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The Perseid meteors ramp up this week to their peak. Saturn is nicely up in the east by late evening. Jupiter and Mars near their conjunction in the morning sky. And there's a story behind Poniatowski's Bull.

The post This Week's Sky at a Glance, August 2 – 11 appeared first on Sky & Telescope.

"Leopard spots" on a Mars rock could come from life — or they could simply be a sign of a type of chemical reaction that requires water.

The post Does This Mars Rock Show a "Potential Biosignature"? Or Just "Wet Chemistry"? appeared first on Sky & Telescope.

Let’s go on a night-sky tour of the stars and planets that you’ll see overhead during August. Find a good seat for some great “shooting stars,” watch Saturn climb in the eastern sky in early evening, check out the summer's brightest stars, and start looking for a once-in-your-lifetime star blast. 

The post August Podcast: Nova Watch in the Northern Crown appeared first on Sky & Telescope.

Future funding for NASA's remaining Great Observatories — Chandra X-ray Observatory and Hubble Space Telescope — is still up in the air.

The post Reading the Tea Leaves: The Future of the Hubble and Chandra Space Telescopes appeared first on Sky & Telescope.

A professional astronomer turned dark-sky champion, David L. Crawford became synonymous with the fight against light pollution around the world.

The post David Crawford, 1931–2024 appeared first on Sky & Telescope.

Gravitational-wave astronomers have identified ripples in spacetime from the coalescence of a neutron star with what’s likely one of the smallest black holes ever found.

The post Neutron Star Eaten by Small Black Hole (Probably) appeared first on Sky & Telescope.

Very low in the west in bright twilight, have you picked up Venus yet? Binoculars help. Much tougher will be Mercury and Regulus. Their arrangement changes all week.

The post This Week's Sky at a Glance, July 26 – August 4 appeared first on Sky & Telescope.

New analysis has revealed 21 Sun-like stars in mutual orbit around dark objects of neutron star–like masses — rare systems that have escaped destruction by supernova.

The post Astronomers Find 21 “Dark” Neutron Stars Orbiting Sun-like Stars appeared first on Sky & Telescope.

New James Webb Space Telescope observations of LHS 1140b hint at a temperate water world with a nitrogen-rich atmosphere.

The post A Closer Look at a Potential "Eyeball Planet" appeared first on Sky & Telescope.

The James Webb Space Telescope has for the first time detected the difference between the morning and evening of a tidally locked gas giant planet.

The post Webb Telescope Sees Morning and Evening on a Hot Saturn appeared first on Sky & Telescope.

Having survived two recent threats — high-velocity space dust and enhanced solar activity — Gaia is now returning better data than ever.

The post Star-Mapping Mission Gaia Impacted by Micrometeoroid, Solar Storm appeared first on Sky & Telescope.

Scorpius poses at center stage in the south. The Sagittarius Teapot follows behind it. And Rasalhague, the head star of Ophiuchus. turns the Summer Triangle into a big, upright diamond.

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

A new look at data from NASA's Cassini mission confirms methane cycles on Saturn's largest moon, Titan, just as water cycles on Earth.

The post New Exploration of Titan's Seas appeared first on Sky & Telescope.

The development of the VIPER lunar rover has been discontinued.

The post NASA Cancels VIPER Lunar Rover Mission appeared first on Sky & Telescope.

The latest smartscope astrophotography craze opens the door to some incredible opportunities for both beginners and seasoned observers.

The post Visual Observing vs. Smart Telescopes — Finding Harmony appeared first on Sky & Telescope.

Little-known Norma, a small constellation in the southern sky, contains several stellar and deep-sky delights.

The post Explore Norma: The right (angle) constellation for July appeared first on Sky & Telescope.

The summer of 2023 was Earth’s hottest since global records began in 1880, according to scientists at NASA’s Goddard Institute of Space Studies (GISS) in New York.

El verano boreal de 2023 fue el más caluroso para la Tierra desde que se establecieron registros mundiales de temperaturas en 1880, según un análisis realizado por científicos del Instituto Goddard de Estudios Espaciales (GISS, por sus siglas en inglés) de la NASA en Nueva York.