Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

EarthSky @earthskyscience.bsky.social · 1h

Andy Dungan in Cotopaxi, Colorado, captured the #LittleRosetteNebula. Andy wrote: "I took pics of the dot in the Question Mark Nebula, the Little Rosette Nebula. It looks like its larger cousin the Rosette Nebula." Thank you, Andy! See it at buff.ly/8PkX1XB
More great pics: buff.ly/moQkn9b

A round red fuzzy nebula with radial petal-like structures and a distinct center in a dense starfield.

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EarthSky @earthskyscience.bsky.social · 1h

Craig Freeman in Mansfield, Ohio, captured this image of M31, the #Andromeda galaxy. Incredible! Thank you, Craig!
buff.ly/XytAF4g

Have a photo of your own to share? Submit it here!
buff.ly/ilSFKJU

Detailed image of the Andromeda Galaxy showing its bright core, spiral arms, and surrounding stars.

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EarthSky @earthskyscience.bsky.social · 2h

Termini Imerese in Sicily, Italy, captured this image of billowing #cumulus clouds in the distance, glowing in the late afternoon light. Thank you, Termini!
buff.ly/sV43LgV

Have a photo of your own to share? Submit it here!
buff.ly/ilSFKJU

Billowing,, golden-orange cumulus clouds illuminated by sunset above calm blue ocean waters and dark horizon.

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EarthSky @earthskyscience.bsky.social · 2h

Catherine Hyde shared this composite image taken yesterday from California of the #moon passing in front of the #Pleiades star cluster. Thank you, Catherine!
buff.ly/sAbMRYC

Have a photo of your own to share? Submit it here!
buff.ly/ilSFKJU

Waxing gibbous moon surrounded by faint stars in a dark sky during a Pleiades occultation event.

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EarthSky @earthskyscience.bsky.social · 3h

Tomorrow morning the waning gibbous #moon will lie between ruddy Betelgeus and golden Capella with fiery Aldebaran nearby. For more sky events, visit EarthSky’s night sky guide at: buff.ly/6yKOoEM

A half-lit moon near the center of a triangle of 3 bright stars.

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EarthSky @earthskyscience.bsky.social · 3h

It might be sunny out where you are, but a geomagnetic storm is in progress. This NASA image shows the solar wind, a stream of charged particles coming from a huge coronal hole on the #sun. Read more at: buff.ly/gbxtnEB

📸 NASA.

Fuzzy, golden-brown streamers across the image.

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EarthSky @earthskyscience.bsky.social · 3h

Brian Martin in Riverside, California, captured #Saturn and #Titan's last shadow transit until 2038. It was taken on October 5, 2025. Thank you, Brian!
buff.ly/l2Rwp6f

Have a photo of your own to share? Submit it here!
buff.ly/ilSFKJU

Large planet with many bands, a small black dot on it, and nearly edge-on rings.

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EarthSky @earthskyscience.bsky.social · 20h

Our friend Cecille Kennedy in Depoe Bay, Oregon, shared this image of last night's sunset. She wrote: "The sun pillar over the sun got divided into sections by the thick clouds ... The #sun disappeared behind the thick marine cloud layer above the ocean horizon." Thank you, Cecille. Beautiful! 😍

Bright white half sun setting with clouds glowing orange.

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EarthSky @earthskyscience.bsky.social · 1d

Officials have now lifted a #tsunami warning, triggered by the 7.4 magnitude #earthquake in the Philippines. The quake took place overnight according to clocks in North America (or 9:44 a.m. in the Philippines this morning). Read about the Philippines earthquake at buff.ly/0rqV2iR

📷 USGS.

Map of the area around the Philippines with a blue dot showing the earthquake location.

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EarthSky @earthskyscience.bsky.social · 1d

Craig Freeman in Mansfield, Ohio, captured this image of the Horsehead and Flaming Star #nebulae. Incredible! Thank you, Craig!
buff.ly/Snzrlrg

Have a photo of your own to share? Submit it here!
buff.ly/ilSFKJU

Brilliant cosmic view of the Horsehead and Flame Nebulae glowing in deep orange, teal, and violet hues.

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EarthSky @earthskyscience.bsky.social · 1d

The Gemini North Telescope first captured Betelgeuse’s companion – nicknamed #Betelbuddy – on December 9, 2024. On Wednesday, Carnegie Mellon University researchers revealed more details about the companion star. Read more at: buff.ly/HiNgwpw

📸 Int. Gemini Observatory/ NOIRLab/ NSF/ AURA.

Betelbuddy: Round orange glow labeled Betelgeuse with pale dim companion glow nearby labeled.

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EarthSky @earthskyscience.bsky.social · 1d

September and October are peak months for fall bird #migration across the United States. And the BirdCast.info website can give you an idea of what regions will see the highest number of birds passing each night. Read more: buff.ly/nQTMAcE

📸 Cornell Lab of Ornithology/ Colorado State University.

Map of the US with colors in purple in the west to yellow in the southeast to bright white in the Great Lakes.

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EarthSky @earthskyscience.bsky.social · 1d

This evening, check out one of the flashiest stars in the sky. It’s so bright that every year in northern autumn, we get questions from people in the Northern Hemisphere who see a star twinkling with colorful flashes. That star is #Capella. Read more at: buff.ly/Ldo9Q3N

Star chart showing the constellation Auriga with stars and other objects labeled.

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EarthSky @earthskyscience.bsky.social · 1d

Tonight the waning gibbous #moon will float between orangish Aldebaran and golden Capella. The Pleiades star cluster is nearby.

For more sky events, visit EarthSky’s night sky guide at: buff.ly/mP9BY1V

A fat hemisphere, the moon, is below a groups of small dots, the Pleiades, and between two dots, the stars Aldebaran and Capella. They all are above a wavy line, the horizon.

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EarthSky @earthskyscience.bsky.social · 1d

After several days of low solar activity featuring only C and B flares, the #sun surprised us with a moderate M2 flare. The sun itself partly obscured the blast, suggesting the eruption might have been even stronger than what we observed. Read the sun news at: buff.ly/uukCWuq

📸 NOAA/ GOES.

Image of the sun with a bright light protruding off the disk at the 3:00 position and labeled.

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EarthSky @earthskyscience.bsky.social · 1d

Tom Cofer captured this beautiful image of Comet #Lemmon yesterday from Lakewood Ranch, Florida, and wrote: "My first comet capture! Quite the ordeal learning how to process a #comet." What a superb job you did, Tom!
buff.ly/PRjZwLN

Read about the comet and see more stunning images:
buff.ly/HzOOUhk

Green ball with a fuzzy halo around and a greenish tail in a dark sky with some stars in the background.

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EarthSky @earthskyscience.bsky.social · 1d

On any autumn or winter evening, scan between Cassiopeia and Perseus for the magnificent #DoubleCluster in #Perseus. The #stars in these 2 clusters are young, hot supergiant suns that are many thousands of times more luminous than our sun. 🌌🔭
buff.ly/iiwLzb1

📸 EarthSky.org.

Star chart of Cassiopeia with a line pointing to 2 tiny dotted circles, labeled Perseus Double Cluster.

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EarthSky @earthskyscience.bsky.social · 1d

Victoria Bryhan in Corvallis, Oregon, captured this pumpkin patch on October 5 and wrote: "That's a lot of #pumpkin pie! Too much for me to eat on my own! I wish I'd seen it harvested." Thank you!
buff.ly/9YBpnw7

Do you have an image you would like to share? We can't wait to see it!
buff.ly/ilSFKJU

Thousands of pumpkins lie in the ground in lines in a field. Green trees and mountains in the distance.

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EarthSky @earthskyscience.bsky.social · 2d

Defunct #satellites and chunks of space debris now fall from orbit every day, and it's only increasing. What risk does this hold, and are we doing enough to deal with it? EarthSky’s Dave Adalian spoke with spaceflight expert Jonathan McDowell yesterday. 🛰️🌎🔭
buff.ly/MNRMk2Y

📸 EarthSky.org.

Smiling man on the left with Earth behind him, and smiling man with long hair on the right, in split-screen view.

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EarthSky @earthskyscience.bsky.social · 2d

Hi stargazers! Tonight the waning gibbous #moon will pass next to - and from some locations in front of - some of the stars of the #Pleiades cluster. It will be visible from North and Central America and other locations. Check Stellarium.org for times and views. 🌖🌌🔭
buff.ly/7MwHWj8

📸 EarthSky.org.

A fat white hemisphere lies to the upper right of a number of small white dots. A white arrow points to the lower left through those white dots.

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EarthSky @earthskyscience.bsky.social · 2d

Interesting! Scientists at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, said late last month that - based on a reanalysis of data from the #PioneerVenus mission - aerosols in #Venus' clouds contain a lot more water and less sulfuric acid than thought. 💧☁️🔭
buff.ly/9zmAaFs

📸 NASA/ Paul Hudson.

1 large and 4 small spacecraft approaching a planet with swirling clouds.

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EarthSky @earthskyscience.bsky.social · 2d

Using the Webb space telescope, scientists at Northwestern University said yesterday that they've captured the most detailed glimpse yet of a doomed #star before it exploded. This progenitor star is the dustiest and reddest #supernova source star yet observed. 🌌💥🔭
buff.ly/MUYz2e8

📸 Northwestern.

A pretty picture of a spiral galaxy, with a tiny box showing the location of the supernova. In the upper right of the image, the tiny box is enlarged to show the supernova's progenitor star.

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EarthSky @earthskyscience.bsky.social · 2d

Have you wondered how high up #meteors are when they begin to glow? It can vary and depends on the #radiant of the #meteorshower and the #speed of its meteors. Read more here: buff.ly/SdVdvI8 🌠🔭

📸 John Ashley.

Bright meteor streaking over a lake and mountains.

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EarthSky @earthskyscience.bsky.social · 2d

Hi stargazers! Tonight the waning gibbous #moon will lie near the #Pleiades star cluster - aka the 7 Sisters - and not far from Aldebaran, the fiery eye of Taurus the Bull. 🌖🌌🔭

Watch this video:
buff.ly/7MwHWj8

For more sky events, visit EarthSky’s night sky guide:
buff.ly/mP9BY1V

📹 EarthSky.org.

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EarthSky @earthskyscience.bsky.social · 3d

Defunct #satellites and chunks of space debris now fall from low orbit every day. Are we doing enough to protect our future in near-Earth space? Find out today at noon CDT when EarthSky’s Dave Adalian talks with spaceflight expert Jonathan McDowell! 🛰️🌎🔭
buff.ly/MNRMk2Y

📸 EarthSky.org.

Smiling man on the left and man with long hair and hands outstretched on the right. A bright trail of debris in space is between them and bold white text in a blue rectangle at the top says 'SKYFALL!'

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