161–180 of 6,054 results
Annular solar eclipse

Celestial News & Events

When It's Eclipse Decision Time, How Do You Decide Where to Go?

Satellite imagery will prove invaluable in making decisions on the day of the annular solar eclipse.

Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks outburst

Celestial Objects to Observe

Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks (aka the "Millenium Falcon" Comet) Flares Again!

Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks has awakened again from its recent slumbers with a fresh outburst. It's now bright enough to see in a modest telescope.

Baily's beads

Celestial News & Events

The History of Baily’s Brilliant Beads

Discover the observations of astronomer Francis Baily as he watched sunlight bead along the lunar limb during an 1836 annular eclipse.

Moon, Venus and Regulus at dawn, Oct. 10, 2023

This Week's Sky At a Glance

This Week's Sky at a Glance, October 6 – 15

A partial/annular eclipse of the Sun washes across the Americas on Saturday the 14th. Four days before, the waning Moon and Venus pair up in early dawn with Regulus glimmering between them.

Cosmology

In a First, Astronomers Directly Image the Cosmic Web

Astronomers have directly imaged emission from the cosmic web, the filamentary structure that underlies the universe.

Sedna

Solar System

“Planet X” May Have Left Our Solar System Billions of Years Ago

A new understanding of far-off worlds in the outer solar system suggests that if "Planet X" ever existed, it has long since left the vicinity.

Annular eclipse in 2014

Celestial Objects to Observe

DIY Weather Forecast for the October 14th Eclipse

The October annular eclipse is coming up, and the most important requirement will be clear skies. Here's how to forecast the weather.

Comet 103P/Hartley diffuse appearance

Explore the Night with Bob King

Comet Hartley Comes Home Again; Gegenschein-gazing

Get acquainted with Comet 103P/Hartley. It's been a dozen years since its last bright apparition. While you're at it challenge yourself to spot the elusive gegenschein.

BlueWalker 3 satellite panel dwarfs team that built it

Astronomy and Society

The Bright BlueWalker 3 Satellite Threatens Astronomy

The bright BlueWalker 3 satellite, a prototype for the even larger Bluebird satellites, is one of the brightest objects in the sky.

Magellanic Stream

Milky Way

Astronomers Find Stars Cast Away from Galactic Neighbors

After decades of searching, scientists have found stars accompanying the gas streaming from two smaller galaxies that orbit our Milky Way.

Saturn and Moon on Oct 23-24

Sky Tour Astronomy Podcast

October Podcast: Jupiter & Saturn Dance at Dusk

This month’s big celestial news might be the annular solar eclipse that will be seen in the Americas, but everyone can share the fun of casual stargazing by streaming or downloading October’s Sky Tour astronomy podcast.

Moon with Jupiter and the Pleiades, Oct 1 and 2, 2023

This Week's Sky At a Glance

This Week's Sky at a Glance, September 29 – October 8

The Moon pairs with Jupiter, then the Pleiades, as it departs the evening sky. That leaves a dark-sky Milky Way crossing the zenith, where Cygnus the Milky Way Swan flies southward for fall.

Artist's concept shows blue-streaked surface of a massive solid planet

Exoplanets

How Did Two Hot and Super-dense Neptunes Form?

Astronomers have discovered two Neptune-size planets that are denser than rock and in searingly close orbits to their star. How did these odd worlds form?

group of people standing beneath huge telescope

People, Places, and Events

Travel Diary: Astronomical Adventures in the Canaries

The week of September’s new Moon, a passel of astro-enthused passengers explored one of the world’s premier observing locations.

Space Missions

Psyche Asteroid Mission Set for Launch October 5th

NASA’s newest mission is bound for the metallic asteroid of the same name. The metal-rich rock offers us a view of asteroid interiors.

A mostly empty field with a few telescopes on it below a pink building and the Porter Turret telescope

People, Places, and Events

Stellafane Star Party Celebrates Their Centennial

As hundreds of astronomers made their annual pilgrimage to the “shrine to the stars” this year, the Springfield Telescope Makers were preparing to celebrate Stellafane's 100th anniversary.

Bennu sample return capsule on the ground in the desert, red-white parachute behind

Space Missions

Osiris-REX Capsule Returns Samples of Asteroid Bennu to Earth

Samples taken from the asteroid Bennu are now safely on Earth.

Illustration of an exoplanet planet and its red cool dwarf star on a black background that is speckled with some small stars. The planet is large, in the foreground on the right and the star is smaller, in the background at the lower left. The planet is various shades of blue, with wisps of white scattered throughout. The left edge of the planet (the side facing the star) is lit, while the rest is in shadow. The star has a bright red glow

Exoplanets

Hubble, Webb Data Hint at Ocean Worlds

Data coming from the Webb and Hubble space telescopes suggests two exoplanets might be water worlds. But the evidence isn’t yet definitive.

Moon passing under Saturn in evening, Sept. 26-28, 2023

Celestial News & Events

This Week's Sky at a Glance, September 22 – October 1

The bright Moon steps eastwaed night by night under Altair, then Saturn, then the Great Square of Pegasus. Meanwhile, Deneb replaces Vega as the zenith star; welcome to fall.

Flattened Sun

Explore the Night with Bob King

Is the Day 12 Hours Long on the Equinox? It's Complicated

The Earth's atmosphere and the large size of the solar disk result in unequal days and nights, even on the equinox.