Astronomy Magazine: Space News, Observing, Planets, Galaxies

Top Stories

How Roman will unlock the universe

Robotic Spaceflight, Science

Roman Space Telescope lifts off

Human Spaceflight, Science

Microbes may make it on the Moon

Astrophotography, Telescopes and Equipment

ZWO unveils the Seestar S50 Pro

Picture of the Day

The aftermath of a solar flare

Mark Johnston from Scottsdale, Arizona

On Aug. 21, 2026, an unusually long-lasting M-class flare erupted from a sunspot group near the Sun’s west limb. As the flare’s stretched magnetic field lines reconnected and relaxed, they filled with hot plasma that cooled and drained along the loops, producing the glowing arcade seen here in Hydrogen-alpha (Hα) light. The imager used a 6.3-inch f/7 refractor with a 4x amplifier feeding a 0.3-angstrom Hα etalon filter, stacking and processing high-speed video captured over 2 hours and 16 minutes into a time-lapse compressed to about 35 seconds.

Click here to view the entire video in full resolution.

In the Sky

A telescopic photograph of M27, the Dumbbell Nebula, showing the planetary nebula's distinctive double-lobed shape glowing in teal-blue with hints of red at the pinched edges, set against a black sky scattered with orange and white foreground stars.

The Sky Today on Friday, September 4: Get in a workout

What’s Launching This Week

What’s Launching This Week

Norway, India, and New Zealand target launches as Starlink continues

Today in the History of Astronomy

A hand-drawn manuscript illustration in red and black ink is set on aged, off-white parchment paper. Red line segments radiate from a circle labeled on the far right toward a larger circular loop on the left, connecting eight smaller circles arranged along its perimeter. Each small circle is partially filled with solid black and red sections to show shaded geometric patterns, accompanied by handwritten Calligraphic text in black ink above and below the diagram.

Today in the History of Astronomy

Sept. 4, 973 C.E.: The birth of al-Biruni

More News

Robotic Spaceflight

Scientists watch as two satellites burn

A sky chart showing the eastern sky on September 6, 2026, one hour before sunrise. The crescent Moon glows brightly near the top center with Mars just below and to its right. Castor and Pollux are labeled in the middle left, Jupiter shines as a bright point in the lower left, Procyon is visible to the right, and Betelgeuse glows orange in the upper right corner. The sky fades from deep blue-black above to a subtle twilight glow near the dark horizon silhouette.

Sky This Week, The Sky This Week

The Sky This Week from September 4 to 11: The Moon joins Jupiter and Mars

A composite photograph showing a lunar analemma — a sequence of Moon images captured at the same time over multiple nights — tracing a graceful figure-eight shaped arc across the night sky above the illuminated skyline of Giza, Egypt, with the three Great Pyramids silhouetted against the city's orange glow. The Moon's phases progress and change in size throughout the sequence, reflecting its varying distance and illumination over the course of the observation period.

Solar System, The Moon

Why doesn’t the moonrise time change by the same amount of time each day?

A pale blue Neptune centered against a dark gray background, showing faint darker banding and a bright wispy cloud feature near its equator.

September 2026: What’s in the sky this month? Neptune reaches opposition with Saturn nearby, and Venus shines after sunset

Astronomy Newsletter

Get newsletters, updates and special offers via email from Astronomy.com!

Product Recommendations

Visit The Space Store

Popular Explorations