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How Roman will unlock the universe

Astrophotography, Telescopes and Equipment

ZWO unveils the Seestar S50 Pro

STARMUS Festival cofounders Sir Brian May and Garik Israelian presented Sir Ridley Scott with the 2026 Stephen Hawking Medal for Science Communication

Why does the Moon turn red during a lunar eclipse?

Picture of the Day

$A large, glowing orange-tan disk — the Sun — fills most of the frame against a black sky. A thin, dark, needle-like silhouette crosses near its left edge, trailing a bright, feathery plume that distorts and refracts the image of the disk, extending below it. A faint dark smudge of clouds sits near the center of the disk, as well as small dark specks of sunspots.s$

A new era dawns for astronomy

Pascal Fouquet, taken from Titusville, Florida

The Falcon Heavy booster carrying NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope aloft transits a rising Sun just after liftoff from Kennedy Space Center on Sunday, Aug. 30, 2026. The photographer captured the moment with a Nikon DSLR and zoom lens at 500mm equipped with a 16.6-stop neutral-density solar filter. The exposure was 1/1250-seconds at f/8 and ISO 320.

In the Sky

A sky chart showing the western sky on August 31, 2026, one hour after sunset. Venus shines brilliantly in the lower center of the image, with the star Spica labeled as a smaller blue-white point just above it. The sky fades from deep blue-black above to a warm brown-orange twilight glow near the dark horizon silhouette.

The Sky Today on Monday, August 31: Venus and Spica gather close

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 black-and-white portrait features a man in a three-piece suit and tie seated in the center frame, resting his chin on his right hand while looking directly forward. Bright studio lighting illuminates his face and light-colored shirt cuffs, creating smooth contrast against his dark jacket and vest. The background consists of soft-focus, vertically striped curtains and a blurred metallic sphere to the left.

Today in the History of Astronomy

Aug. 31, 1913: Birth of Bernard Lovell

More News

Human Spaceflight, Science

Why do astronauts get constipated?

Human Spaceflight

Cast your vote to name Virgin Galactic’s next spaceplane

A panoramic twilight photograph taken along the rocky shore of the Salish Sea, looking west across calm water that mirrors the vivid sunset colors. Venus and Spica are visible as two close points of light in the deep blue sky above the center of the scene. The horizon glows in brilliant bands of orange and yellow, fading upward through purple to deep blue, with silhouetted clouds stretched across the middle sky. A silhouetted house is visible on the left, dark rocky outcroppings frame the foreground, and a distant mountain range is outlined against the orange glow on the right.

Sky This Week, The Sky This Week

The Sky This Week from August 28 to September 4: Venus and Spica meet

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

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