Astronomy

We have only just started to understand how our brains clean themselves, but columnist Helen Thomson finds promising evidence for how to boost this process

A Solstice Sun Tattoo

Long Shadows of the Montes Caucasus

Jupiter and the Meteors from Gemini

Stars are forming in the Soul of the Queen of

What’s happening over that tree?

Where are all of these meteors coming from?

Can you tell that today is a solstice by the tilt of the Earth?

During November 2025, ESA’s Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) used five of its science instruments to observe 3I/ATLAS. The instruments collected information about how the comet is behaving and what it is made of.

Engineers need good data to build lasting things. Even the designers of the Great Pyramids knew the limestone they used to build these massive structures would be steady when stacked on top of one another, even if they didn’t have tables of the compressive strength of those stones. But when attempting to build structures on other worlds, such as the Moon, engineers don’t yet know much about the local materials. Still, due to the costs of getting large amounts of materials off of Earth, they will need to learn to use those materials even for critical applications like a landing pad to support the landing / ascent of massive rockets used in re-supply operations. A new paper published in Acta Astronautica from Shirley Dyke and her team at Purdue University describes how to build a lunar landing pad with just a minimal amount of prior knowledge of the material properties of the regolith used to build it.

Year in images 2025

Our year through the lens: a selection of our favourite images for 2025

What would it be like to fly over the

Using the James Webb Space Telescope, a team of international researchers has discovered chemical fingerprints of gigantic primordial stars that were among the first to form after the Big Bang.

The U.S. reportedly plans to overhaul the country’s childhood vaccine schedule. The move could set public health back decades, experts say

During the deployment of new space telescopes that are several critical steps each has to go through. Launch is probably the one most commonly thought of, another is “first light” of all of the instruments on the telescope. Ultimately, they’re responsible for the data the telescope is intended to collect - if they don’t work properly then the mission itself it a failure. Luckily, the Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe (IMAP) recently collected first light on its 10 primary instruments, and everything seems to be in working order, according to a press release from the Southwest Research Institute who was responsible for ensuring the delivery of all 10 instruments went off without a hitch.

Disney and OpenAI’s agreement hints at a future in which viewers don’t just choose what to watch but generate it on demand

Sky watchers may be tempted out this weekend, when an underappreciated meteor shower will coincide with a new moon and the longest night of year for the Northern Hemisphere

We greet the winter solstice. Jupiter nears opposition. Will the two Dog Stars balance for you? And meet the House in the Hyades.

The post This Week's Sky at a Glance, December 19 – 28 appeared first on Sky & Telescope.

On December 5, 2022,