Wisconsin skywatchers can experience a busy lineup of celestial events starting with the Sturgeon Moon, the peak of the Perseids meteor shower, and two eclipses, according to the Old Farmer’s Almanac and NASA. Clear skies over Milwaukee and across the state provide prime conditions for viewing these upcoming astronomical phenomena. Perseids Meteor Shower Peak Dates … Read more
A 35-day eclipse season is currently underway as the Sun, Earth, and Moon line up in space, bringing two major celestial events within just over a fortnight of each other, This orbital alignment window occurs roughly every six months. Total Solar Eclipse Path and Viewing Details A total solar eclipse will take place on 12 … Read more
The July full Moon—widely known as the Buck Moon—will peak at 15:36 BST on 29 July, marking the second of three full Moons of the summer season. While the exact moment of maximum fullness occurs just below the UK horizon, the Moon will still appear fully illuminated to the naked eye overnight on Tuesday and … Read more
Stargazers across North America and mid-northern latitudes can use the moon as a celestial guide this week to locate two of the night sky’s most prominent features: the blue-white star Spica and the red supergiant Antares. According to data provided by Stellarium, the moon’s position relative to these stars offers an accessible entry point for … Read more
A four-tonne upper stage of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is projected to collide with the Moon on August 5, 2026, according to calculations by astronomer Bill Gray of Project Pluto. While lunar impacts occur frequently, NASA scientists consider the chances of observing this specific, unplanned event from Earth to be extremely low. The Mechanics … Read more
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has approved an application from Reflect Orbital to launch Eärendil-1, a satellite designed to reflect sunlight back to Earth. The satellite, roughly the size of a bedside table, will orbit 400 miles above the surface and use a 60-foot mirror to illuminate three-mile-wide patches of ground on demand, a move … Read more
NASA plans to conduct the first-ever combustion experiments on the lunar surface through the Flammability of Materials on the Moon (FM2) project. According to NASA, these tests aim to determine how fire behaves in the moon’s gravity—roughly 16.667% of Earth’s—to establish safety protocols for future Artemis missions and permanent lunar bases. Why Lunar Gravity Creates … Read more
July features several rare astronomical events, including a Mars-Uranus conjunction on July 4 and Earth reaching aphelion on July 6. Stargazers can also observe lunar conjunctions with Saturn, Mars, and Venus, followed by a full moon and Jupiter’s solar conjunction on July 29, according to astronomical data from NASA and the College of Southern Idaho. … Read more
A lunar occultation occurred on Wednesday, June 17, when the Moon passed directly between Earth and Venus, temporarily concealing the planet from view across much of North America. According to Rob Wright Images via Storyful, the event was visible in daylight across the contiguous United States, southern Canada, northern Mexico, and parts of the Caribbean … Read more
Artemis II Sets Course for Deep Space, Igniting the Human-Robot Space Race NASA’s Artemis II mission, set to launch from Kennedy Space Center, marks humanity’s first return to deep space since the Apollo era, according to a NASA statement. This crewed flight around the Moon will test technologies critical for future Mars exploration, as reported … Read more