Universe

  What’s Lighting Up the Night Sky This August? Here Are the Top 7 Astronomical Events August is here, and with it comes the bittersweet feeling of summer winding down. But before we trade warm nights for cooler ones, the sky has a few spectacular reminders of why this season is worth staying up late for. This month, the sky is unusually busy, showcasing rare planetary alignments, a beloved meteor shower at its peak, and several planetary “close encounters” that promise more than just wishful thinking. Here are the top seven celestial spectacles you won’t want to miss as summer makes its graceful exit. 9 August: Full Moon Summer nights are slowly getting shorter, but August still holds its ground as one of the best months for skywatching. On 9 August, the Full Moon, traditionally known as the Sturgeon Moon, will light up the sky. It rises and bathes the UK’s night in silvery drama from sunset until dawn with peak illumination at  07:55 GMT (08:55 AM in the UK). The name...

James Webb Spots Daily Flares from Milky Way's Supermassive Black Hole Astronomers Unveil New Insights into Sagittarius A Astronomers have captured breathtaking new insights into Sagittarius A* , the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way, using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) . The observations reveal dazzling flares of light erupting near the black hole, shedding light on its chaotic and ever-changing behavior. Peering Into the Galactic Core While black holes themselves are invisible, the region surrounding Sagittarius A* is a hotbed of activity. A spinning disk of superheated gas and dust, called the accretion disk , orbits just outside the event horizon —the boundary where gravity becomes so strong that not even light can escape. This disk emits bursts of radiation as material is compressed and heated, creating brilliant flares that can last from seconds to hours. Unprecedented Observations with ...

Asteroid 2024 YR4 Could Hit Earth in 7 Years: What We Know So Far A newly discovered asteroid, 2024 YR4 , has a 2% chance of colliding with Earth in 2032 , according to astronomers. While the odds are low, scientists are closely monitoring this space rock, which is estimated to be between 131 and 295 feet (40 to 90 meters) wide—roughly the size of a large building. Although it’s far smaller than the "planet-killer" asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs 66 million years ago, an impact from 2024 YR4 could still cause significant regional damage. Discovery and Tracking Efforts The asteroid was first spotted on December 27, 2024 , by the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) telescope in Chile. Since then, observatories worldwide, including the Very Large Telescope in Chile and Hawaii’s Pan-STARRS system, have been tracking its movement. However, due to its distance—cur...

Euclid Unveils a Breathtaking Einstein Ring Euclid , the European Space Agency’s explorer of the dark Universe, has made a remarkable discovery—right in our cosmic neighborhood. A sea of colourful stars and galaxies appear to swim in the vast blackness of space around a hazy halo at centre stage. In the middle of t he image, the fuzzy-looking bulb of light in a warm shade of yellow extends around a small bright spot, nestled within a thin light circle that appears to be drawn closely aro und it. As we follow the central halo’s rim outwards, its brightness dims and blends smoothly into its surroundings. Here, extended discs of shades ranging from a warm purple to golden yellow, and piercing dots of light with sharp diffraction spikes are spread evenly across the image. Image: ESA/Euclid/Euclid Consortium/NASA, image processing by J.-C. Cuillandre, G. Anselmi, T. Li Euclid embarked on its six-year mission to explore the dark Universe on 1 July 2023 ...

NASA’s Spinoff 2025: Transforming Space Innovation into Earthly Impact Explore how NASA's cutting-edge space technologies are transforming industries and improving lives on Earth. The cover of Spinoff 2025, NASA’s annual publication that chronicles commercial products born from space technology, is a detailed view of the lunar surface captured by cameras on the Orion spacecraft on a close approach of the Moon during the Artemis I mission. Credit: NASA NASA’s annual Spinoff publication is back, showcasing how innovations originally developed for space exploration are now driving commercial success and benefiting humanity. Now available online, Spinoff 2025 highlights more than 40 groundbreaking technologies that have transitioned from the cosmos to everyday applications. Decades of Innovation For nearly 25 years, NASA has leveraged its work in low Earth orbit to advance deep space exploration while simultaneously developing technologies that...

Runaway Star and Its Planet Spotted Fleeing the Milky Way at Hyperspeed! Astronomers have discovered a star and its planet moving so fast that they might escape the Milky Way. This system is traveling at least 1.9 million kilometers per hour , which is twice as fast as the Sun and its planets. If confirmed, this would be the first known exoplanet orbiting a hyper-fast star. How Was This Discovered? (Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech/R. Hurt (Caltech-IPAC)) The discovery was made using a phenomenon called microlensing . In this process, light from a distant star is bent by an object passing in front of it, making the star appear brighter. This bending of light revealed the presence of other objects. The data came from the Microlensing Observations in Astrophysics (MOA) project in New Zealand. Using the Gaia space telescope , scientists identified the star and calculated its incredible speed. They believe the system includes: A small star, about 20...