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Yahoo
a day ago
- Lifestyle
- Yahoo
7 Must-see Astro Events in the Night Sky You Won't Want to Miss This June
June 7: Mercury meets JupiterJune 11: Full strawberry moonJune 19: Moon nears SaturnJune 20: Summer SolsticeJune 22: Crescent moon swings by Venus June 26-27: Bootid meteor shower peaks June 29: Moon covers MarsCelestial meetups abound in the night sky this month, from eye-popping planet pairings to a crossing of the moon and Mars. Even better: you can view many of June's best sky sights from a city or the suburbs. Of course, traveling to a dark-sky destination, such as a national park, will elevate your stargazing experience, especially during late June's meteor shower. And dark skies are especially important when northern lights are in the forecast, which could happen at any time, given we're still in the heart of solar maximum—the roughly 11-year peak in aurora activity. The lights put on an unexpected contiguous U.S. show in late May 2025, and those ribbons could dance again at any moment; here's our guide to catching them. Now, it's time for June's night-sky highlights. Here's what to look for while stargazing this month. Don't miss sunset on June 7—particularly the roughly half hour after the orange orb sinks, when Mercury and Jupiter will travel toward the horizon in tandem. You can admire the pair in the same field of view in binoculars or a backyard telescope from June 7 through the evening of June 9. (For safety, wait until the sun has fully set before using viewing aids to watch the planets.) June's full moon earned the 'strawberry' nickname for the month's proliferation of the bright red berries. According to The Old Farmer's Almanac, the name originated with Indigenous communities like the Algonquian, Ojibwe, Dakota, and Lakota tribes. It will reach its peak illumination at 3:44 p.m. ET; catch it rising above the southeast horizon after sunset. And despite the fruity label, this month's moon won't actually look pink. Around 2 a.m. local time on June 19, the half-moon and vivid Saturn will tango together in the eastern sky. The duo will be close enough to share a view in your stargazing binoculars this morning. Scan down to spot Venus, which rises just after Saturn and the moon in the eastern sky. Friday, June 20, marks the beginning of summer in the northern hemisphere and the start of winter in the southern hemisphere. To celebrate the new season's kick-off, here are 23 summer vacation ideas for 2025—or, for powder chasers, a buzzy new hotel to bookmark for skiing in New Zealand this winter. Add another celestial meetup to your June stargazing bucket list with the close approach of Venus and the moon in the pre-dawn hours of June 22. This morning, the sliver of a moon will appear just above Venus along the eastern horizon. Saturn will glow in the sky to the right, and the sparkly Pleiades star cluster will be visible just to the pair's left. The June Bootid meteor shower is weak compared to the late-summer Perseids, but it has been known to produce unexpected flurries of 100 or more meteors per hour, according to You can try your luck with the Bootids during the peak overnight from June 26 to 27. The shower's radiant point, located in the constellation Bootes, will be visible high in the western sky after sunset and into the pre-dawn hours. Head out for sunset on June 29 to watch the crescent moon temporarily cover Mars. The objects appear to cross right as the sun sets, and they'll slowly separate from each other as they near the western horizon. Enjoy the show from sunset until around midnight local time, and keep an eye out for Mercury on the northwest horizon after sunset, too. Read the original article on Travel & Leisure
Economic Times
20-05-2025
- Science
- Economic Times
China paints US skies with a mysterious white streak, baffles onlookers
A powerful geomagnetic storm created stunning auroras in the American Southwest on May 17, 2025. Amidst this spectacle, a bright streak appeared, initially mistaken for an atmospheric event. It was later identified as a plume from a recent Chinese rocket launch, highlighting concerns about space debris and the need for global cooperation in space activities. Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads The White Streak: What Actually Occurred The Actual Reason: A Recent Launch By China Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads China's Growing Space Program and Global Concerns A powerful and unusual geomagnetic storm on the evening of May 17, 2025, courtesy of a coronal mass ejection (CME) from the Sun painted the American Southwest skies in brilliant auroras. The storm was so powerful it extended the auroral oval far further south than is normal, enabling residents of states such as Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico to be treated to sheer curtains of red and green light flashing across the nighttime the midst of this natural wonder, a bright, white streak zoomed across the sky, fascinating sky observers and generating far-reaching speculation. Some initially thought it was STEVE (Strong Thermal Emission Velocity Enhancement), an atmospheric event. Yet authorities soon established that the streak was neither STEVE nor an ordinary auroral actual reason, as stated by and other accounts, was associated with a recent Chinese rocket flight. About an hour before the streak slid in the night sky, the Chinese firm Landscape had sent its Zhuque-2E methane-burning rocket from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center Site 96 in China. Six satellites were launched into orbit on this mission, including a radar satellite and a space science white streak seen streaking across the U.S. was probably due to a de-orbit or circularization burn. These kinds of burns can leave dramatic, glowing plumes visible across great distances, particularly when they are caught in sunlight at high space program is expanding steadily, with regular launches and complex missions. Though impressive, these developments also undermine the problems of space debris accumulation and risks posed by rocket stages and other equipment re-entering the atmosphere or making burns over populated incidents, such as the 2023 re-entry and burning up of a Chinese rocket over Nepal, have drawn international attention and criticism, emphasizing the need for greater transparency and global cooperation in space ghostly white trail across the U.S. Southwest was no atmospheric wonder, but the evident mark of a recent Chinese rocket. This phenomenon, against the background of a magnificent geomagnetic storm, highlights the interdependency of human space operations and natural astrophysical China and other countries pushing deeper into space, incidents such as this bring into focus the need for global cooperation and effective space traffic control in order to protect the safety of missions in space and terrestrial life.
Forbes
01-05-2025
- Science
- Forbes
Soviet Probe Will Strike Earth Next Week — What To Know
The remains of a spacecraft launched by the U.S.S.R. in 1972 on a doomed mission to land on Venus could strike Earth between May 7 and 13 in a rare uncontrolled re-entry. Marooned in Earth orbit for 53 years, Kosmos 482 was built to withstand extreme temperatures on Venus, so it will survive re-entry if its heat shield is intact, but exactly where and when it will strike Earth is unknown. A space probe called Kosmos 482 sent to explore Venus by the U.S.S.R. in 1972 but marooned in Earth ... More orbit ever since is about to renter and crash-land. (Image shown is an artist's impression of NASA's Orion Spacecraft re-entering). Kosmos 482, or Cosmos 482, was launched on March 31, 1972, on a Soyuz rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, which was then part of the Soviet Union. It was designed to parachute into and land on Venus. Shortly after its launch, a malfunction put it into an elliptical Earth orbit that caused it to get as close as 200 miles (320 kilometers) but as far as almost 10,000 miles (16,000 kilometers). Since then its orbit has decayed considerably. Instead of landing on Venus in 1972, this descent craft looks set to land on Earth in 2025, with Marco Langbroek, a satellite analyst tracking Kosmos 482, predicting it to reenter at 06:01 UTC on Saturday, May 10, plus or minus 2.8 days. That makes the window for re-entry Wednesday, May 7 through Tuesday, May 13, though exactly when it lands will likely remain unknown until hours before it strikes. has data on how and when to see Kosmos 482 in the night sky, though it refers to it as the Venera 8 landing module. The spacecraft weighs about 1,091 lbs (495 kilograms), and when it strikes Earth, it will be traveling at around 150 mph (242 km/h). It could land anywhere between 52 degrees north and south of the equator. According to the United States Geological Survey, Earth's surface is 71% water, so statistically it's likely to land on the ocean. However, that region includes large swathes of Europe, Asia, Africa, the Americas and Australia. While most spacecraft don't survive re-entry or/and a crash landing, Kosmos 482 was built to withstand extremely high pressure and temperatures on Venus. 'The Kosmos 482 Descent Craft was designed to survive the dense atmosphere of Venus,' Langbroek told 'It will therefore likely survive re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere intact and make a crash landing. This will therefore be a high-interest re-entry.' According to NASA, Kosmos 482 was part of the U.S.S.R.'s Venera 8 mission to send two near-identical spacecraft to land on Venus and send back data on the planet's surface temperature and pressure. The first spacecraft launched successfully on March 27, 1972, and landed on Venus on April 6, 1972. The second launched four days later but failed to leave Earth's orbit after an upper-stage booster failure in the Soyuz rocket. All U.S.S.R. missions that remained in Earth orbit were renamed Kosmos/Cosmos. Between 1961 and 1984, the U.S.S.R.'s Venera program sent thirteen probes to Venus.
Yahoo
15-04-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
How to Watch a Rare Display of the Northern Lights from These States This Week
Your aurora forecast is 100 percent chance of dazzling lights! A recent coronal mass ejection (CME) is about to shake up Earth's magnetic field this week, and it's bringing the northern lights to some new places as early as Tuesday night, according to a Kp index of 6 (scaling between 0 and 9), the sky will feature a colorful aurora show, making the lights all the brighter and visible along the northern to forecasters are predicting geomagnetic storms to reach a category G3 (strong), caused by a double eruption on the sun. This surge in aurora activity is part of an ongoing series of geomagnetic storms since mid-2024, with the northern lights even reaching as far south as northern Florida. According to NASA, all of this is happening as the sun hits its 'solar maximum,' an active phase in its 11-year cycle. The auroras should stick around for the week, so get ready for a spectacular display!Read on for how and when to watch. If you're in the right spots, you won't want to miss these breathtaking views!According to NOAA, the Kp index will peak on Wednesday, April 16, possibly stretching across up to 18 states, and then dropping to 4 on Thursday, April 17. Separate predictions show the likelihood of catching a round of auroras as early as Tuesday, April 15. Up to 18 states will have a chance to see the northern lights this week!However, your best bet for seeing the northern lights, as noted by NOAA, is in Alaska, northeastern Montana, northern North Dakota, northern Minnesota and northern Canada. There's a smaller chance in places like Washington, northern Idaho, northern Wisconsin and upper Michigan, and even less of a chance in states like Oregon, Wyoming, South Dakota and Iowa. If you're trying to catch a glimpse of the show, NOAA says head to a high, north-facing spot away from the city between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m. Experts recommend a wide-angle lens with an aperture of f/4 or lower, or just switch your phone to night mode and leave the flash off, if you're looking to take photos of the colorful display. Read the original article on People
Forbes
25-03-2025
- Science
- Forbes
In Photos: Weird ‘Blue Spiral' In The Sky That Just Went Viral
The "SpaceX Spiral" seen from Dalby-Viggeby, south of Uppsala, Sweden just after 21:00 CET on March ... More 24, 2025. (Photo by BERTRAND ILHE/AFP via Getty Images) Skywatchers across western Europe were shocked to see a blue spiral in the night sky on Monday, March 24, 2025, a sight that caused social media to be dominated by strange and confusing images for many hours. The giant blue spiral seen from myriad locations across the continent proved not to be aliens — as frequently mooted — but the exhaust from a rocket launch two hours previously. The U.K.'s Met Office weather service received multiple reports of an "illuminated swirl in the sky' at about 8:00 p.m. GMT (4:00 p.m. EDT). It was visible for several minutes and thought by some to be the result of extraterrestrial activity, according to The Guardian. It was caused by SpaceX, a company owned by Elon Musk that frequently launches satellites, typically its own, for its Starlink broadband internet constellation. However, this launch of a Falcon 9 rocket took one, or possibly more, surveillance satellites into Earth orbit on a mission for the US National Reconnaissance Office (NRO). That mission launched from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida, at 1:48 p.m. EDT on Monday, March 24 — about two hours before the spiral was sighted in Europe — though exactly what was being launched is unknown. The shape of the spinning spiral is akin to that of a spiral galaxy, but it's a frozen plume of fuel from the second stage of a Falcon 9 rocket reflecting the sun's light from below the horizon. The rocket was in the upper atmosphere and spinning at the time — possibly because at least two satellites were being deployed — causing a spiral shape to be seen. The "SpaceX Spiral" seen from Dalby-Viggeby, south of Uppsala, Sweden just after 21:00 CET on March ... More 24, 2025 shows a blue and white spiral in the night sky. (Photo by BERTRAND ILHE/AFP via Getty Images) This is not the first time a blue spiral has been seen in the wake of a SpaceX rocket launch. Similar phenomena have been seen over the Barents Sea, New Zealand, east Africa, Hawaii and Alaska, according to Wishing you clear skies and wide eyes.
