Space and astronomy news
Amazing views from Earth and space of this week’s rare hybrid solar eclipse.
This week’s solar eclipse didn’t disappoint, as eclipse chasers flocked to the path Thursday on April 20th, for some amazing views. This was a rare hybrid solar eclipse, with an annular path along one part of the track, and totality along another. Only seven such eclipses occur this century.
Continue reading “Views of This Week’s Amazing Hybrid Solar Eclipse”
The first solar eclipse of 2023 will span Australia and southeast Asia into the Pacific Ocean region.
Mark your calendars. The first eclipse season of 2023 is about to begin on Thursday, April, 20th, with a rare hybrid annular-total solar eclipse.
Continue reading “Rare Hybrid Annular-Total Solar Eclipse Set for April 20th”
The brightest gamma-ray burst ever seen in 2022 still puzzles astronomers.
The more researchers look at a recent record-setting event, the stranger it gets.
The story begins on the evening of October 9th, 2022, when NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift orbiting observatory detected a strong X-ray outburst. The source was in the direction of the constellation of Sagitta the Arrow along the galactic plane, suggesting a source in our own Milky Way galaxy. Follow-up observations from NASA’s Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope and the Earth-based European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope however, soon revealed that the source was much more distant, emanating from a gamma-ray burst lying beyond our galaxy. This outburst only appeared to have happened along our line of sight as seen through the plane own galaxy from our Earthbound perspective.
Continue reading “Brightest Gamma-ray Burst Shines Light on Milky Way Structure”
New Comet C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS may put on a show at the end of next year.
Could this one be the next great comet? Though caution is always warranted when it comes to icy interlopers from the Oort Cloud, a recent discovery has given us pause, and a reason to take notice. We’re talking about the recent discovery of Comet C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS, just announced last week.
Continue reading “2023 A3 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS: a Bright Comet for the End of 2024?”
Solar Orbiter’s unique vantage point recently allowed researchers to make a crucial observation of the solar system’s innermost world.
You never know when a chance for some extra space science will present itself. Recently, European Space Agency (ESA) mission controllers had just such a chance, when the planet Mercury passed in front of our host star as seen from the Solar Orbiter’s point of view in space.
Continue reading “ESA’s Solar Orbiter Spies a Transit of Mercury”
The two brightest planets pass less than half a degree apart at dusk during a spectacular conjunction on the night of March 1st.
It has begun. Once every 12 to 18 months or so, I start fielding “what are those two bright objects in the sky?” questions. They’re none other than the third and fourth brightest natural objects in the sky (behind the Sun and the Moon), the planets Jupiter and Venus. If skies are clear, you can see them get ever closer together from one night to the next, as they meet up during a spectacular conjunction on the night of March 1st/2nd.
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Now’s the time to catch periodic Comet 96P Machholz on its encore dawn performance, before it slides out of view.
So, have you been following the touted ‘green comet,’ E3 ZTF? To be sure, it’s nothing more than a fuzzy patch, a binocular comet sliding through the constellation Auriga looking like a globular cluster that refuses to resolve into focus. Though E3 ZTF may not live up to the hype, it does have one thing going for it: it is currently well-placed for northern hemisphere viewers. It also put on a great show for astrophotographers as it recently completed an orbital plane-crossing, as seen from our Earthly vantage point.
Continue reading “Check Out This Great View of Comet 96P Machholz, Courtesy of SOHO”
Unistellar’s eQuinox 2 is set to continue the smartscope revolution into 2023.
A great telescope just got better. Unistellar just announced the release of its new eQuinox 2. The smartscope will be part of the Unistellar line, joining the eVscope 2 and eQuinox.
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The first good comet of the year, Comet E3 ZTF is a fine object for northern hemisphere observers in January.
As in years previous, 2023 kicks of with another decent binocular comet.
If you haven’t seen C/2022 E3 ZTF yet, you’ll soon have your chance. Discovered by the Zwicky Transient Survey searching for supernovae, E3 ZTF was first spotted as a +17th magnitude object gliding through the constellation of Aquila the Eagle on the night of March 2nd, 2022.
Continue reading “Comet E3 ZTF Brightens as the First Good Comet of 2023”
Astronomy 2023 highlights include two fine solar eclipses, the Sun heading towards solar maximum, a series of spectacular lunar occultations and much more.
Been out enjoying the sky in 2022? The past year saw two fine total lunar eclipses, a surprise meteor outburst from the Tau Herculids, a fine occultation of Mars by the Moon and more. Astronomy 2023 promises more of the same, plus much more. We’ve been doing this yearly roundup of things to look for in the sky now for well over a decade in one form or another, and the cosmos never disappoints. So, without further fanfare, here are the very best of the best events for astronomy 2023, coming to a sky near you:
Continue reading “Astronomy 2023: Top Sky Watching Highlights for the Coming Year”