EarthSky - Earth, Space, Human World, Tonight

These 2 outbound comets are likely from another solar system

Posted by Deborah Byrd in Space | 12 hours ago

Hyperbolic comets fly through our solar system at high speed before heading out to interstellar space, never to return. A new study from astronomers in Japan identifies 2 hyperbolic comets that likely originated outside our solar system.

Bering Sea Elders discuss recent changes in the Arctic

Posted by Deanna Conners in Earth | Human World | 13 hours ago

For the first time, NOAA’s 2019 Arctic Report Card includes an indigenous perspective of the changes taking place in Arctic ecosystems.

Heads up! Lunar occultation of Mars February 18

Posted by Bruce McClure in Astronomy Essentials | 2 days ago

Thinking of beefing up your stargazing optics? Now would be a good time. Given clear skies, all of the U.S. (except Alaska and Hawaii) can watch the red planet Mars disappear behind the moon – or reappear, or both – about a month from now, on the morning of February 18, 2020.

Watch ISS spacewalk January 20

Posted by Eleanor Imster in Human World | Space | 2 days ago

Two astronauts will exit the International Space Station (ISS) on Monday for the 2nd of 3 spacewalks scheduled in January.

A new way to detect oxygen in exoplanet atmospheres

Posted by Paul Scott Anderson in Space | 2 days ago

In recent years, astronomers have pondered the search for biosignatures, or signs of life, in the atmospheres of distant exoplanets. Will the James Webb Space Telescope – due to launch in 2021 – be able to detect them? A new technique says yes.

Did phosphorus-rich lakes help kickstart life on Earth?

Posted by Paul Scott Anderson in Earth | 3 days ago

The building blocks of life as we know it require chemical reactions involving phosphorus. But phosphorus is scarce on Earth. Where did enough of it come from to fuel life’s start? Carbonate-rich lakes, like Mono Lake in California, might hold a clue.

Could invisible aliens exist among us?

Posted by Eleanor Imster in Earth | Human World | 4 days ago

The Earth might be crawling with undiscovered alien creatures whose biochemistry is very different from life as we know it. An astrobiologist explains.

2019 was Earth’s 2nd-hottest year on record

Posted by Eleanor Imster in Earth | Human World | 4 days ago

According to independent analyses by both NASA and NOAA, Earth’s global surface temperatures in 2019 ranked 2nd-warmest since 1880.

2010 to 2019 was the hottest decade on record

Posted by EarthSky in Earth | Human World | 4 days ago

According to the UK’s Met Office, each decade from the 1980s has been successively warmer than all the decades that came before. 2019 concludes the warmest ‘cardinal’ decade (those spanning years ending 0-9) in records that stretch back to the mid-19th century.

Tonight

Today's Image

Tonight

See moon, Mars, Antares - and maybe Jupiter - before sunrise

See moon, Mars, Antares - and maybe Jupiter - before sunrise

Look for Cassiopeia and the Big Dipper

Moon and Spica from late night to dawn

See the Unicorn on dark January nights

Space

It's probably nothing: Gravitational wave burst detected near Betelgeuse

These 2 outbound comets are likely from another solar system

Watch ISS spacewalk January 20

A new way to detect oxygen in exoplanet atmospheres

How far is Betelgeuse?

It's probably nothing: Gravitational wave burst detected near Betelgeuse

Meet 2020 AV2, the 1st asteroid entirely within the orbit of Venus

Crab Nebula: Visualize an exploded star

Rippling ice and storms at Mars’ north pole

Astro Essentials

How far is Betelgeuse?

Heads up! Lunar occultation of Mars February 18

How far is Betelgeuse?

What's a penumbral eclipse of the moon?

What is an eclipse season?

Earth

2010 to 2019 was the hottest decade on record

Bering Sea Elders discuss recent changes in the Arctic

Did phosphorus-rich lakes help kickstart life on Earth?

Could invisible aliens exist among us?

2019 was Earth’s 2nd-hottest year on record

2010 to 2019 was the hottest decade on record

$1 billion weather/climate disasters: 14 for US in 2019

Tyrannosaurus rex: the teen years

Mexico's Popocatépetl volcano had a spectacular eruption this week

Human World

Human evolution: 20 years of discoveries

Bering Sea Elders discuss recent changes in the Arctic

Watch ISS spacewalk January 20

Could invisible aliens exist among us?

2019 was Earth’s 2nd-hottest year on record

Videos

Team builds the 1st living robots

Bering Sea Elders discuss recent changes in the Arctic

2019 was Earth’s 2nd-hottest year on record

Team builds the 1st living robots

Crab Nebula: Visualize an exploded star

New Hubble view of gigantic galaxy

Mexico's Popocatépetl volcano had a spectacular eruption this week

New view of Milky Way’s center

An ancient starburst in the Milky Way's center