EarthSky - Earth, Space, Human World, Tonight

Now scheduled for Wednesday: Mars helicopter’s 1st flight is delayed

Posted by Lia Rovira in Space | 20 mins ago

If successful, the Mars helicopter Ingenuity’s upcoming flight will be the first powered, guided flight on another planet. The earliest test flight is now scheduled for Wednesday, April 14.

Egyptologists unearth a 3,000-year-old ‘lost golden city’

Posted by Deborah Byrd in Human World | 1 day ago

The long-sought “lost golden city” of Aten has been found near Luxor, Egypt, in the Valley of Kings. “The mission expects to uncover untouched tombs filled with treasures,” the scientists said.

Beta Centauri is a Southern Pointer Star

Posted by Larry Sessions and Shireen Gonzaga in Astronomy Essentials | Brightest Stars | 1 day ago

Beta Centauri isn’t as famous as Alpha Centauri, but together, these brilliant Southern Hemisphere stars have inspired legends and guided mariners.

The closest extragalactic fast radio burst yet?

Posted by Theresa Wiegert in Space | 2 days ago

Astronomers detected a new, nearby, repeating fast radio burst, originating from a spot near the great spiral galaxy M81.

5 ways fish are like you and me

Posted by EarthSky Voices in Earth | Human World | 2 days ago

Fish are more like humans than you might realize.

Guatemala’s Pacaya volcano still erupting

Posted by Eleanor Imster in Earth | 3 days ago

The Pacaya volcano in Guatemala is still erupting, spewing rivers of lava and ash clouds. See photos, video, and satellite images.

Alpha Centauri, star system closest to our sun

Posted by Larry Sessions and Shireen Gonzaga in Brightest Stars | 3 days ago

Our closest stellar neighbors are the 3 stars that make up the Alpha Centauri system. They lie just over 4 light-years – about 25 trillion miles or 38 trillion km – away.

Juno finds a new auroral feature on Jupiter

Posted by Kelly Kizer Whitt in Space | 3 days ago

NASA’s Juno spacecraft – whose mission in orbit around Jupiter was recently extended to 2025 – has been used to discover a rapidly expanding auroral ring at the very fringes of the Jovian magnetosphere.

Scientists detect X-rays from Uranus

Posted by Paul Scott Anderson in Space | 3 days ago

For the first time, scientists have detected X-rays being emitted by the planet Uranus. The discovery was made by a new analysis of data from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory.

The Coma Cluster contains thousands of galaxies

Posted by Larry Sessions in Astronomy Essentials | Clusters Nebulae Galaxies | 3 days ago

Myriads of galaxies, visible only to those with medium-to-large telescopes, shine among the stars in the “Realm of the Galaxies.” Study of the Coma Cluster of galaxies aided in the discovery of dark matter.

International Dark Sky Week is April 5 to 12

Posted by Kelly Kizer Whitt in Astronomy Essentials | Human World | 4 days ago

Celebrate dark night skies and help limit light pollution by raising awareness through the annual International Dark Sky Week, April 5 to 12, 2021. Find links to global events here.

Newly-discovered dino named the ‘one who causes fear’

Posted by Eleanor Imster in Earth | 4 days ago

Around 80 million years ago, as tyrannosaurs ruled the Northern Hemisphere, Llukalkan aliocranianus – or the ‘one who causes fear’ – flourished in the southern continents.

An image of a piece of the cosmic web

Posted by Deborah Byrd in Space | 5 days ago

An international team of astronomers has mapped a piece of the cosmic web without using bright quasars for the first time. They did it by turning a powerful instrument to a single region of the sky for hundreds of hours.

Tonight

Today's Image

Tonight

Star-hop to the Coma star cluster

Star-hop to the Coma star cluster

Beta Centauri is a Southern Pointer Star

Leo loses his tail. We gain a constellation

Use the Big Dipper to find the Little Dipper

Space

Juno finds a new auroral feature on Jupiter

Now scheduled for Wednesday: Mars helicopter's 1st flight is delayed

The closest extragalactic fast radio burst yet?

Juno finds a new auroral feature on Jupiter

Scientists detect X-rays from Uranus

An image of a piece of the cosmic web

Is the Hyades star cluster being destroyed?

Interstellar visitor Borisov could be 1st truly pristine comet yet seen

A new Goldilocks black hole

Astro Essentials

The Coma Cluster contains thousands of galaxies

Beta Centauri is a Southern Pointer Star

The Coma Cluster contains thousands of galaxies

International Dark Sky Week is April 5 to 12

April 2021 guide to the bright planets

Earth

5 ways fish are like you and me

5 ways fish are like you and me

Guatemala's Pacaya volcano still erupting

Newly-discovered dino named the ‘one who causes fear’

Billions of Brood X cicadas set to emerge in spring 2021

Top 10 new marine species

Did lightning strikes spark life on Earth?

57th anniversary of North America's biggest earthquake

How to make beneficial insects welcome in your garden

Human World

International Dark Sky Week is April 5 to 12

Egyptologists unearth a 3,000-year-old 'lost golden city'

5 ways fish are like you and me

International Dark Sky Week is April 5 to 12

Awaiting the next historic solar storm

Videos

Scientists detect X-rays from Uranus

Scientists detect X-rays from Uranus

Interstellar visitor Borisov could be 1st truly pristine comet yet seen

Billions of Brood X cicadas set to emerge in spring 2021

Striking new image of M106

Earth is safe from asteroid Apophis for the next 100 years

Is 'Oumuamua a frozen piece of an exoPluto?

57th anniversary of North America's biggest earthquake

New image of M87's supermassive black hole