eagle Nebula was recently captured in intricate detail by the Hubble Space Telescope.  Also known as M16, this nebula lies some 7,000 light-years from Earth in the constellation Serpens the Serpent and surrounds an open star cluster. ThisContinue reading "A dark, dusty pillar stretches across re-released Hubble image"

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Be careful out there, astronomers: There could be a dark galaxy in our midst.  In research published today in Science Advances, researchers from the Chinese National Academy of Sciences discovered that a fast-moving cloud of gas near the Milky Way may not be a cloud at all, but rather a small galaxy made mostly ofContinue reading "Astronomers find a rare ‘dark galaxy’ within our Local Group"

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Sky This Week is brought to you in part by Celestron. Friday, April 18Jupiter still rules the early-evening skies, standing prominently in Taurus in the west as darkness falls. Located between the two horns of Taurus the Bull and above its red giant eye, Aldebaran, Jupiter is the brightest point of light in the west,Continue reading "The Sky This Week from April 18 to 25: The Lyrid meteor shower peaks"

The post The Sky This Week from April 18 to 25: The Lyrid meteor shower peaks appeared first on Astronomy Magazine.

The Southern Pinwheel Galaxy (M83) in Hydra checks almost every box an amateur astronomer could desire. This stunning barred spiral spans a hefty 14′ and, at magnitude 7.5, ranks among the sky’s 10 brightest galaxies. Its only drawback is location — at a declination of –30°, it lies farther south than any other galaxy inContinue reading "M83: Big, bright, and beautiful"

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Scientists have reported new observations from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) that strengthen the case that the exoplanet K2-18 b has molecules in its atmosphere that, on Earth, are produced only by life. The work, announced Wednesday, builds on previous observations from JWST published in 2023 by the same team that yielded weak hintsContinue reading "K2-18 b could have dimethyl sulfide in its air. But is it a sign of life?"

The post K2-18 b could have dimethyl sulfide in its air. But is it a sign of life? appeared first on Astronomy Magazine.

Vast Space, one of several commercial firms vying to replace the International Space Station (ISS) following its planned deorbit at the end of the decade, this week signed key agreements that heighten the competition. At the 40th Space Symposium in Colorado, where Vast’s Haven-1 space station was on display, the company secured deals that give it direct ISS access andContinue reading "Vast bolsters commercial space station plans with key agreements"

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Shift4 Payments CEO Jared Isaacman, President Donald Trump’s nominee for NASA administrator, finally got his day in the Senate and laid out his vision for the space agency to pursue missions to both the Moon and Mars. During Isaacman’s confirmation hearing before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation on Wednesday, the billionaire entrepreneur and civilian astronaut fieldedContinue reading "NASA Chief nominee Isaacman fields questions about Moon, Mars, Musk"

The post NASA Chief nominee Isaacman fields questions about Moon, Mars, Musk appeared first on Astronomy Magazine.

The U.S. is in the midst of a second Space Race, and NASA is in a time crunch. The space agency is preparing to send American astronauts to the Moon for the first time since the Apollo era. But after delaying the Artemis III lunar landing twice in 2024, there is much work to beContinue reading "Keeping up in the second Space Race takes diligence"

The post Keeping up in the second Space Race takes diligence appeared first on Astronomy Magazine.

On Monday morning, an all-female group of civilians including pop star Katy Perry and award-winning broadcast journalist Gayle King flew to the edge of space and back. Perry, King, and four others were selected as the crew of Blue Origin’s New Shepard Mission 31 (NS-31), which launched at 9:30 a.m. EDT from the company’s Launch Site OneContinue reading "Blue Origin flies Katy Perry, Gayle King, and other customers to space"

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Since it began collecting data, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has shined a light on the early universe, helping us better understand the timeline of events that led to our modern-day cosmos.  In a paper published March 26 in Nature, a University of Copenhagen-led team reports finding a galaxy right at a crucial momentContinue reading "JWST spots the earliest galaxy yet clearing the universe’s hydrogen ‘fog’"

The post JWST spots the earliest galaxy yet clearing the universe’s hydrogen ‘fog’ appeared first on Astronomy Magazine.

Much of what scientists know about the early solar system comes from meteorites – ancient rocks that travel through space and survive a fiery plunge through Earth’s atmosphere. Among meteorites, one type – called carbonaceous chondrites – stands out as the most primitive and provides a unique glimpse into the solar system’s infancy. The carbonaceousContinue reading "Why meteorites that hit Earth have less water than the asteroid bits brought back by space probes — a planetary scientist explains"

The post Why meteorites that hit Earth have less water than the asteroid bits brought back by space probes — a planetary scientist explains appeared first on Astronomy Magazine.

Pete Scifres from Westlake Village, California Reflection Canyon, located at the end of an 8-mile hike into Utah’s Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument, serves as the foreground for this view of the spring Milky Way. The photographer captured the sky with a Canon mirrorless camera and a 15-second exposure at f/1.8 and ISO 4000 withContinue reading "Upon further reflection"

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Jared Isaacman, billionaire, CEO and nominee to become the next NASA administrator, faced questions on April 9, 2025, from members of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation during his confirmation hearing for the position. Should the Senate confirm him, Isaacman will be the first billionaire – but not the first astronaut – to head NASA. Perhaps evenContinue reading "Trump’s nomination for NASA leader boasts business and commercial spaceflight experience"

The post Trump’s nomination for NASA leader boasts business and commercial spaceflight experience appeared first on Astronomy Magazine.

Before Einstein, special relativity, and E = mc2, what was the prevailing theory on the Sun’s seemingly eternal energy? William FieldsDayton, Ohio The question of what energy source powers the Sun has been around for literally centuries. During the 1800s, some thought that a constant shower of meteors onto the Sun might do the trick.Continue reading "Before Einstein, what did astronomers think powered the Sun?"

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In this episode, Astronomy magazine Editor Dave Eicher invites you to head out and view a close grouping of planets in the early morning hours of April 21. That morning, you’ll be able to see Venus, Mercury, and Saturn low in the east. You won’t need a telescope or binoculars to view them, just use your eyes.Continue reading "This Week in Astronomy with Dave Eicher: A conjunction of planets"

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Time under dark skies is precious, and for a lot of us, getting out to those sites can be tough. When we do, often we end up observing alone, or with a few intrepid others at an astronomy club observing session. And sometimes that solitude is what we’re looking for: just you and the sky.Continue reading "Don’t want to observe alone? Go to a star party!"

The post Don’t want to observe alone? Go to a star party! appeared first on Astronomy Magazine.

Exceptions announced late Friday night to the Trump administration’s so-called “reciprocal tariffs” are unlikely to provide any relief to the amateur astronomy industry, as they do not cover categories for telescopes, mounts, or digital cameras. The updated guidance from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) affects the reciprocal tariffs imposed by U.S. President Donald TrumpContinue reading "No relief for astronomy industry in new tariff exemptions"

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NASA could see a 20 percent cut to its overall 2026 budget, with funding for its science division slashed in half, if a preliminary budget proposal from the White House is enacted. The cuts would, among other impacts, cancel several missions and shut down NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. The proposed cuts were laid outContinue reading "NASA faced with massive budget cuts in White House proposal"

The post NASA faced with massive budget cuts in White House proposal appeared first on Astronomy Magazine.

In late March, three amateur astronomers discovered Comet C/2025 F2 (SWAN). Immediately, predictions began appearing online stating the brightness this object might reach. But, as comet discoverer David Levy says, “Comets are like cats. They have tails and do what they want.”  In other words, don’t bet the house that current predictions will come true.Continue reading "C/2025 F2 (SWAN): A new comet is in the spring sky"

The post C/2025 F2 (SWAN): A new comet is in the spring sky appeared first on Astronomy Magazine.

Sky This Week is brought to you in part by Celestron. Friday, April 11An hour after sunset, the bright planet Jupiter stands out in eastern Taurus, forming a V with the two tips of the Bull’s horns, Zeta (ζ) Tauri and Gamma (γ) Aurigae. Below Jupiter shines Aldebaran, the Bull’s alpha star, a magnitude 0.9Continue reading "The Sky This Week from April 11 to 18: The April Full Pink Moon shines"

The post The Sky This Week from April 11 to 18: The April Full Pink Moon shines appeared first on Astronomy Magazine.

The telescope industry in the U.S. has been thrown into chaos as a result of the Trump administration’s escalating trade conflict with China, as manufacturers contemplate price hikes and worry about the possibility of slowing demand. In the latest round of tariffs, U.S. President Donald Trump announced April 9 that duties on goods imported fromContinue reading "Amateur astronomy industry grapples with tariff chaos"

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I’m leading another eclipse trip. No surprise there. I’ve traveled to observe 16 total solar eclipses, and on all but two of them I was the official astronomer. But this one’s special, even for me.  First, it boasts the longest totality — 6 minutes 23 seconds — that anyone alive will be able to witness.Continue reading "Come with Astronomy associate editor Michael Bakich to Egypt"

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Chris Schur from Payson, Arizona Comet C/2025 F2 (SWAN), discovered March. 29 by amateur astronomers in public imagery taken by the Solar Wind Anisotropies (SWAN) camera on ESA’s Solar and Heliospheric Observer (SOHO) spacecraft, has reached magnitude 7.5. This imager caught the comet on April 8 in the morning sky with an 8-inch RASA scopeContinue reading "A fledgling SWAN"

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Lucky is the word I’d use for any telescopic observers who got to see one of the most stunning spectacles in nature when Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 impacted Jupiter in July 1994. The collision left inky scars in the planet’s atmosphere that persisted for months, with the largest welts visible in even the smallest of telescopes.Continue reading "How you can observe impacts on Jupiter"

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As of 2025, astronomers have identified at least 14 stars within 10 light-years of the Sun. After the Alpha Centauri system, the next closest is Barnard’s Star, a solo red dwarf roughly 6 light-years away. And thanks to new observations, we now know that Barnard’s Star is orbited by four small, rocky exoplanets. But it’sContinue reading "Three new planets found around Barnard’s Star"

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In this episode, Astronomy magazine Editor Dave Eicher invites you to head out and view the first major meteor shower of the spring, the Lyrids. Because more than one meteor shower originates from the constellation Lyra, these are the April Lyrids. This shower is visible from April 15 to April 29, with the peak coming on AprilContinue reading "This Week in Astronomy with Dave Eicher: The April Lyrid Meteor Shower"

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In the century or so since Edwin Hubble discovered that the Milky Way is just one of countless galaxies in the universe, our understanding of our home galaxy has grown in leaps and bounds. But as recent research into a new type of cosmic object shows, there’s still plenty left to learn. Astronomers found twoContinue reading "Mystery ‘interstellar icy objects’ are carrying the seeds of life"

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Gianni Tumino from Ragusa, Italy Evening views of the Milky Way’s central regions return to the Northern Hemisphere, as seen in this shot taken from Punta Castellazzo on the island of Sicily, Italy. To image the sky, the imager used a Canon EOS Ra and 28mm lens at f/3.2 with a dual-band filter to captureContinue reading "The summer Milky Way returns"

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Launch providers SpaceX, Blue Origin, and United Launch Alliance — a joint venture between Boeing and Lockheed Martin Space — on Friday snapped up billions of dollars in national security launch contracts. Space Systems Command, the branch of Space Force responsible for development, acquisition, launch, and logistics, estimated the value of the National Security Space Launch (NSSL)Continue reading "SpaceX, Blue Origin, ULA win Space Force contracts worth up to $13.7B"

The post SpaceX, Blue Origin, ULA win Space Force contracts worth up to $13.7B appeared first on Astronomy Magazine.

A new study by the European Southern Observatory (ESO) contradicts corporate claims that a proposed hydrogen fuel facility would not harm observatories in Chile. Earlier this year, ESO alerted the astronomy community that its facilities at Paranal — with some of the world’s darkest skies — were threatened by the plans to build a 7,400-acreContinue reading "ESO report shows energy plant would cause ‘devastating and irreversible’ impact"

The post ESO report shows energy plant would cause ‘devastating and irreversible’ impact appeared first on Astronomy Magazine.

The annual Northeast Astronomy Forum (NEAF) was held over the weekend of April 5 and 6 at Rockland Community College in Suffern, New York. Organized by the Rockland Astronomy Club, NEAF is one of the world’s premier annual astronomy expos. It brings together amateur astronomers, professionals, and industry leaders for a weekend of discovery andContinue reading "The best new astronomy products we saw at NEAF 2025"

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Is there evidence of a planet ever existing between Mars and Jupiter? MarkSmithtown, New York This splendid question gives us an opportunity to distinguish between what we know and what we believe might be true. First, we know that myriad small bodies orbit the Sun between Mars and Jupiter. These objects are the asteroids that comprise the mainContinue reading "Was there ever a planet between Mars and Jupiter? "

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The new Hestia telescope by Vaonis is the third of the company’s innovative instruments I have reviewed, and once again, I’m impressed. Vaonis named their creation for the Greek goddess of the hearth and home, and released it after a successful 2023 Kickstarter campaign which raised $4.1 million in just a month. The Hestia isContinue reading "Review: Astronomy tests Vaonis’ Hestia telescope for your smartphone"

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Sixty years ago, a fleet of sleek little spaceships paved the way for America to land a man on the Moon. Project Gemini was a series of two-man, Earth-orbital missions that pioneered rendezvous, docking, and maneuvering in-space, as well as spacewalking — all of which had to be perfected before there was any chance ofContinue reading "How Project Gemini changed spaceflight"

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Fabrizio Melandri from Voltana, Italy The partial solar eclipse of March 29, 2025, gave viewers along the U.S. Eastern Seaboard a view of “devil’s horns” — the horns of a partially eclipsed Sun emerging from the horizon at sunrise. This photographer captured this phenomenon from Monticello, Maine, with a 4-inch f/7 refractor and Nikon DSLR.

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The first astronaut crew to fly directly over Earth’s poles splashed down safely on Friday after nearly four days on orbit. Civilian astronauts Chun Wang, Jannicke Mikkelsen, Rabea Rogge, and Eric Phillips — the international crew of SpaceX’s private Fram2 mission — landed around 12:19 p.m. EDT and exited their SpaceX Dragon capsule without assistance, allowing researchers to study how theContinue reading "Fram2 astronauts splash down after historic polar spaceflight"

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The Mars Curiosity rover has found the largest organic molecules yet on the Red Planet. Organic molecules are the building blocks of life, although they can also be produced by geological processes. While there’s currently no way to prove whether these particular molecules were formed from processes associated with life, their very discovery shows thatContinue reading "Curiosity discovers largest organic molecules yet on Mars"

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Sky This Week is brought to you in part by Celestron. Friday, April 4This evening, the roughly half-illuminated face of the Moon hangs in Gemini, high in the south an hour after sunset. First Quarter Moon occurs at 10:15 P.M. EDT. The two brightest stars in Gemini are Castor (magnitude 1.6) and Pollux (magnitude 1.2).Continue reading "The Sky This Week from April 4 to 11: Catch your last views of Uranus"

The post The Sky This Week from April 4 to 11: Catch your last views of Uranus appeared first on Astronomy Magazine.

As World War II drew to a close, the Allies were eager to get their hands on one of the most technologically amazing yet terrifying weapons in Nazi Germany’s armamentarium: the V-2 rocket. A long-range, liquid-fueled supersonic guided missile, the V-2 could carry a 2,000-pound (910 kilograms) warhead a staggering 200 miles (320 kilometers) fromContinue reading "Megaroc: The British manned space program that almost was"

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Andrei Pleskatsevich, taken from Minsk, Belarus The Seagull Nebula is a region of nebulosity lying on the border between constellations Monoceros and Canis Major; the emission nebula forming the bird’s “head” carries the catalog designation IC 2177. The imager used a 3-inch f/4.5 scope and one-shot color camera to take 10 hours of exposure.

The post Cosmic wingspan appeared first on Astronomy Magazine.

Gitanjali Rao was honored as the inaugural recipient of the Stephen Hawking Medal Junior, an award created to inspire young innovators.

The post STARMUS Launches the Stephen Hawking Medal Junior at The Kennedy Center appeared first on Astronomy Magazine.

Sky watchers The University of Arizona PressTucson, AZ Star Gazers: Finding Joy in the Night Sky, by prolific astronomy writer David H. Levy, is a collection of personal essays celebrating amateur and professional astronomy. Bringing together his decades of sky-watching experience, this 172-page book gives readers insight into Levy’s thoughts on James Webb Space Telescope,Continue reading "Spring for new astronomy products this month"

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The Federal Aviation Administration has completed its investigations looking into “mishaps” that occurred during Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket launch and SpaceX’s Starship Flight 7 in January. On Jan. 16, Blue Origin’s New Glenn-1 reached orbit on its debut flight. While the launch was successful, the rocket lost its lower stage during its descent. Later thatContinue reading "FAA concludes Blue Origin, SpaceX January ‘mishap’ investigations"

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he first commercially built rocket to lift off from continental Europe came tumbling back to Earth within seconds. But its manufacturer considers the mission a success. The test flight, “Going Full Spectrum,” was the debut launch of Norwegian company Isar Aerospace’s Spectrum, a two-stage orbital launch vehicle designed to compete with SpaceX’s workhorse Falcon 9Continue reading "Debut flight of Isar Aerospace Spectrum rocket ends in explosion"

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From the editor: As the extraordinary pace of astronomical discovery carries on, we increasingly see that the stuff of life is spread throughout the cosmos. Life, even complex life, must be common out there. We know of several hundred billion stars in our galaxy, at least 100 billion galaxies, and planets around most of theContinue reading "Earth as a planet"

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My childhood fascination with the night sky led me to study astronomy and physics at university. By my second year, I was operating the telescope atop the physics building, tracking celestial objects — just like astronomy student Kate Dibiasky in the disaster movie Don’t Look Up.I never imagined I’d also soon find myself alerting othersContinue reading "Solving the climate equation"

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In many ways, Tony Fadell built the digital world we live in. At the turn of the millennium, his efforts to build a pocket-sized, hard-disk-based device that could hold 1,000 songs in MP3 format caught the attention of Apple. Within months, he had been hired by the firm, and less than a year after hisContinue reading "How to build climate solutions: An interview with Tony Fadell"

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Next week, a crew of private astronauts is expected to go where no one has gone before. Chun Wang, the crypto entrepreneur who purchased the Fram2 mission from SpaceX in August, announced Friday that the three-to-five-day sojourn — the first human spaceflight to fly directly over the Earth’s poles — is scheduled to launch fromContinue reading "SpaceX’s Fram2 mission will aim for the poles"

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After a scrubbed test flight on Monday, a German spaceflight company has determined its next opportunity to launch the first commercial orbital launch vehicle from mainland Europe. Munich-based Isar Aerospace postponed the debut launch of its Spectrum rocket, citing unfavorable winds at Norway’s Andøya Spaceport. On Tuesday, Isar said it will now target Thursday atContinue reading "German firm eyes Thursday for Europe’s first commercial orbital launch"

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Astronomers have finally identified the source of mysterious radio waves from deep space, tracing the signals back to an unusual stellar pair locked in a swift orbit, flashing out their location for the universe to hear. In research published March 12 in Nature Astronomy, a team of astrophysicists finally found the source of strange, minute-longContinue reading "This dead star is still sending us radio signals"

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The quest to send humans to Mars is on: US President Donald Trump talked about it in his inauguration speech this year. Such an epic endeavor could help to answer fundamental questions about the Red Planet, including the biggest question of all: Did Mars once host life — and does it still? Central to thoseContinue reading "Ghost rivers, hidden lakes: The long search for water on Mars"

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Greg Polanski from Kanata, Ontario, Canada The ever-popular Rosette Nebula (NGC 2237–9/46) lies 10° east of Betelgeuse and is an impressive telescopic sight. Deep imaging reveals the line of dark Bok globules — small dense clouds where baby stars are forming — that appear to lie suspended within the nebula. The imager took 12⅓ hoursContinue reading "Bathed in blue"

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To detect neutrinos, scientists use vast observatories located underground, shielded from cosmic ray interference. These detectors rely on Cherenkov radiation, a bluish light produced when high-speed muons, created by rare neutrino collisions, travel faster than light through water or ice. Photomultiplier tubes amplify this light, allowing astronomers to trace the neutrino’s path and energy.

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Astronomers have discovered more than 300 exoplanetary systems that have three or more known planets. Most of these planets are about the same size and spaced close together, earning them the moniker “peas in a pod.” They also orbit near their stars, in many cases closer than Mercury is to the Sun.  Our solar system,Continue reading "Our solar system is not as unusual as we thought"

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Could the nearby star Sirius B explode as a type Ia supernova, like some other white dwarf stars in binary star systems have? Bruce MasonEncinitas, California A type Ia supernova occurs when a white dwarf — the cooling remnant of an aging star — draws hydrogen from a companion sun. When the dwarf reaches 1.4Continue reading "Will Sirius B explode as a type Ia supernova?"

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In this episode, Astronomy magazine Editor Dave Eicher invites you to view an unusual event: a partial eclipse of the Sun. Depending on where you are, you might see the Moon cover up to 90 percent of the bright solar disk. Remember, however, even 10 percent of the Sun is dangerous to look at, so wear approvedContinue reading "This Week in Astronomy with Dave Eicher: A Solar Eclipse"

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Greg Meyer from Phoenix, Arizona This dusty figure of the Baby Eagle Nebula (LBN 777) is part of the larger Taurus Molecular Cloud. The dust is dimly lit by young stars within the cloud; the brownish color gives away the presence of larger dust grains. This image comprises nearly 24 hours of LRGB exposure withContinue reading "Cosmic fledgling"

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The Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) is one of the Milky Way’s closest neighbors. It’s a small, irregular galaxy that orbits the Milky Way, and is an easy naked-eye object from the Southern Hemisphere. As one of the only galaxies outside our own where telescopes can resolve individual stars and small scale structures, astronomers love toContinue reading "Our near galactic neighbor might have a supermassive black hole"

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Sky This Week is brought to you in part by Celestron. Friday, March 21By 10 P.M. local daylight time, the constellation Canes Venatici the Hunting Dogs is some 45° high in the east. Nestled under the curve of the Big Dipper’s handle, this seemingly innocuous star pattern hosts several popular deep-sky objects.  One of thoseContinue reading "The Sky This Week from March 21 to 28: Galilean moon action"

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A French researcher was denied entry to the United States and expelled from the country for expressing “a personal opinion” on U.S. president Donald Trump’s research policies, the French government said March 19. France’s research minister, Philippe Baptiste, told the wire agency Agence France-Presse (AFP) that the researcher, from France’s National Center for Scientific ResearchContinue reading "French space researcher denied entry to U.S. over views on Trump’s policies: report"

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Rui Santos, taken from Leiria, Portugal In this solargraph, the Sun’s journey across the sky is captured continuously for 43 days, its trails interrupted by overcast days and passing clouds. To create the image, the photographer transformed a beer can into a pinhole camera and lined the interior with light-sensitive photographic paper. In the foregroundContinue reading "A (really) long exposure"

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After 268 days aboard the International Space Station (ISS), NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams made their highly anticipated return to Earth on Tuesday evening. But while they are back on solid ground, the vehicle that flew them to the orbital laboratory faces an uncertain future. Wilmore and Williams were commander and pilot, respectively,Continue reading "What’s next for Boeing Starliner?"

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Astronomers at the University of Michigan have discovered a new satellite of the Andromeda Galaxy (M31), the Milky Way’s closest major galactic neighbor, and it has broken the record for the faintest such galaxy yet discovered. Both the Milky Way and Andromeda are known to have a slew of smaller galaxies that orbit them, caughtContinue reading "Andromeda has a new faintest satellite galaxy"

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Hera, European Space Agency’s (ESA) flagship planetary defense mission that launched in October 2024, took images of Mars and Deimos, one of its two moons, yesterday. The mission’s flyby was used as a gravity assist to its final destination at the binary asteroid system Dimorphos and Didymos. The mission also used this journey past MarsContinue reading "Martian moon caught on camera during Hera flyby"

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SpaceX’s Dragon Freedom capsule safely splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico on Tuesday evening bringing astronauts Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Sunita “Suni” Williams home after the two spent 286 days in space aboard the International Space Station.

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NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who flew to the International Space Station (ISS) in June for an intended eight-day stay, are expected to finally return to Earth Tuesday after spending more than nine months orbiting the planet. The space agency on Sunday said it expects the astronauts — the commander and pilot ofContinue reading "How to watch: Starliner crew set for splashdown after nine-month ISS stay"

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Powering spacecraft with solar energy may not seem like a challenge, given how intense the Sun’s light can feel on Earth. Spacecraft near the Earth use large solar panels to harness the Sun for the electricity needed to run their communications systems and science instruments. However, the farther into space you go, the weaker theContinue reading "Inside radioisotope generators, the ‘nuclear batteries’ that power faraway spacecraft"

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You could forgive M17 for having an identity crisis. Observers refer to this emission region as the Omega, the Swan, and even the Checkmark Nebula. M17 doesn’t even know what constellation to call home — most of it lies in Sagittarius, but its northern edge crosses into Serpens. Yet no one can deny the stellarContinue reading "M17 stars in a cosmic vista"

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Marco Wong from Redhill, U.K. The Milky Way arches over the Cuckmere River in Sussex, U.K., in this blended panorama. The imager used a Canon DSLR and captured the sky panels with a 28mm f/1.4 and with exposures of 52 seconds at ISO 800; the foreground panels were captured with a 13mm f/2.8 lens atContinue reading "From dusk til dawn"

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The Blue Ghost lunar lander finished surface operations on March 16, 2025, wrapping up a smashing success of a mission. Designed, built, and flown by Firefly Aerospace, based near Austin, Texas, Blue Ghost executed a flawless two-month-long voyage, capped by a stunning landing and two weeks of operations at Mare Crisium. The success of theContinue reading "Firefly’s Blue Ghost lander nails lunar mission"

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What is the benefit of a 2″ eyepiece compared to a 1¼” eyepiece? Tom NagyNorth Ridgeville, Ohio A 2″ eyepiece delivers a wider true field of view (the actual amount of sky visible) than a 1¼” eyepiece of the same focal length. Two factors determine the true field: the telescope’s focal length and the diameterContinue reading "What is the difference between a 2″ eyepiece and a 1¼” eyepiece?"

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You know, after decades of pointing optics toward the sky, I consider myself a knowledgeable observer. But while researching the Pleiades a few months back, I was surprised to learn that it wasn’t the brightest star cluster. And there were other surprises when I started comparing overall brightnesses of deep-sky objects. For instance, you mightContinue reading "Observe the brightest deep-sky objects"

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SpaceX, the world’s dominant commercial space launch provider, is looking to ramp up the activity of its workhorse rocket. The FAA on Friday released a draft environmental assessment (EA) analyzing the company’s proposal to more than double the number of Falcon 9 launches from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force StationContinue reading "SpaceX proposal would more than double Falcon 9 launches at Cape Canaveral"

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In this episode, Astronomy magazine Editor Dave Eicher invites you to head out soon and look at the planets in the evening sky. The highest is Mars, the so-called Red Planet. The giant planet Jupiter is a bit lower but much brighter. Brightest of all is Venus, low in the west. If you want to see thatContinue reading "This Week in Astronomy with Dave Eicher: The Planets Align"

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Astronomers and space scientists are living in a state of fear and anxiety as the Trump administration and Elon Musk-led U.S. DOGE Service target science spending and diversity initiatives with actions that are already damaging research and threaten to set back U.S. scientific leadership for years, scientists tell Astronomy. The assault began during Trump’s firstContinue reading "Space scientists fearful as Trump administration targets science and mulls NASA cuts"

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Philippe Moussette, taken at Cap-Rouge, Quebec, Canada The reddened shadow of Earth falling upon the Moon during the lunar eclipse of March 13/14 — a so-called Blood Moon — is captured in this sequence taken with a Canon mirrorless camera and 600mm lens.

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The public is enamored of images returned to Earth by space probes. Whether they show the moons of Jupiter, the rings of Saturn, or the icy surface of Pluto, these captivating images garner loads of attention.  In addition to cameras, robotic probes always carry an array of scientific instruments that get far less attention fromContinue reading "Why so many spacecraft carry magnetometers"

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Sky This Week is brought to you in part by Celestron. Friday, March 14The Moon reaches Full phase early this morning at 2:55 A.M. EDT, with a total lunar eclipse underway. Everyone across the U.S. can watch the event, and no special equipment is needed — just your eyes!  Totality begins about half an hourContinue reading "The Sky This Week from March 14 to 21: The start of spring"

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Jamie Cooper from Northamptonshire, U.K. Craters dot the Moon’s rugged south pole region in this shot taken March 7 with a 16-inch Dobsonian. The central-peak crater just above and left of center is Moretus, and Clavius is the large crater at lower right (with multiple smaller craters inside).

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We’ve always known Mars as the Red Planet — but it turns out, we may have had the reason why wrong. If so, it could revise much of what we know about the history of our smaller neighbor planet. In a study published Feb. 25 in Nature Communications, researchers tied the nature of Mars’ redContinue reading "Could Mars’ red color have formed under wet conditions?"

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A recent paper suggests that if astrobiologists want to make an educated guess about what life on Venus might look like, they should look to a weird microbe called A. ferrooxidans, found here onEarth. Earthly life-forms are the only examples we have of what life looks like, so astrobiologists often study them for clues aboutContinue reading "Strange microbes on Earth might help us understand life on Venus"

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Comets develop the spectacular long tails that they are known for by approaching the Sun. When they get too close, their icy volatile materials begin to sublimate away, carrying along clouds of dust. But this activity usually only happens relatively close to the Sun, as comets spend most of their time in the outer solarContinue reading "Astronomers have spotted the most distant comet ever discovered"

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During the night of March 13, most of North and South America will be treated to a total lunar eclipse, an event popularly referred to as a Blood Moon. The event is aptly named — the Moon is cast in a dark red, brown, or orange color during totality, giving it an eerie appearance inContinue reading "How to get the most out of the lunar eclipse"

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Simon Todd, taken from Haywards Heath, U.K. The Christmas Tree Cluster lies at the center of this image, filled with young, newborn stars and surrounding nebulosity cataloged as NGC 2264. That includes the Cone Nebula, just left of center. The Fox Fur Nebula lies directly below the bright blue star (S Monoceros) at center. ThisContinue reading "Stellar nativity scene"

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If you weigh a certain amount on Earth, how much less or more would you weigh on the Moon? MakaylaArkansas The short answer is that you would weigh roughly one-sixth your Earth weight on the Moon. So if your bathroom scale reads 180 pounds (81.6 kilograms) on Earth, it would read 30 pounds (13.6 kg)Continue reading "How much less would you weigh on the Moon than on Earth?"

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Saturn’s largest moon, Titan, is particularly captivating for scientists. This is thanks in large part to its status as the only other planetary body in the solar system known to host an atmosphere about 1.5 times denser than Earth’s and bodies of liquid on its surface. (Unlike Earth, however, where most surface liquid is water,Continue reading "Cryovolcanism on Titan may replenish its thick atmosphere"

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In this episode, Astronomy magazine Editor Dave Eicher invites you to head out on the evening of March 13. That’s when one of the year’s best celestial events — a total eclipse of the Moon — will begin. It will continue into the early morning hours of the 14th, so if you want to see it all, get ready for aContinue reading "This Week in Astronomy with Dave Eicher: A Total Eclipse of the Moon"

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One of the most competitive segments in the amateur telescope marketplace these days spans 3- to 5-inch apochromatic refractors. Once considered telescopes for the well-to-do, these instruments are now affordable to many backyard stargazers. And one of the newest companies to enter this market segment is Starfield Optics from Caledon, Ontario, a suburb of Toronto.Continue reading "We test Starfield Optics’ 115mm Géar Triplet APO"

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