Astronomy Magazine: Space News, Observing, Planets, Galaxies

Top Stories

Observing, The Sun

Astronomy readers see a wonderful Spanish eclipse

World’s largest solar telescope reveals the Sun’s hidden texture

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?

AI outgrows Earth

Picture of the Day

Two dark, ornately ribbed domes fill the lower half of the frame, their stone facades and columned arcades catching the last daylight. Above them, a thin crescent Sun glows low on the horizon. Above it, clouds streak across a deep orange and gold sky. In the background, a hazy patchwork of rooftops and trees stretch toward the horizon.

A leaning tower with a view

Marco Meniero, taken from Pisa, Italy

A total solar eclipse crossed Greenland, Iceland, and Spain on Aug. 12, 2026; from Pisa, Italy, only a partial eclipse was visible, reaching about 94 percent obscuration as the Sun set behind the domes of the city’s cathedral complex in Piazza dei Miracoli. The photographer shot the single 0.3-second exposure at f/5 and ISO 80 with a Fujifilm medium-format mirrorless camera and zoom lens at 70mm.

In the Sky

A telescopic simulation of Saturn on August 21, 2026, at 5 A.M. EDT, showing the planet with its rings tilted at a shallow angle against a black background. Four labeled moons are visible: Titan as a large golden point in the upper left, and Dione, Tethys, and Rhea as smaller white points scattered to the left of the planet. A scale bar indicates 30 arcseconds.

The Sky Today on Friday, August 21: Titan nears Saturn as Dione skims past

What’s Launching This Week

What’s Launching This Week

More Starlink satellites and two big launches for China

Today in the History of Astronomy

A vintage black-and-white photograph captures a crowd of adults and children standing gathered outdoors, looking up toward the sky. Most individuals hold small rectangular cards, dark glass plates, or paper up to their eyes to shield their vision. Bright daylight illuminates the figures in the foreground, contrasting against the darker storefront with a large white awning and signage in the background.

Today in the History of Astronomy

Aug. 21, 1914: Total solar eclipse tensions

More News

A photograph of a total lunar eclipse showing the Moon glowing in deep red and crimson hues — a blood moon — against a black sky. The Moon's surface features, including its darker maria regions, are still faintly visible through the red coloration. A thin sliver of brighter bluish-white light is visible along the upper edge, suggesting the Moon is just beginning to exit or enter Earth's umbral shadow.

Sky This Week, The Sky This Week

The Sky This Week from August 21 to 28: Eclipsed Sturgeon Moon

Hubble captures a corner of M20

World’s largest solar telescope reveals the Sun’s hidden texture

A sky chart showing the eastern sky on August 15, 2026, 40 minutes before sunrise. Mercury and Jupiter are shown in very close conjunction near the horizon, appearing as a tight pair of bright points just above the dark treeline silhouette in a warm golden-orange pre-dawn sky. Castor and Pollux are labeled in the upper center, and Procyon is visible to the right.

Sky This Week, The Sky This Week

The Sky This Week from August 14 to 21: Mercury and Jupiter meet

Astronomy Newsletter

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

Product Recommendations

Visit The Space Store

Popular Explorations