Sky & Telescope

Even though it's nearly 4½ billion miles from the Sun, far-flung Makemake has surprised observers with a warmer-than-expected temperature that is challenging to explain.

Sergio Eguivar Location of Photo: Alberti, Buenos Aires, Argentina Date/Time of photo: November 16 th 2024

A polar cap of carbon-dioxide ice may have provided the thermal blanket needed for rivers and a huge lake to form in the planet's southern highlands.

A passing star may have warped a veil of dust to expose the embryonic planet. Planets are thought to form within disks of dust and gas encircling newborn stars.

Enjoy the wonders of the universe as seen through the “eyes” of the KAS Remote Telescope, located under the dark skies of southeastern Arizona.

Scientists have found the highest-energy cosmic-ray electrons yet, and their source might be surprisingly nearby.

Which of the nearly 6,000 known exoplanets have atmospheres? With help from the James Webb Space Telescope, astronomers are inching closer to an answer.

November 29 @ 8:00 pm 10:00 pm GMT $2 – $4 Radio Astronomy: Past, Present & Future.

Road trip! Dark-sky die-hards like myself make occasional pilgrimages to pristine skies hoping to find relief from the frustrations of light pollution. Last month, a friend and I drove 1,100 miles to spend a week in the Oklahoma Panhandle with several other amateur astronomers who thirsted for darkness. We observed with telescopes and photographed to our heart's content under a blizzard of starlight wrapped in the ribbon of the Milky Way. Several nights in, it occurred to me that the sky there would look familiar to those who inhabited these lands millennia ago before gas and then electric lighting became commonplace. Even at midnight the stars, planets, natural airglow, and the zodiacal light cast enough light to find one's way with ease along a dirt path.