Observing News

  • Sun news: Ka-BOOM! X flare!
    by C. Alex Young on March 28, 2025 at 5:33 pm

    Sun news March 28, 2025. UPDATE. An X flare has erupted from the sun's eastern limb, the side of the sun just now rotating into view. The post Sun news: Ka-BOOM! X flare! first appeared on EarthSky.

  • Massive Myanmar earthquake. Hundreds feared dead.
    by Deborah Byrd on March 28, 2025 at 12:00 pm

    The 7.7-magnitude Myanmar earthquake caused the collapse of an unfinished high-rise in Bangkok, with 81 construction workers inside. The post Massive Myanmar earthquake. Hundreds feared dead. first appeared on EarthSky.

  • Visible planets and night sky guide for March and April
    by Marcy Curran on March 28, 2025 at 11:45 am

    Visible planets and night sky guide. Watch a video about tomorrow's partial solar eclipse that will be visible in some areas of North America. The post Visible planets and night sky guide for March and April first appeared on EarthSky.

  • A deep partial solar eclipse on March 29, 2025
    by Marcy Curran on March 28, 2025 at 11:30 am

    A deep partial solar eclipse will occur tomorrow, Saturday, March 29, 2025. Find information on visibility and viewing tips here. The post A deep partial solar eclipse on March 29, 2025 first appeared on EarthSky.

  • New tree is a towering East African giant of the rainforest
    by Dave Adalian on March 28, 2025 at 10:32 am

    A new tree species discovered in the rainforest of eastern Africa - Tessmannia princeps - is a towering giant that grows up to 130 feet (40 m) tall. The post New tree is a towering East African giant of the rainforest first appeared on EarthSky.

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  • Superflares
    by Billy Henry on March 27, 2025 at 5:00 am

    Those are the sounds of cosmic attacks – massive storms on the Sun firing energy and particles into Earth’s magnetic field. Such outbursts can damage orbiting satellites, cause radio blackouts, foul GPS signals, and even knock out power grids on the surface. And there are indications that we […]

  • Messier 3
    by Billy Henry on March 26, 2025 at 5:00 am

    The star cluster Messier 3 is a beautiful sight – a sparkly ball of half a million stars. But the view from the cluster would be even more spectacular. M3 is high above the plane of the Milky Way, so the galaxy would spread out below it like a brilliant pinwheel. M3 is a globular cluster – a […]

  • Cosmic Voids
    by Billy Henry on March 25, 2025 at 5:00 am

    The universe is put together like Swiss cheese – some regions are the cheese; others are the holes. The “cheese” consists of clusters and superclusters of galaxies. The “holes” are just that – cosmic voids. The largest voids span more than a billion light-years. Cosmic voids were […]

  • Virgo Cluster
    by Billy Henry on March 24, 2025 at 5:00 am

    Our home galaxy, the Milky Way, belongs to a small cluster of galaxies – the Local Group. It has fewer than a hundred known members. But most galaxies reside in much more impressive clusters. And the closest of these is centered in the constellation Virgo, which steps up the eastern sky this […]

  • Lost Cluster
    by Billy Henry on March 23, 2025 at 5:00 am

    It might seem hard to lose a star cluster. But that’s what happened with Messier 48. It was cataloged by French astronomer Charles Messier in 1771. When other astronomers looked for it, though, they couldn’t find it. In the early 1780s, Johann Bode and Caroline Herschel did see a cluster five […]

Current amateur astronomy information such as points of interest and events in the night sky, star party dates, educational information, telescopes buying tips and much more.