Space

Sky This Week is brought to you in part by Celestron. Friday, April 24Venus passes 0.8° due north of Uranus at 1 A.M. EDT. After their close conjunction yesterday, the two remain within 1.5° of each other in the evening sky tonight, offering a second chance to spot them in a single field of viewContinue reading “The Sky This Week from April 17 to 24: The Lyrid meteor shower peaks”

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Though often recognized as a philosopher, Immanuel Kant (born April 22, 1724) made several contributions to early theories of cosmic organization. Surveying the band of stars that appear across our sky – the Milky Way – Kant concluded that our galaxy must be a wide, rotating disk. He published this conclusion in A Universal NaturalContinue reading “April 22, 1724: The birth of Immanuel Kant”

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Some people may think that the words astronomer and party-animal don’t go together. Nonetheless, for many astronomy enthusiasts, star parties are the social highlight of the observing season.  Star parties are informal gatherings of amateur astronomers that let them share the night sky and their telescopes with the public and other observers. They can rangeContinue reading “How to prepare for a star party”

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NASA’s Lucy spacecraft visited the asteroid 52246 Donaldjohanson on April 20, 2025, 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 “April 20, 2025: Visiting Asteroid Donaldjohanson”

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As odd couples go, it’s tough to beat the stellar pair at the heart of R Aquarii. This symbiotic binary system comprises a cool red giant and a sizzling white dwarf locked in a 44-year elliptical orbit. The enormous star pulsates in a roughly 390-day period, driving changes in temperature and brightness. It has onlyContinue reading “R Aquarii’s strange, twisted relationship”

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Celestron Weatherproof Telescope Cover CelestronTorrance, California Celestron’s Weatherproof Telescope Cover protects the company’s scopes as large as 11 inches from the effects of the elements. The aluminum-laminated cover measures 57.9 by 70.1 inches (147 by 178 centimeters) and weighs just 1.3 pounds (0.6 kilogram). $59.951-310-803-5955www.celestron.comShop now at High Point Scientific The Martians Liveright PublishingNew York,Continue reading “New astronomy products to spring for this month”

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The lunar eclipse of Sept. 7/8, 2025, was not favorable to observers in the Americas or Europe, but was well-placed for viewers in Asia. Tianyao Yang took the opportunity to capture the silhouette of the Chinese space station Tiangong (or “heavenly palace”) as it crossed the Moon during the eclipse. The International Space Station hasContinue reading “A palace on the Moon”

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Galaxy season is upon us  —  the time of the year in the Northern Hemisphere when Earth’s nightside faces out of the plane of the Milky Way. This week, Astronomy magazine Editor Emeritus Dave Eicher invites you to explore some of the best galaxies on offer in Leo, Ursa Major, Coma Berenices, and Virgo. ClearContinue reading “See spring’s best galaxies”

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In 1972, President Nixon authorized the development of the space shuttle program, a new approach to space travel. By creating a reusable spacecraft, NASA aimed to establish a reliable system for ferrying personnel, supplies, and equipment. When Space Shuttle Columbia launched for the first time on April 12, 1981, on STS-1, it was the firstContinue reading “April 12, 1981: Columbia lifts of for the first space shuttle mission”

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On April 11, 1970, the Apollo 13 mission launched. Intended to be the third lunar landing, it was crewed by Commander Jim Lovell, who had flown previously on Apollo 8, and Fred Haise and Jack Swigert, both on their first spaceflights. Despite a last-minute crew change – Swigert was an eleventh-hour replacement for Ken Mattingly,Continue reading “April 11, 1970: Apollo 13 blasts off for the Moon”

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On April 10, 2019, astronomers revealed the first image ever taken of a black hole, bringing a dramatic conclusion to a decades-long effort. The iconic image offered humanity its first glimpse at the gas and debris that swirl around its event horizon, the point beyond which material disappears forever. A favorite object of science fictionContinue reading “April 10, 2019: First look at a black hole”

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In 1959, having determined that military test pilots would make the best astronauts, NASA began screening the records of 508 candidates. From there the group was narrowed to 110 men who went through interviews and written tests; of the 110, 32 candidates were selected to undergo extensive physical and mental testing. Finally, on April 1,Continue reading “April 9, 1959: The Mercury 7 debut”

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The phenomenon of a Full Moon arises when our planet, Earth, is precisely sandwiched between the Sun and the Moon. This alignment ensures the entire side of the Moon that faces us gleams under sunlight. Thanks to the Moon’s orbit around Earth, the angle of sunlight hitting the lunar surface and being reflected back toContinue reading “2026 Full Moon calendar: When to see the Full Moon and phases”

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NASA’s Great Observatories – the Hubble Space Telescope, the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory (CGRO), the Chandra X-ray Observatory, and the Spitzer Space Telescope – were launched between 1990 and 2003, each intended to observe the universe in a different wavelength. Hubble, launched in 1990 and still operational today, observes primarily in visible light and near-ultraviolet.Continue reading “April 7, 1991: Compton Gamma Ray Observatory is deployed”

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This week, Astronomy magazine Editor Emeritus Dave Eicher invites you to check out Mercury, which will be at its greatest elongation on April 3. This is when the planet appears farthest away from the Sun in the morning sky, making it easier to see. Good luck! Video transcript: Welcome to This Week in Astronomy, broughtContinue reading “Mercury at greatest elongation on April 3”

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When Heinrich Olbers spotted asteroid Pallas on March 28, 1802, it called into question the recent discovery of Ceres as the “missing” planet between Mars and Jupiter. The Titius-Bode law, a mathematical formula that predicted the expected distances of planets from the Sun and had accurately posited the location of Uranus, suggested there should beContinue reading “March 29, 1807: Heinrich Olbers discovers Vesta”

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In the 18th century, an international group of astronomers referred to as the “Celestial Police” devoted themselves to the search of the “missing” planet between Mars and Jupiter. A planet was expected in that zone based on the extrapolations of the Titius-Bode law, a mathematical formula developed by Johann Titius in 1766 and popularized byContinue reading “March 28, 1802: Heinrich Olbers discovers Pallas”

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Sol 100mm Dedicated Solar Telescope DayStar FiltersWarrensburg, Missouri DayStar’s Sol 100 Hydrogen-alpha telescope is a 4-inch instrument that allows safe viewing of normally invisible solar features. The design offers a ¾° field of view and unique coatings, optimizing the Sol 100 for the Hα wavelength $4,9951-866-680-6563www.daystar.comShop at High Point Scientific SkyMaster Pro ED 15x70mm PorroContinue reading “March into this month’s new astronomy products”

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Astronomers typically describe the cosmos with numbers that are, well, astronomical. They measure distances within our galaxy in light-years, where 1 light-year equals 5.9 trillion miles (9.5 trillion kilometers), while other galaxies lie millions or even billions of light-years away. And stars typically live billions of years within a universe some 13.7 billion years old.Continue reading “JWST reveals how dust becomes planets”

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