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The July full moon is the beautiful Buck Moon

A disk, the full moon, hangs above the wavy line of the horizon.
The July full moon will lie low above the horizon in the late evening on July 28, 2026, for observers in North America. It will look full this evening, even though the exact moment of the full moon occurs at 9:36 CDT (14:36 UTC) on July 29, 2026. Chart via EarthSky.

When to watch in 2026: The moment of full moon comes on July 29 for the Americas, Europe and Africa. And it falls on July 30 for Australia, New Zealand and Asia. Same full moon for all of Earth … but different time zones.
Crest of the full moon: will fall at 9:36 a.m. CDT (14:36 UTC) on July 29, 2026. That’s 2:36 a.m. New Zealand Standard Time on July 30. So, if you live in either North or South America, your fullest moon hangs low above the western horizon at sunrise on July 29. But it will also look full as it rises on the evenings of July 28 and 29.
Where to look: Full moons are always opposite the sun. They must be, in order to look full. For all of us on Earth, the full moon will rise in the east just after sunset on those evenings. And it will appear highest in the sky in the middle of the night and set in the west at dawn.

EarthSky isn’t powered by billionaires. We’re powered by you. Support EarthSky’s 2026 Donation Campaign and help keep science accessible.

Chart showing, all in a row, a large starred dot representing the sun, a dot representing Earth, and a small dot representing the moon.
At full moon, the sun, Earth and moon are aligned with Earth in the middle. The moon’s day side – its fully lighted hemisphere – directly faces us. Chart via EarthSky.

July’s full moon is the Buck Moon

All the full moons have names. Popular nicknames for the July full moon include the Thunder Moon and Hay Moon … and there are lots more.

But the Buck Moon is the most common name for us in North America for the July full moon. Male deer start growing their antlers when they are about a year old. The antlers take about 120 days, or about 4 months, to mature.

By July, for us in the Northern Hemisphere, the antlers of male deer are growing fast. Sometimes they grow as fast as several inches per day. They are fully mature in fall. So, to honor the deer and the July full moon, the July full moon is the Buck Moon.

This July full moon mimics the late January sun

All full moons throughout the year have their own unique characteristics, often related to their paths across the sky. The full moon’s nighttime path mimics the sun’s daytime path from six months ago, or in six months from now. So, for all of us on Earth, the July full moon will follow the path the sun took in January. And, for us in the Northern Hemisphere, the January sun arched low, so we see the July full moon riding low in the sky.

In fact, in most years, again for us in the Northern Hemisphere, the path across the sky of July’s full moon is lower than any other, except the path of the full moon of June. Because it is lower, it also spends less time in the sky.

Even north of the Arctic Circle, the July full moon follows the path of the low Arctic January sun. As seen from the Arctic, the July full moon appears above the horizon only briefly. In regions closer to the North Pole, it never rises at all.

Two charts: The first one shows a disk, the January sun, moving across the sky in a low arc above a wavy line representing the horizon. Another, but higher arc shows a disk, the July sun, moving across the sky. The second chart shows a disk, the January full moon, moving across the sky in a high arc, and another disk, the July full moon, moving in a lower arc above a wavy line representing the horizon.
For observers in the Northern Hemisphere, the low arc across the sky of the July full moon nearly matches that of the January sun. The arc of the July sun is always much higher than the arc of the July full moon. Chart via EarthSky.

Arc of the July full moon in the Southern Hemisphere

For those in the Southern Hemisphere, the July full moon’s arc across the sky matches the path of the January sun.

Two charts: The first one shows a disk, the July full moon, moving across the sky in a high arc above a wavy line representing the horizon. Another, but lower arc shows a disk, the January full moon, moving across the sky. The second chart shows a disk, the January sun, moving across the sky in a high arc, and another disk, the July sun, moving in a lower arc above a wavy line representing the horizon.
For observers in the Southern Hemisphere, the high arc across the sky of the July full moon nearly matches that of the January sun. The arc of the July sun is always much lower than the arc of the July full moon. Chart via EarthSky.

July full moon lies in Capricornus in 2026

And what of our whole-Earth perspective on the moon?

The orderliness of the heavens is such that in July the full moon always lies in front of one of two constellations of the zodiac. In most years, the July full moon appears in front of Sagittarius the Archer. This year, though, the July full moon is in front of the neighboring constellation to the east, Capricornus the Sea Goat. It is found in a dark sky in the shape of an arrowhead.

Chart showing an arrow passing disk representing Earth then passing a smaller disk representing the moon.
The 2026 July full moon lies in the constellation Capricornus. Chart via EarthSky.

Will you recognize the arrowhead shape among the stars near the full moon? Probably not, because the full moon’s bright light will wash fainter stars from view. But you don’t need to see Capricornus’ arrowhead to know it’s there … or to know that the stars lie beyond the moon in space. As Earth orbits the sun, our planet’s night side points out on a shifting panorama of stars. And so the moon returns year after year to this quiet corner of the heavens. This is not by chance, but by the rhythms of Earth and sky.

Seven small dots, faint stars, left of a round disk, the full moon. They are all above a wavy line, the horizon.
July’s full Buck Moon near the stars of Capricornus. Chart via EarthSky.

Bottom line: July’s full moon – the Buck Moon – falls on the morning of July 29, but will also appear full when it rises in the evening on July 28 and 29.

Read more: Full moon names of the month and by the season

Read more: Why do female caribou have antlers unlike other female deer?

The post The July full moon is the beautiful Buck Moon first appeared on EarthSky.



from EarthSky https://ift.tt/Ol0QLpY
A disk, the full moon, hangs above the wavy line of the horizon.
The July full moon will lie low above the horizon in the late evening on July 28, 2026, for observers in North America. It will look full this evening, even though the exact moment of the full moon occurs at 9:36 CDT (14:36 UTC) on July 29, 2026. Chart via EarthSky.

When to watch in 2026: The moment of full moon comes on July 29 for the Americas, Europe and Africa. And it falls on July 30 for Australia, New Zealand and Asia. Same full moon for all of Earth … but different time zones.
Crest of the full moon: will fall at 9:36 a.m. CDT (14:36 UTC) on July 29, 2026. That’s 2:36 a.m. New Zealand Standard Time on July 30. So, if you live in either North or South America, your fullest moon hangs low above the western horizon at sunrise on July 29. But it will also look full as it rises on the evenings of July 28 and 29.
Where to look: Full moons are always opposite the sun. They must be, in order to look full. For all of us on Earth, the full moon will rise in the east just after sunset on those evenings. And it will appear highest in the sky in the middle of the night and set in the west at dawn.

EarthSky isn’t powered by billionaires. We’re powered by you. Support EarthSky’s 2026 Donation Campaign and help keep science accessible.

Chart showing, all in a row, a large starred dot representing the sun, a dot representing Earth, and a small dot representing the moon.
At full moon, the sun, Earth and moon are aligned with Earth in the middle. The moon’s day side – its fully lighted hemisphere – directly faces us. Chart via EarthSky.

July’s full moon is the Buck Moon

All the full moons have names. Popular nicknames for the July full moon include the Thunder Moon and Hay Moon … and there are lots more.

But the Buck Moon is the most common name for us in North America for the July full moon. Male deer start growing their antlers when they are about a year old. The antlers take about 120 days, or about 4 months, to mature.

By July, for us in the Northern Hemisphere, the antlers of male deer are growing fast. Sometimes they grow as fast as several inches per day. They are fully mature in fall. So, to honor the deer and the July full moon, the July full moon is the Buck Moon.

This July full moon mimics the late January sun

All full moons throughout the year have their own unique characteristics, often related to their paths across the sky. The full moon’s nighttime path mimics the sun’s daytime path from six months ago, or in six months from now. So, for all of us on Earth, the July full moon will follow the path the sun took in January. And, for us in the Northern Hemisphere, the January sun arched low, so we see the July full moon riding low in the sky.

In fact, in most years, again for us in the Northern Hemisphere, the path across the sky of July’s full moon is lower than any other, except the path of the full moon of June. Because it is lower, it also spends less time in the sky.

Even north of the Arctic Circle, the July full moon follows the path of the low Arctic January sun. As seen from the Arctic, the July full moon appears above the horizon only briefly. In regions closer to the North Pole, it never rises at all.

Two charts: The first one shows a disk, the January sun, moving across the sky in a low arc above a wavy line representing the horizon. Another, but higher arc shows a disk, the July sun, moving across the sky. The second chart shows a disk, the January full moon, moving across the sky in a high arc, and another disk, the July full moon, moving in a lower arc above a wavy line representing the horizon.
For observers in the Northern Hemisphere, the low arc across the sky of the July full moon nearly matches that of the January sun. The arc of the July sun is always much higher than the arc of the July full moon. Chart via EarthSky.

Arc of the July full moon in the Southern Hemisphere

For those in the Southern Hemisphere, the July full moon’s arc across the sky matches the path of the January sun.

Two charts: The first one shows a disk, the July full moon, moving across the sky in a high arc above a wavy line representing the horizon. Another, but lower arc shows a disk, the January full moon, moving across the sky. The second chart shows a disk, the January sun, moving across the sky in a high arc, and another disk, the July sun, moving in a lower arc above a wavy line representing the horizon.
For observers in the Southern Hemisphere, the high arc across the sky of the July full moon nearly matches that of the January sun. The arc of the July sun is always much lower than the arc of the July full moon. Chart via EarthSky.

July full moon lies in Capricornus in 2026

And what of our whole-Earth perspective on the moon?

The orderliness of the heavens is such that in July the full moon always lies in front of one of two constellations of the zodiac. In most years, the July full moon appears in front of Sagittarius the Archer. This year, though, the July full moon is in front of the neighboring constellation to the east, Capricornus the Sea Goat. It is found in a dark sky in the shape of an arrowhead.

Chart showing an arrow passing disk representing Earth then passing a smaller disk representing the moon.
The 2026 July full moon lies in the constellation Capricornus. Chart via EarthSky.

Will you recognize the arrowhead shape among the stars near the full moon? Probably not, because the full moon’s bright light will wash fainter stars from view. But you don’t need to see Capricornus’ arrowhead to know it’s there … or to know that the stars lie beyond the moon in space. As Earth orbits the sun, our planet’s night side points out on a shifting panorama of stars. And so the moon returns year after year to this quiet corner of the heavens. This is not by chance, but by the rhythms of Earth and sky.

Seven small dots, faint stars, left of a round disk, the full moon. They are all above a wavy line, the horizon.
July’s full Buck Moon near the stars of Capricornus. Chart via EarthSky.

Bottom line: July’s full moon – the Buck Moon – falls on the morning of July 29, but will also appear full when it rises in the evening on July 28 and 29.

Read more: Full moon names of the month and by the season

Read more: Why do female caribou have antlers unlike other female deer?

The post The July full moon is the beautiful Buck Moon first appeared on EarthSky.



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Meet Shaula and Lesath, the Scorpion’s Stinger stars

Shaula and Lesath: Night sky with constellation Scorpius marked with lines and dots, annotated.
View larger. | The constellation Scorpius by Daniel McVey. The bright red star Antares represents the Scorpion’s Heart. The Scorpion’s Stinger stars – Shaula and Lesath – can be found at the end of the Scorpius’s curved tail. Used with permission.

Scorpius and the Scorpion’s Stinger stars

The zodiacal constellation Scorpius the Scorpion is one of the few constellations that truly looks like its name.

That’s because it has a graceful, J-shaped pattern of stars resembling a real scorpion’s curved tail. And at the end of this line of stars are two stars noticeable for their nearness to each other. They are Shaula and Lesath. Together, these stars represent the Scorpion’s Stinger.

Although Shaula and Lesath appear close together, they’re only close along our line of sight. In reality, these two stars are separated by about 5 light-years.

Shaula, the second brightest star in the constellation Scorpius, is a triple star system that shines at magnitude +1.62.

Lesath, the fainter star of the Stinger pair, doesn’t have any known companions. Its magnitude is +2.7.

In addition to being known as the Scorpion’s Stinger, these two noticeable stars are sometimes called the Cat’s Eyes. That’s because if you look at them through binoculars, they resemble the eyes of a cat in the dark.

Shaula and Lesath: A map of the stars in Scorpius, with stars in black on white.
A map of Scorpius showing the location of the Stinger stars, Shaula and Lesath, at the tip of the Scorpion’s curved Tail. Image via IAU/ Sky & Telescope/ Wikimedia Commons.

How to see Shaula and Lesath

Scorpius is thought of as a summer constellation in the Northern Hemisphere, as that’s when it’s highest in the sky. And in the Southern Hemisphere, it’s considered a winter constellation. But it’s also visible in early northern autumn, or early southern spring.

For both hemispheres, Scorpius and its Stinger stars are highest in the sky around midnight local time in mid-June. Then by mid-July, Lesath and Shaula are at their highest in the sky around 10 p.m. When mid-August arrives, they are highest in the sky around 8 p.m. And by mid-September, at 6 p.m. The time will vary by up to an hour, depending on how far east or west you are in your time zone.

At mid-northern latitudes, Lesath and Shaula never climb very high in the sky. They are highest in the sky when they’re due south. Even then, from the northern U.S., Scorpius’ Stinger stars are barely a fist-width above your horizon if you hold your fist an arm’s length away. They are higher in the sky as seen from the southern U.S., where Scorpius becomes a glorious sight. And from the Southern Hemisphere, all of Scorpius arcs prominently high overhead.

Shaula is the 2nd-brightest star in the constellation Scorpius, after Antares. Shaula is also the 24th-brightest star in the sky. But it’s hard to think of Shaula without its partner Lesath. These two stars are very noticeable on the sky’s dome, glittering brighter than most other stars.

From the Northern Hemisphere, Scorpius will be in your southern sky. In that case, Shaula – the brighter of the two – will be the star on the left of the pair.

Northern and Southern Hemisphere view of Scorpius the Scorpion with the Stinger Stars - Shaula and Lesath - indicated by a red arrow.
The red arrows point to Shaula and Lesath – the Stinger Stars – that mark the 2 stars at the end of the curved tail of Scorpius. Chart via EarthSky.

Science of Shaula and Lesath

Although these two stars look like a close-knit pair, they’re far apart in space. Shaula is about 571 light-years distant, whereas Lesath lies some 576 light-years away. Like all individual stars we see in our night sky, these two are members of our Milky Way galaxy.

Shaula, also known as Lambda Scorpii, is a triple system. The largest star, which has a blue-white color, is about nine times the sun’s diameter in size and has 14 times the sun’s mass. It is a Beta Cephei variable star, a class of stars characterized by rapid but small variations in brightness. There’s another blue-white star in that system. Its diameter is almost five times that of the sun and it has over 10 times the sun’s mass.

The third object in the system is what’s known as a pre-main sequence star. That’s an object that has enough mass from the surrounding dust and gas to become a star, but has not yet started nuclear fusion at its core, which would make it as a star.

Lesath’s other name is Upsilon Scorpii. It is also a hot blue-white star, with about six times the sun’s diameter and 11 times the sun’s mass.

The Milky Way runs through the stinger

On a dark, moonless night, you can see a glowing band of stars running from Scorpius’ Tail and upward through the Summer Triangle. It’s the Earth-viewed Milky Way, a roadway of stars arcing across the sky from horizon to horizon in the northern summer. What you are seeing is the edgewise view of our galaxy’s flat disk. The “haze” is really the combined light of millions upon millions of stars.

The Milky Way galaxy has an equator, just like Earth does. The galactic equator runs through Scorpius and also its neighboring constellation to the east, Sagittarius the Archer.

2 maps in circles, showing all the constellation patterns, and the Milky Way as a blue band.
View larger. | A whole-sky map of the Milky Way overlaid on the constellations. Image via Tfr000/ Wikimedia Commons.

The ecliptic is nearby

And now shift your perspective from our great galaxy to our own local solar system, our sun’s family in space. The ecliptic is our sun’s annual path in front of the background stars. It also runs through Scorpius and Sagittarius. Check out the star chart below to see the whereabouts of the ecliptic with respect to this constellation.

Star chart of Scorpius with green dashed lines and black dots for its stars.
A map of the constellation Scorpius with a red dashed line showing the position of the ecliptic. The areas shaded in blue represent the Milky Way. Image via Torsten Bronger/ Wikimedia Commons.

History of the names Shaula and Lesath

Shaula is an Arabic name meaning the Scorpion’s Stinger. Lesath’s name is less straightforward. According to Paul Kunitach and Tim Smart, authors of A Dictionary of Modern Star Names, the name Lesath is the final result of a long and convoluted history, initially derived from a Greek word meaning a foggy conglomeration.

Night sky with 2 close-together, brilliant stars and 2 patches of multiple stars nearby.
Shaula and Lesath, the stinger stars in Scorpius, are prominent in the lower right. In a dark sky, you’ll see 2 famous star clusters – M6 and M7 – in the constellation Scorpius the Scorpion. In this photo, Messier 7 – aka Ptolemy’s Cluster – is above the tree on the left. Messier 6, the Butterfly Cluster, is a bit smaller, positioned near the center top of the image. Image via Tom and Jane Wildoner/ The Dark Side Observatory. Used with permission.

Bottom line: Shaula and Lesath, known as the Stinger of the Scorpion, are easy to see at the end of Scorpius’s tail.

The post Meet Shaula and Lesath, the Scorpion’s Stinger stars first appeared on EarthSky.



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Shaula and Lesath: Night sky with constellation Scorpius marked with lines and dots, annotated.
View larger. | The constellation Scorpius by Daniel McVey. The bright red star Antares represents the Scorpion’s Heart. The Scorpion’s Stinger stars – Shaula and Lesath – can be found at the end of the Scorpius’s curved tail. Used with permission.

Scorpius and the Scorpion’s Stinger stars

The zodiacal constellation Scorpius the Scorpion is one of the few constellations that truly looks like its name.

That’s because it has a graceful, J-shaped pattern of stars resembling a real scorpion’s curved tail. And at the end of this line of stars are two stars noticeable for their nearness to each other. They are Shaula and Lesath. Together, these stars represent the Scorpion’s Stinger.

Although Shaula and Lesath appear close together, they’re only close along our line of sight. In reality, these two stars are separated by about 5 light-years.

Shaula, the second brightest star in the constellation Scorpius, is a triple star system that shines at magnitude +1.62.

Lesath, the fainter star of the Stinger pair, doesn’t have any known companions. Its magnitude is +2.7.

In addition to being known as the Scorpion’s Stinger, these two noticeable stars are sometimes called the Cat’s Eyes. That’s because if you look at them through binoculars, they resemble the eyes of a cat in the dark.

Shaula and Lesath: A map of the stars in Scorpius, with stars in black on white.
A map of Scorpius showing the location of the Stinger stars, Shaula and Lesath, at the tip of the Scorpion’s curved Tail. Image via IAU/ Sky & Telescope/ Wikimedia Commons.

How to see Shaula and Lesath

Scorpius is thought of as a summer constellation in the Northern Hemisphere, as that’s when it’s highest in the sky. And in the Southern Hemisphere, it’s considered a winter constellation. But it’s also visible in early northern autumn, or early southern spring.

For both hemispheres, Scorpius and its Stinger stars are highest in the sky around midnight local time in mid-June. Then by mid-July, Lesath and Shaula are at their highest in the sky around 10 p.m. When mid-August arrives, they are highest in the sky around 8 p.m. And by mid-September, at 6 p.m. The time will vary by up to an hour, depending on how far east or west you are in your time zone.

At mid-northern latitudes, Lesath and Shaula never climb very high in the sky. They are highest in the sky when they’re due south. Even then, from the northern U.S., Scorpius’ Stinger stars are barely a fist-width above your horizon if you hold your fist an arm’s length away. They are higher in the sky as seen from the southern U.S., where Scorpius becomes a glorious sight. And from the Southern Hemisphere, all of Scorpius arcs prominently high overhead.

Shaula is the 2nd-brightest star in the constellation Scorpius, after Antares. Shaula is also the 24th-brightest star in the sky. But it’s hard to think of Shaula without its partner Lesath. These two stars are very noticeable on the sky’s dome, glittering brighter than most other stars.

From the Northern Hemisphere, Scorpius will be in your southern sky. In that case, Shaula – the brighter of the two – will be the star on the left of the pair.

Northern and Southern Hemisphere view of Scorpius the Scorpion with the Stinger Stars - Shaula and Lesath - indicated by a red arrow.
The red arrows point to Shaula and Lesath – the Stinger Stars – that mark the 2 stars at the end of the curved tail of Scorpius. Chart via EarthSky.

Science of Shaula and Lesath

Although these two stars look like a close-knit pair, they’re far apart in space. Shaula is about 571 light-years distant, whereas Lesath lies some 576 light-years away. Like all individual stars we see in our night sky, these two are members of our Milky Way galaxy.

Shaula, also known as Lambda Scorpii, is a triple system. The largest star, which has a blue-white color, is about nine times the sun’s diameter in size and has 14 times the sun’s mass. It is a Beta Cephei variable star, a class of stars characterized by rapid but small variations in brightness. There’s another blue-white star in that system. Its diameter is almost five times that of the sun and it has over 10 times the sun’s mass.

The third object in the system is what’s known as a pre-main sequence star. That’s an object that has enough mass from the surrounding dust and gas to become a star, but has not yet started nuclear fusion at its core, which would make it as a star.

Lesath’s other name is Upsilon Scorpii. It is also a hot blue-white star, with about six times the sun’s diameter and 11 times the sun’s mass.

The Milky Way runs through the stinger

On a dark, moonless night, you can see a glowing band of stars running from Scorpius’ Tail and upward through the Summer Triangle. It’s the Earth-viewed Milky Way, a roadway of stars arcing across the sky from horizon to horizon in the northern summer. What you are seeing is the edgewise view of our galaxy’s flat disk. The “haze” is really the combined light of millions upon millions of stars.

The Milky Way galaxy has an equator, just like Earth does. The galactic equator runs through Scorpius and also its neighboring constellation to the east, Sagittarius the Archer.

2 maps in circles, showing all the constellation patterns, and the Milky Way as a blue band.
View larger. | A whole-sky map of the Milky Way overlaid on the constellations. Image via Tfr000/ Wikimedia Commons.

The ecliptic is nearby

And now shift your perspective from our great galaxy to our own local solar system, our sun’s family in space. The ecliptic is our sun’s annual path in front of the background stars. It also runs through Scorpius and Sagittarius. Check out the star chart below to see the whereabouts of the ecliptic with respect to this constellation.

Star chart of Scorpius with green dashed lines and black dots for its stars.
A map of the constellation Scorpius with a red dashed line showing the position of the ecliptic. The areas shaded in blue represent the Milky Way. Image via Torsten Bronger/ Wikimedia Commons.

History of the names Shaula and Lesath

Shaula is an Arabic name meaning the Scorpion’s Stinger. Lesath’s name is less straightforward. According to Paul Kunitach and Tim Smart, authors of A Dictionary of Modern Star Names, the name Lesath is the final result of a long and convoluted history, initially derived from a Greek word meaning a foggy conglomeration.

Night sky with 2 close-together, brilliant stars and 2 patches of multiple stars nearby.
Shaula and Lesath, the stinger stars in Scorpius, are prominent in the lower right. In a dark sky, you’ll see 2 famous star clusters – M6 and M7 – in the constellation Scorpius the Scorpion. In this photo, Messier 7 – aka Ptolemy’s Cluster – is above the tree on the left. Messier 6, the Butterfly Cluster, is a bit smaller, positioned near the center top of the image. Image via Tom and Jane Wildoner/ The Dark Side Observatory. Used with permission.

Bottom line: Shaula and Lesath, known as the Stinger of the Scorpion, are easy to see at the end of Scorpius’s tail.

The post Meet Shaula and Lesath, the Scorpion’s Stinger stars first appeared on EarthSky.



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What’s an airplane glory? Here’s how to spot one

Top image shows an airplane glory on thin cloud; bottom image shows a closeup of the glory.
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Eliot Herman caught this wonderful airplane glory on June 29, 2022, while flying over Bristol Bay, Alaska. Thank you, Eliot!

Have you seen an airplane glory?

I was looking out the window of an airplane recently, and I saw the airplane’s shadow on a cloud. A rainbow seemed to surround it. What was it?

It sounds like the beautiful optical phenomenon known as the glory, also called an anti-corona or pilot’s bow.

Glories are surprisingly common. People traveling in airplanes see them all the time. You need the sun to be directly behind your head. In front, you need an ordinary cloud. As you look toward the cloud, look for the shadow of the airplane. A multi-colored circle of light will surround the plane’s shadow. That light is the glory.

The plane’s shadow doesn’t have anything to do with making the glory. The glory and the shadow both simply come from the same source: the sun behind you.

Small airplane shadow on cloud surrounded by a rainbow halo of color fading from yellow in the center to blue.
A glory is made of sunlight scattered back toward you. It’s much smaller than a rainbow. It’s made by light scattered from the droplets of a cloud, rather than falling raindrops. Image via Wikipedia.

Here’s what makes a glory

Like a rainbow, a glory is centered on the antisolar point – the point opposite the sun – which coincides with your head’s shadow. And it coincides with the larger shadow of an airplane, if you’re looking out of an airplane window. So this point – the point where you’ll see the glory – must be opposite the sun’s position in the sky.

You might see that, when the sun is high in the sky and you’re on the ground, the antisolar point always lies below your horizon. That’s why, in order to see a glory, the clouds or fog causing it have to be located below the observer, in a straight line with the sun and the observer’s eye.

Want to know more about what makes a glory? Try this page from Les Cowley of the great website Atmospheric Optics.

Just before landing in #Vienna, we hit the clouds and the sun behind us cast a perfect halo around the plane’s shadow! One of the coolest things I’ve ever seen from a plane! ????

— Dr Catherine Russell (@seddyrocks.bsky.social) 2025-05-20T11:36:36.367Z

Where else you might see a glory?

Nowadays, most people see glories from airplanes. But they’re also commonly observed from very tall buildings. And, before the days of air travel, people spoke of glories they’d seen while mountain climbing. The same conditions – the sun behind and a cloud ahead – can also cast your shadow onto a mist while you’re scaling a tall peak. Then it’s possible to see a glory around the shadow of your own head. That type of glory is called a brocken spectre.

The glory is round, like the halo you sometimes see around the sun or moon. And it comes in muted rainbow colors.

Some glory photos from our EarthSky Community

View of airplane wing over clouds. Beneath it, a small shadow of the plane with a circular rainbow around it.
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Michael Sell of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, captured this image on January 8, 2023, and wrote: “I was able to capture this on my flight from Florida to Wisconsin. After doing some research, I found that this is sometimes referred to as Pilot’s Glory or Pilot’s Halo. If you look close enough, you can even see that there are two rainbows surrounding the shadow.” Thank you, Michael!
Small shadow of plane on clouds with rainbow ring around frong half of the plane's shadow.
Karthik Easvur took this image of an airplane glory on May 7, 2019, over India. Karthik wrote: “The most interesting thing about this phenomenon is that one can find the position of the person on the airplane who took the photo. The point where the center of the glory is on the airplane shadow corresponds to the position of the person who took the photo. I took this photo sitting on the 5th-row seat from the cockpit.” Thank you, Karthik!

Bottom line: An airplane glory is easy to see if you watch for it while traveling by air. The sun has to be behind your head. You’ll see the plane’s shadow cast on a cloud. And a halo of light will surround the shadow.

The post What’s an airplane glory? Here’s how to spot one first appeared on EarthSky.



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Top image shows an airplane glory on thin cloud; bottom image shows a closeup of the glory.
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Eliot Herman caught this wonderful airplane glory on June 29, 2022, while flying over Bristol Bay, Alaska. Thank you, Eliot!

Have you seen an airplane glory?

I was looking out the window of an airplane recently, and I saw the airplane’s shadow on a cloud. A rainbow seemed to surround it. What was it?

It sounds like the beautiful optical phenomenon known as the glory, also called an anti-corona or pilot’s bow.

Glories are surprisingly common. People traveling in airplanes see them all the time. You need the sun to be directly behind your head. In front, you need an ordinary cloud. As you look toward the cloud, look for the shadow of the airplane. A multi-colored circle of light will surround the plane’s shadow. That light is the glory.

The plane’s shadow doesn’t have anything to do with making the glory. The glory and the shadow both simply come from the same source: the sun behind you.

Small airplane shadow on cloud surrounded by a rainbow halo of color fading from yellow in the center to blue.
A glory is made of sunlight scattered back toward you. It’s much smaller than a rainbow. It’s made by light scattered from the droplets of a cloud, rather than falling raindrops. Image via Wikipedia.

Here’s what makes a glory

Like a rainbow, a glory is centered on the antisolar point – the point opposite the sun – which coincides with your head’s shadow. And it coincides with the larger shadow of an airplane, if you’re looking out of an airplane window. So this point – the point where you’ll see the glory – must be opposite the sun’s position in the sky.

You might see that, when the sun is high in the sky and you’re on the ground, the antisolar point always lies below your horizon. That’s why, in order to see a glory, the clouds or fog causing it have to be located below the observer, in a straight line with the sun and the observer’s eye.

Want to know more about what makes a glory? Try this page from Les Cowley of the great website Atmospheric Optics.

Just before landing in #Vienna, we hit the clouds and the sun behind us cast a perfect halo around the plane’s shadow! One of the coolest things I’ve ever seen from a plane! ????

— Dr Catherine Russell (@seddyrocks.bsky.social) 2025-05-20T11:36:36.367Z

Where else you might see a glory?

Nowadays, most people see glories from airplanes. But they’re also commonly observed from very tall buildings. And, before the days of air travel, people spoke of glories they’d seen while mountain climbing. The same conditions – the sun behind and a cloud ahead – can also cast your shadow onto a mist while you’re scaling a tall peak. Then it’s possible to see a glory around the shadow of your own head. That type of glory is called a brocken spectre.

The glory is round, like the halo you sometimes see around the sun or moon. And it comes in muted rainbow colors.

Some glory photos from our EarthSky Community

View of airplane wing over clouds. Beneath it, a small shadow of the plane with a circular rainbow around it.
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Michael Sell of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, captured this image on January 8, 2023, and wrote: “I was able to capture this on my flight from Florida to Wisconsin. After doing some research, I found that this is sometimes referred to as Pilot’s Glory or Pilot’s Halo. If you look close enough, you can even see that there are two rainbows surrounding the shadow.” Thank you, Michael!
Small shadow of plane on clouds with rainbow ring around frong half of the plane's shadow.
Karthik Easvur took this image of an airplane glory on May 7, 2019, over India. Karthik wrote: “The most interesting thing about this phenomenon is that one can find the position of the person on the airplane who took the photo. The point where the center of the glory is on the airplane shadow corresponds to the position of the person who took the photo. I took this photo sitting on the 5th-row seat from the cockpit.” Thank you, Karthik!

Bottom line: An airplane glory is easy to see if you watch for it while traveling by air. The sun has to be behind your head. You’ll see the plane’s shadow cast on a cloud. And a halo of light will surround the shadow.

The post What’s an airplane glory? Here’s how to spot one first appeared on EarthSky.



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Meet Delta Scorpii, aka Dschubba. It’s a variable star

Star chart of constellation Scorpius with stars in black on white and arrow pointing to Delta Scorpii.
Delta Scorpii, also known as Dschubba, is in the constellation Scorpius the Scorpion. It’s the middle star in the little arc of 3 stars above the bright red star Antares, the Scorpion’s Heart. These 3 stars are called the Crown of the Scorpion. Chart via Wikimedia.

We live in uncertain times. Look up! It’s peaceful. And please help EarthSky keep going. Donate today.

Finding (and pronouncing) Dschubba

Delta Scorpii – aka Dschubba – is easy to spot as the middle star in the “forehead” or Crown of Scorpius the Scorpion. And it’s an extremely interesting star – well worth watching – unpredictably variable in a way that you can watch with your eyes alone.

On these northern summer evenings, we in the Northern Hemisphere see Scorpius and Delta Scorpii (Dschubba) in our southern sky. For Southern Hemisphere viewers, they are closer to overhead. Scorpius is an easy constellation to find, because of its curved “tail” of stars. And the brightest star in Scorpius, Antares, will catch your eyes.

To the west of Antares, you’ll find a little arc of three stars. They are tiny, but noticeable. Dschubba, the middle star, is usually the brightest of the three.

How do you pronounce Dschubba? The “D” is silent. So now we are left with “schubba”. It is two syllables, emphasizing the first: SCHUB ba. Something like “shoe ba”. Hear some pronunciations of Dschubba here.

You can also simply call the star Delta Scorpii.

Star map with a few scattered stars, 4 of them labeled.
A closer look at the Scorpion’s Crown. It consists of Acrab, Delta Scorpii or Dschubba, and Fang. Also notice Antares. Image via Stellarium. Used with permission.

Delta Scorpii: Forehead, Claw or Crown?

Delta Scorpii derives its name from the Arabic phrase meaning “the forehead” of the Scorpion. This part of the constellation is also sometimes called “the claws” of the Scorpion.

But most stargazers know that the Scorpion’s true claws once extended well beyond the boundaries of Scorpius and into the constellation of Libra the Scales. At some point, far back in the history of our sky, they clipped Scorpion’s claws to make room for Libra. Thus, we now have 12 constellations of the zodiac.

The little arc of 3 stars above Antares is also called the Crown of the Scorpion.

How big and bright?

Dschubba is a moderately bright star in our sky. But it’s relatively distant at 491 light-years away. The light you see beaming from Dschubba tonight left the star in the year 1533. A lot has happened here on Earth since 1533. What has the starlight been doing? Some of it has been kidnapped. There is so much dust and gas between us and the star that half of the light has been reflected and absorbed in the past 491 years. So, what we see is only half as bright as it would be if we had a clear view.

Dschubba is a type B0 star, meaning it is hot, about 22,000 Kelvin (40,000 degrees Fahrenheit or 21,700 degrees C). That’s 4 times hotter than our sun. It’s a massive star too, with 13 times more mass than our sun. It’s about 7 times larger than our sun. And it’s about 14,000 times brighter than the sun.

Diagram with large diagonal swath of multicolored dots. X at the top, sun in the middle.
The Hertzsprung–Russell diagram, a plot of stars’ luminosities (true brightness) against their color. You’ll see the high-temperature blue-white stars on the left side of the diagram, and the low-temperature red stars on the right side. Near the top of the heap, Delta Scorpii, identified in the chart with an “X,” is larger, hotter, more massive and shines far brighter than our sun. It lives among the giants. H-R diagram via Wikimedia Commons.

2 types of variability

Dschubba has not one but two types of variability. First, it shows irregular, small brightness variations. Those variations happen every few days and are probably due to bright spots or clouds of gas between us and the star.

The second type of variability is eruptive and unpredictable.

Dschubba is a Gamma Cassiopeiae variable star. That means it behaves like the star Gamma Cassiopeiae, the poster child for a star with these eruptive brightness changes.

Gamma Cassiopeiae – the middle star in the “W” of constellation Cassiopeia – is what’s known as an eruptive variable star. Its magnitude, or brightness, has in the past varied between a bright magnitude 1.6 and a fainter magnitude 3.0. And it spins so rapidly that it occasionally flings off material. This material forms a disk of hot gas surrounding the star near its equator.

And thus, Gamma Cass brightens, not quickly, but slowly, over a few weeks to a few months. In 1937, Gamma Cassiopeiae brightened from magnitude 2.2 to 1.6 (the smaller the number, the brighter the star), then dimmed to magnitude 3.4. In the decades since, the star has slowly brightened to magnitude 2.3 again. But it has not repeated its behavior of 1937.

Only a few other such stars are known to exist, one being the star Dschubba.

An eruption disruption for Dschubba

Like Gamma Cass, Dschubba rotates quickly. At the equator, it reaches a rotational speed of 112 miles per second (180 km/s). This is 90 times faster than our sun.

Astronomers believe that, occasionally, the star throws off material that forms a disk around its equator. This would be a big disk, 150 times larger than our sun. It’s this disk that causes changes in the brightness of Delta Scorpii.

At one time, Dschubba was a spectroscopic standard for the B0 IV star classification. But this variability in brightness got it removed from being a standard. You see, even stars misbehave and get kicked out of the class.

It has a companion

Dschubba is also part of a multiple-star system. It has a companion that is 10 times fainter, orbiting it every 20 days. And there is another star in this system, which might also trigger the brightness outbursts.

The 2nd star gets as far away from the main star as our planet Saturn is from our sun. And it takes 10.8 years to orbit the main star. Every 10.8 years, the second star passes very close to Dschubba, and this passage might stir up the atmosphere of the main star, causing the main star to brighten. Or maybe not. Scientists are not sure about this; the star had an outburst that began in 2000 which may have been related to the close passage of the star. However, its passage in 2011 and 2022 didn’t have a significant outburst.

See for yourself

With the unaided eye, and within minutes, you can estimate the brightness of Delta Scorpii.

Simply compare its brightness to other stars nearby. The non-variable stars are marked on the map below. While it might be tempting to use the star Antares in your estimations, avoid it because it also varies in brightness. Typically, Delta Scorpii is about magnitude 2.3, but it has been known to brighten up to magnitude 1.6. Remember, the higher the number, the fainter the object. So how bright is it tonight?

Star chart: constellations and stars, with 14 stars labeled with their magnitudes.
Map showing Delta Scorpii and the surrounding stars, with the magnitudes indicated. Map via Don Machholz.

A few tips

Take your time. Compare the subject star (Delta Scorpii) to each of the labeled stars on the map. Is it brighter or fainter? Keep doing that, comparing the subject star to the other stars on the map. Avoid using stars near your horizon as extinction will make them appear fainter than they are.

When you have arrived at a number, write it down, along with the date and time. Then go out again tomorrow night and do it again. After four or five nights, you will feel comfortable making magnitude estimates. You can even send in your results to the clearinghouse for star magnitude estimates: the American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO). You can submit data for free or pay a fee, join the organization, and receive a cartload of benefits. Plus, you have the satisfaction of contributing to the science of Delta Scorpii.

Bottom Line: Delta Scorpii, also known as Dschubba, is a variable star in the constellation Scorpius. With your eyes alone, you can check its brightness for yourself, and for science.

The post Meet Delta Scorpii, aka Dschubba. It’s a variable star first appeared on EarthSky.



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Star chart of constellation Scorpius with stars in black on white and arrow pointing to Delta Scorpii.
Delta Scorpii, also known as Dschubba, is in the constellation Scorpius the Scorpion. It’s the middle star in the little arc of 3 stars above the bright red star Antares, the Scorpion’s Heart. These 3 stars are called the Crown of the Scorpion. Chart via Wikimedia.

We live in uncertain times. Look up! It’s peaceful. And please help EarthSky keep going. Donate today.

Finding (and pronouncing) Dschubba

Delta Scorpii – aka Dschubba – is easy to spot as the middle star in the “forehead” or Crown of Scorpius the Scorpion. And it’s an extremely interesting star – well worth watching – unpredictably variable in a way that you can watch with your eyes alone.

On these northern summer evenings, we in the Northern Hemisphere see Scorpius and Delta Scorpii (Dschubba) in our southern sky. For Southern Hemisphere viewers, they are closer to overhead. Scorpius is an easy constellation to find, because of its curved “tail” of stars. And the brightest star in Scorpius, Antares, will catch your eyes.

To the west of Antares, you’ll find a little arc of three stars. They are tiny, but noticeable. Dschubba, the middle star, is usually the brightest of the three.

How do you pronounce Dschubba? The “D” is silent. So now we are left with “schubba”. It is two syllables, emphasizing the first: SCHUB ba. Something like “shoe ba”. Hear some pronunciations of Dschubba here.

You can also simply call the star Delta Scorpii.

Star map with a few scattered stars, 4 of them labeled.
A closer look at the Scorpion’s Crown. It consists of Acrab, Delta Scorpii or Dschubba, and Fang. Also notice Antares. Image via Stellarium. Used with permission.

Delta Scorpii: Forehead, Claw or Crown?

Delta Scorpii derives its name from the Arabic phrase meaning “the forehead” of the Scorpion. This part of the constellation is also sometimes called “the claws” of the Scorpion.

But most stargazers know that the Scorpion’s true claws once extended well beyond the boundaries of Scorpius and into the constellation of Libra the Scales. At some point, far back in the history of our sky, they clipped Scorpion’s claws to make room for Libra. Thus, we now have 12 constellations of the zodiac.

The little arc of 3 stars above Antares is also called the Crown of the Scorpion.

How big and bright?

Dschubba is a moderately bright star in our sky. But it’s relatively distant at 491 light-years away. The light you see beaming from Dschubba tonight left the star in the year 1533. A lot has happened here on Earth since 1533. What has the starlight been doing? Some of it has been kidnapped. There is so much dust and gas between us and the star that half of the light has been reflected and absorbed in the past 491 years. So, what we see is only half as bright as it would be if we had a clear view.

Dschubba is a type B0 star, meaning it is hot, about 22,000 Kelvin (40,000 degrees Fahrenheit or 21,700 degrees C). That’s 4 times hotter than our sun. It’s a massive star too, with 13 times more mass than our sun. It’s about 7 times larger than our sun. And it’s about 14,000 times brighter than the sun.

Diagram with large diagonal swath of multicolored dots. X at the top, sun in the middle.
The Hertzsprung–Russell diagram, a plot of stars’ luminosities (true brightness) against their color. You’ll see the high-temperature blue-white stars on the left side of the diagram, and the low-temperature red stars on the right side. Near the top of the heap, Delta Scorpii, identified in the chart with an “X,” is larger, hotter, more massive and shines far brighter than our sun. It lives among the giants. H-R diagram via Wikimedia Commons.

2 types of variability

Dschubba has not one but two types of variability. First, it shows irregular, small brightness variations. Those variations happen every few days and are probably due to bright spots or clouds of gas between us and the star.

The second type of variability is eruptive and unpredictable.

Dschubba is a Gamma Cassiopeiae variable star. That means it behaves like the star Gamma Cassiopeiae, the poster child for a star with these eruptive brightness changes.

Gamma Cassiopeiae – the middle star in the “W” of constellation Cassiopeia – is what’s known as an eruptive variable star. Its magnitude, or brightness, has in the past varied between a bright magnitude 1.6 and a fainter magnitude 3.0. And it spins so rapidly that it occasionally flings off material. This material forms a disk of hot gas surrounding the star near its equator.

And thus, Gamma Cass brightens, not quickly, but slowly, over a few weeks to a few months. In 1937, Gamma Cassiopeiae brightened from magnitude 2.2 to 1.6 (the smaller the number, the brighter the star), then dimmed to magnitude 3.4. In the decades since, the star has slowly brightened to magnitude 2.3 again. But it has not repeated its behavior of 1937.

Only a few other such stars are known to exist, one being the star Dschubba.

An eruption disruption for Dschubba

Like Gamma Cass, Dschubba rotates quickly. At the equator, it reaches a rotational speed of 112 miles per second (180 km/s). This is 90 times faster than our sun.

Astronomers believe that, occasionally, the star throws off material that forms a disk around its equator. This would be a big disk, 150 times larger than our sun. It’s this disk that causes changes in the brightness of Delta Scorpii.

At one time, Dschubba was a spectroscopic standard for the B0 IV star classification. But this variability in brightness got it removed from being a standard. You see, even stars misbehave and get kicked out of the class.

It has a companion

Dschubba is also part of a multiple-star system. It has a companion that is 10 times fainter, orbiting it every 20 days. And there is another star in this system, which might also trigger the brightness outbursts.

The 2nd star gets as far away from the main star as our planet Saturn is from our sun. And it takes 10.8 years to orbit the main star. Every 10.8 years, the second star passes very close to Dschubba, and this passage might stir up the atmosphere of the main star, causing the main star to brighten. Or maybe not. Scientists are not sure about this; the star had an outburst that began in 2000 which may have been related to the close passage of the star. However, its passage in 2011 and 2022 didn’t have a significant outburst.

See for yourself

With the unaided eye, and within minutes, you can estimate the brightness of Delta Scorpii.

Simply compare its brightness to other stars nearby. The non-variable stars are marked on the map below. While it might be tempting to use the star Antares in your estimations, avoid it because it also varies in brightness. Typically, Delta Scorpii is about magnitude 2.3, but it has been known to brighten up to magnitude 1.6. Remember, the higher the number, the fainter the object. So how bright is it tonight?

Star chart: constellations and stars, with 14 stars labeled with their magnitudes.
Map showing Delta Scorpii and the surrounding stars, with the magnitudes indicated. Map via Don Machholz.

A few tips

Take your time. Compare the subject star (Delta Scorpii) to each of the labeled stars on the map. Is it brighter or fainter? Keep doing that, comparing the subject star to the other stars on the map. Avoid using stars near your horizon as extinction will make them appear fainter than they are.

When you have arrived at a number, write it down, along with the date and time. Then go out again tomorrow night and do it again. After four or five nights, you will feel comfortable making magnitude estimates. You can even send in your results to the clearinghouse for star magnitude estimates: the American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO). You can submit data for free or pay a fee, join the organization, and receive a cartload of benefits. Plus, you have the satisfaction of contributing to the science of Delta Scorpii.

Bottom Line: Delta Scorpii, also known as Dschubba, is a variable star in the constellation Scorpius. With your eyes alone, you can check its brightness for yourself, and for science.

The post Meet Delta Scorpii, aka Dschubba. It’s a variable star first appeared on EarthSky.



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Can sharks smile? It’s Shark Week! Enjoy these shark videos

It’s shark week on the Discovery Channel! It will run from July 66 and will end on August 1, 2026. We have some shark videos for you to celebrate it:


Wrangling A Predator: Science and Community Protecting Tiger Sharks


What Happened When 2 Shark Species Shared a Feast?

Can sharks smile?

Many animals show feelings. We’ve all seen examples of animals showing happiness, anger or fear. And dogs, monkeys and dolphins, for example, all show expressions akin to human smiles. But sharks? Sharks do sometimes look as if they’re smiling. They’re often portrayed in books and movies as smiling. But scientists say it’s not likely sharks can or do smile. Unlike dogs, monkeys and dolphins, sharks are fish. And, in sharks and other fish, the parts of the brain related to feelings aren’t developed enough to produce a smile, according to scientists.

Yet sharks do communicate, by twisting their bodies into certain positions. And they act differently from day to day, depending on how much food they’ve eaten or how cold the water is. Scientists call those things behaviors, not emotions.

And even though a shark’s body is made of flexible cartilage, its jaws are rigid and calcified. A strong jaw lets a shark pulverize its food. But the same rigidity makes a true shark smile impossible.

Did you see the Disney film Finding Nemo? Then you know Bruce, who is almost always smiling and whose refrain is: “I am a nice shark, not a mindless eating machine. If I am to change this image, I must first change myself. Fish are friends, not food.” Cute, but not science!

Smiles are a form of communication

Smiling seems to be instinctual in people as a basic form of communication. When someone smiles, we usually read the smile as happiness. Likewise, in humans, a frown signals sadness or possibly anger.

And scientists can’t possibly know everything. Maybe we just don’t understand how to read the emotions of a fish. Marine biologist Steven Webster, now retired from Monterey Bay Aquarium and currently head of Sea Studios Foundation, once told EarthSky:

We don’t know if fish or turtles have emotions. And we’ll never know. It could be that sharks are out there chuckling and writing poetry every day, and they just don’t share it with us.

But for now, as far as scientists understand it, sharks and other fish aren’t capable of smiling. That’s despite the fact that some really look as if they’re smiling.

Do sharks smile: Two dolphins with heads poking up above water and upturned open mouths.
Dolphins always look happy. Can they smile? Maybe they can, as they are mammals. But according to scientists, sharks, as they are fish, they probably don’t have that capability. Yet they can communicate in their own ways. Image via Pexels/ Hamid Elbaz.

What do scientists say?

So, according to scientists, it’s not likely that sharks can smile. And scientists warn against reading too much into animal faces and behaviors. That sort of anthropomorphizing – attributing human form or behavior to animals – can get in the way of scientific objectivity.

Still, future scientists are sure to discover more about sharks’ relationship with their world, giving us all a better glimpse into the lives of the creatures who co-inhabit planet Earth with us.

Of course many other animals – including our beloved pets – appear to smile.

Bottom line: Can sharks smile? Not likely. But dogs, monkeys and dolphins all show expressions akin to human smiles. Learn more about sharks during Shark Week.

Shark Week on the Discovery channel starts on July 26, 2026. Click in for info

Read more: Bull sharks choose companions and form lasting bonds

Read more: Sharkcano, an undersea volcano where sharks live

The post Can sharks smile? It’s Shark Week! Enjoy these shark videos first appeared on EarthSky.



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It’s shark week on the Discovery Channel! It will run from July 66 and will end on August 1, 2026. We have some shark videos for you to celebrate it:


Wrangling A Predator: Science and Community Protecting Tiger Sharks


What Happened When 2 Shark Species Shared a Feast?

Can sharks smile?

Many animals show feelings. We’ve all seen examples of animals showing happiness, anger or fear. And dogs, monkeys and dolphins, for example, all show expressions akin to human smiles. But sharks? Sharks do sometimes look as if they’re smiling. They’re often portrayed in books and movies as smiling. But scientists say it’s not likely sharks can or do smile. Unlike dogs, monkeys and dolphins, sharks are fish. And, in sharks and other fish, the parts of the brain related to feelings aren’t developed enough to produce a smile, according to scientists.

Yet sharks do communicate, by twisting their bodies into certain positions. And they act differently from day to day, depending on how much food they’ve eaten or how cold the water is. Scientists call those things behaviors, not emotions.

And even though a shark’s body is made of flexible cartilage, its jaws are rigid and calcified. A strong jaw lets a shark pulverize its food. But the same rigidity makes a true shark smile impossible.

Did you see the Disney film Finding Nemo? Then you know Bruce, who is almost always smiling and whose refrain is: “I am a nice shark, not a mindless eating machine. If I am to change this image, I must first change myself. Fish are friends, not food.” Cute, but not science!

Smiles are a form of communication

Smiling seems to be instinctual in people as a basic form of communication. When someone smiles, we usually read the smile as happiness. Likewise, in humans, a frown signals sadness or possibly anger.

And scientists can’t possibly know everything. Maybe we just don’t understand how to read the emotions of a fish. Marine biologist Steven Webster, now retired from Monterey Bay Aquarium and currently head of Sea Studios Foundation, once told EarthSky:

We don’t know if fish or turtles have emotions. And we’ll never know. It could be that sharks are out there chuckling and writing poetry every day, and they just don’t share it with us.

But for now, as far as scientists understand it, sharks and other fish aren’t capable of smiling. That’s despite the fact that some really look as if they’re smiling.

Do sharks smile: Two dolphins with heads poking up above water and upturned open mouths.
Dolphins always look happy. Can they smile? Maybe they can, as they are mammals. But according to scientists, sharks, as they are fish, they probably don’t have that capability. Yet they can communicate in their own ways. Image via Pexels/ Hamid Elbaz.

What do scientists say?

So, according to scientists, it’s not likely that sharks can smile. And scientists warn against reading too much into animal faces and behaviors. That sort of anthropomorphizing – attributing human form or behavior to animals – can get in the way of scientific objectivity.

Still, future scientists are sure to discover more about sharks’ relationship with their world, giving us all a better glimpse into the lives of the creatures who co-inhabit planet Earth with us.

Of course many other animals – including our beloved pets – appear to smile.

Bottom line: Can sharks smile? Not likely. But dogs, monkeys and dolphins all show expressions akin to human smiles. Learn more about sharks during Shark Week.

Shark Week on the Discovery channel starts on July 26, 2026. Click in for info

Read more: Bull sharks choose companions and form lasting bonds

Read more: Sharkcano, an undersea volcano where sharks live

The post Can sharks smile? It’s Shark Week! Enjoy these shark videos first appeared on EarthSky.



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Wildfires in Spain and France: 200,000 forced to flee

View from a rooftop of dense smoke beyond a city view.
Wildfires in Spain and France. Tourists watch from the roof of a hotel in Madrid on Friday afternoon, July 24, 2026. Fires are burning both southwest and north of the Spanish capital. Image via Ayana Christensen. “The smell of smoke was strong,” she reported. Used with permission.

Firefighters race to control wildfires in Spain and France

Wildfires raging in Spain and France have caused the evacuation of some 200,000 people, some fleeing by boat. Both Spain and France have recently been experiencing severe heat waves. Extreme temperatures topping 102°F (39°C), combined with hot winds, have fueled the intense wildfires across central Spain (near Madrid and Ávila) and southwestern France (in the Gironde and Landes departments around Bordeaux), leading to the massive evacuations and multiple regional emergency declarations.

AP reported:

Firefighters and authorities in both European countries were caught off guard by the virulence of the fires, which were fueled by high temperatures and the long-term effects of climate change. Firefighters in Spain admitted the fires were so fast and violent that they could not be tackled head on. Some people even fled by boat when flames swept through the touristic area on France’s Atlantic coast.

Some 141,000 fled homes in the Gironde and Landes departments in France, the French interior ministry said. In central Spain, 60,000 were forced from their homes, according to the Spanish interior ministry.

Dozens of French firefighters were injured, authorities said, but no deaths were reported in either country despite the scenes of panic as townsfolk fled by car and police went door to door to tell people to leave as large plumes of smoke rose from the neighboring woodlands.

As of this morning, these wildfires in Spain and France aren’t the ‘worst on record,’ as some are claiming on social media. But Spain has declared its first national wildfire emergency, reflecting the exceptional scale and complexity of the crisis. And authorities are describing the ongoing fires as highly unpredictable, fueled by record heat, drought, and strong winds

Fire locations and evacuations

The fires are burning near towns like Navas del Rey and Cenicientos, approximately 50 km (30 miles) southwest of the Spanish capital of Madrid. These blazes have caused smoke to drift directly into Madrid and prompted the temporary shutdown of NASA’s Deep Space Communications Complex in Robledo de Chavela, about 60–65 km (37–40 miles) west of the city center. Staff were fleeing, and fires were threatening the big telescope, as of last night. More about that below.

Meanwhile, roughly 100 km (62 miles) north of Madrid, another major wildfire is burning in the neighboring Guadalajara province.Across both countries, more than 200,000 people have been forced to flee or have been ordered to lock down/shelter in place due to the massive wildfires.

In Spain overall, roughly 60,000 to 63,000 people were evacuated or confined to their homes after the government declared a national emergency due to fierce blazes spreading near Madrid and the Ávila province.

In France, approximately 141,000 people were evacuated across the Gironde and Landes departments (including massive coastal evacuations on the Cap Ferret peninsula near Bordeaux, where thousands had to escape by boat).

Deep Space Network telescope damage being assessed

When was the last time this happened?

While mass wildfire evacuations of this magnitude are rare, evacuations reaching or exceeding 200,000 people have occurred a handful of times in recent history. Here is a breakdown of major historic precedent for mass wildfire evacuations:

1. Southern California Wildfires (October 2007). Largest recorded
Scale: ~900,000 to 1,000,000 people displaced. Fierce Santa Ana winds and extreme dry conditions drove dozens of simultaneous fires across Southern California (including San Diego, Los Angeles, and Orange counties). It remains the largest single wildfire evacuation in modern global history.

2. Canadian Wildfire Season (summer 2023). Scale: ~185,000+ people total across multiple provinces. During Canada’s record-breaking 2023 fire season, entire capital cities like Yellowknife (20,000 residents) were evacuated. Throughout the season, sequential evacuations across Quebec, Alberta, British Columbia, and the Northwest Territories combined to force nearly 200,000 Canadians from their homes.

3. Northern California Wildfires (October 2019 / Kincade Fire).
Scale: ~180,000–200,000 people. When the Kincade Fire ignited in Sonoma County under hurricane-force wind gusts, authorities issued massive precautionary evacuation orders covering large towns like Healdsburg and Santa Rosa to avoid a repeat of the deadly 2017 Tubbs Fire.

4. Alberta, Canada (Fort McMurray Fire, May 2016). Scale: ~88,000 people. While under the 200,000 mark, it is worth noting as the largest single-city wildfire evacuation in North American history, where the entire population of the city was forced onto a single highway as flames engulfed neighboring subdivisions.

Bottom line: Raging wildfires in Spain and France have forced over 200,000 to evacuate or shelter as extreme heat and winds push uncontained blazes across both regions.

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View from a rooftop of dense smoke beyond a city view.
Wildfires in Spain and France. Tourists watch from the roof of a hotel in Madrid on Friday afternoon, July 24, 2026. Fires are burning both southwest and north of the Spanish capital. Image via Ayana Christensen. “The smell of smoke was strong,” she reported. Used with permission.

Firefighters race to control wildfires in Spain and France

Wildfires raging in Spain and France have caused the evacuation of some 200,000 people, some fleeing by boat. Both Spain and France have recently been experiencing severe heat waves. Extreme temperatures topping 102°F (39°C), combined with hot winds, have fueled the intense wildfires across central Spain (near Madrid and Ávila) and southwestern France (in the Gironde and Landes departments around Bordeaux), leading to the massive evacuations and multiple regional emergency declarations.

AP reported:

Firefighters and authorities in both European countries were caught off guard by the virulence of the fires, which were fueled by high temperatures and the long-term effects of climate change. Firefighters in Spain admitted the fires were so fast and violent that they could not be tackled head on. Some people even fled by boat when flames swept through the touristic area on France’s Atlantic coast.

Some 141,000 fled homes in the Gironde and Landes departments in France, the French interior ministry said. In central Spain, 60,000 were forced from their homes, according to the Spanish interior ministry.

Dozens of French firefighters were injured, authorities said, but no deaths were reported in either country despite the scenes of panic as townsfolk fled by car and police went door to door to tell people to leave as large plumes of smoke rose from the neighboring woodlands.

As of this morning, these wildfires in Spain and France aren’t the ‘worst on record,’ as some are claiming on social media. But Spain has declared its first national wildfire emergency, reflecting the exceptional scale and complexity of the crisis. And authorities are describing the ongoing fires as highly unpredictable, fueled by record heat, drought, and strong winds

Fire locations and evacuations

The fires are burning near towns like Navas del Rey and Cenicientos, approximately 50 km (30 miles) southwest of the Spanish capital of Madrid. These blazes have caused smoke to drift directly into Madrid and prompted the temporary shutdown of NASA’s Deep Space Communications Complex in Robledo de Chavela, about 60–65 km (37–40 miles) west of the city center. Staff were fleeing, and fires were threatening the big telescope, as of last night. More about that below.

Meanwhile, roughly 100 km (62 miles) north of Madrid, another major wildfire is burning in the neighboring Guadalajara province.Across both countries, more than 200,000 people have been forced to flee or have been ordered to lock down/shelter in place due to the massive wildfires.

In Spain overall, roughly 60,000 to 63,000 people were evacuated or confined to their homes after the government declared a national emergency due to fierce blazes spreading near Madrid and the Ávila province.

In France, approximately 141,000 people were evacuated across the Gironde and Landes departments (including massive coastal evacuations on the Cap Ferret peninsula near Bordeaux, where thousands had to escape by boat).

Deep Space Network telescope damage being assessed

When was the last time this happened?

While mass wildfire evacuations of this magnitude are rare, evacuations reaching or exceeding 200,000 people have occurred a handful of times in recent history. Here is a breakdown of major historic precedent for mass wildfire evacuations:

1. Southern California Wildfires (October 2007). Largest recorded
Scale: ~900,000 to 1,000,000 people displaced. Fierce Santa Ana winds and extreme dry conditions drove dozens of simultaneous fires across Southern California (including San Diego, Los Angeles, and Orange counties). It remains the largest single wildfire evacuation in modern global history.

2. Canadian Wildfire Season (summer 2023). Scale: ~185,000+ people total across multiple provinces. During Canada’s record-breaking 2023 fire season, entire capital cities like Yellowknife (20,000 residents) were evacuated. Throughout the season, sequential evacuations across Quebec, Alberta, British Columbia, and the Northwest Territories combined to force nearly 200,000 Canadians from their homes.

3. Northern California Wildfires (October 2019 / Kincade Fire).
Scale: ~180,000–200,000 people. When the Kincade Fire ignited in Sonoma County under hurricane-force wind gusts, authorities issued massive precautionary evacuation orders covering large towns like Healdsburg and Santa Rosa to avoid a repeat of the deadly 2017 Tubbs Fire.

4. Alberta, Canada (Fort McMurray Fire, May 2016). Scale: ~88,000 people. While under the 200,000 mark, it is worth noting as the largest single-city wildfire evacuation in North American history, where the entire population of the city was forced onto a single highway as flames engulfed neighboring subdivisions.

Bottom line: Raging wildfires in Spain and France have forced over 200,000 to evacuate or shelter as extreme heat and winds push uncontained blazes across both regions.

The post Wildfires in Spain and France: 200,000 forced to flee first appeared on EarthSky.



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Framing The Trojan War As A Trade War Over A Shipping Route

Framing The Trojan War As A Trade War Over A Shipping Route

Christopher Nolan’s highly anticipated adaptation of The Odyssey officially opened in theatres this week. It retells Homer’s ancient epic of Odysseus’ journey home from the Trojan war.

The Trojan war of Homer’s epics is heavily mythologized. But it is set in a world of seafaring and sea passages that the ancient Greeks knew intimately well.

Interestingly, Nolan’s film has reframed the Trojan war as a trade war over a shipping route. This economic motive is absent from Homer’s original.

Map of ancient Thrace

Pierre Belon, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

But it would have been a highly relevant theme for the Athenians listening to the Homeric epics hundreds of years later, when actual wars hinged on control of a vital shipping route to the Black Sea, passing right by where Odysseus began his mythological journey home: the Dardanelles.

Controlling this waterway – including tolling the ships that traversed it – was crucial to the rise of the Athenian Empire. That has parallels with – and lessons for – today, when placing tolls on crucial shipping routes is again being debated.

A gateway to the Black Sea

The Dardanelles (which the ancient Greeks called Hellespont) is a narrow natural strait situated in modern-day Turkey.

Along with the Sea of Marmara and another strait to the north-east called the Bosphorus, it connects the Aegean Sea (and therefore the Mediterranean Sea) to the Black Sea.

From about 500 BC, the Greek city-states, but especially democratic Athens, began to realize that control of this waterway was crucial to their survival and success.

A couple of decades later, the Persian wars had only reinforced this realisation because Xerxes, the great king of the Persian Empire, had built a pontoon bridge across the Dardanelles to get his invading army into Greece.

 

An old engraved illustration of crossing the Hellespont by Xerxes with his huge army. 

An old engraved illustration of crossing the Hellespont by Xerxes with his huge army. mikroman6/Getty

After the Greeks defeated Xerxes in the Balkans in 480 and 479 BC, one of the first things they did was to secure the Dardanelles and capture other cities to its north in what is now Turkey, especially Byzantium (Istanbul today) and Chalcedon (now Kadıköy).

At the same time, the Athenians, who were now leading the Greek coalition against Persia, also captured three big islands on the approach to the strait: Imbros, Lemnos and Skyros.

This made it safer for their warships and grain ships to traverse the shipping route from Athens to the Dardanelles.

Feeding an empire

Securing this shipping route was soon about more than just warfare. It also allowed the Athenians fully to exploit the trade coming from the Bosporan kingdom, which covered roughly modern-day Crimea and parts of southern Ukraine.

Greece’s climate and terrain were well suited to some crops, and Athens was completely self-sufficient in olive oil. But very dry Attica especially was poorly suited to others – notably grain – so trade with the north was vital to fuelling its rise.

Controlling the Dardanelles and hence the shipping line to the Black Sea allowed the Athenians to secure enormous amounts of cheap food, leading to a huge population boom.

By 431 BC, the Peloponnesian War broke out between Athens and Sparta.

At this point, we know Athens was importing two thirds of its food from overseas, and the bulk of it through the Dardanelles.

Sparta and its allies invaded the territory of Athens repeatedly during the first ten years of this storied 30-year war. In response, the Athenians simply withdrew their population behind their fortifications and relied on the grain coming through the Dardanelles to keep them alive.

A 19th-century engraving depicting the ancient city of Athens at its peak

A 19th-century engraving depicting the ancient city of Athens at its peak. Wikimedia

Tolls on shipping

In the last ten years of the Peloponnesian War, when Athens started to run out of money, it actually became more heavy-handed in its control of this vital narrow waterway.

Athenian democracy had long had garrisons on either side of the Bosphorus to police what the other Greek city-states were importing through this shipping route.

But, in 413 BC, it introduced a 10% toll on the value of all cargo passing through this strait. The enormous amount of money this toll raised helped Athens hold out against Sparta for another seven years.

How losing control crushed Athens

However, the Spartans ultimately won the Peloponnesian War. In its final decade, they struck a deal with the Persian Empire to build a fleet to challenge Athens at sea.

In 405 BC, very close to modern-day Gallipoli, the Spartan fleet captured almost the entire last fleet of Athens without a battle – close to 200 ships – and executed the captured Athenian sailors.

Without any fleet, Athens lost control of the shipping line and the Spartans stopped the grain ships sailing to Athens from the north.

Athens was quickly starved into submission through a land and sea blockade, and ultimately lost the Peloponnesian War. Losing control of that vital narrow waterway near ancient Troy had thus resulted in the fall of the Athenian Empire.

The pattern repeats

Christopher Nolan’s film is poignant and timeless lesson about the human costs of war and how waging it should be an absolute last resort.

But the ancient history of the narrow waterway on which Troy was situated also holds lessons for understanding the current war between the United States and Iran.

The history of the Dardanelles warns us that states and empires can rise and fall over who controls such a waterway. Prudent states – such as democratic Athens – secure such straits over generations, using all the tools in their diplomatic and military tool kits to do so. To imperil free trade through such waterways or to act recklessly in relation to them can come at a terrible cost.

By David M. Pritchard, Associate Professor of Greek History, The University of Queensland. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

The Conversation

sb admin
Categories
Social Sciences


from ScienceBlogs - Where the world discusses science https://ift.tt/mAhoUWj
Framing The Trojan War As A Trade War Over A Shipping Route

Christopher Nolan’s highly anticipated adaptation of The Odyssey officially opened in theatres this week. It retells Homer’s ancient epic of Odysseus’ journey home from the Trojan war.

The Trojan war of Homer’s epics is heavily mythologized. But it is set in a world of seafaring and sea passages that the ancient Greeks knew intimately well.

Interestingly, Nolan’s film has reframed the Trojan war as a trade war over a shipping route. This economic motive is absent from Homer’s original.

Map of ancient Thrace

Pierre Belon, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

But it would have been a highly relevant theme for the Athenians listening to the Homeric epics hundreds of years later, when actual wars hinged on control of a vital shipping route to the Black Sea, passing right by where Odysseus began his mythological journey home: the Dardanelles.

Controlling this waterway – including tolling the ships that traversed it – was crucial to the rise of the Athenian Empire. That has parallels with – and lessons for – today, when placing tolls on crucial shipping routes is again being debated.

A gateway to the Black Sea

The Dardanelles (which the ancient Greeks called Hellespont) is a narrow natural strait situated in modern-day Turkey.

Along with the Sea of Marmara and another strait to the north-east called the Bosphorus, it connects the Aegean Sea (and therefore the Mediterranean Sea) to the Black Sea.

From about 500 BC, the Greek city-states, but especially democratic Athens, began to realize that control of this waterway was crucial to their survival and success.

A couple of decades later, the Persian wars had only reinforced this realisation because Xerxes, the great king of the Persian Empire, had built a pontoon bridge across the Dardanelles to get his invading army into Greece.

 

An old engraved illustration of crossing the Hellespont by Xerxes with his huge army. 

An old engraved illustration of crossing the Hellespont by Xerxes with his huge army. mikroman6/Getty

After the Greeks defeated Xerxes in the Balkans in 480 and 479 BC, one of the first things they did was to secure the Dardanelles and capture other cities to its north in what is now Turkey, especially Byzantium (Istanbul today) and Chalcedon (now Kadıköy).

At the same time, the Athenians, who were now leading the Greek coalition against Persia, also captured three big islands on the approach to the strait: Imbros, Lemnos and Skyros.

This made it safer for their warships and grain ships to traverse the shipping route from Athens to the Dardanelles.

Feeding an empire

Securing this shipping route was soon about more than just warfare. It also allowed the Athenians fully to exploit the trade coming from the Bosporan kingdom, which covered roughly modern-day Crimea and parts of southern Ukraine.

Greece’s climate and terrain were well suited to some crops, and Athens was completely self-sufficient in olive oil. But very dry Attica especially was poorly suited to others – notably grain – so trade with the north was vital to fuelling its rise.

Controlling the Dardanelles and hence the shipping line to the Black Sea allowed the Athenians to secure enormous amounts of cheap food, leading to a huge population boom.

By 431 BC, the Peloponnesian War broke out between Athens and Sparta.

At this point, we know Athens was importing two thirds of its food from overseas, and the bulk of it through the Dardanelles.

Sparta and its allies invaded the territory of Athens repeatedly during the first ten years of this storied 30-year war. In response, the Athenians simply withdrew their population behind their fortifications and relied on the grain coming through the Dardanelles to keep them alive.

A 19th-century engraving depicting the ancient city of Athens at its peak

A 19th-century engraving depicting the ancient city of Athens at its peak. Wikimedia

Tolls on shipping

In the last ten years of the Peloponnesian War, when Athens started to run out of money, it actually became more heavy-handed in its control of this vital narrow waterway.

Athenian democracy had long had garrisons on either side of the Bosphorus to police what the other Greek city-states were importing through this shipping route.

But, in 413 BC, it introduced a 10% toll on the value of all cargo passing through this strait. The enormous amount of money this toll raised helped Athens hold out against Sparta for another seven years.

How losing control crushed Athens

However, the Spartans ultimately won the Peloponnesian War. In its final decade, they struck a deal with the Persian Empire to build a fleet to challenge Athens at sea.

In 405 BC, very close to modern-day Gallipoli, the Spartan fleet captured almost the entire last fleet of Athens without a battle – close to 200 ships – and executed the captured Athenian sailors.

Without any fleet, Athens lost control of the shipping line and the Spartans stopped the grain ships sailing to Athens from the north.

Athens was quickly starved into submission through a land and sea blockade, and ultimately lost the Peloponnesian War. Losing control of that vital narrow waterway near ancient Troy had thus resulted in the fall of the Athenian Empire.

The pattern repeats

Christopher Nolan’s film is poignant and timeless lesson about the human costs of war and how waging it should be an absolute last resort.

But the ancient history of the narrow waterway on which Troy was situated also holds lessons for understanding the current war between the United States and Iran.

The history of the Dardanelles warns us that states and empires can rise and fall over who controls such a waterway. Prudent states – such as democratic Athens – secure such straits over generations, using all the tools in their diplomatic and military tool kits to do so. To imperil free trade through such waterways or to act recklessly in relation to them can come at a terrible cost.

By David M. Pritchard, Associate Professor of Greek History, The University of Queensland. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

The Conversation

sb admin
Categories
Social Sciences


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