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A telescopic photograph of NGC 6709, an open star cluster set against a dense, star-filled black sky. The cluster's members are scattered loosely across the frame, with a mix of bright blue-white stars and fainter orange and yellow background stars, and two noticeably brighter stars near the left-center of the cluster.

The Sky Today on Saturday, August 1: Open cluster NGC 6709

A side-by-side pair of lunar eclipse images. On the left, a total solar eclipse shows the Moon as a black disc surrounded by the Sun's white corona, with several pink solar prominences visible along the edge. On the right, a total lunar eclipse shows the Moon glowing in deep red and orange hues — a "blood moon" — with a bright sliver of normal white moonlight still visible along the upper right edge.

August 2026: What’s in the sky this month?

A twilight photograph taken along a narrow urban canal, with rows of silhouetted terraced buildings lining both sides and their lit windows glowing warm orange. Venus shines as a bright point of light in the deep blue evening sky above the center of the scene. A string of red pathway lights and a bright white light reflect off the still water of the canal below.

August 2026: What’s in the Southern Hemisphere sky this month?

A simulated predawn sky looking east on July 31, 2026, one hour before sunrise. Mars shines as a bright orange point near the top center of the frame, with Betelgeuse glowing warmly to the right. Mercury appears as a bright dot low in the sky above the dark, silhouetted treeline, and the sky fades from deep blue at the top to a warm amber glow near the horizon.

The Sky Today on Friday, July 31: Mercury brightening

A sky chart showing the eastern sky on August 2, 2026, one hour before sunrise. Mars glows as a warm orange point in the upper center of the image. The twin stars Castor and Pollux are visible in the middle left, Mercury shines brightly just above the horizon in the lower center, and the red supergiant star Betelgeuse is visible to the right. The sky fades from deep blue above to a warm twilight glow near the treeline silhouette.

Sky This Week, The Sky This Week

The Sky This Week from July 31 to August 7: Mercury stands west of the Sun

A wide-angle night sky photograph showing a lone meteor streaking diagonally across the upper portion of the frame against a deep blue, star-filled sky. The Pleiades star cluster is visible as a tight grouping of blue-white stars in the upper right. The foreground is a dark silhouette of rolling hills and trees, with a faint green glow of airglow near the horizon.

The Sky Today on Thursday, July 30: Meteors may shine

Observe the deep sky in Ara

Spend some time in Auriga

Deep-Sky Objects

Wander the Queen’s starry court

Astrophotography

Reader Gallery July 2026

A detailed rendering of a nearly full Moon against a black background. The lunar surface is sharply rendered, showing the contrast between the bright highland regions and the darker maria, with prominent crater ray systems and numerous impact craters visible across the disk.

The Sky Today on Wednesday, July 29: July’s Full Buck Moon rises

Deep-Sky Objects, Observing

Hidden wonders of the universe