News from Astronomy

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Astrophotography

How gravitational waves transformed our universe

$A Hubble Space Telescope image of Sirius A, the brightest star in the night sky, appearing as an intensely bright white-blue point of light with four prominent diffraction spikes extending diagonally across the dark blue background. Sirius B, its much fainter white dwarf companion, is visible as a small distinct point of light in the lower left of the frame.$

Observing, Science, Stars

Which naked-eye star is richest in metals?

A photograph of a total solar eclipse capturing the diamond ring effect, where a single brilliant point of sunlight blazes on the right side of the Moon's silhouette just as totality ends, surrounded by the softly glowing white corona. Several pink solar prominences are visible along the Moon's edge, and a warm golden glow fans out around the right side of the disc against a black sky.

Upcoming Events

How to see the August 12 total solar eclipse

A photograph of a total solar eclipse at totality, showing the Moon as a dark disc completely blocking the Sun, surrounded by the softly glowing white solar corona against a black sky. Several small pink solar prominences are visible along the edge of the Moon.

Sky This Week, The Sky This Week

The Sky This Week from August 7 to 14: A solar eclipse and shooting stars

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This artist’s conception illustrates one of the most primitive supermassive black holes known (central black dot) at the core of a young, star-rich galaxy. Astronomers using NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope have uncovered two of these early objects, dating back to about 13 billion years ago. The monstrous black holes are among the most distant known, and appear to be in the very earliest stages of formation, earlier than any observed so far. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech.

Science

Explore the science of space, from the astrophysics of stars to the ultimate fate of the universe.

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Observing

Learn about upcoming observing events such as eclipses, meteor showers, comets, conjunctions, and more.

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This 2016 Curiosity rover selfie shows the vehicle at the “Okoruso” drilling site on Mount Sharp’s Naukluft Plateau. The Martian scene is a mosaic of images taken with the arm-mounted Mars Hands Lens Imager (MAHLI). Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS.

Space Exploration

Human and robotic missions are helping humanity explore our solar system and beyond.

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September 2026

How Artemis 2 brought back Moon joy
Why we need in-orbit refueling to return to the Moon
Artemis’ technology and medicine innovations
How massive star clusters shape their galaxies

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Sky This Week

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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

Sky This Month

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

Observing

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

Picture of the Day

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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.