Author Archives: Astrobitica

Here’s an observers’ guide to the newly discovered Comet 2025 F2 (SWAN), which is visible in northern skies right now. Continue ReadingWhat to expect from the newfound Comet Swan: An observer’s guide→

Space shuttle Discovery may be removed from the Smithsonian and put on display at Space Center Houston, if two senators from Texas get their way. Continue ReadingTexas senators: Move space shuttle Discovery from Smithsonian to Houston→

Astronomers have used space-based telescopes, including NASA’s Swift X-ray observatory, to watch a monster black hole spring to life with powerful X-ray eruptions. Continue ReadingNASA spacecraft spots monster black hole bursting with X-rays ‘releasing a hundred times more energy than we have seen elsewhere’→

Get a huge discount on a great beginner telescope in time for the upcoming Lyrid meteor shower, full moon and other night sky events. Continue ReadingSave a massive 30% on the Celestron StarSense Explorer LT 80AZ, a top-tier beginner telescope→

Sky This Week is brought to you in part by Celestron. Friday, April 11An hour after sunset, the bright planet Jupiter stands out in eastern Taurus, forming a V with the two tips of the Bull’s horns, Zeta (ζ) Tauri and Gamma (γ) Aurigae. Below Jupiter shines Aldebaran, the Bull’s alpha star, a magnitude 0.9Continue reading “The Sky This Week from April 11 to 18: The April Full Pink Moon shines” The post The Sky Continue ReadingThe Sky This Week from April 11 to 18: The April Full Pink Moon shines→

The telescope industry in the U.S. has been thrown into chaos as a result of the Trump administration’s escalating trade conflict with China, as manufacturers contemplate price hikes and worry about the possibility of slowing demand. In the latest round of tariffs, U.S. President Donald Trump announced April 9 that duties on goods imported fromContinue reading “Amateur astronomy industry grapples with tariff chaos” The post Amateur astronomy industry grapples with tariff chaos appeared first on Continue ReadingAmateur astronomy industry grapples with tariff chaos→

Kniseley said the budget process creates challenges in reallocating funding from established programs to nontraditional commercial services. The post Space Force official: Trump’s executive order validates current commercial strategy appeared first on SpaceNews.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket stands at Launch Complex 39A ahead of the launch of the Starlink 12-17 mission. Image: Spaceflight Now SpaceX is preparing to launch a Falcon 9 rocket with its latest batch of Starlink V2 Mini satellites into low Earth orbit about an hour and a half after midnight on Friday. The Starlink 12-17 mission is targeting liftoff from Launch Complex 39A at 1:24 a.m. (0524 UTC). This will be the 28th Continue ReadingLive coverage: SpaceX to launch 21 Starlink satellites on Falcon 9 rocket from the Kennedy Space Center→

For the first time since Russian cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova’s solo flight in 1963, a spacecraft will fly with only women aboard. Blue Origin’s all-female crew includes pop star Katy Perry. Continue ReadingBlue Origin’s all-female spaceflight urges women to shoot for the stars — but astronaut memoirs reveal the cost of being exceptional→

China launched Thursday what appears to be the third satellite for a subset of classified, experimental satellites bound for geosynchronous orbit. The post China launches TJS-17, expanding classified geostationary satellite series appeared first on SpaceNews.

China is getting ready to 3D-print bricks on the moon using lunar soil, in what could be a huge step toward building a base on the lunar surface. Continue ReadingChina to 3D-print bricks on the moon using lunar dirt in 2028 to pave way for future base (video)→

Netflix’s edgy animated anthology makes a provocative comeback on May 15. Continue Reading‘Love, Death + Robots’ Season 4 teaser is a maelstrom of explosions, aliens, dinosaurs, and… well robots (video)→

NASA’s Juno spacecraft went into safe mode twice on April 4, but everything’s okay again. Continue ReadingNASA’s Juno probe at Jupiter hits ‘safe mode’ glitch, but bounces back just fine→

I’m leading another eclipse trip. No surprise there. I’ve traveled to observe 16 total solar eclipses, and on all but two of them I was the official astronomer. But this one’s special, even for me.  First, it boasts the longest totality — 6 minutes 23 seconds — that anyone alive will be able to witness.Continue reading “Come with Astronomy associate editor Michael Bakich to Egypt” The post Come with Astronomy associate editor Michael Bakich to Continue ReadingCome with Astronomy associate editor Michael Bakich to Egypt→

British in-orbit manufacturing venture Space Forge has appointed technology veteran Atul Kumar to set up a semiconductor business in the United States, aiming to bolster domestic chip production as efforts to reduce reliance on foreign suppliers gather pace. The post Space Forge sees LEO as key to strengthening US chip independence appeared first on SpaceNews.

NASA astronaut Don Pettit captured two amazing videos of the auroras from his unique perch above Earth last week. Continue ReadingSee gorgeous green auroras dance over Earth in dazzling ISS astronaut video→

The James Webb Space Telescope has revisited a star that swallowed a planet and found that instead of the star subsuming the planet, it was the planet that crashed into the star. Continue ReadingThis star burped after eating a planet — but the planet was really asking for it→

Chris Schur from Payson, Arizona Comet C/2025 F2 (SWAN), discovered March. 29 by amateur astronomers in public imagery taken by the Solar Wind Anisotropies (SWAN) camera on ESA’s Solar and Heliospheric Observer (SOHO) spacecraft, has reached magnitude 7.5. This imager caught the comet on April 8 in the morning sky with an 8-inch RASA scopeContinue reading “A fledgling SWAN” The post A fledgling SWAN appeared first on Astronomy Magazine. Continue ReadingA fledgling SWAN→