Universe Today:
- What Would Happen if the Sun Stopped? Part 4: Black Hole Sun
by Paul Sutter (https://www.universetoday.com/authors/pmsutter) on June 18, 2026 at 7:04 pmSwitch off fusion and, for ten thousand years, nothing happens. Then the Sun begins a slow, strange death: shrinking, briefly brightening, and coasting on gravitational heat for tens of millions of years. And the neutrinos give the whole thing away in just eight minutes.
- What Would Happen if the Sun Stopped? Part 3: The Photon Traffic Jam
by Paul Sutter (https://www.universetoday.com/authors/pmsutter) on June 17, 2026 at 7:03 pmA photon born in the Sun's core takes around 100,000 years to fight its way to the surface, bouncing through a random walk so inefficient that the light on your face is older than human civilization. Why the Sun's surface is a hundred-millennia-delayed broadcast.
- 'High-Res' is the Secret to Finding Alien Life with the Next Great Space Telescope
by Andy Tomaswick (https://www.universetoday.com/authors/andy-tomaswick) on June 17, 2026 at 1:30 pmWe’re still in the definition phase of the Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO), but it seems like every week a new research group comes out with a paper helping to contribute to what is shaping up to be one of the most important space telescopes of the 2040s. A new paper from a team of researchers led by Daniel Jaffe of the University of Texas at Austin contributes to this ongoing definition work by arguing that it’s time HWO adopted a high-resolution near-IR spectroscopy capability, - which sounds great in practice, but so far hasn’t been attempted due to technological limitations. But, according to the paper, two recent inventions finally make a working version of an extremely high resolution exoplanet hunter viable.
APOD: Astronomy Picture of the Day:
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on June 18, 2026 at 3:09 pmDo you see that blue blob to the lower right of the image center?
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on June 18, 2026 at 3:09 pmHow did a hamster wheel get into space? The Hamster Wheel Nebula (Longmore 8) was
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on June 18, 2026 at 3:09 pmWhile cruising around Saturn, be on the lookout for
NASA Breaking News:
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Sky & Telescope Observing News:
- See Venus Disappear in Broad Daylight on June 17th
by Bob King on June 17, 2026 at 3:12 pmOn June 17th, much of North America can watch the Moon occult Venus in the daytime sky. All you need are binoculars. The post See Venus Disappear in Broad Daylight on June 17th appeared first on Sky & Telescope.
- This Week's Sky at a Glance, June 12 – 21by Alan MacRobert on June 12, 2026 at 9:01 am
The three planets in the western twilight are pulling away from each other now. On Wednesday, the Moon will occult Venus in daylight. The post This Week's Sky at a Glance, June 12 – 21 appeared first on Sky & Telescope.
- This Week's Sky at a Glance, June 5 – 14by Alan MacRobert on June 5, 2026 at 9:04 am
Bright Venus and Jupiter pass through conjunction in twilight this week, while Mercury, Pollux, and Castor watch them from nearby. The post This Week's Sky at a Glance, June 5 – 14 appeared first on Sky & Telescope.
- Chance of Aurora Extends to Friday Night, June 5thby Bob King on June 5, 2026 at 12:45 am
A geomagnetic storm expected June 4th arrived late. But there's still at chance of seeing auroras Friday night, June 5th. The post Chance of Aurora Extends to Friday Night, June 5th appeared first on Sky & Telescope.
- Venus, Jupiter Converge in Stunning June 9th Dusk Conjunctionby Bob King on June 3, 2026 at 4:28 pm
A beautiful conjunction is coming, and all you need are your eyes to enjoy it. The post Venus, Jupiter Converge in Stunning June 9th Dusk Conjunction appeared first on Sky & Telescope.
Sky & Telescope – Explore the Night with Bob King:
- See Venus Disappear in Broad Daylight on June 17thby Bob King on June 17, 2026 at 3:12 pm
On June 17th, much of North America can watch the Moon occult Venus in the daytime sky. All you need are binoculars. The post See Venus Disappear in Broad Daylight on June 17th appeared first on Sky & Telescope.
- Chance of Aurora Extends to Friday Night, June 5thby Bob King on June 5, 2026 at 12:45 am
A geomagnetic storm expected June 4th arrived late. But there's still at chance of seeing auroras Friday night, June 5th. The post Chance of Aurora Extends to Friday Night, June 5th appeared first on Sky & Telescope.
- Venus, Jupiter Converge in Stunning June 9th Dusk Conjunctionby Bob King on June 3, 2026 at 4:28 pm
A beautiful conjunction is coming, and all you need are your eyes to enjoy it. The post Venus, Jupiter Converge in Stunning June 9th Dusk Conjunction appeared first on Sky & Telescope.
- Lost in the Star Clouds — A Milky Way Odysseyby Bob King on May 27, 2026 at 3:31 pm
I share my "discovery" of a new Milky Way star cloud that's been staring at me for ages. The post Lost in the Star Clouds — A Milky Way Odyssey appeared first on Sky & Telescope.
- Moon and Planets to Gather in Twilight Spectacle on May 18–20by Bob King on May 13, 2026 at 5:48 pm
Watch the crescent Moon dance with the planets when it returns next week. The post Moon and Planets to Gather in Twilight Spectacle on May 18–20 appeared first on Sky & Telescope.
Stardate Podcast: The crescent Moon charges through a rapidly disappearing group of bright stars and planets early this evening. Most of the group will be gone from view by the end of the month.
As twilight begins to fade, the planet Mercury is close below the Moon. Brighter Jupiter is the same distance to the left […] Like a cosmic butterfly, a cluster of young stars is just emerging from its cocoon – a cloud of gas and dust. The cocoon `spans about 45 light-years. But some of the beautiful butterfly is already in view. Parts of the gas cloud are lit up by the brightest of the infant stars taking shape there. […] The Sun’s closest planet is making a pretty good appearance in the early evening. As seen from Earth, it’s just about as far from the Sun as it ever gets. It looks like a bright star low in the west-northwest beginning shortly after sunset.
Mercury is getting ready to cross between Earth and […] A relic from the early universe is racing through Libra. It’s moving across the constellation at 800,000 miles per hour. That’s far faster than most of the stars around us. So it’ll move out of Libra in the blink of a cosmic eye.
The star is HD 140283. But it also has a nickname – the […] Every star in the night sky is moving – orbiting the center of the galaxy. Some are moving toward us, while others are moving away. We can’t see that motion because the stars are so remote. But we can measure it with special instruments – one of the most important techniques in astronomy.
The […]