Catch a Buck Moon, luminous Venus, and more in the sky this July

A full moon known as the Buck Moon is seen as a deer grazes outside the village of Taarbaek, Denmark on July 14, 2022. Sergei Gapon/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images This article was originally featured on Popular Science. July 1 Conjunction of Venus and Mars July 3 Full Buck Supermoon July 7 Venus at its Brightest July… Continue reading Catch a Buck Moon, luminous Venus, and more in the sky this July

Here’s what you can expect to see in the night sky throughout May

May’s night sky will be anything but boring. DEPOSIT PHOTOS This article was originally featured on Popular Science. Date Event May 4 and 5 Full Flower Moon May 5 and 6 Penumbral Lunar Eclipse May 5 and 6 Eta Aquarids Meteor Shower May 27-30 Lāhaina Noon May 29 Mercury at Greatest Western Elongation April showers may bring… Continue reading Here’s what you can expect to see in the night sky throughout May

The James Webb Telescope just sent back these amazing images of a dying star

Wolf-Rayet stars are known to be efficient dust producers, and the Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) on NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope shows this to great effect. Cooler cosmic dust glows at the longer mid-infrared wavelengths, displaying the structure of WR 124’s nebula. The nebula is made of material cast off from the aging star in random… Continue reading The James Webb Telescope just sent back these amazing images of a dying star

NASA’s NEOWISE Telescope Has Taken a 12-Year Timelapse of the Entire Sky

NASA’s Near-Earth Object Wide Field Infrared Survey Explorer, or NEOWISE, spacecraft captures images in all directions as it circles the Sun. Using all 18 sky maps it has taken thus far, scientists have created what they say is a timelapse movie of the sky that spans more than a decade. [Read More]

This is the last thing a satellite sees before crashing into an asteroid

These are the final two complete images NASA’s DART spacecraft shot before making contact with the asteroid. NASA/Johns Hopkins APL NASA successfully slammed a satellite into an asteroid yesterday, in a first-of-its-kind test of our planetary defense capabilities. Like something out of a blockbuster movie, the objective of the interstellar collision was to see if… Continue reading This is the last thing a satellite sees before crashing into an asteroid

Bling, bling, Webb snaps Neptune’s rarely-seen rings

“Webb’s Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) image of Neptune, taken on July 12, 2022, brings the planet’s rings into full focus for the first time in more than three decades”. Image: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI | Processing: Joseph DePasquale This story originally appeared on Popular Science. When you think of planets with rings, Saturn normally takes the cake… Continue reading Bling, bling, Webb snaps Neptune’s rarely-seen rings

Ephemeral auroras and playful galaxies: these are the Astronomy Photographer of the Year winners

“Back to the spaceship,” runner-up, People & Space category. © Mihail Minkov An aurora dances, illuminating the night sky. The Milky Way stretches across snowy mountain tops. An abstracted view of the sun and moon. These images and more make up the winning cohort for this year’s Astronomy Photographer of the Year awards, which are… Continue reading Ephemeral auroras and playful galaxies: these are the Astronomy Photographer of the Year winners

Dark energy camera snaps a mouthwatering 570-megapixel image of the ‘Lobster Nebula’

“This image, taken by astronomers using the US Department of Energy-fabricated Dark Energy Camera on the Víctor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory, a Program of NSF’s NOIRLab, captures the star-forming nebula NGC 6357, which is located 8000 light-years away in the direction of the constellation Scorpius. This image reveals bright, young… Continue reading Dark energy camera snaps a mouthwatering 570-megapixel image of the ‘Lobster Nebula’

Turn up the heat with these fiery, up-close images of our sun

“The first images of the chromosphere—the area of the Sun’s atmosphere above the surface—taken with the Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope on June 3rd, 2022. The image shows a region 82,500 kilometers across at a resolution of 18 km. This image is taken at 486.13 nanometers using the hydrogen-beta line from the Balmer series”. NSO/AURA/NSF… Continue reading Turn up the heat with these fiery, up-close images of our sun

The Tarantula Nebula will ensnare you in a web of beauty

“In this mosaic image stretching 340 light-years across, Webb’s Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) displays the Tarantula Nebula star-forming region in a new light, including tens of thousands of never-before-seen young stars that were previously shrouded in cosmic dust. The most active region appears to sparkle with massive young stars, appearing pale blue. Scattered among them are… Continue reading The Tarantula Nebula will ensnare you in a web of beauty