Informing, entertaining, and inspiring people who are interested in the science and hobby of astronomy.
Our tiny corner of the cosmos
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Sky Today: October 21
The Orionid meteor shower peaks today, offering a good chunk of Moon-free observing in the hours before dawn.
Image Credit: Astronomy: Roen Kelly
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Colorful outflows from young protostars in Orion the Hunter plunge into the thick dust of a molecular cloud in this new infrared image. vist.ly/5p8vw
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Today in the history of astronomy, a mission to the understudied planet Mercury kicks off. vist.ly/5p6pp
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Sky Today: October 20
The biggest galaxy in the Deer Lick Group, galaxy NGC 7331 has lots to offer through a telescope, so track it down tonight.
Image Credit: Eduardo Martinez (Flickr, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)
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Here's what's launching Oct. 19–25: JAXA launches its Martian Moons eXploration mission from Tanegashima, Rocket Lab returns to New Zealand, and China lines up four launches amid a busy week for SpaceX.
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Today in the history of astronomy, we meet our first interstellar visitor. vist.ly/5n2th
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Sky Today: October 19
The Southern Fish is home to the bright luminary Fomalhaut, a lovely young star that shines brightly in the evening sky.
Image Credit: Stellarium/USGS/Celestia/Clementine
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Astronomers can use lensing to learn about everything from the makeup of the universe to the nature of extrasolar planets. vist.ly/5nwjn
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Sky Today: October 18
Saturn’s small moon Tethys makes another transit across the disk along with its shadow; several other moons are observable as well.
Image Credit: Alison Klesman (via TheSkyX)
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Integrity served as a deep-space testbed for technology that could aid cancer patients, serve remote clinics, and supercharge the internet. vist.ly/5nv6u
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Proposals are submitted annually by scientists who wish to use these facilities, and are reviewed by the Telescope Allocation Committee. vist.ly/5ntrx
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Sky Today: October 17
The Wild Duck Cluster is flying through the nighttime sky, a great object to check out during lengthening autumn evenings.
Image Credit: Stephen Rahn (Flickr, CC0 1.0)
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JAXA’s MMX mission will spend three years studying the martian moon before landing to collect soil. vist.ly/5nrjd
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Today in the history of astronomy, 50 years of weather-monitoring kicks off. vist.ly/5npnz
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Sky This Week: October 16 to 23
Meteors streak past the stars as the First Quarter Moon shines and Iapetus reaches superior conjunction in the sky this week
Image credit: Jim Vajda (Flickr, CC BY 2.0)
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Today in the history of astronomy, the NASA/ESA mission to the outer solar system lifts off. vist.ly/5njma
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Astronomers suspect NGC 3137 and its large spiral neighbor, NGC 3175, mimic the Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies in our Local Group.
Image credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, D. Thilker and the PHANGS-HST Team
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Sky Today: October 15
This unique pair of craters was created by just one impactor that skipped along the lunar surface, leaving a cometlike tail of ejecta.
Image Credit: Consolidated Lunar Atlas/UA/LPL
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Sky Today: October 14
Two jovian moons cross each other’s paths from our point of view, appearing to merge in the telescope eyepiece.
Image Credit: Stellarium/James Hastings-Trew/NASA Cassini/Oleg Pluton/John van Vliet/PDS (CC-BY-SA)
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Astronomers can use lensing to learn about everything from the makeup of the universe to the nature of extrasolar planets. vist.ly/5na47
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