Sometimes, it's just as exciting to watch a celestial object fade or disappear as it is to see it explode. We celebrate the "return" of a mysterious variable star and prepare for Pluto to occult a star. The post R Coronae Borealis Awakes and Pluto Blocks a Star appeared first on Sky & Telescope. […]

Plan for optimal conditions for the year’s Perseid meteor shower, early in the mornings of August 12th and 13th. The post Catch the Perseid Meteor Shower at Its Peak appeared first on Sky & Telescope. […]

As told in this month's astronomy podcast, August offers excellent viewing conditions for the always-flashy Perseid meteor shower — and a chance to see four bright planets at once. The post Tour August’s Sky: Perseid Time! appeared first on Sky & Telescope. […]

Not only will the Moon will be totally eclipsed this Friday, but Mars will be at opposition and shine in tandem with the red Moon all night! The post Red Moon Meets Red Planet in Longest Total Lunar Eclipse of the Century appeared first on Sky & Telescope. […]

Wonder what to see now that Mars is at its biggest and brightest? Here are expert tips for when, where, and how to look. The post See Mars at Its Best Since 2003 appeared first on Sky & Telescope. […]

A simulation has suggested what astronomers should look for if they search the skies for a direct collapse black hole in its early stages. […]

NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, which began science operations in July, has released its first full frame image using all four of its cameras. […]

An unusual infrared light emission from a nearby neutron star detected by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope could indicate new features never before seen. […]

The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has started a new mission to shed light on the evolution of the earliest galaxies in the Universe. The BUFFALO survey will observe six massive galaxy clusters and their surroundings. The first observations show the galaxy cluster Abell 370 and a host of magnified, gravitationally lensed galaxies around it. […]

FORS2, an instrument mounted on ESO's Very Large Telescope, has observed the spiral galaxy NGC 3981 in all its glory. The image was captured as part of the ESO Cosmic Gems Programme, which makes use of the rare occasions when observing conditions are not suitable for gathering scientific data. […]

An odd-shaped formation of gas and dust at the centre of the Milky Way, captured by the far-infrared cameras on board ESA's Herschel space observatory. The nearly continuous strip of dense and cold clumps of material forms an infinity symbol, or sideways 8, that is a few hundred light years across. In this image, the strip twists around an invisible axis running roughly from the top left to the bottom right. […]

NASA's continued quest to explore our solar system and beyond received a boost of new information this week with three key missions proving not only that they are up and running, but that their science potential is exceptional. On Sept. 17, 2018, TESS—the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite—shared its first science observations. Later in the week, the latest two missions to join NASA's heliophysics fleet returned first light data: Parker Solar Probe, humanity's first mission to […]

Using ESO's Very Large Telescope (VLT), European astronomers have uncovered the presence of an M-dwarf around the star EPIC 206011496. The newly found object is more than 60 percent less massive than our sun and is bounded to the primary star. The finding is reported in a paper published September 10 on arXiv.org. […]

An out-of-this-world mobile observatory, developed in collaboration with Nissan Design Europe in London, UK, was unveiled at the 2018 Hannover Motor Show this week, proving that the sky is never the limit. […]

The completion of NOEMA phase 1, the first phase of the NOEMA project will be officially celebrated this Wednesday, September 19th. IRAM and its partner institutes have completed the first, decisive step towards one of the most important German-French-Spanish initiatives in astronomy: developing the most powerful and most sensitive telescope at millimetre wavelengths in the Northern hemisphere. Four years after the inauguration of the first NOEMA antenna, 10 15-meter dishes currently constitute […]