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A detailed telescopic photograph of a total lunar eclipse, showing the Moon glowing in rich shades of deep red, orange, and brown — a blood moon. The Moon's surface features are clearly visible, including craters, ray systems, and dark maria regions. A sliver of brighter white-gray light is visible along the upper edge, indicating the Moon is partially outside Earth's umbral shadow.

Observing, The Moon, Upcoming Events

How to see Thursday’s lunar eclipse

Astrophotography, Telescopes and Equipment

ZWO unveils the Seestar S50 Pro

Robotic Spaceflight, Science

LINK to meet with Swift, but won’t boost

An ESA artist's illustration showing the JUICE spacecraft performing a gravitational slingshot maneuver around Earth. The spacecraft, with its distinctive cross-shaped solar panels, is shown close to Earth with a bright green line tracing its curved orbital trajectory looping around the planet. Earth is shown from space with North and South America visible beneath cloud cover.

Space Exploration

How do slingshot maneuvers work to propel spacecraft?

Picture of the Day

A softly glowing blue-white spiral galaxy sits centered in the frame, its curved arms wrapped tightly around a bright core. Pink patches are scattered along the arms where they wind outward. The background is filled with countless faint stars, with a few brighter, colorful ones scattered nearby.

Ten supernovae and counting

Tony Hallas from Foresthill, California

The Fireworks Galaxy (NGC 6946), a face-on spiral about 25 million light-years away straddling Cepheus and Cygnus, has produced ten known supernovae since 1917 — the highest rate of any galaxy on record. The imager gathered data in HαRGB filters over four nights with a 14-inch reflector and a Player One Zeus camera.

In the Sky

A sky chart showing the southwestern sky on August 26, 2026, at 10 P.M. Barnard's Star is highlighted with a circular marker near the top center, with the nearby star Cebalrai labeled just below it. The red supergiant Antares glows orange in the lower right. The sky is deep blue-black, fading to a slightly lighter tone near the dark treeline silhouette along the bottom.

The Sky Today on Wednesday, August 26: Catch Barnard’s star

What’s Launching This Week

What’s Launching This Week

NASA’s Roman Space Telescope takes flight and Starlink endures

Today in the History of Astronomy

A medium shot shows a man in a dark suit leaning down with both hands resting gently on the shoulders of an elderly woman seated in the center foreground. The smiling woman wears a dark jacket, a bright orange shirt, and a gold medal around her neck attached to a blue ribbon, looking up toward the man. Other seated guests surround them against a cream-colored background, all under bright interior lighting that creates sharp detail throughout the frame.

Human Spaceflight, Today in the History of Astronomy

Aug. 26, 1918: The birth of Katherine Johnson

More News

Astrophotography, Telescopes and Equipment

ZWO unveils the Seestar S50 Pro

JWST shows astronomers how to make a comet

Astrophotography, Telescopes and Equipment

Celestron’s NexImage 20 makes planetary imaging affordable and fun

Astrophotography

Geminid melodies

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