61–80 of 6,057 results
a blue arc on top looms over an active, lumpy-looking star

Exoplanets

Hubble Reveals Possible Water-Vapor World

New Hubble Space Telescope observations reveal the warm sub-Neptune GJ 9827d might have a steamy atmosphere.

Waning Moon passing through Scorpius, Feb. 4-6, 2024

Celestial News & Events

This Week's Sky at a Glance, February 2 – 11

Under Orion is the Hare, which you may know, and under the Hare is the Dove, which you may not. February the best month for both.

Orion and nearby constellations

Sky Tour Astronomy Podcast

February Podcast: Orion and His Cosmic Critters

As told in this month’s Sky Tour astronomy podcast, Orion, the Hunter, dominates February’s evening sky, but he seems unaware of the cosmic prey that surrounds him.

12P/Pons-Brooks with tail

Explore the Night with Bob King

The Best Comets to Look for in 2024

If you like chasing comets, here's a guide to the year's best and brightest.

Ginny

Space Missions

NASA Ends Mars Ingenuity Helicopter Mission

NASA’s ground-breaking Ingenuity helicopter, part of the Perseverance mission, comes to a rest on the Red Planet.

Berlin fall fragment

Asteroids

Asteroid 2024 BX1: From a Light in the Sky to Rocks on the Ground

The asteroid 2024 BX1 went from a moving dot of light to rocks on the ground in mere hours — and amateur astronomers were critical to both discovery and recovery.

Jupiter and Pleiades in early evening, early February 2024

Celestial News & Events

This Week's Sky at a Glance, January 26 – February 4

Orion anchors both the Winter Triangle and the Winter Hexagon. So does the Meat Cleaver in Canis Major. Jupiter regards them from high to their right.

Dan Caselden visiting the BDNYC group at the AMNH

Citizen Science: Projects & Collaboration

Citizen Scientist Wins Prestigious AAS Award

The American Astronomical Society recognized Dan Caselden’s contributions to science at their recent winter meeting.

Supernovae discovered in the Dark Energy Survey

Cosmology

How Strong Is Dark Energy? Intriguing Findings from New Supernova Catalog

The largest sample of Type Ia supernovae ever made by a single telescope sheds light on dark energy.

Bellatrix

Night Sky Sights

Meet Bellatrix, the Amazon Star

It's fitting that Bellatrix, the star at Orion's other shoulder, takes the name of "woman warrior," but it wasn't always that way.

dense ball of bright pinpricks, which are stars in the globular NGC 1851

The Black Hole Files with Camille Carlisle

Mystery Objects Uncovered in Globular Clusters

Astronomers have found two different star clusters with an enigmatic source inside. Are these objects neutron stars or black holes?

JWST deep-field image showing many galaxies

Galaxies

The Milky Way Might Have Started Out Shaped Like a Pickle

Faraway dwarf galaxies in the universe's distant past — which will become modern Milky Ways — have an unexpectedly stretched-out appearance.

SLIM landing (art)

Space Missions

Japan's "Sniper" Mission Pinpoints Landing on the Moon — Then Shuts Down

In a first for Japan, the SLIM mission stuck a pinpoint landing on the Moon. How long the mission lasts depends on whether the solar cells begin charging.

Moon passing Leo and Regulus in the evening sky, Jan. 26-27, 2024

This Week's Sky At a Glance

This Week's Sky at a Glance, January 19 – 28

Jupiter shines high, bright, and obvious after dusk. Mercury and Mars glimmer low, dim, and elusive for their close conjunction in the dawn.

comparison of two images of an orange circle with a dark center, no labels

Black Holes

The Black Hole Shadow in M87: One Year Later

The Event Horizon Telescope collaboration has released the image from its second major campaign, confirming the existence of a persistent black hole shadow and a potentially turbulent environment.

Diamond ring sequence

Celestial News & Events

Solar and Lunar Eclipses in 2024

Although no total lunar eclipses occur this year, skywatchers can look forward to two “central” solar eclipses — including a much-awaited total eclipse that spans the U.S. from Texas to New England.

Crab Nebula

Deep Sky

The Night I Met the Crab Pulsar

An account of my journey to the heart of one of most violent cosmic explosions witnessed on Earth. Plus, there's a bright supernova now visible in a Virgo Cluster galaxy.

Titan art

Solar System

Methane Icebergs Could Float in Titan’s Seas

The “magic islands” that appear and disappear in Titan’s methane-ethane seas could be hydrocarbon icebergs, a new study finds.

Small and Large Magellanic Clouds

Celestial News & Events

Clouds, Large and Small, of the Southern Sky

Jonathan Nally sets out to explore the Southern Hemisphere sky, starting with two uniquely southern sights: the Small and Large Magellanic Clouds.

Moon passing Saturn, Jan. 13-14, 2024

Celestial News & Events

This Week's Sky at a Glance, January 12 – 21

The evening Moon passes Saturn, then Jupiter. Venus and Mercury march in lockstep in the eastern dawn. Capella, as always, paces Orion's bright foot. And who's winning the Sirius-Betelgeuse race?