Astronomy & Space News

Looking for a sky event this week? Check out our full Sky This Week column.  October 1: Perseus’ Double Cluster The brilliant planet Venus stands stationary against the background stars of Virgo at 10 A.M. EDT.  Together with Mercury, Venus is visible for a short time in the western sky after sunset, but you’ll want a clearContinue reading "The Sky Today on Friday, October 2: Venus stands still"

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Friday, October 2Venus appears to halt its motion through the sky today, standing stationary at 10 A.M. EDT. Now in Virgo, you can catch the bright planet, along with Mercury, for a brief time after sunset.  Venus stands just 2° high in the west 20 minutes after sunset. Its bright magnitude of –4.8 can helpContinue reading "The Sky This Week from October 2 to 9: Saturn at its best"

The post The Sky This Week from October 2 to 9: Saturn at its best appeared first on Astronomy Magazine.

Make sure to set your alarm clock early on the morning of Tuesday, Oct. 6, so that you won’t miss a rare and spectacular celestial event. The brilliant planet Jupiter and its retinue of Galilean satellites will pass behind the waning Moon, a 20%-illuminated crescent just 4¼ days before New. Astronomers call this phenomenon anContinue reading "See the Moon occult Jupiter October 6"

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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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On Oct. 1, 1847, Maria Mitchell was positioned on the roof of the Pacific National Bank on Main Street in her hometown of Nantucket, Massachusetts. Sweeping the sky with her family’s 2-inch reflector, she spotted a small object that did not appear on any of her charts. Though not able to be seen with theContinue reading "Oct. 1, 1847: Miss Mitchell’s Comet"

The post Oct. 1, 1847: Miss Mitchell’s Comet appeared first on Astronomy Magazine.

Looking for a sky event this week? Check out our full Sky This Week column.  September 30: Asteroid Nausikaa at opposition There’s time before the Moon rises this evening to get in some deep-sky observing — plus, our two-for-one targets tonight are bright enough that even once our satellite creeps above the horizon, it won’t ruin yourContinue reading "The Sky Today on Thursday, October 1: Perseus’ Double Cluster"

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Saturn reaches opposition this month, putting on a fine show. Mercury is briefly visible early in October, while Venus remains low after sunset. Neptune lingers near Saturn, and Uranus is well placed between the Pleiades and Aldebaran. Mars makes a magnificent transit of the Beehive Cluster, not to be missed. Jupiter dominates the morning skyContinue reading "October 2026: What’s in the sky this month?"

The post October 2026: What’s in the sky this month? appeared first on Astronomy Magazine.

Three planets provide a feast for your eyes in this month’s evening sky. The star of the show in early October is Venus, which shines brilliantly in the west as the sky starts to darken. The magnitude –4.8 planet easily bests all other night-sky objects except for the Moon. If you follow Venus’ trajectory thisContinue reading "October 2026: What’s in the Southern Hemisphere sky this month?"

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Mission Highlight: Starship Flight 14 After 13 previous suborbital test flights, Starship finally reached orbit on test flight 14. SpaceX’s launch window opened at 8:15 a.m. EDT on Monday, Sept. 28, and the rocket cleared the tower at Starbase, Texas, at 8:48 a.m. EDT. Just over three hours later, the flight ended in a fireballContinue reading "Starship reaches orbit on 14th test flight"

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On Sept. 30, 1880, in a pioneering moment for astrophotography, amateur astronomer Henry Draper and his wife, Anna, captured the first image of the Orion Nebula. Though a medical doctor by trade, Henry was a key contributor to the development of stellar photography and spectroscopy. He and Anna obtained the first photo of a star’sContinue reading "Sept. 30, 1880: Henry and Anna Draper photograph M42"

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This episode takes you on a tour of the stars and planets that you’ll see overhead during October. This month the spotlight is on Saturn, which can be seen all night, and a fantastic occultation of Jupiter by the Moon. So grab your curiosity, and come along on this month’s Sky Tour.

The post October Podcast: Saturn is a “Star” appeared first on Sky & Telescope.

Leaves fall. Frost sparkles. And once again we fall under the magical spell of Saturn, the Lord of the Rings.

The post Saturn Flaunts its Rings at Opposition the Night of October 3–4 appeared first on Sky & Telescope.

New simulations show that our now-moonless neighbor might once have had a satellite, but the moon crashed back into it.

The post Did Venus Swallow Its Moon? appeared first on Sky & Telescope.

The island was the backup site for the giant telescope, whose future remains in limbo.

The post Rejected: Spain’s Proposal to Build the Thirty Meter Telescope on La Palma appeared first on Sky & Telescope.

On September 28th, Europe's JUICE mission makes another pass by home, en route to the icy moons of Jupiter.

The post Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer Makes Penultimate Earth Flyby appeared first on Sky & Telescope.

Saturn comes to opposition. So does the Moon. Once the Moon is gone from the evening sky, try with your telescope for the autumn globular clusters Sagittifolia, Queen Anne's Lace, Watercress by the Stream, and Seaflower of the Deep.

The post This Week's Sky at a Glance, September 25 – October 2 appeared first on Sky & Telescope.

NASA has selected a new space probe for development: The PRIMA telescope will explore the far-infrared universe.

The post NASA Selects Far-Infrared Mission PRIMA to Survey the Cool Universe appeared first on Sky & Telescope.

Astronomers have directly imaged a giant planet around a low-mass star — something they didn’t think was possible.

The post How Can a Puny Star Make a Giant Planet? appeared first on Sky & Telescope.

A baby planet is carving out a gap in the natal disk of its star as it assembles material, providing a rare window into the earliest stages of planet formation.

The post Astronomers Have Spotted the Youngest Planet Yet appeared first on Sky & Telescope.

The stellar nursery IC 348 is forming lots of stars — and some of the puniest brown dwarfs (aka, “failed stars”) we’ve ever seen.

The post Stunning Panorama Reveals Tiniest Brown Dwarfs Yet appeared first on Sky & Telescope.