EarthSky | Updates on your cosmos and world

Scientists extract ancient air from rock-salt time capsule

January 4, 2026

Sun news: Fast solar wind continues, solar blob coming

Sun news January 4, 2026: Auroras might brighten high-latitude skies as fast solar wind and a CME push geomagnetic conditions toward storm levels on January 4.

C. Alex Young

January 4, 2026

Earth

Human World

January birthstone: The colorful garnet

Garnets, the beautiful January birthstone, are often thought to be red gemstones. But they also come in yellow, green, orange, brown and black.

Editors of EarthSky

January 4, 2026

Astronomy Essentials

Tonight

Visible planets and night sky guide for January

Visible planets and night sky guide. See the gibbous moon and Jupiter tonight near Gemini's twin stars and bright Procyon, the Little Dog Star.

January 4, 2026

Venus superior conjunction: Venus aligns with the sun January 6

The moment of the Venus superior conjunction - passing behind or or almost behind the sun as viewed from Earth - in 2026 is on January 6.

Marcy Curran

January 4, 2026

Space

Atmosphere on lava planet is an exciting surprise

Astronomers have found evidence for a thick atmosphere on lava planet TOI-561 b. It's a broiling hot super-Earth world 560 light-years from Earth.

Paul Scott Anderson

January 2, 2026

Today's Image

See the best deep-sky photos of December 2025 here

Enjoy this gallery of deep-sky photos for December 2025 from our EarthSky community. If you have a great photo to share, send it in, too. We love to see them!

Armando Caussade

January 2, 2026

Space

Bright blue cosmic outbursts linked to black holes

Astronomers studying one of the strongest bright blue cosmic outbursts believe they occur in a binary star system where a black hole tears its companion apart.

EarthSky Voices

January 2, 2026

Astronomy Essentials

Are the December solstice and January perihelion related?

December solstice 2025 occurred on December 21. Earth will be closest to the sun about 2 weeks later, on January 3. Coincidence?

Deborah Byrd

January 2, 2026

Tonight

Best stargazing of 2026: Top events not to miss

Here's the best stargazing of 2026! Read about the top celestial events not to miss in the coming year, and mark them on your calendar.

Editors of EarthSky

January 1, 2026

Space

Are Uranus and Neptune rock giants and not ice giants?

Are Uranus and Neptune really ice giants as scientists have long thought? A new study suggests they might be much more rocky instead of icy on the inside.

Paul Scott Anderson

January 1, 2026