February 4th marks the midway point between Decemberʼs solstice and the March equinox. Celebrate that celestial milestone by getting outside to gaze in awe at the amazing array of bright stars youʼll find overhead on February evenings.
Space News & Blog Articles
The discovery of a dozen new moons for Jupiter makes the king of planets the king of moons, too — at least for now.
Not so long ago, astronomers thought only a few dozen moons orbited the planets of our solar system. Today, the total count tops 170!
Comet ZTF is at its best this week — but every night moonlight encroaches on the scene until a later and later hour. Along the way, the Moon occults Mars for the southern U.S. and again forms isosceles triangles with naked-eyestars.
A recently discovered asteroid will pass exceptionally close to Earth on January 26th. Here's how to see it.
Astronomers at this month's big winter conference explored intriguing small galaxies at various points in cosmic history.
Deep images of galaxy clusters reveals the light of wandering stars. What set these stars free from their hosts?
The James Webb Space Telescope has found the tiny tail of a close-in exoplanet that's losing its atmosphere.
The average brightness of the night sky is increasing by 10% every year, making the stars less visible.
Venus and Saturn have a close conjunction in twilight. Comet ZTF heads into its best week or two. And Betelgeuse pulls ahead of Sirius ever earlier in the night.
If you have a solar filter, check out the sunspot group AR 3190 that's crossing the solar disk this week.
An arc that glows green thanks to doubly ionized oxygen appears near the Andromeda Galaxy in a photo obtained by amateur astronomers.
Astronomers have discovered that one of the Milky Way’s nearest galactic neighbors has dramatically changed its looks in the recent past.
Forget the hype and go outside to enjoy the real thing — a relatively bright comet you can see in binoculars from a dark sky.
The James Webb Space Telescope has confirmed its first exoplanet, a rocky Earth-size planet, and attempted to take the measure of its atmosphere.
A supernova that skywatchers in the Far East observed almost 850 years ago has produced the most unusual remnant astronomers have ever found
A tiny binary system is not only small but also ancient, billions of years older than other such systems, which raises questions about its origins.
On Friday the 13th, Saturn is still well above bright Venus in twilight. Watch them close toward their conjunction on the 22nd. Jupiter and fading Mars shine high. Sirius sparkles below Orion, and the ascendant Big Dipper stands on its handle.
Astronomers have mapped the magnetic field along the "bubble" of gas 1,000 light-years wide around the Sun.
A red giant star thousands of light-years away "blinked," dimming significantly for seven long years, before returning to normal.
Mirfak, the brightest star in the constellation Perseus, is a yellow supergiant star with an uncertain fate.