Astronomy & Space News

NASA launched the Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer satellite, or EUVE, on June 7, 1992, to conduct an all-sky survey at wavelengths inaccessible from the ground. The first satellite designed to operate in the short-wave ultraviolet range, its “objectives included discovering and studying UV sources radiating in this spectral region, and analyzing effects of the interstellar mediumContinue reading "June 7, 1992: The Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer launches"

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Looking for a sky event this week? Check out our full Sky This Week column.  June 6: Albireo returns By the time the sky is dark around 10 P.M. local daylight time, the constellation Canes Venatici is still more than 70° high in the west. The Hunting Dogs hold our target for tonight: M63, also known asContinue reading "The Sky Today on Sunday, June 7: The sky’s sunflower"

The post The Sky Today on Sunday, June 7: The sky’s sunflower appeared first on Astronomy Magazine.

“Extraterrestrial Cause for the Cretaceous-Tertiary Extinction,” by physicist Luis Alvarez, geologist Walter Alvarez, Frank Asaro, and Helen Michel, was published in Science June 6, 1980. In it, the authors propose that an asteroid crashing to Earth was responsible for the death of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago. (The timeline was later amended to 66Continue reading "June 6, 1980: The asteroid impact theory"

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Carl Parnell, taken from Dawlish, Devon, UK The Jellyfish Nebula (IC 443 or Sharpless 2–248) is the remnant of a supernova that went off some 30,000 years ago in Gemini. Filling the top half of the image is a glowing molecular complex threaded by multiple dark nebula (LDN 1565–8). The supernova debris plowing into thisContinue reading "Sky nettle"

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Looking for a sky event this week? Check out our full Sky This Week column.  June 5: Check in on Mars Look east around 11 P.M. local daylight time, and you’ll see three bright stars forming a triangle — this is the famous Summer Triangle asterism, which flies high overhead in the middle of short summer nights.Continue reading "The Sky Today on Saturday, June 6: Albireo returns"

The post The Sky Today on Saturday, June 6: Albireo returns appeared first on Astronomy Magazine.

Understanding the nature of our cosmos requires an accurate map of how galaxies are spread throughout it. For decades, astronomers suspected that something vast lurked behind the Milky Way’s dense, dusty disk in our sky. There were indirect, subtle distortions present in galaxy motions that we could see, showing unexplained gravitational pulls. But the structureContinue reading "Giant supercluster discovered hiding behind the Milky Way"

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NASA has told crew aboard the International Space Station (ISS) to resume normal operations, ending a roughly two-hour period in which five astronauts sheltered inside a docked SpaceX capsule. The shelter order came Friday morning as a precautionary measure to protect crew while Russian cosmonauts attempted a fix on the Zvezda service module’s transfer tunnelContinue reading "ISS crew back to normal after emergency shelter order"

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NASA announced new contracts for the rovers and landers that will lay the groundwork for the agency’s proposed $30-billion Moon Base — some of which they plan to launch as soon as this fall — during a May 26 press conference. The announcement offered the most detailed look yet into the Moon Base plan NASAContinue reading "How NASA plans to build a Moon Base"

The post How NASA plans to build a Moon Base appeared first on Astronomy Magazine.

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 June 5, 1819, British mathematician and astronomer John C. Adams was born in Cornwall. The first to predict the existence of Neptune, he wrote in his journal on July 3, 1841: “Formed a design in the beginning of this week of investigating, as soon as possible after taking my degree, the irregularities in theContinue reading "June 5, 1819: The birth of John C. Adams"

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Bright Venus and Jupiter pass through conjunction in twilight this week, while Mercury, Pollux, and Castor watch them from nearby.

The post This Week's Sky at a Glance, June 5 – 14 appeared first on Sky & Telescope.

The Office of Management and Budget envisions diminishing peer review and international collaborations.

The post Proposed U.S. Grant Funding Rules Spark Worry, Backlash in Astronomy appeared first on Sky & Telescope.

A geomagnetic storm expected June 4th arrived late. But there's still at chance of seeing auroras Friday night, June 5th.

The post Chance of Aurora Extends to Friday Night, June 5th appeared first on Sky & Telescope.

A beautiful conjunction is coming, and all you need are your eyes to enjoy it.

The post Venus, Jupiter Converge in Stunning June 9th Dusk Conjunction appeared first on Sky & Telescope.

NASA has announced that, after six months of trying to recover the MAVEN mission at Mars, they are saying goodbye.

The post Mars MAVEN Mission Lost; NASA Says Farewell appeared first on Sky & Telescope.

This month’s episode highlights the close pairing of Venus and Jupiter under way in the western sky after sunset. You'll also learn why astronomers are fixated on a star in Corona Borealis — and how to find a huge but dim constellation that will likely be new to you. So grab curiosity and come along on this month’s Sky Tour.

The post June Podcast: Dance of the Planets appeared first on Sky & Telescope.

Rovers, drones, and landers will usher in a sustained lunar presence, under the new plan NASA announced this week.

The post NASA Brings Its Lunar Ambitions into Focus with Moon Base Missions appeared first on Sky & Telescope.

Reanalysis shows that the Hubble Space Telescope's detection of water vapor escaping from Jupiter’s moon Europa might have been a glitch.

The post Evidence of Water Plumes from Jupiter's Moon Europa Vanishes appeared first on Sky & Telescope.

Venus and Jupiter grab your eyes in the west in late twilight. The Summer Triangle marks the dark in the east. So will the subtler Milky Way once the glary Moon is gone.

The post This Week's Sky at a Glance, May 29 – June 7 appeared first on Sky & Telescope.

I share my "discovery" of a new Milky Way star cloud that's been staring at me for ages.

The post Lost in the Star Clouds — A Milky Way Odyssey appeared first on Sky & Telescope.