What to see in the sky this week + cosmic discoveries.
This week’s skywatching highlights include Saturn at opposition, a rare lunar occultation of Jupiter, and the peak of the Orionid meteor shower. In cosmic news, astronomers have potentially identified a "second-generation" planet orbiting a white dwarf, while another team detected the most distant fast radio burst ever recorded.
Saturn reaches opposition this month—its best viewing time of the year—while the Orionids meteor shower peaks in mid-October. Astronomers also report a potential habitable-zone planet around an unusually hot star, marking a significant discovery in exoplanet science.
This week features International Astronomy Day celebrations on September 19, offering a prime opportunity for stargazers to observe the "zodiacal night" phenomenon. Meanwhile, major skywatching highlights include the peak of the September Perseid meteor shower and optimal viewing conditions for Neptune, Mars, and Jupiter.
September’s night sky offers a spectacular lineup featuring a rare five-planet alignment, the return of aurora season, and the peak of the Chi Cygnid meteor shower. Meanwhile, new astronomical analysis of over 1,700 supernovae is challenging the long-held consensus on the universe's accelerating expansion.
This week, astronomers confirmed that rocky planets could have formed as early as 100 million years after the Big Bang, reshaping our understanding of early cosmic evolution. Meanwhile, the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope has successfully separated from its launch vehicle, marking a major milestone for the upcoming infrared survey mission.
The Roman Space Telescope successfully launched on August 30, 2026, carrying a 2.4-meter mirror to map one billion galaxies. In the night sky, Saturn is currently in its best viewing position for the year, while the Aurigids meteor shower peaks on August 31. Astronomers are also closing in on the confirmation of the first "starless" galaxy, a dark matter-rich object with virtually no stars.
The James Webb Space Telescope has revealed that the universe's first galaxies are significantly more massive than previously believed due to a population of faint "hidden stars." Meanwhile, Earth observers can currently enjoy a bright Venus in the evening sky and high rates of Perseid meteors, while NASA's Perseverance rover captured a unique Martian solar eclipse. <!-- /headline --> Early Galaxies Are Much Bigger Than We Knew <!-- /headline -->
This week’s skywatching highlights included the Perseid meteor shower, a six-planet alignment, and the August 12 solar eclipse. In astronomy news, a distant “black hole star” is providing a possible explanation for the James Webb Space Telescope’s mysterious little red dots.
July brings the best stargazing of the year with two simultaneous meteor showers, visible planets in both morning and evening skies, and Saturn's rings at a new viewing angle. Meanwhile, astronomers continue unveiling cosmic mysteries: a new stellar activity catalog could revolutionize the search for habitable worlds, and rapid observations of gamma-ray bursts are opening new windows into the universe's most violent explosions.
Venus and Jupiter are making a spectacular appearance in June's evening sky, approaching a close conjunction visible through binoculars. The new moon this week enhances visibility of the Milky Way core's brightest stars, making for excellent deep-sky viewing conditions across the Northern Hemisphere as summer begins.
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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