What to see in the sky this week + cosmic discoveries.
The James Webb Space Telescope delivered a breathtaking new image of galaxy M77 this week, while the Arietid meteor shower kicks off today for dedicated early-risers. Venus and Jupiter continue to dazzle in the western evening sky, and NASA is hosting a Cosmic Origins Seminar on May 26 for aspiring mission designers.
This week brought a stunning Hubble revelation of a chaotic "Dracula's Chivito" planet-forming disk unlike anything astronomers have seen before, while an AI-assisted survey potentially detected over 10,000 new exoplanets beyond our solar system. Meanwhile, the Whirlpool Galaxy dazzled in a fresh James Webb Space Telescope image, and skywatchers have Mercury near superior conjunction and a crescent Moon dancing near Mars and Saturn in the pre-dawn sky.
May 2026 is shaping up to be one of the most spectacular months for skywatchers, with two full moons, a Halley's Comet-linked meteor shower, and a dazzling Venus–Jupiter conjunction on the horizon. On Star Wars Day (May 4), researchers announced the discovery of 27 potential new circumbinary planets — worlds orbiting two suns like the fictional Tatooine — more than doubling the known catalog. Meanwhile, a powerful new AI tool called RAVEN has combed NASA's TESS data and confirmed over 100 exoplanets, including 31 brand-new worlds.
May arrives with a spectacular sky: Saturn is making its return to easy evening viewing, Venus and Jupiter are heading toward a dazzling conjunction, and the Eta Aquariid meteor shower — fueled by debris from Halley's Comet — is set to peak. On the discovery front, astronomers may have found an entirely new class of cosmic explosion, spotted after gravitational waves led scientists to a fast-fading red glow unlike anything seen before.
This week's skies offer a chance to catch Comet C/2025 R3 as it makes its closest approach to Earth on April 27, while Venus and Jupiter continue to shine brilliantly in the evening sky. Astronomers have mapped the definitive edge of the Milky Way's star-forming disk, and the Hubble Space Telescope has treated us to a stunning fresh look at the Trifid Nebula. Near the galactic center, scientists have also spotted a tantalizing signal that may be an ultra-fast pulsar spinning near Sagittarius A*.
This week's night sky offers a triple treat: a stunning Moon–Venus–Pleiades conjunction visible tonight (April 18–19), followed by the peak of the Lyrid meteor shower on April 21–22. Meanwhile, scientists have confirmed a fascinating exoplanet 320 light-years away that mirrors its host star's chemical composition, validating a core assumption about planetary formation.
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