Hey, Space Fans! We're starting this week off with something we've all been waiting for a long time: The "stranded" Boeing Starliner astroanuts are finally beginning their trip home.
Tonight, NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore, alongside NASA's Nick Hague and Russia's Aleksandr Gorbunov, will depart the ISS and prepare for their trip home. Williams and Wilmore are 9 months into a planned 10-day mission due to Boeing Starliner capsule issues.
There's a lot going on with the moon. For starters, it exists, which is weird in its own way when compared to Mercury and Venus. Mars does have two moons, but they're really just captured asteroids. Earth is the only rocky planet in the solar system with a significant moon, and there may be a reason for that.
We rate Celestron's EclipSmart 10x25 Solar Binoculars as one of our best solar binoculars for safe sungazing at their usual price of $34.95. Right now, they are even better value as you can pick them up with a $20.29 saving in this binoculars deal β a terrific buy for viewing the partial solar eclipse on March 29.
It's one of the most spectacular naked eye sights in the winter night sky, but the Pleiades β also called the Seven Sisters and M45 β will soon sink into the western horizon shortly after sunset. The stars of the Pleiades feature in the lore of many cultures, often symbolizing good fortune, navigation and protection. The ancient Greeks linked its appearance to agricultural prosperity; in Japan (where it's called Subaru), it's related to guidance and harmony, and in Navajo culture, it's a symbol of unity and order in the universe.
You know, we mentioned Rocket Lab's planned launch for tonight, but the company is setting its future targets much higher than low Earth orbit: The planet Venus.
Rocket Lab hopes to launch the first private mission to Venus and has teamed up with MIT and NASA to do it. In fact, they've just installed the heat shield on their probe. Check it out!
Where's the water on Mars? It's a huge question that could affect how humans explore the Red Planet. Now, scientists say there may be water IN Mars, just not on the surface.
"Many studies suggest the presence of water on ancient Mars billions of years ago,"one scientist says. "But our model indicates the presence of liquid water on present-day Mars." Here's how it could work.
Netflix's "Black Mirror" is a provocative, imaginative, and often extremely disturbing sci-fi horror TV anthology that represents some of the best material on the streaming titan, and now a bold new Season 7 trailer has been unleashed with a callback to one of the finest episodes of Season 4 (and perhaps the entire series): "USS Callister."
Let's star the week with something historic that happened today in space.
On Saint Patrick's Day in 1958, the U.S. Navy launched Vanguard 1, the first solar-powered satellite and the oldest artificial satellite currently orbiting the Earth. The main purpose of this mission was to test a new three-stage rocket. Vanguard 1 was the fourth satellite ever launched into space (following Sputniks 1 and 2 and Explorer 1). It looks a lot like a miniature version of Sputnik.
We'll close today with this stunning photo as comet C/2024 G3 lights up the sunset sky over Chile's Very Large Telescope.What you're seeing here is the Great Comet C/2024 G3 (ATLAS), a comet discovered in 2024 that lit up the night sky late in that year and early 2025, and was the brightest comet in 18 years when it was visible to stargazers throughout January 2025.
You'll find more about the image (and comet) in our link below and have a great Monday, Space Fans!
This week's night sky is brimming with exciting celestial events! The March equinox ushers in the official start of spring, bringing equal day and night across the Northern Hemisphere. The waning gibbous moon will pass near Antares, offering a great opportunity for early risers to catch this celestial pairing. As the third quarter moon approaches, it's the perfect time to head out for deep-sky observations. Here's what you need to know to make the most of this week's skywatching!
On March 20 at 4:01 a.m. EDT, the sun crosses the celestial equator, marking the start of northern spring. Day and night will be of equal length, and the sun will rise due east and set due west. Daylight will increase by 3 minutes per day in mid-northern latitudes.
On March 20, the waning gibbous moon will shine near Antares, the reddish star in the southern sky. Observers in Australia, southern New Zealand, and western Antarctica can see the moon occult Antares. Use a stargazing app for precise timings.
The third quarter moon occurs on March 22 at 6:29 a.m. EST. The moon will be 50% illuminated on its western side. This phase offers dark skies perfect for observing deep-sky objects like spring galaxies.
On March 23, Earth will cross Saturn's ring plane, making the planet's rings briefly vanish from view. The best views will be from mid-southern latitudes, though morning twilight may interfere. The next crossing will be in October 2038.
One of the most striking moon phases this week will be the Third Quarter (or Last Quarter) moon on March 22. From our perspective, the moon will look half illuminated and will rise around midnight and set around noon. From now until the end of the month, the skies will become progressively darker as we approach the new moon on March 29 making it the perfect time to hunt for some more obscure, fainter night sky targets such as the Andromeda Galaxy, whose presence was all but washed out during the recent full moon on March 13.
We teamed up with Catalina Sky Survey scientist, asteroid hunter, and RankinStudio astrophotographer David Rankin and put together a detailed guide on how to spot fake lunar eclipse photos.
Landscape astrophotographer Josh Dury captured this stunning sequence of the total lunar eclipse over Stalker Castle in Appin, Scotland. Dury traveled to Scotland in search of clear skies (not something you hear every day!) and managed to photograph the eclipse before the moon set.
