EarthSky

Sky photo with many stars and the Winter Hexagon outlined, its stars and a few more objects labeled.

Throughout history, humans looked at the stars and saw mythical beings, beasts and cultural touchstones. Our #constellations provide links to our ancestors. But most #asterisms - patterns within a constellation or stars in multiple constellations - are relatively new. 🌌🔭
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📸 A. Raka.

Hi stargazers! Tonight, the waning gibbous #moon will be near #Spica, the brightest star in #Virgo the Maiden. You can also catch them before dawn tomorrow. Don't miss them! 🌖🌌🔭

Watch this video:
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And visit EarthSky’s night sky guide:
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📹 EarthSky.org.

A man in the foreground. There is an image of Earth and the moon behind him. There are lines showing the Artemis 2 route from Earth to the moon.

Yesterday, expert #spaceflight journalist Eric Berger gave us the low-down on the huge recent changes to the #Artemis program, which will see humans set up a base on the #moon. Plus, he outlined the riskiest moments for the Artemis 2 astronauts. Watch the video here:
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📸EarthSky.org.

We get sent so many amazing new #photos every month from EarthSky community members across the globe! From #nature to our solar system and beyond, enjoy a few of our favorites from February in this short video. 🦅🪐🌌🔭
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And submit your own photos here:
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📹 EarthSky.org.

Why do female #caribou have #antlers? Males in many #deer species grow antlers, but not females. Only female caribou have them. Now, a new study says the antlers of female caribou are a crucial source of nutrition, especially for mothers with newborn calves. 🦌
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📹 EarthSky.org.

A rocky body in space with debris trailing behind. Bold white text says 'Life forms could planet-hop on asteroids, study finds'.

Interesting! Tiny lifeforms in debris from an #asteroid impact could catapult to other planets and survive. A certain #bacterium can withstand extreme pressure comparable to an ejection from Mars after an asteroid hit, and survive the interplanetary journey. 🦠🔭
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📸 B. Nath/ Pixabay.

Bummer. Cloudy here too.

Star chart with large triangle with labeled stars at the corners.

The distinctive #WinterTriangle is formed by the 3 bright stars Sirius, Betelgeuse and Procyon. It’s also part of a larger pattern of stars known as the #WinterHexagon. It's easy to spot and serves as a guide to some of the finest celestial sights of the season. 🌌🔭
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📸 EarthSky.org.

Starry, dark sky with bluish stars from constellation Orion and bright star, Sirius, with 4 spikes.

You might know that #Sirius is the brightest star in the night sky. But is it the most luminous star? No. Luminous refers to a star’s intrinsic brightness. Sirius just looks like the brightest because it’s only 8.6 light-years away. #stars 🌟🌌🔭
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📸 Tom and Jane Wildoner.

A line of eclipsed moons from lower right to upper left behind a mission tower and cross.

Total lunar eclipse over Tucson! 🌑🔭 John Ashley in Arizona captured the lunar eclipse, passing behind the 90-foot bell tower at Santa Cruz Catholic Church in south Tucson, on Tuesday. Thank you, John! 📸

See more eclipse pics and watch a video:
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Smiling woman in lower left corner. Part of the moon and the Earth in space is behind her. Bold white text in blue rectangle says 'When mission control holds its breath'.

Humans are heading back to the #moon for the 1st time in over 50 years! 🚀 🌕🔭 Today, space journalist Eric Berger of Ars Technica will join Deborah Byrd to explain the peak-risk moments of the upcoming 10-day #Artemis2 mission, and more. Join us at noon CST today.

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📸 EarthSky.org.

Hi stargazers! #Venus and #Saturn are pairing up this week. They’ll be closest to each other on the evenings of March 7 and 8. Look for them in the bright western #twilight shortly after sunset. After March 8, Saturn will soon be lost in the sun’s glare. 🌌🪐🔭
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📹 EarthSky.org.

Bluish-white planet with red around the edge. A large set of thin rings circles the planet.

For the 1st time ever, scientists have mapped the 3D structure of #Uranus’ upper atmosphere. Using the #JWST, they uncovered glowing auroras sculpted by Uranus’ oddly tilted but powerful magnetic field, and more. 🔭
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📸 ESA/ Webb/ NASA/ CSA/ STScI.

Graph of Solar Cycle 25 showing sunspot numbers rising to a peak around 2024–2025, then declining, with February 2026 monthly value marked at 78.2.

After the #sun went 3 days without a single visible sunspot last month, we've been eager to find out February's sunspot number. NOAA announced today that February's sunspot number was the lowest we've seen following the Solar Cycle 25 peak in August 2024.

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📸 NOAA.

Center of Milky Way showing reddish clouds with patches of white, against a black backdrop with stars.

See the heart of our #MilkyWay galaxy in a new radio image! This new radio telescope image features massive stars that orbit the supermassive #blackhole at our galaxy’s center. 🌌🔭

Read more and see more images and videos:
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📸 ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)/S. Longmore et al./D. Minniti et al.

Bright pink and green auroras in the background, and a little church in the foreground.

Now is a good time to see some #auroras! As we move into March, we are entering an aurora season. These periods of increased auroral activity occur twice a year, around the March and September #equinoxes. 🌎🔭

Why? It’s all about magnetism and geometry. Find out more:
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📸 JD Smith.

Chart showing a round disk, the full moon, below a dot, Regulus. They are both above a wavy line, the eastern horizon.

Hi stargazers! Tonight, the full, recently eclipsed #moon will lie between the bright star #Regulus and the horizon. They’ll be visible through sunrise tomorrow morning. Wishing you clear skies! 🌕🌌🔭

For this and more sky events, visit EarthSky’s night sky guide:
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📸 EarthSky.org.

Sun watchers were fixed on this spectacular #prominence eruption yesterday. The rope of solar material had been billowing since Sunday, and the event ended with a huge mass of plasma escaping into space yesterday afternoon. Read today's #sun news:
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📸 NOAA.

Hi stargazers! Join EarthSky's Marcy Curran in a video preview of the #moon phases and planetary alignments for March 2026. Highlights include a beautiful #conjunction of #Venus and #Saturn later this week! See what's in store this month. Keep looking up! 🌕🪐🔭
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📹 EarthSky.org.

Art of an observatory under the Milky Way with labels of alerts all across the sky.

The Vera C. Rubin #Observatory released its 1st #alerts for newly discovered asteroids, exploding stars and other changes in the night #sky. It is expected to eventually produce up to 7 million alerts per night. Wow! 🌌🔔🔭
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📸 NSF–DOE VCRO/ NOIRLab/ SLAC/ AURA/ P. Marenfeld/ J. Pinto.

Bright center in yellow with reddish debris in a disk around it, seen face on. Bold white text says '1 of the biggest stars in the universe might be getting ready to explode.

WOH G64 is one of the biggest #stars in the universe, with a radius 1,500 times larger than that of our sun. And scientists think it might be getting ready to #explode. If we're lucky, we could see this star go out in a massive #supernova within our lifetimes. 💥🌌🔭
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📸 ESO/ L. Calçada.

The moon looks deep red on the right side and light red on the left side.

This morning, millions across parts of North America, Asia, New Zealand and Australia saw the moon turn red in a stunning total lunar #eclipse. Did you see the spectacular #BloodMoon? If you weren't one of the lucky spectators, enjoy this new gallery:
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📸 Catherine Hyde, California.

Dark cloud-like formation in space, in the shape of a horse's head, with bright stars around it, and pink clouds behind it.

It's a cosmic horse head! 🐴🌌🔭 Jelieta Walinski at the Desert Bloom Observatory in Arizona, captured this beautiful view of the #HorseheadNebula last month. Thank you, Jelieta! #nebula 📸
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See more great images and submit your own too:
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A bright blue bird with small black eyes sitting on a bird feeder. A house and swimming pool are in the background.

A brilliantly colorful bluebird! 🐦 Mark Wralstad in Virginia Beach, Virginia, saw this beautiful eastern #bluebird in his backyard last Friday. Thank you, Mark! #birds 📸
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See more great images, and submit your own recent photos, at EarthSky Community Photos:

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That's a great sample!

No, it will be the early hours of the morning: Partial eclipse begins at 3:50 a.m. for Central Time and 1:50 a.m. for Pacific Time (Baja California). Totality begins at 5:04 and 3:04 respectively, with maximum eclipse about half an hour later. It'll end about 6 (Central) or 4 Pacific.

The sun at the top right, surrounded by a blue sky. There are thin, tree branches, droplets and orangish clouds in the frame.

Our friend Sheryl R Garrison in Southern Alberta shared this photo with us and wrote: "I came across this tiny abstract of Earth and the sun reflected in a puddle. Next shot up? With any luck at all, the eclipsed #BloodMoon of March 3!" Fingers crossed for clear skies! Thank you!
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Small, elongated, fuzzy-looking yellow flowers. Some unopened buds are also on the plant stems.

It's almost #spring! ... 🌼 EarthSky friend Cecille Kennedy saw these fuzzy #flowers along the Alder Island Nature Trail in Oregon last Thursday. Thank you! 📸
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Read why some call March 1 the first day of spring:
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And see more lovely photos here:
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Sky chart with round red disk on the slanted green ecliptic line, near star Regulus.

Early risers, this one’s for you! Before dawn tomorrow, the full moon takes center stage and the real magic begins. As Earth’s shadow slowly sweeps across the lunar surface, that bright silver glow will fade into a deep, coppery red. More info, videos and charts here:
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📸EarthSky.org.

WOW! That's amazing!