EarthSky
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Updates on your cosmos and world.
Heads up, skywatchers! In 2026, the #Perseid #meteor shower peaks on the mornings of August 12 and 13. And moonless skies will make for an especially spectacular shower! Join EarthSky founder Deborah Byrd in today's livestream at noon CDT. #astronomy 🌠 buff.ly/n2XNqE8 📸 EarthSky.org.
A nail-biter! 14 years ago today, #NASA achieved one of the most challenging feats in planetary exploration: landing the #Curiosity rover on #Mars. No ordinary spacecraft, this 1-ton (900 kg) mobile laboratory required a completely new landing system: buff.ly/xpUs2Bw 📸 NASA/ JPL-Caltech.
Neptune's inner #moons are kind of ... odd, different from all other known solar system bodies. They may have formed from the remains of earlier moons, destroyed after #Neptune captured its giant moon #Triton. Find out more: buff.ly/Sq63zar 📸 NASA/ ESA/ CSA/ STScI/ J. DePasquale/ N. Rowe-Gurney.
Why did the Spokane #wildfires become so catastrophic? 🔥 Over the weekend, 3 large wildfires raced through neighborhoods in and around #Spokane, Washington. They destroyed more than 600 homes and other structures and thousands of people were forced to evacuate. buff.ly/x1fZWl9 📸 ELG21/ Pixabay.
Did you know there might be dinosaur #fossils on the #moon? 🌙🦖 That’s just one of the 9 mind-blowing #space mysteries and wonders we’ve got for you today. Discover them all here: buff.ly/RZ9uP8K Which one surprised you the most? Let us know in the comments! 📸 Igor Cibulsky/ Pexels.
Hello! 🪲 Sheryl R Garrison in Southern Alberta, Canada, saw this little milkweed #beetle last Tuesday, feeding on milkweed seeds and plant sap. Thank you, Sheryl! #insects 📸 buff.ly/aywUOo2 See more great photos, and submit yours, at EarthSky Community Photos: buff.ly/ScKGmhA
#EarthSky isn't powered by billionaires. We’re powered by you. Support EarthSky’s 2026 Donation Campaign and help keep #science accessible. Thank you! 🌎🌌🔭 Donate here: buff.ly/SLiKEqw Or if you can't donate, please share!
Look up! 👀 Tomorrow morning, the 3rd quarter #moon will lie between the ringed planet #Saturn and the delicate #Pleiades star cluster. 🌗🌌 buff.ly/Tj691Wa For more sky events, visit EarthSky's night sky guide: buff.ly/wgSdi73 📹 EarthSky.org.
Venus has #rings!? 😲 A group of Dutch astrophysicists has discovered giant rings on #Venus, but they’re not solid like Saturn’s. Instead, they’re circular bands in Venus’ upper atmosphere that wrap around the planet. Why didn’t we see them before? buff.ly/FjMsj3v 📸 Gourav Mahapatra/ TPSJ.
Heads up, a #rocket will hit the #moon tonight! 🚀🌕 The upper stage of a #SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is going to hit the moon at 1:35 a.m. CDT (6:35 UTC). Who can see the strike? Find out more here: buff.ly/RpvfRxg 📸 Image via Bill Gray. Used with permission.
Beautiful! Ernest Jacobs in Eden, New York, captured this view of the #WesternVeil (or #WitchsBroom) and #FlemingsTriangularWisp in late July. Thank you, Ernest! #astronomy 🌌📸 buff.ly/t8snCZI See more great photos, and submit yours, at EarthSky Community Photos: buff.ly/ScKGmhA
Cecille Kennedy in Corvallis, Oregon, sent us this photo of a lovely #lotus flower last Wednesday. Thank you, Cecille! 🌼📸 buff.ly/hoDSKiM See more great photos, and submit yours, at EarthSky Community Photos: buff.ly/ScKGmhA
Guess the #animal! It has a long neck and lives in Africa ... but it's not a #giraffe! Meet the giraffe #weevil, a tiny #insect with an incredibly long neck that can comfortably fit on the tip of your finger. Find out more in this video or read the full article here: buff.ly/jwjWar1 📹 EarthSky.
The #sun put on a spectacular show last night. 🌞✨ A solar storm triggered beautiful #auroras across northern skies, delighting skywatchers in high-latitude regions. Read today's sun news and be ready for the next aurora. 🌌 buff.ly/psrnJek 📸 This is what an aurora looks like from space. NASA.
Your support = more #science, more stars, more wonder. Donate to #EarthSky and be part of something bigger. Thank you! 🌎🌌🔭 Donate here: buff.ly/SLiKEqw Or if you can't donate, please share!
Our friend Peter Lowenstein in Mutare, Zimbabwe, posted last week's full Buck #Moon on the EarthSky community page. Thank you, Peter! See Peter's time-lapse here: buff.ly/yE7gID5 Have a photo of your own to share? Submit it to us here! buff.ly/SlEv9ZB
Remember Tabby’s Star? It baffled astronomers in 2015 with its mysterious dips in brightness. A team of astronomers say they've found evidence of what the phenomenon may be. Read more at: buff.ly/MOMEMbi 📸 NASA/ JPL-Caltech.
Join EarthSky's Marcy Curran for your skywatching best bets for the week of August 3. Saturn is rising late at night and is visible through dawn. The moon visits Saturn early in the week and then passes by the famous Pleiades star cluster around August 7. Read more at: buff.ly/8lCLIRB 📸 NASA.
Join EarthSky's Marcy Curran in a video preview of the moon phases - and planetary alignments - for the month of August 2026. See what's in store! Watch at: buff.ly/63m2dRZ
The #Andromeda Galaxy is the nearest large spiral galaxy to our Milky Way. It has more stars: maybe a trillion, many more than the Milky Way's 100 to 400 billion.And it’s the most distant object you can see with the unaided eye. Find out how to spot it: buff.ly/WK8lG1z
Born in August? Then you've got a choice of 3 #birthstones: crystalline green #peridot; vibrant and colorful #spinel; or striped #sardonyx. Read more and see pics of your August birthstones here: buff.ly/83vyfNL 📸 Rob Lavinsky/ Wikipedia.
Look for the waning #moon close to Saturn late tonight and tomorrow night. They’ll be visible through dawn. Know sky events in advance - visit EarthSky’s night sky guide at: buff.ly/wgSdi73
Peculiar #asteroid Nysa shows its true shape in new observations This denizen of the asteroid belt appears to be 3 bodies stuck together! Plus it may have a tiny moon. Find out more and see this lumpy asteroid spinning in space: buff.ly/mAZS1K0 📸 Lowell Observatory.
A fast coronal mass ejection - a chunk of solar material - launched from the #sun on July 30 is bearing down on Earth. #Auroras could dance across the skies from Edinburgh and Seattle to Toronto, Chicago, and possibly London and New York. Read the sun news at: buff.ly/psrnJek 📸 NASA/ SVS.
Judy Boyle in Whitehall, Montana captured this image of sun-lit #mammatus clouds with thunderstorms in the distance. Thank you, Judy! buff.ly/drpuNw6 Have a photo of your own to share? Submit it to us here! buff.ly/SlEv9ZB
Mario Rana in Hampton, Virginia, captured this telescopic image of #Saturn on July 14. Mario wrote: "Saturn on a morning of good seeing." Thank you, Mario! buff.ly/Ym6ExiI Have a photo of your own to share? Submit it to us here! buff.ly/SlEv9ZB
Planet action in the morning sky! See 3 bright planets - #Saturn, #Mars and #Mercury - in the early August morning sky. Ttomorrow, look for Mercury as it appears at its farthest distance from the sun in the predawn sky. Click here for more at EarthSky's night sky guide: buff.ly/wgSdi73
In a big story this week, we got to see the clearest image ever of #Betelgeuse's companion star. It orbits inside Betelgeuse's extended atmosphere! Read about the new image of Betelgeuse’s companion at buff.ly/OnRkd9k Or watch a video, with host EarthSky's Will Triggs. buff.ly/4lFKdC2
A huge chunk of solar stuff is flying toward Earth. It might trigger up to G2 (moderate) geomagnetic storming. Consider yourself alerted, #aurora watchers! And read the #sun news at: buff.ly/psrnJek 📸 NASA M2M.
