Space

Let’s visit Venus in the early-morning sky; the bright planet rises around 5 A.M. local daylight time and stands nearly 10° high in the east an hour later. Blazing at magnitude –3.9, it’s unmissable in far eastern Leo; it will cross into western Virgo by tomorrow morning.  Venus is stunning through binoculars or any telescope;Continue reading “The Sky Today on Wednesday, October 8: Venus’ last day in Leo”

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Step outside tonight in the early evening, when Sagittarius lies above the southwestern horizon. Globular cluster M22 shines brightly at magnitude 5.1, readily observable with binoculars or any size telescope. It’s far from the Full Moon, increasing your chances of a good view tonight.  You can find this ancient ball of stars some 2.5° northeastContinue reading “The Sky Today on Tuesday, October 7: View the ancient stars of M22”

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Full Moon occurs late tonight at 11:48 P.M. EDT. October’s Full Moon is traditionally called the Hunter’s Moon. But this October’s Full Moon also has two other names: It is both a Super Moon and the 2025 Harvest Moon.  A Super Moon occurs when the Full phase coincides with the Moon reaching (or close to)Continue reading “The Sky Today on Monday, October 6: The Full Harvest Super Moon shines”

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What does the next generation of martian exploration look like? The answer, quite literally, is blowing in the wind. The Tumbleweed Mars rover, a spherical robot designed to roll across the martian surface, driven by the martian wind, has passed crucial technical tests, validating its potential for low-cost, large-scale exploration. The concept, developed by TeamContinue reading “The wind-driven future of Mars exploration”

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Before you set your telescope up next time, read through the four following items. I hope one or more of them will help you get more from your session. Finding the Sun You’ve placed your solar filter on the front of your telescope and want to point it at the Sun, but you’re not certainContinue reading “Michael’s Miscellany: More observing tips”

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I’ll never forget the first elementary school trip I took to my local planetarium. Looking back on it today, it feels like a distinctly analog experience. As the lights dimmed and went out, the deep darkness drew gasps from my classmates, followed by cheers as the stars appeared. At the end of the show, asContinue reading “Celebrate 100 years of planetariums this week with the IAU”

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Imran Badr from San Jose, California The supernova remnant SNR G65.3+5.7 in Cygnus is comparable in size to its well-known neighbor, the Veil Nebula — but is much fainter. The object’s brightest component is cataloged as Sharpless 2–91. This four-panel mosaic of the full remnant comprises 169⅓ hours of Hα/OIII/RGB data with a 2.4-inch astrographContinue reading “The fainter Veil”

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Mark Johnston from Scottsdale, Arizona This vortex of plasma above the Sun is caused by the twisting of our star’s magnetic field, along which hot glowing plasma forms. The imager captured this with a 6-inch scope and Hα etalon filter.

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I was fortunate to have known American astronomer Clyde Tombaugh, the discoverer of Pluto. In fact, when I lived in El Paso, Texas, in the 1990s, I frequently visited him at his home, which was not far away in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Sometimes, I’d stay after sunset and observe with him using his homemadeContinue reading “Michael’s Miscellany: Historical observing”

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A study of Saturn’s atmospheric structure using data from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has revealed complex and mysterious features unseen before on any planet. The results were presented last week by Tom Stallard of Northumbria University, at the EPSC-DPS2025 Joint Meeting in Helsinki and was published in Geophysical Research Letters. “This opportunity to useContinue reading “JWST discovers new features in Saturn’s atmosphere”

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In this episode, Astronomy magazine Editor Emeritus Dave Eicher invites you to head out in the evening and point a telescope at one of the sky’s finest planetary nebulae. This one’s number 27 on Charles Messier’s famous list, but it’s usually called the Dumbbell Nebula because of it characteristic shape. Use a star chart to locate theContinue reading “This Week in Astronomy with Dave Eicher: The Dumbbell Nebula”

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Visit Saturn with your telescope this morning to spot the elusive moon Iapetus at superior conjunction, located due south of the ringed planet.  Saturn is highest in the sky around 1 A.M. local daylight time, when it is roughly 50° high in the south. However, it remains visible through morning twilight, slowly sinking toward theContinue reading “The Sky Today on Thursday, September 18: Iapetus at superior conjunction”

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NGC 457, also known as the Owl Cluster, is visible all evening, presenting an excellent target for binoculars and telescopes alike.  Look northeast after dark to find the W-shaped constellation Cassiopeia. With the letter oriented the right way up as it rises, the first dip (on the left) is marked by magnitude 2.7 Delta (δ)Continue reading “The Sky Today on Wednesday, September 17: The Owl Cluster flies by”

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The Moon passes 5° north of Jupiter at 7 A.M. EDT. Early risers can enjoy the pairing before sunrise, standing some 50° high in the east an hour before the Sun crests the horizon. Now in its waning crescent phase, the Moon is less than 30 percent lit and not quite so glaring, allowing youContinue reading “The Sky Today on Tuesday, September 16: Jupiter’s moons line up”

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Now roughly 14th magnitude, Comet C/2024 E1 Wierzchoś is ripe for spotting with an 8-inch scope. With no Moon in the evening sky, darkness is on your side; and tonight and tomorrow night, the comet lies just 0.5° from 5th-magnitude Iota (ι) Coronae Borealis, the easternmost star in the curved Northern Crown.  Around 9 P.M.Continue reading “The Sky Today on Monday, September 15: Comet Wierzchoś curves through the Northern Crown”

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Last Quarter Moon occurs at 6:33 A.M. EDT, standing high in the early-morning sky. You can catch it before dawn in northeastern Taurus, located within 1° of the magnitude 1.7 star Beta (β) Tauri, also called Elnath. This star marks the tip of one of Taurus’ two horns, but has an interesting dual identity: ItContinue reading “The Sky Today on Sunday, September 14: The Last Quarter Moon meets Elnath”

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Jupiter and Venus lead the Sun into the early-morning sky, rising around 1:30 A.M. and 4:15 A.M. local daylight time, respectively. Jupiter stands some 7.5° to the right of the bright star Pollux in Gemini as they rise. Magnitude 1.2 Pollux marks the head of one twin, while just above it, magnitude 1.6 Castor marksContinue reading “The Sky Today on Saturday, September 13: Jupiter and Venus in the morning”

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Mars passes 2° north of Virgo’s bright alpha star Spica at 4 A.M. EDT. Neither is visible at that time, but you can catch them in the evening sky shortly after sunset. You’ll want to be quick, though — they set before 9 P.M. local daylight time and are already low in the west 40Continue reading “The Sky Today on Friday, September 12: Mars moves past Spica”

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Saturn draws attention tonight as its largest and brightest moon, Titan, slips behind the disk of the planet late this evening in an occultation. You can find Saturn just over 30° high in the southeast tonight, shining at magnitude 0.6 in Pisces. It’s easy to find without optical aid as the brightest point of lightContinue reading “The Sky Today on Thursday, September 11: Titan passes behind Saturn”

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An interest in astronomy may strike early in life or later. Regardless of what lit the fire of that interest, you need knowledge to help you understand the universe. Some of the most important sources of information are the many beginner’s guides on astronomy. No matter what form these guides may take, they provide theContinue reading “Top 15 guide books for astronomy beginners”

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