Astronomy Magazine

In 1961, amidst the tensions of the Space Race, NASA made an unpopular choice: Concerned with booster issues during a January test flight with a chimpanzee, the agency chose to run additional tests without human astronauts. Project Mercury, the American push for space success in the face of strong competition from the Soviets, had been Continue reading "May 5, 1961: The first American in space" T…

Looking for a sky event this week? Check out our full Sky This Week column.  May 4: Grogu, there you are! Asteroid 13 Egeria is moving through the constellation Virgo this month, and today is a particularly good opportunity to try to spot its motion over just a few hours.  Shining at 10th magnitude, Egeria can be Continue reading "The Sky Today on Tuesday, May 5: Catch Egeria in motion" The post …

Angel Fux, taken from Dent d’Hérens on the Swiss-Italian border Both the Milky Way’s winter and summer arches are captured rising above the Alps in this time-blended composite of two panoramas March 19, 2026, when the winter arch was visible during the first half of the night and the summer during the second half. The Continue reading "Alpine arches" The post Alpine arches appeared first on Astro…

Missions this week On Tuesday, May 5, SpaceX will open the week with the Starlink Group 17-29 mission from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 10:00 p.m. EDT. The Falcon 9 will deliver a batch of Starlink broadband internet satellites to low Earth orbit, with the first stage booster targeting a landing on the Continue reading "SpaceX keeps the pace, China sends cargo to its space station…

What would Earth be like if there were no Moon? Peter Allen RhodesNorth Bellmore, New York Without the Moon, Earth’s geology, biology, and climate — as well as human philosophy — would be different in many significant ways. If Earth had no Moon, the postulated origin of the Moon through a collision between the proto-Earth Continue reading "What would Earth be like if there were no Moon?" The post…

On April 17, 1967, Surveyor 3 launched for the Moon. The second of NASA’s Surveyor spacecraft to soft land on the lunar surface, Surveyor 3 was commissioned with studying the Moon in preparation for the upcoming Apollo missions.  Surveyor 3 touched down on the Moon on April 20, though it wasn’t a smooth landing: When Continue reading "May 4, 1967: Surveyor 3 last contact" The post May 4, 1967: Su…

This week, Astronomy magazine Editor Emeritus Dave Eicher invites you to observe the Eta Aquariid meteor shower, which peaks on May 5. Although the glare of the Moon will wash out fainter meteors, you’ll still be able to see the brightest meteors this shower has to offer, especially in a dark sky. Good luck! https://youtu.be/UfMyKwVi3hs Continue reading "See the Eta Aquariid meteor shower" The po…

Looking for a sky event this week? Check out our full Sky This Week column.  May 3: The Moon and Antares In honor of May the 4th, grab your telescope and head out shortly after sunset to catch NGC 2359, often called Thor’s Helmet but also — and of particular importance today — the Baby Yoda Nebula. Continue reading "The Sky Today on Monday, May 4: Grogu, there you are!" The post The Sky Today on …

David Cowland from Hamilton, Victoria, Australia RCW 86 lies about 8,000 light-years away in the southern constellation Circinus. Catalogued as an emission nebula, it is the result of an expanding shell of gas and dust expelled by the explosion of a massive star 185 C.E. This event was recorded by ancient Chinese astronomers as a Continue reading "Remnant of the ancients" The post Remnant of the …

In 1948, a clay tablet was unearthed in the ruins of the ancient city of Ugarit, in modern Syria. On the tablet was inscribed an account of a solar eclipse, describing the Sun going down in the sixth hour of the day; today, it is among the oldest known records of an eclipse. For many Continue reading "May 3, 1375 B.C.E.: The Ugarit eclipse" The post May 3, 1375 B.C.E.: The Ugarit eclipse appeared…

Looking for a sky event this week? Check out our full Sky This Week column.  May 2: Venus stands north of Aldebaran The Moon rises around 10:30 P.M. local daylight time in northwestern Scorpius and passes 0.5° south of Alpha (α) Scorpii, better known as Antares, at 11 P.M. EDT. Some locations in the Southern Hemisphere — Continue reading "The Sky Today on Sunday, May 3: The Moon and Antares" The …

Frequently described as “the last man who knew everything,” 17th-century Jesuit Athanasius Kircher was a true polymath. Born May 2, 1601, in Germany, Kircher relocated to Italy and the Roman College by the 1630s, fleeing the Thirty Years’ War. There he began a lifetime of research and publication in an impressively wide array of fields: Continue reading "May 2, 1601: The birth of Athanasius Kirch…

Looking for a sky event this week? Check out our full Sky This Week column.  May 1: Catch Saturn before sunrise Venus dominates the evening sky, blazing at magnitude –3.9 in northern Taurus. This evening as the Bull sinks toward the western horizon after sunset, Venus is 6.5° north of Aldebaran, often pictured as Taurus’ bright red Continue reading "The Sky Today on Saturday, May 2: Venus stands …

Just over 40 years ago, in his novel Contact, astronomer Carl Sagan imagined what it would be like to detect radio signals beamed from other intelligent lifeforms in the galaxy. In the story, these extraterrestrial beings send blueprints to build a spaceship to carry a handful of Earth travelers to meet with them. While the Continue reading "The search for aliens levels up" The post The search fo…

On May 1, 1949, astronomer Gerard Kuiper spotted a new moon of Neptune while examining photographic plates from McDonald Observatory’s 82-inch telescope. It would be the last moon discovered at that planet until Voyager 2 flew by in 1989. Kuiper proposed calling it Nereid, after the water nymphs who attended Neptune in mythology. Kuiper had Continue reading "May 1, 1949: The discovery of Nereid" …

Looking for a sky event this week? Check out our full Sky This Week column.  April 30: Venus poses with a pair of stars Saturn, rising early in the morning, has now become a bit easier to spot in the predawn sky. About 45 minutes before sunrise on May 1, it has reached an altitude of nearly Continue reading "The Sky Today on Friday, May 1: Catch Saturn before sunrise" The post The Sky Today on Fr…

Michael P. Caligiuri from Carlsbad, California Dark dust lanes and a faint, wispy halo of tidal debris engulf the Sunflower Galaxy (M63), which lies around 25 million light-years away in Canes Venatici. This image, taken over three nights in March and April 2026, combines 18½ hours of exposure in LRGB filters with a 10-inch f/7.3 Continue reading "Left in the dust" The post Left in the dust appea…

Venus and Jupiter are the top evening features for your observing run after sunset in May. Jupiter also hosts a handful of exciting double transits — and double shadow transits — involving Europa and Ganymede. Saturn and Mars make a brief reappearance in the predawn sky, joined by a crescent Moon. So let’s begin! You’ll Continue reading "May 2026: What’s in the sky this month? Venus and Jupiter s…

The evening sky presents quite a show this month. The bright planets Venus and Jupiter shine prominently in the northwest as the sky darkens. It’s best to look for Venus first. The brilliant planet shines at magnitude –3.9 but still lies in twilight. Fortunately, the inner world continues to move away from the Sun and Continue reading "May 2026: What’s in the Southern Hemisphere sky this month?" …

Sky This Week is brought to you in part by Celestron. Friday, May 1Like April, May opens with a Full Moon as our satellite officially reaches this phase at 1:23 P.M. EDT. The month of May also carries 2026’s first — and only — Blue Moon, with a second Full Moon occurring on the last Continue reading "The Sky This Week from May 1 to 8: May’s first Full Moon" The post The Sky This Week from May 1 t…