Astronomy

Latest about Astronomy

What is the moon phase today? Lunar phases 2026

By Tariq Malik, Daisy Dobrijevic last updated

Reference See what moon phase it is tonight and find out when you can see the rest of the moon phases for 2026.

Reference
Protoplanetary disks seen by ALMA as part of the ARKS project

Astronomers discover the 'growing pains' of teenage exoplanets

By Robert Lea published

"We've often seen the 'baby pictures' of planets forming, but until now, the 'teenage years' have been a missing link."

Exoplanets
An illustration of dwarf planet Haumea, its two moons and a narrow ring of rocky particles.

From Pluto to Ceres: A dwarf planet word search

By Kenna Hughes-Castleberry published

Hunt for the names of mysterious dwarf planets, most of which orbit on the fringes of our solar system

Dwarf Planets
An illustration shows a direct collapse black hole forming at the heart of a Little Red Dot

Are mysterious 'Little Red Dots' discovered by the James Webb Space Telescope actually nurseries for direct-collapse black holes?

By Robert Lea published

"It is exciting to think that Little Red Dots may represent the first direct observational evidence of the birth of the most massive black holes in the universe."

Black Holes
An artist's impression of an asteroid fragmenting into multiple chunks. The chunks come from a glowing light to the left of the image

Venus may get a huge meteor shower this July, thanks to a long-ago asteroid breakup

By Keith Cooper published

This coming July, Venus could plow through the dust generated by an asteroid breakup thousands of years ago, potentially sparking an impressive meteor shower.

Venus
A close up of the sun with a solar flare present on the right of the solar disk.

Magnetic avalanches on the sun reveal the hidden engine powering solar flares

By Keith Cooper published

"This is one of the most exciting results from Solar Orbiter so far."

The Sun
A new experiment created the pressure experienced at the core of an alien world more than three times larger than Earth — a super-Earth — to investigate what happens to materials in its depths.

Super-Earth exoplanets may have built-in magnetic protection from churning magma — and that's good news for life

By Sharmila Kuthunur published

"A strong magnetic field is very important for life on a planet."

Exoplanets
Glowing swirls of purple and orange gas mix with bright twinkly stars against a dark deep space background

James Webb Space Telescope sees comet-seeding crystals flowing far from newborn star (photo)

By Samantha Mathewson published

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has spotted a young star flinging heat-formed crystals outward on a cosmic conveyor belt, offering a new clue to how comets evolve.

James Webb Space Telescope
A glowing panorama shows jagged shapes of blue and purple of the Milky Way in a green and yellow night sky. Below are metal domed buildings with a barren landscape around them

Milky Way shines over Gemini South Observatory | Space photo of the day for Jan. 26, 2025

By Kenna Hughes-Castleberry published

Sometimes astronomers don't need giant telescopes to observe the wonders of the cosmos; they just need to look up at the night sky.

Astronomy
A rendering of a lunar lander of the European Space Agency’s Argonaut program, which has its first mission to the moon scheduled for 2030. Methane released from spacecraft like these could contaminate icy regions of the moon’s poles that might harbor clues about the origins of life on Earth.

Moon landings could contaminate evidence about life's beginnings on Earth. Here's how

By Sharmila Kuthunur published

Exhaust from lunar landers drifts across the moon and contaminates ultra-cold polar craters that are rich in ancient ice and organic clues, a new study reports.

The moon
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