In April 2019, the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) collaboration made history when it released the first-ever image of a black hole. The image captured the glow of the accretion disk surrounding the supermassive black hole (SMBH) at the center of the M87 galaxy, located 54 million light-years away. Because of its appearance, the disk that encircles … Read more
A NASA spacecraft is about to give astronomers an epic early Christmas present with the closest ever flyby of the sun on Dec. 24, but if you’re wondering exactly when the ambitious solar encounter will occur, don’t worry. We’ve got you covered. The NASA spacecraft, called the Parker Solar Probe, is on course for what … Read more
Space2Sea Antarctica marks the inaugural voyage in a series produced by FUTURE of SPACE (FoS). This innovative journey blends Earth’s uncharted territories with the inspiring narrative of human curiosity and exploration. It encapsulates the core mission of FoS to: Embrace New Frontiers, Celebrate the Human Experience, and Elevate the Conversation. Student journalist Gabe Castro-Root of … Read more
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Amrinderjit Singh in Kyrgyzstan captured this image on June 7, 2024. Amrinderjit wrote: “While I was at Issyk-Kul Lake, I captured a nice refraction of the lake in the ball. Issy-Kul is a massive salt-water lake: 113 miles (182 km) long, 36 miles (58 km) wide and 2,303 feet … Read more
Mercury will reach its farthest angular distance from the sun at 3 UTC on December 25, 2024 (9 p.m. CST on December 24). Then it’ll be 22 degrees from the sunrise. No matter where you are on Earth, look east before sunrise to see Mercury now. The red star Antares will be nearby. Chart via … Read more
The following article was written by Tom Robinson, collectSPACE.com contributor. When NASA’s Apollo spacecraft launched to the moon, it had on board two briefcase-size computers that for their day would normally have required enough floor space to fill a couple of rooms. The compact devices were small, but had enough processing power and memory to … Read more
The European Space Agency (ESA) has announced its 2025 calendar, featuring the best images from the Hubble and Webb telescopes from the past year. And it’s free for you to download! Via ESA/Hubble, ESA/Webb. Reposted from ESA. ESA announces free Hubble and Webb 2025 calendar To celebrate another year of exciting images and discoveries from … Read more
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Abhijit Patil in Big Sur, California, captured Comet A3 near the Milky Way on October 22, 2024. Thanks, Abhijit! The comet was one of our top 10 stories of 2024. See the full list below. Top 10 stories of 2024 2024 was a fantastic year for observers: many of … Read more
Spend Christmas with Comet A3 thanks to the Virtual Telescope Project. Watch live as the comet departs our neighborhood. Image via Virtual Telescope Project. The 2025 EarthSky Lunar Calendar is now available! A unique and beautiful poster-sized calendar. Get yours today! A goodbye glimpse of Comet A3 Comet A3 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS made a great evening appearance … Read more
Through the Artemis Program, NASA will send the first astronauts to the Moon since the Apollo Era before 2030. They will be joined by multiple space agencies, like the ESA and China, who plan to send astronauts (and “taikonauts”) there for the first time. Beyond this, all plan to build permanent habitats in the South … Read more