View larger. | Artist’s concept of Elias 2-24 b, a baby exoplanet less than a million years old. It sits within a prominent gap in the disk of gas and dust surrounding its star. And it’s pulling in material from this disk. Image via W. M. Keck Observatory/ Adam Makarenko/ NASA.
Planets start their lives as “babies,” just like we do. Now scientists have discovered the youngest-known exoplanet so far, Elias 2-24 b.
Elias 2-24 b is less than a million years old, making it a definite cosmic infant.
The planet is still wrapped in the disk of dust and gas that surrounds its star.
Astronomers have discovered exoplanets — worlds orbiting other stars — in a wide range of sizes, masses and ages. That includes some planets that are very young, still forming in the disks of debris around their stars. Now, researchers have found the youngest-known exoplanet so far.
The research team said on September 16, 2026, that the baby planet — called Elias 2-24 b — is less than a million years old. And it is about twice as massive as Jupiter and 450 light-years from Earth.
Andrea Bernardi, a doctoral candidate at the Universidad Diego Portales in Chile, led the study that found the new baby exoplanet. The study focused on archival observations of seven stars that were observed by the W.M. Keck Observatory in Hawaii. All of these stars are young, with disks of ice, dust and rocky debris still surrounding them. In fact, it is in these protoplanetary disks that new planets are born.
Until now, four other planets have held the record for youngest-known planets. Co-author Lucas Cieza at the Instituto de Estudios Astrofísicos in Chile said:
Our planet-formation models already struggled to explain the previous record holders for the youngest known planet — a four-way tie between two planets orbiting the star PDS 70 and two planets orbiting the star WISPIT 2 — which are all more than 5 million years old. Elias 2-24 b shows us that even our best planet-formation models are still missing some important processes.
The peer-reviewed findings were published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters on September 16, 2026.
Planets in the gaps
Protoplanetary disks will often have gaps within them. It’s baby planets that create these gaps as they gravitationally collect ice, dust and rock from the disk material around them while forming. And just like people, they grow over time and get bigger. Eventually, they become full planets.
The researchers used the coronagraph on the Keck telescope to block out the light coming from the stars. Then they can search for fainter planets. Bernardi said:
The planets should be found within the gaps, since they are carving them. And that’s exactly where we found Elias 2-24 b.
Most of the exoplanets that astronomers discover are already billions of years old. Newborn planets are more difficult to identify. That’s because they are still surrounded by a lot of dust or a long way out from their star. As Cieza explained:
The galaxy churns out new stars and planets continuously, so there are many in every stage of evolution. That means we can see the entire process in theory, but there is a large gap in what most telescopes can detect. We are mostly blind to these baby planets right now.
This is an artist’s animation of Elias 2-24 b. It shows the exoplanet still growing within the disk of gas and dust surrounding its young host star. Material from the disk is actively accreting onto the Jupiter-mass planet. The planet created a prominent gap in the disk. Video via W. M. Keck Observatory/ Adam Makarenko.
Closeup of another newborn exoplanet, WISPIT 2c, which orbits far closer to its star than WISPIT 2b. Image via ESO/ C. Lawlor, R. F. van Capelleveen et al.
Solving a decades-old mystery
About 10 years ago, ALMA (Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array) in Chile had observed Elias 2-24 b. The telescope had detected a gap in the protoplanetary disk, and what seemed to be a tiny dot of light within it. But, at the time, astronomers weren’t sure what that dot was. Was it a planet? It behaved like a forming planet.
But according to current planet formation theories, it takes about 5 million years for a Jupiter-sized planet to form at Jupiter’s distance from the sun (more than five times the distance of Earth from the sun). Yet the dot was about 55 times farther from its star than Earth is from the sun.
Therefore, researchers looked for previous possible detections of the dot in the Keck Observatory Archive. And they found it, in observations from 2018 and 2020. This allowed the researchers to analyze the dot’s motion over time. And indeed, it moved like a planet would. Bernardi said:
We usually hear about telescopes working separately, but this confirmation was possible only by using multiple telescopes together. Elias 2-24 b is at the limit of what current telescopes can detect, but with new instruments like NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, such detections should become easier.
So the discovery bodes well for future detections of newborn planets, as Cieza noted:
This is just the beginning of a new era of discovery. It’s incredible that with modern technology, we are actually able to see planet formation in action, and Roman will take planet hunting to the next level.
Last year, scientists said that another baby exoplanet, TOI 1227 b, is slowly losing its atmosphere. The atmosphere will be completely gone in about a billion years and the planet will shrink to about 1/10 of its current size.
Bottom line: Astronomers have discovered the youngest-known exoplanet so far, Elias 2-24 b. The baby exoplanet is twice the mass of Jupiter and 450 light-years away.
View larger. | Artist’s concept of Elias 2-24 b, a baby exoplanet less than a million years old. It sits within a prominent gap in the disk of gas and dust surrounding its star. And it’s pulling in material from this disk. Image via W. M. Keck Observatory/ Adam Makarenko/ NASA.
Planets start their lives as “babies,” just like we do. Now scientists have discovered the youngest-known exoplanet so far, Elias 2-24 b.
Elias 2-24 b is less than a million years old, making it a definite cosmic infant.
The planet is still wrapped in the disk of dust and gas that surrounds its star.
Astronomers have discovered exoplanets — worlds orbiting other stars — in a wide range of sizes, masses and ages. That includes some planets that are very young, still forming in the disks of debris around their stars. Now, researchers have found the youngest-known exoplanet so far.
The research team said on September 16, 2026, that the baby planet — called Elias 2-24 b — is less than a million years old. And it is about twice as massive as Jupiter and 450 light-years from Earth.
Andrea Bernardi, a doctoral candidate at the Universidad Diego Portales in Chile, led the study that found the new baby exoplanet. The study focused on archival observations of seven stars that were observed by the W.M. Keck Observatory in Hawaii. All of these stars are young, with disks of ice, dust and rocky debris still surrounding them. In fact, it is in these protoplanetary disks that new planets are born.
Until now, four other planets have held the record for youngest-known planets. Co-author Lucas Cieza at the Instituto de Estudios Astrofísicos in Chile said:
Our planet-formation models already struggled to explain the previous record holders for the youngest known planet — a four-way tie between two planets orbiting the star PDS 70 and two planets orbiting the star WISPIT 2 — which are all more than 5 million years old. Elias 2-24 b shows us that even our best planet-formation models are still missing some important processes.
The peer-reviewed findings were published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters on September 16, 2026.
Planets in the gaps
Protoplanetary disks will often have gaps within them. It’s baby planets that create these gaps as they gravitationally collect ice, dust and rock from the disk material around them while forming. And just like people, they grow over time and get bigger. Eventually, they become full planets.
The researchers used the coronagraph on the Keck telescope to block out the light coming from the stars. Then they can search for fainter planets. Bernardi said:
The planets should be found within the gaps, since they are carving them. And that’s exactly where we found Elias 2-24 b.
Most of the exoplanets that astronomers discover are already billions of years old. Newborn planets are more difficult to identify. That’s because they are still surrounded by a lot of dust or a long way out from their star. As Cieza explained:
The galaxy churns out new stars and planets continuously, so there are many in every stage of evolution. That means we can see the entire process in theory, but there is a large gap in what most telescopes can detect. We are mostly blind to these baby planets right now.
This is an artist’s animation of Elias 2-24 b. It shows the exoplanet still growing within the disk of gas and dust surrounding its young host star. Material from the disk is actively accreting onto the Jupiter-mass planet. The planet created a prominent gap in the disk. Video via W. M. Keck Observatory/ Adam Makarenko.
Closeup of another newborn exoplanet, WISPIT 2c, which orbits far closer to its star than WISPIT 2b. Image via ESO/ C. Lawlor, R. F. van Capelleveen et al.
Solving a decades-old mystery
About 10 years ago, ALMA (Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array) in Chile had observed Elias 2-24 b. The telescope had detected a gap in the protoplanetary disk, and what seemed to be a tiny dot of light within it. But, at the time, astronomers weren’t sure what that dot was. Was it a planet? It behaved like a forming planet.
But according to current planet formation theories, it takes about 5 million years for a Jupiter-sized planet to form at Jupiter’s distance from the sun (more than five times the distance of Earth from the sun). Yet the dot was about 55 times farther from its star than Earth is from the sun.
Therefore, researchers looked for previous possible detections of the dot in the Keck Observatory Archive. And they found it, in observations from 2018 and 2020. This allowed the researchers to analyze the dot’s motion over time. And indeed, it moved like a planet would. Bernardi said:
We usually hear about telescopes working separately, but this confirmation was possible only by using multiple telescopes together. Elias 2-24 b is at the limit of what current telescopes can detect, but with new instruments like NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, such detections should become easier.
So the discovery bodes well for future detections of newborn planets, as Cieza noted:
This is just the beginning of a new era of discovery. It’s incredible that with modern technology, we are actually able to see planet formation in action, and Roman will take planet hunting to the next level.
Last year, scientists said that another baby exoplanet, TOI 1227 b, is slowly losing its atmosphere. The atmosphere will be completely gone in about a billion years and the planet will shrink to about 1/10 of its current size.
Bottom line: Astronomers have discovered the youngest-known exoplanet so far, Elias 2-24 b. The baby exoplanet is twice the mass of Jupiter and 450 light-years away.
Voyager 2 image of Neptune. At the top is the Great Dark Spot, accompanied by bright, white clouds that undergo rapid changes in appearance. To the south of the Great Dark Spot is the bright feature that Voyager scientists nicknamed “Scooter”. Still farther south is the feature called Dark Spot 2, which has a bright core. Image via NASA/ JPL.
Astronomers found the outermost major planet in our solar system — Neptune — on September 23, 1846. It was the first planet to be discovered through mathematics.
Johann Gottfried Galle, Urbain Jean Joseph Le Verrier and John Couch Adams all worked independently to help find this distant world, which isn’t visible to the eye. Their separate endeavors led to an international dispute as to who should get the credit for Neptune’s discovery.
A telescope is necessary to see Neptune. However, it wasn’t the key to Neptune’s discovery. Instead, it came from astronomers’ analysis of data related to the orbit of Uranus. Astronomers noticed that Uranus wasn’t quite where their mathematical models said it would be. And in trying to explain that, they came to discover Neptune. Here’s how.
Deviations in the orbit of Uranus led to discovering Neptune
There were many different explanations considered at the time for why Uranus was deviating from its predicted orbit. One idea was that Newton’s law of universal gravitation ceased to work or worked differently at such great distances from our sun.
But assuming that gravity works the same throughout space, what could be causing the discrepancies in Uranus’ orbit? Astronomers started to consider whether another planet could be lying beyond Uranus and influencing it with its gravity.
The French astronomer Urbain Le Verrier began using mathematics to try to locate the mystery planet’s position in June 1845. The British astronomer John Couch Adams was also working on this problem. Neither was aware of the other’s calculations.
Le Verrier made a prediction and gave it to astronomer Johann Gottfried Galle to test at the Berlin Observatory. And on September 23, 1846, Galle used Le Verrier’s calculations to find Neptune. It was only 1° off Le Verrier’s predicted position, and 12° off Adams’ prediction.
Who really discovered Neptune?
After Neptune’s discovery, an international dispute arose concerning who was the ‘real’ discoverer of the new planet, Le Verrier or Adams. The existing political tensions between France and Great Britain amplified this conflict. Today, both of them — and Galle, who was the first to knowingly see the new planet through a telescope — share the credit for the discovery.
Ironically, as it turns out, both Le Verrier and Adams had been very lucky. Their predictions contained errors, but happened to put Neptune in roughly the right place around 1840–1850, when they were looking for it.
Galileo recorded Neptune as a faint star
By the way, it was possible to discover Neptune simply by using a telescope. Like all planets in our solar system — because it’s closer to us than the stars — it can be seen from Earth to move relative to the starry background.
The great astronomer Galileo, using one of the first telescopes, apparently recorded Neptune in 1612, but thought it was a star. If he had watched it over several weeks, he’d have noticed its unusual motion.
Another Voyager 2 image of Neptune, acquired on August 20, 1989, at a range of 4.4 million miles (7 million km) from the planet, 4 days before Voyager’s closest point to Neptune. You can see Neptune’s Great Dark Spot and its bright smudge companion. On the west edge, a fast-moving bright feature called Scooter by astronomers is visible, with another little dark spot. Image via NASA.
Bottom line: Neptune, the outermost major planet in our solar system, was found on September 23, 1846. It was the first planet to be discovered not solely by looking in the sky … but by using mathematics.
Voyager 2 image of Neptune. At the top is the Great Dark Spot, accompanied by bright, white clouds that undergo rapid changes in appearance. To the south of the Great Dark Spot is the bright feature that Voyager scientists nicknamed “Scooter”. Still farther south is the feature called Dark Spot 2, which has a bright core. Image via NASA/ JPL.
Astronomers found the outermost major planet in our solar system — Neptune — on September 23, 1846. It was the first planet to be discovered through mathematics.
Johann Gottfried Galle, Urbain Jean Joseph Le Verrier and John Couch Adams all worked independently to help find this distant world, which isn’t visible to the eye. Their separate endeavors led to an international dispute as to who should get the credit for Neptune’s discovery.
A telescope is necessary to see Neptune. However, it wasn’t the key to Neptune’s discovery. Instead, it came from astronomers’ analysis of data related to the orbit of Uranus. Astronomers noticed that Uranus wasn’t quite where their mathematical models said it would be. And in trying to explain that, they came to discover Neptune. Here’s how.
Deviations in the orbit of Uranus led to discovering Neptune
There were many different explanations considered at the time for why Uranus was deviating from its predicted orbit. One idea was that Newton’s law of universal gravitation ceased to work or worked differently at such great distances from our sun.
But assuming that gravity works the same throughout space, what could be causing the discrepancies in Uranus’ orbit? Astronomers started to consider whether another planet could be lying beyond Uranus and influencing it with its gravity.
The French astronomer Urbain Le Verrier began using mathematics to try to locate the mystery planet’s position in June 1845. The British astronomer John Couch Adams was also working on this problem. Neither was aware of the other’s calculations.
Le Verrier made a prediction and gave it to astronomer Johann Gottfried Galle to test at the Berlin Observatory. And on September 23, 1846, Galle used Le Verrier’s calculations to find Neptune. It was only 1° off Le Verrier’s predicted position, and 12° off Adams’ prediction.
Who really discovered Neptune?
After Neptune’s discovery, an international dispute arose concerning who was the ‘real’ discoverer of the new planet, Le Verrier or Adams. The existing political tensions between France and Great Britain amplified this conflict. Today, both of them — and Galle, who was the first to knowingly see the new planet through a telescope — share the credit for the discovery.
Ironically, as it turns out, both Le Verrier and Adams had been very lucky. Their predictions contained errors, but happened to put Neptune in roughly the right place around 1840–1850, when they were looking for it.
Galileo recorded Neptune as a faint star
By the way, it was possible to discover Neptune simply by using a telescope. Like all planets in our solar system — because it’s closer to us than the stars — it can be seen from Earth to move relative to the starry background.
The great astronomer Galileo, using one of the first telescopes, apparently recorded Neptune in 1612, but thought it was a star. If he had watched it over several weeks, he’d have noticed its unusual motion.
Another Voyager 2 image of Neptune, acquired on August 20, 1989, at a range of 4.4 million miles (7 million km) from the planet, 4 days before Voyager’s closest point to Neptune. You can see Neptune’s Great Dark Spot and its bright smudge companion. On the west edge, a fast-moving bright feature called Scooter by astronomers is visible, with another little dark spot. Image via NASA.
Bottom line: Neptune, the outermost major planet in our solar system, was found on September 23, 1846. It was the first planet to be discovered not solely by looking in the sky … but by using mathematics.
Artemis 1, a 2022 uncrewed mission to the moon, captured this family portrait of a distant Earth and the moon in the foreground. Seeing Earth images from space gives us a broader perspective of our home. Image via NASA.
When we look at Earth from space, it is at once familiar and strange. We recognize the continents and oceans from globes in our childhood classrooms. But borders and small landmarks disappear. These images reveal the beauty of our home planet and our interconnectedness as we sail through space on a fragile blue pearl.
Neil Armstrong, on Apollo 1, said:
It suddenly struck me that that tiny pea, pretty and blue, was the Earth. I put up my thumb and shut one eye, and my thumb blotted out the planet Earth. I didn’t feel like a giant. I felt very, very small.
Enjoy these images of Earth from space.
1. Voyager 1: At 7.2 million miles … and 3.7 billion miles
Voyager famously captured two unique views of our home world from afar. The upper image, taken in 1977 from a distance of 7.2 million miles (11.6 million km), showed the full Earth and full moon in a single frame for the first time in history.
The second image, taken in 1990 as part of a family portrait of our solar system from 3.7 billion miles (6 billion km), shows Earth as a tiny blue speck in a ray of sunlight. This is the famous Pale Blue Dot image immortalized by Carl Sagan.
Sagan’s widow, Ann Druyan, said of the image:
This was our willingness to see the Earth as a 1-pixel object in a far greater cosmos. It’s that humility that science gives us. That weans us from our childhood need to be the center of things. And Voyager gave us that image of the Earth that is so heart tugging because you can’t look at that image and not think of how fragile our world is. How much we have in common with everyone with whom we share it; our relationship, our relatedness, to everyone on this tiny pixel.
2. Kepler: A bright flashlight in a dark sea of stars
NASA’s Kepler mission captured Earth’s image as it slipped past at a distance of 94 million miles (151 million km). The reflection was so extraordinarily bright that it created a saber-like saturation bleed across the instrument’s sensors, obscuring the neighboring moon.
3. Cassini: Hello and goodbye
On the left, Cassini’s view of Earth beneath Saturn’s rings in 2013. On the right, a final look between the rings in 2017. Images via NASA.
NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) captured a unique view of Earth from the spacecraft’s vantage point in orbit around the moon on October 12, 2015. Image via NASA/ Goddard/ Arizona State University.
The image is simply stunning. The image of the Earth evokes the famous Blue Marble image taken by astronaut Harrison Schmitt during Apollo 17 … which also showed Africa prominently in the picture.
NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft captured this image of the Earth and moon. Image via NASA.
As part of an engineering test, NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft captured this image of Earth and the moon in January 2018 from a distance of 39.5 million miles (63.6 million km). When the camera acquired the image, the spacecraft was moving away from our home planet at a speed of 19,000 miles per hour (30,000 km per hour). Earth is the largest, brightest spot in the center of the image, with the smaller, dimmer moon appearing to the right. Several constellations are also visible in the surrounding space.
6. Curiosity: The view from Mars
View larger. | This view of the twilight sky and Martian horizon taken by NASA’s Mars Curiosity rover includes Earth as the brightest point of light in the night sky. Image via NASA/ JPL-Caltech/ MSSS/ TAMU.
– Michael Freilich, Director of NASA’s Earth Science Division
8. Galileo: 8 days out
The Galileo spacecraft’s view as it departed Earth. Image via NASA.
Eight days after its final encounter with Earth – the second of two gravitational assists from Earth that helped boost the spacecraft to Jupiter – the Galileo spacecraft looked back and captured this remarkable view of our planet and its moon. The image was taken from a distance of about 3.9 million miles (6.2 million km).
Earth from about 393,000 miles (633,000 km) away, as seen by the European Space Agency’s comet-bound Rosetta spacecraft during its third and final swing-by of our home planet in 2009.
10. MESSENGER: So long
MESSENGER’s view departing Earth. Image via NASA/ JHUAPL/ Carnegie Institution of Washington.
Artemis 2 commander Reid Wiseman captured this image of Earth as the Orion spacecraft left Earth orbit and began its figure-8 journey to the moon and back. North is up. Earth is eclipsing the sun. A thin line of atmosphere glows from sunlight shining through it. The glow of zodiacal light shines at the upper left: sunlight illuminating dust in the inner solar system. The bright object at upper left is Venus. Artemis 3 is scheduled to launch next June. Image via Reed Wiseman/ NASA.
The Artemis missions are heading to the moon. We’ve seen stunning shots from both Artemis 1 and 2. And there are more Artemis missions to come that will help further change our perspective on our home planet. Stay tuned!
Bottom line: How does looking at these Earth images from space make you feel about the planet you live on? How does it make you feel about Earth’s place in the solar system and cosmos?
Artemis 1, a 2022 uncrewed mission to the moon, captured this family portrait of a distant Earth and the moon in the foreground. Seeing Earth images from space gives us a broader perspective of our home. Image via NASA.
When we look at Earth from space, it is at once familiar and strange. We recognize the continents and oceans from globes in our childhood classrooms. But borders and small landmarks disappear. These images reveal the beauty of our home planet and our interconnectedness as we sail through space on a fragile blue pearl.
Neil Armstrong, on Apollo 1, said:
It suddenly struck me that that tiny pea, pretty and blue, was the Earth. I put up my thumb and shut one eye, and my thumb blotted out the planet Earth. I didn’t feel like a giant. I felt very, very small.
Enjoy these images of Earth from space.
1. Voyager 1: At 7.2 million miles … and 3.7 billion miles
Voyager famously captured two unique views of our home world from afar. The upper image, taken in 1977 from a distance of 7.2 million miles (11.6 million km), showed the full Earth and full moon in a single frame for the first time in history.
The second image, taken in 1990 as part of a family portrait of our solar system from 3.7 billion miles (6 billion km), shows Earth as a tiny blue speck in a ray of sunlight. This is the famous Pale Blue Dot image immortalized by Carl Sagan.
Sagan’s widow, Ann Druyan, said of the image:
This was our willingness to see the Earth as a 1-pixel object in a far greater cosmos. It’s that humility that science gives us. That weans us from our childhood need to be the center of things. And Voyager gave us that image of the Earth that is so heart tugging because you can’t look at that image and not think of how fragile our world is. How much we have in common with everyone with whom we share it; our relationship, our relatedness, to everyone on this tiny pixel.
2. Kepler: A bright flashlight in a dark sea of stars
NASA’s Kepler mission captured Earth’s image as it slipped past at a distance of 94 million miles (151 million km). The reflection was so extraordinarily bright that it created a saber-like saturation bleed across the instrument’s sensors, obscuring the neighboring moon.
3. Cassini: Hello and goodbye
On the left, Cassini’s view of Earth beneath Saturn’s rings in 2013. On the right, a final look between the rings in 2017. Images via NASA.
NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) captured a unique view of Earth from the spacecraft’s vantage point in orbit around the moon on October 12, 2015. Image via NASA/ Goddard/ Arizona State University.
The image is simply stunning. The image of the Earth evokes the famous Blue Marble image taken by astronaut Harrison Schmitt during Apollo 17 … which also showed Africa prominently in the picture.
NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft captured this image of the Earth and moon. Image via NASA.
As part of an engineering test, NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft captured this image of Earth and the moon in January 2018 from a distance of 39.5 million miles (63.6 million km). When the camera acquired the image, the spacecraft was moving away from our home planet at a speed of 19,000 miles per hour (30,000 km per hour). Earth is the largest, brightest spot in the center of the image, with the smaller, dimmer moon appearing to the right. Several constellations are also visible in the surrounding space.
6. Curiosity: The view from Mars
View larger. | This view of the twilight sky and Martian horizon taken by NASA’s Mars Curiosity rover includes Earth as the brightest point of light in the night sky. Image via NASA/ JPL-Caltech/ MSSS/ TAMU.
– Michael Freilich, Director of NASA’s Earth Science Division
8. Galileo: 8 days out
The Galileo spacecraft’s view as it departed Earth. Image via NASA.
Eight days after its final encounter with Earth – the second of two gravitational assists from Earth that helped boost the spacecraft to Jupiter – the Galileo spacecraft looked back and captured this remarkable view of our planet and its moon. The image was taken from a distance of about 3.9 million miles (6.2 million km).
Earth from about 393,000 miles (633,000 km) away, as seen by the European Space Agency’s comet-bound Rosetta spacecraft during its third and final swing-by of our home planet in 2009.
10. MESSENGER: So long
MESSENGER’s view departing Earth. Image via NASA/ JHUAPL/ Carnegie Institution of Washington.
Artemis 2 commander Reid Wiseman captured this image of Earth as the Orion spacecraft left Earth orbit and began its figure-8 journey to the moon and back. North is up. Earth is eclipsing the sun. A thin line of atmosphere glows from sunlight shining through it. The glow of zodiacal light shines at the upper left: sunlight illuminating dust in the inner solar system. The bright object at upper left is Venus. Artemis 3 is scheduled to launch next June. Image via Reed Wiseman/ NASA.
The Artemis missions are heading to the moon. We’ve seen stunning shots from both Artemis 1 and 2. And there are more Artemis missions to come that will help further change our perspective on our home planet. Stay tuned!
Bottom line: How does looking at these Earth images from space make you feel about the planet you live on? How does it make you feel about Earth’s place in the solar system and cosmos?
Andromeda is the closest spiral galaxy to our own Milky Way galaxy.
It’s visible to the unaided eye on clear, dark nights.
Andromeda is about twice the size of the Milk Way, with roughly one trillion stars.
The large spiral galaxy next door
The Andromeda Galaxy is the closest large spiral galaxy to our own Milky Way galaxy. Excluding the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds — both visible from Earth’s Southern Hemisphere — the Andromeda Galaxy is the brightest external galaxy visible in our night sky.
And, at 2.5 million light-years, it’s the most distant thing we humans can comfortably see with the unaided eye.
You might argue the large spiral Triangulum Galaxy is slightly more distant at 2.7 million light-years, and sometimes visible to the eye too. But it’s turned face-on to us, and so it has a low surface brightness. That makes it a challenging spot compared to the Andromeda Galaxy.
Astronomers sometimes call the Andromeda Galaxy by the name Messier 31, or M31. It was the 31st object on a famous list of fuzzy sky objects compiled by the French astronomer Charles Messier (1730-1817). His catalog listed objects to avoid when comet-hunting. Nowadays, amateur astronomers seek out these objects with their telescopes and binoculars. They’re some of most beautiful deep-sky objects known.
Most Messier objects are star clusters or gas clouds in our Milky Way galaxy. But the Andromeda Galaxy is a whole separate galaxy, even bigger than our Milky Way. In a dark sky, you can see that it appears large on the sky as well; it’s a smudge of distant light larger than a full moon.
When to look for M31
From mid-northern latitudes, you can see Andromeda for at least part of every night, all year long. But most people see the galaxy first around August or September, when it’s high enough in the sky to be seen from evening until daybreak.
In early September, begin looking for the galaxy in mid-evening, about midway between your local nightfall and midnight.
In late September and early October, the Andromeda Galaxy glows in your eastern sky at nightfall, swings high overhead in the middle of the night, and stands rather high in the west at the onset of morning dawn.
Winter evenings are also good for viewing the Andromeda Galaxy.
If you’re stargazing far from city lights during a moonless night in late summer, or on any autumn or winter evening, it’s possible that you’ll simply notice the galaxy there in your night sky without looking for it
But if you don’t manage to spot that fuzzy spot on the sky, you can star-hop to find the galaxy in one of two ways. The easiest way is to use the the Great Square of Pegasus. Or you can also use the constellation Cassiopeia the Queen.
You can see the Andromeda Galaxy as the fuzzy spot on the left side of this photo. View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Petr Horalek in the Czech Republic, captured this April 9, 2026. Petr wrote: “Comet C/2025 R3 (PanSTARRS) is by the asterism of the Great Square… along with the Andromeda Galaxy.” Thank you, Petr!
Use the Great Square to find M31
You can star-hop to the Andromeda Galaxy using the Great Square of Pegasus. In autumn, the Great Square of Pegasus looks like a great big baseball diamond in the eastern sky. Pick one corner of the Great Square as home plate, then draw an imaginary line from the ‘first base’ star through the ‘third base’ star to find two streamers of stars flying away from the Square. These stars belong to the constellation Andromeda the Chained Lady.
On each streamer, move two stars away from the ‘third base’ star to find Mirach and Mu Andromedae. Then draw a line from Mirach through Mu Andromedae and extend it about twice the distance between them. You’ve just landed on the Andromeda Galaxy, which looks like a smudge of light to the unaided eye.
Here’s the easiest way to find the Andromeda Galaxy. The constellation Andromeda can be seen as 2 streams of stars extending from one side of the Great Square of Pegasus. See the star Alpheratz? It joins Pegasus to Andromeda. Now notice the star Mirach, then Mu Andromedae. An imaginary line drawn through Mirach to Mu points to the Andromeda Galaxy. Chart via EarthSky.
Or use Cassiopeia to find the Andromeda Galaxy
The constellation Cassiopeia is easy to find. Look generally northward on the sky’s dome for a pattern of stars shaped like the letter M or W. If you can recognize the North Star, Polaris — and if you know how to find the Big Dipper — be aware that the Big Dipper and Cassiopeia move around Polaris on opposite sides, so when one is high, the other is low.
Once you’ve found Cassiopeia, look for its star Schedar. In the illustration below, see how Schedar points to the Andromeda Galaxy?
Here’s another way to find the Andromeda Galaxy. Just be sure you’re looking in a dark sky. Look northward for the M – or W – shaped constellation Cassiopeia the Queen. Now locate the star Schedar in Cassiopeia. It’s the constellation’s brightest star, and it points to the Andromeda Galaxy. Chart via EarthSky.
Our charts are mostly set for the northern half of Earth. To see a precise view from your location, try Stellarium Online.
Binoculars enhance the view
If you can’t see the Andromeda Galaxy with the eye alone, by all means use binoculars.
Binoculars are an excellent choice for beginners to observe the Andromeda Galaxy, because they are so easy to point. As you stand beneath a dark sky, locate the galaxy with your eye first. Then slowly bring the binoculars up to your eyes so that the galaxy comes into binocular view. If that doesn’t work for you, try sweeping the area with your binoculars. Go slowly, and be sure your eyes are dark-adapted. The galaxy will appear as a fuzzy patch to the eye. Naturally, it’ll appear brighter in binoculars. And can you see that its central region is brighter and more concentrated?
With the eye, binoculars, or with a backyard telescope, the Andromeda Galaxy won’t look like the images from famous telescopes and observatories. But it will be beautiful. Plus, it’ll take your breath away.
History of our knowledge of the Andromeda Galaxy
At one time, the Andromeda Galaxy was called the Great Andromeda Nebula. Astronomers thought this patch of light was composed of glowing gases, or was perhaps a solar system in the process of formation.
It wasn’t until the 20th century that astronomers were able to resolve the Andromeda spiral nebula into individual stars. This discovery led to a controversy about whether the Andromeda spiral nebula and other spiral nebulae lie within or outside the Milky Way.
In the 1920s Edwin Hubble finally put the matter to rest, when he used Cepheid variable stars within the Andromeda Galaxy to determine that it is indeed an island universe residing beyond the bounds of our Milky Way galaxy.
The Great Andromeda Nebula, photographed in the year 1900. At this point, astronomers couldn’t discern individual stars in the galaxy. Many thought this object was a cloud of gas within our Milky Way, a place where new stars were forming. Image via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain).
Andromeda and Milky Way in context
The Andromeda and Milky Way galaxies reign as the two most massive and dominant galaxies within the Local Group of galaxies. The Andromeda Galaxy is the largest galaxy of the Local Group, which, in addition to the Milky Way, also contains the Triangulum galaxy and about 50 other smaller galaxies.
Both the Milky Way and Andromeda have several dozen satellite galaxies. Each galaxy is at least 100,000 light-years across and contains enough mass to host billions of stars.
Astronomers have discovered that our Local Group is on the outskirts of a giant cluster of several thousand galaxies, which astronomers call the Virgo Cluster.
We also know of an irregular supercluster of galaxies, which contains the Virgo Cluster, which in turn contains our Local Group, which in turn contains our Milky Way galaxy and the nearby Andromeda Galaxy. At least 100 galaxy groups and clusters are located within this Virgo Supercluster. Its diameter is thought to be about 110 million light-years.
And the Virgo Supercluster is thought to be one of millions of superclusters in the observable universe.
View larger. | A closeup of one of the spiral arm regions of the Andromeda Galaxy. Image via NASA/ ESA.
Will the Andromeda Galaxy collide with the Milky Way?
One of our readers wrote:
I’ve heard that the Andromeda Galaxy will someday collide with our galaxy! Is that still a definite possibility?
A definite possibility describes much of what we know – or think we know – about the universe. As for the Andromeda Galaxy and its future collision with our Milky Way: the first attempt to measure the radial velocity of this galaxy (its motion forward or back, along our line of sight) was made in 1912. After that, astronomers believed for some decades that the galaxy was approaching at nearly 200 miles per second (320 km/s), but later astronomers disagreed.
Then in May 2012, NASA astronomers announced they can now predict the time of this collision of titanic galaxies with certainty. Remember, though, that the Andromeda Galaxy is 2.5 million light-years away, with a single light-year being almost 6 trillion miles (10 trillion km). So although it does appear that this galaxy is approaching our Milky Way galaxy … it’s nothing to lose sleep over. When will they collide? According to NASA astronomers in 2012, it’ll be four billion years from now.
But, the collision between our galaxies might be already underway. Or at least our galactic halos – which consist of gas, dust and stray stars – may already be touching.
What happens when galaxies collide? They don’t exactly crash into each other. Because there’s so much more space than stars even in a galaxy, colliding galaxies pass through each other, like ghosts.
But, colliding galaxies do interact via gravity, which will cause them to change shape and even merge into a larger galaxy.
This image represents Earth’s night sky in 3.75 billion years. The Andromeda Galaxy (left) will fill our field of view then, astronomers say, as it heads toward a collision with our Milky Way galaxy. Image via NASA/ ESA/ Z. Levay and R. van der Marel, STScI/ T. Hallas/ A. Mellinger.
The Andromeda Galaxy (M31) is located at the coordinates RA: 0h 42.7m; Dec: 41o 16′ north.
Images of M31 from our EarthSky community
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Mohammed Abdallah submitted this photo on May 26, 2026, from Egypt and wrote: “Our closest grand spiral neighbor sitting 2.5 million light-years away. The Andromeda Galaxy in all its glory would be 6 times larger than the moon in the night sky with the naked eye if it had the same brightness.” Thank you, Mohammed!View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Vikash Singh captured this image onJuly 15, 2026, from India. Vikash wrote: “This is the Andromeda Galaxy (M31), captured using the Dwarf 3 smart telescope. The completely clear night sky and low light pollution of Ladakh made it possible to capture incredible details of our neighboring galaxy.” Thank you, Vikash!View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Andy Dungan near Cotopaxi, Colorado, captured Messier 31, the Andromeda Galaxy, on October 20, 2025. Andy wrote: “The part that always amazes me about the Andromeda Galaxy is that it is larger than the full moon when you look at them from Earth. Andromeda is really big. And, at 2.5 million light-years away, it’s the closest galaxy to us in the universe!” Thank you, Andy!
Bottom line: At 2.5 million light-years, the great Andromeda galaxy (Messier 31) rates as the most distant object you can see with the unaided eye. And it’s easy to spot in binoculars.
Andromeda is the closest spiral galaxy to our own Milky Way galaxy.
It’s visible to the unaided eye on clear, dark nights.
Andromeda is about twice the size of the Milk Way, with roughly one trillion stars.
The large spiral galaxy next door
The Andromeda Galaxy is the closest large spiral galaxy to our own Milky Way galaxy. Excluding the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds — both visible from Earth’s Southern Hemisphere — the Andromeda Galaxy is the brightest external galaxy visible in our night sky.
And, at 2.5 million light-years, it’s the most distant thing we humans can comfortably see with the unaided eye.
You might argue the large spiral Triangulum Galaxy is slightly more distant at 2.7 million light-years, and sometimes visible to the eye too. But it’s turned face-on to us, and so it has a low surface brightness. That makes it a challenging spot compared to the Andromeda Galaxy.
Astronomers sometimes call the Andromeda Galaxy by the name Messier 31, or M31. It was the 31st object on a famous list of fuzzy sky objects compiled by the French astronomer Charles Messier (1730-1817). His catalog listed objects to avoid when comet-hunting. Nowadays, amateur astronomers seek out these objects with their telescopes and binoculars. They’re some of most beautiful deep-sky objects known.
Most Messier objects are star clusters or gas clouds in our Milky Way galaxy. But the Andromeda Galaxy is a whole separate galaxy, even bigger than our Milky Way. In a dark sky, you can see that it appears large on the sky as well; it’s a smudge of distant light larger than a full moon.
When to look for M31
From mid-northern latitudes, you can see Andromeda for at least part of every night, all year long. But most people see the galaxy first around August or September, when it’s high enough in the sky to be seen from evening until daybreak.
In early September, begin looking for the galaxy in mid-evening, about midway between your local nightfall and midnight.
In late September and early October, the Andromeda Galaxy glows in your eastern sky at nightfall, swings high overhead in the middle of the night, and stands rather high in the west at the onset of morning dawn.
Winter evenings are also good for viewing the Andromeda Galaxy.
If you’re stargazing far from city lights during a moonless night in late summer, or on any autumn or winter evening, it’s possible that you’ll simply notice the galaxy there in your night sky without looking for it
But if you don’t manage to spot that fuzzy spot on the sky, you can star-hop to find the galaxy in one of two ways. The easiest way is to use the the Great Square of Pegasus. Or you can also use the constellation Cassiopeia the Queen.
You can see the Andromeda Galaxy as the fuzzy spot on the left side of this photo. View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Petr Horalek in the Czech Republic, captured this April 9, 2026. Petr wrote: “Comet C/2025 R3 (PanSTARRS) is by the asterism of the Great Square… along with the Andromeda Galaxy.” Thank you, Petr!
Use the Great Square to find M31
You can star-hop to the Andromeda Galaxy using the Great Square of Pegasus. In autumn, the Great Square of Pegasus looks like a great big baseball diamond in the eastern sky. Pick one corner of the Great Square as home plate, then draw an imaginary line from the ‘first base’ star through the ‘third base’ star to find two streamers of stars flying away from the Square. These stars belong to the constellation Andromeda the Chained Lady.
On each streamer, move two stars away from the ‘third base’ star to find Mirach and Mu Andromedae. Then draw a line from Mirach through Mu Andromedae and extend it about twice the distance between them. You’ve just landed on the Andromeda Galaxy, which looks like a smudge of light to the unaided eye.
Here’s the easiest way to find the Andromeda Galaxy. The constellation Andromeda can be seen as 2 streams of stars extending from one side of the Great Square of Pegasus. See the star Alpheratz? It joins Pegasus to Andromeda. Now notice the star Mirach, then Mu Andromedae. An imaginary line drawn through Mirach to Mu points to the Andromeda Galaxy. Chart via EarthSky.
Or use Cassiopeia to find the Andromeda Galaxy
The constellation Cassiopeia is easy to find. Look generally northward on the sky’s dome for a pattern of stars shaped like the letter M or W. If you can recognize the North Star, Polaris — and if you know how to find the Big Dipper — be aware that the Big Dipper and Cassiopeia move around Polaris on opposite sides, so when one is high, the other is low.
Once you’ve found Cassiopeia, look for its star Schedar. In the illustration below, see how Schedar points to the Andromeda Galaxy?
Here’s another way to find the Andromeda Galaxy. Just be sure you’re looking in a dark sky. Look northward for the M – or W – shaped constellation Cassiopeia the Queen. Now locate the star Schedar in Cassiopeia. It’s the constellation’s brightest star, and it points to the Andromeda Galaxy. Chart via EarthSky.
Our charts are mostly set for the northern half of Earth. To see a precise view from your location, try Stellarium Online.
Binoculars enhance the view
If you can’t see the Andromeda Galaxy with the eye alone, by all means use binoculars.
Binoculars are an excellent choice for beginners to observe the Andromeda Galaxy, because they are so easy to point. As you stand beneath a dark sky, locate the galaxy with your eye first. Then slowly bring the binoculars up to your eyes so that the galaxy comes into binocular view. If that doesn’t work for you, try sweeping the area with your binoculars. Go slowly, and be sure your eyes are dark-adapted. The galaxy will appear as a fuzzy patch to the eye. Naturally, it’ll appear brighter in binoculars. And can you see that its central region is brighter and more concentrated?
With the eye, binoculars, or with a backyard telescope, the Andromeda Galaxy won’t look like the images from famous telescopes and observatories. But it will be beautiful. Plus, it’ll take your breath away.
History of our knowledge of the Andromeda Galaxy
At one time, the Andromeda Galaxy was called the Great Andromeda Nebula. Astronomers thought this patch of light was composed of glowing gases, or was perhaps a solar system in the process of formation.
It wasn’t until the 20th century that astronomers were able to resolve the Andromeda spiral nebula into individual stars. This discovery led to a controversy about whether the Andromeda spiral nebula and other spiral nebulae lie within or outside the Milky Way.
In the 1920s Edwin Hubble finally put the matter to rest, when he used Cepheid variable stars within the Andromeda Galaxy to determine that it is indeed an island universe residing beyond the bounds of our Milky Way galaxy.
The Great Andromeda Nebula, photographed in the year 1900. At this point, astronomers couldn’t discern individual stars in the galaxy. Many thought this object was a cloud of gas within our Milky Way, a place where new stars were forming. Image via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain).
Andromeda and Milky Way in context
The Andromeda and Milky Way galaxies reign as the two most massive and dominant galaxies within the Local Group of galaxies. The Andromeda Galaxy is the largest galaxy of the Local Group, which, in addition to the Milky Way, also contains the Triangulum galaxy and about 50 other smaller galaxies.
Both the Milky Way and Andromeda have several dozen satellite galaxies. Each galaxy is at least 100,000 light-years across and contains enough mass to host billions of stars.
Astronomers have discovered that our Local Group is on the outskirts of a giant cluster of several thousand galaxies, which astronomers call the Virgo Cluster.
We also know of an irregular supercluster of galaxies, which contains the Virgo Cluster, which in turn contains our Local Group, which in turn contains our Milky Way galaxy and the nearby Andromeda Galaxy. At least 100 galaxy groups and clusters are located within this Virgo Supercluster. Its diameter is thought to be about 110 million light-years.
And the Virgo Supercluster is thought to be one of millions of superclusters in the observable universe.
View larger. | A closeup of one of the spiral arm regions of the Andromeda Galaxy. Image via NASA/ ESA.
Will the Andromeda Galaxy collide with the Milky Way?
One of our readers wrote:
I’ve heard that the Andromeda Galaxy will someday collide with our galaxy! Is that still a definite possibility?
A definite possibility describes much of what we know – or think we know – about the universe. As for the Andromeda Galaxy and its future collision with our Milky Way: the first attempt to measure the radial velocity of this galaxy (its motion forward or back, along our line of sight) was made in 1912. After that, astronomers believed for some decades that the galaxy was approaching at nearly 200 miles per second (320 km/s), but later astronomers disagreed.
Then in May 2012, NASA astronomers announced they can now predict the time of this collision of titanic galaxies with certainty. Remember, though, that the Andromeda Galaxy is 2.5 million light-years away, with a single light-year being almost 6 trillion miles (10 trillion km). So although it does appear that this galaxy is approaching our Milky Way galaxy … it’s nothing to lose sleep over. When will they collide? According to NASA astronomers in 2012, it’ll be four billion years from now.
But, the collision between our galaxies might be already underway. Or at least our galactic halos – which consist of gas, dust and stray stars – may already be touching.
What happens when galaxies collide? They don’t exactly crash into each other. Because there’s so much more space than stars even in a galaxy, colliding galaxies pass through each other, like ghosts.
But, colliding galaxies do interact via gravity, which will cause them to change shape and even merge into a larger galaxy.
This image represents Earth’s night sky in 3.75 billion years. The Andromeda Galaxy (left) will fill our field of view then, astronomers say, as it heads toward a collision with our Milky Way galaxy. Image via NASA/ ESA/ Z. Levay and R. van der Marel, STScI/ T. Hallas/ A. Mellinger.
The Andromeda Galaxy (M31) is located at the coordinates RA: 0h 42.7m; Dec: 41o 16′ north.
Images of M31 from our EarthSky community
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Mohammed Abdallah submitted this photo on May 26, 2026, from Egypt and wrote: “Our closest grand spiral neighbor sitting 2.5 million light-years away. The Andromeda Galaxy in all its glory would be 6 times larger than the moon in the night sky with the naked eye if it had the same brightness.” Thank you, Mohammed!View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Vikash Singh captured this image onJuly 15, 2026, from India. Vikash wrote: “This is the Andromeda Galaxy (M31), captured using the Dwarf 3 smart telescope. The completely clear night sky and low light pollution of Ladakh made it possible to capture incredible details of our neighboring galaxy.” Thank you, Vikash!View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Andy Dungan near Cotopaxi, Colorado, captured Messier 31, the Andromeda Galaxy, on October 20, 2025. Andy wrote: “The part that always amazes me about the Andromeda Galaxy is that it is larger than the full moon when you look at them from Earth. Andromeda is really big. And, at 2.5 million light-years away, it’s the closest galaxy to us in the universe!” Thank you, Andy!
Bottom line: At 2.5 million light-years, the great Andromeda galaxy (Messier 31) rates as the most distant object you can see with the unaided eye. And it’s easy to spot in binoculars.
Hurricane Polo has undergone rapid intensification just off the southwestern coast of Mexico. On the morning of September 21, 2026, it was tropical storm, and by the morning of September 22, it was a Category 5 hurricane. Category 5 hurricanes have sustained wind speeds of more than 157 mph (252 km/h). Image via CIRA.
Hurricane Polo explodes into a Category 5
On Tuesday morning, September 22, 2026, Hurricane Polo reached Category 5 on the Saffir-Simpson scale. It’s churning just off the southwestern coast of Mexico, about 200 miles (328 km) southwest of Acapulco, with sustained winds of 160 mph (260 km/h). Just one morning prior, Polo was a tropical storm of just 45 mph.
The super-charged El Niño has brought warm waters to the eastern Pacific. In this region, sea-surface temperatures are around 88 F (31.2 C). This has helped Polo strengthen so quickly.
Only two hurricanes on record have ever undergone a more rapid intensification than Polo. One was Hurricane Patricia in 2015 and the other was an unnamed hurricane in 1957. You might also remember Hurricane Otis from 2023 that devastated Acapulco. That storm intensified at a similar rate as Polo.
Where is Polo headed?
At the moment, Hurricane Polo is spinning off the shore of Mexico in the eastern Pacific. And for the rest of the week, the National Hurricane Center expects Polo to move slowly off the coast of Mexico. On Tuesday, Polo will head east, but by evening and on Wednesday it is forecast to take a sharp northwest and west-northwest turn. Currently, the forecast calls for Polo to remain offshore. However, the coast will feel tropical storm-force winds. Excessive rainfall is also a concern. The NHC said:
Polo is expected to produce rainfall totals of 4 to 8 inches, with isolated maximum totals up to 12 inches across coastal portions of the Mexican states of Guerrero and Michoacán through Thursday. This rainfall may produce life-threatening flooding and mudslides, especially in areas of steep terrain. Rainfall of 3 to 6 inches is possible in coastal portions of Oaxaca, Colima, and Jalisco through Thursday.
High waves and rip tides will also be a threat.
Hurricane Polo should stay offshore of southwestern Mexico over the next week. Image via NHC.
What happens next?
Where this storm will go by early next week is still unknown. Will it bring moisture to the American Southwest? As Yale Climate Connections said:
Long-range models suggest that steering currents will likely push Polo on a more north-northwest track by that point, and that could bring Polo into Baja California and push a surge of moisture toward northwest Mexico and the southwest United States.
But its true path is still unclear. And another low-pressure system, Tropical Storm Odalys, is just west of Polo. If they both hold up, the could meet in the next week.
The worst winds from Hurricane Polo should stay offshore for the coming week, but some areas of the coast will still feel Polo’s wrath. What’s the cone coming in from the west, where it appears it might merge at the top? That is a different storm, Tropical Storm Odalys. It is too soon to know how these storms might interact. Image via NHC.
Bottom line: Hurricane Polo has undergone rapid intensification just off the southwestern coast of Mexico. It went from a tropical storm to a category 5 hurricane in a day.
Hurricane Polo has undergone rapid intensification just off the southwestern coast of Mexico. On the morning of September 21, 2026, it was tropical storm, and by the morning of September 22, it was a Category 5 hurricane. Category 5 hurricanes have sustained wind speeds of more than 157 mph (252 km/h). Image via CIRA.
Hurricane Polo explodes into a Category 5
On Tuesday morning, September 22, 2026, Hurricane Polo reached Category 5 on the Saffir-Simpson scale. It’s churning just off the southwestern coast of Mexico, about 200 miles (328 km) southwest of Acapulco, with sustained winds of 160 mph (260 km/h). Just one morning prior, Polo was a tropical storm of just 45 mph.
The super-charged El Niño has brought warm waters to the eastern Pacific. In this region, sea-surface temperatures are around 88 F (31.2 C). This has helped Polo strengthen so quickly.
Only two hurricanes on record have ever undergone a more rapid intensification than Polo. One was Hurricane Patricia in 2015 and the other was an unnamed hurricane in 1957. You might also remember Hurricane Otis from 2023 that devastated Acapulco. That storm intensified at a similar rate as Polo.
Where is Polo headed?
At the moment, Hurricane Polo is spinning off the shore of Mexico in the eastern Pacific. And for the rest of the week, the National Hurricane Center expects Polo to move slowly off the coast of Mexico. On Tuesday, Polo will head east, but by evening and on Wednesday it is forecast to take a sharp northwest and west-northwest turn. Currently, the forecast calls for Polo to remain offshore. However, the coast will feel tropical storm-force winds. Excessive rainfall is also a concern. The NHC said:
Polo is expected to produce rainfall totals of 4 to 8 inches, with isolated maximum totals up to 12 inches across coastal portions of the Mexican states of Guerrero and Michoacán through Thursday. This rainfall may produce life-threatening flooding and mudslides, especially in areas of steep terrain. Rainfall of 3 to 6 inches is possible in coastal portions of Oaxaca, Colima, and Jalisco through Thursday.
High waves and rip tides will also be a threat.
Hurricane Polo should stay offshore of southwestern Mexico over the next week. Image via NHC.
What happens next?
Where this storm will go by early next week is still unknown. Will it bring moisture to the American Southwest? As Yale Climate Connections said:
Long-range models suggest that steering currents will likely push Polo on a more north-northwest track by that point, and that could bring Polo into Baja California and push a surge of moisture toward northwest Mexico and the southwest United States.
But its true path is still unclear. And another low-pressure system, Tropical Storm Odalys, is just west of Polo. If they both hold up, the could meet in the next week.
The worst winds from Hurricane Polo should stay offshore for the coming week, but some areas of the coast will still feel Polo’s wrath. What’s the cone coming in from the west, where it appears it might merge at the top? That is a different storm, Tropical Storm Odalys. It is too soon to know how these storms might interact. Image via NHC.
Bottom line: Hurricane Polo has undergone rapid intensification just off the southwestern coast of Mexico. It went from a tropical storm to a category 5 hurricane in a day.
This is last year’s Fat Bear Week champion, Bear 32 aka “Chunk.” After finishing as the runner-up in previous years, Chunk won the 2025 title — after making a remarkable recovery and bulking up despite a broken jaw and injured paw from earlier in the season. He’s officially in the 2026 Fat Bear Week tournament, defending his crown. Go Chunk! Read more about him from the U.S. National Park Service.
Every year, Explore.org hosts Fat Bear Week, celebrating the hibernation prep for brown bears in Katmai National Park, Alaska. In 2026, Fat Bear Week runs from September 22 to 29. At this time of year, brown bears are packing on the pounds with the goal of surviving winter. Explore.org hosts live webcams in the park, so you can watch them fatten up on salmon and other available food. And you can vote on your favorite!
For Fat Bear Week, the bears are paired up in head-to-head matches, similar to your March Madness brackets. You can vote on who you think is the chubbiest chunk simply by clicking the picture of you chosen bear. You’ll have to enter your email when prompted, so there will only be one vote per email address. After you vote, you can see the results of the polls so far.
So, when can you start voting? The polls are open between 11 a.m. and 8 p.m. CDT from September 22-29.
Go! Cast your vote for the 2026 champion of ursine eating!
Meet 128 Grazer. She won back-to-back Fat Bear titles in 2023 and 2024. And she’s still going strong. She’s been observed at Brooks River in Katmai National Park throughout 2025 and 2026, where she successfully raised her cub (128 Jr.) before separating from her in early summer 2026. She wasn’t selected for this year’s Fat Bear tournament. But 2 of her offspring — Bear 428 “Studious” and Bear 903 “Gully” — are competing! Image via NPS/ M. Carenza.
Why fat bears?
Explore.org explains:
During hibernation, bears do not eat or drink and lose one-third of their body weight. Their winter survival depends on accumulating ample fat reserves before entering the den.
To get fat, bears gorge on the richest and most accessible foods they can find. In Katmai National Park that often means salmon. Dozens of bears gather at Brooks River to feast on salmon from late June until mid-October. Perhaps no other river on Earth offers bears the chance to feed on salmon at one place for so long.
Meet 435 Holly. This bulky brown bear in Katmai National Park was the winner of Fat Bear Week back in 2019. Image via NPS/ L. Carter.
Meet the bears of Fat Bear Week
Get to know the bears in competition for the Fat Bear title. Visit this page to see not just single adult males and females, but also subadults and bear families with a mom and cubs!
Here’s a peak at some of the nominees.
This is bear 131. She did a good job of packing on the pounds over the summer. Image via Explore.org.This bear is 164 Bucky. He’s made good use of his summer by pumping up the plump. Image via Explore.org.Mama bear 132 and her 3 cubs have also been gaining girth over the summer. Will it be enough to push them to a win? Image via Explore.org.
The brackets for Fat Bear Week 2026
Ready to participate? See all the bears, pick your favorites, and then vote! It’s easy. Just visit FatBearWeek.org.
Here is the bracket for Fat Bear Week 2026. Who will win? Cast your vote at FatBearWeek.org. Image via Sara Wolman/ Explore.org.
Bottom line: It’s time for Fat Bear Week 2026! Vote for your favorite corpulent cutie as the brown bears of Katmai National Park fatten up for winter.
This is last year’s Fat Bear Week champion, Bear 32 aka “Chunk.” After finishing as the runner-up in previous years, Chunk won the 2025 title — after making a remarkable recovery and bulking up despite a broken jaw and injured paw from earlier in the season. He’s officially in the 2026 Fat Bear Week tournament, defending his crown. Go Chunk! Read more about him from the U.S. National Park Service.
Every year, Explore.org hosts Fat Bear Week, celebrating the hibernation prep for brown bears in Katmai National Park, Alaska. In 2026, Fat Bear Week runs from September 22 to 29. At this time of year, brown bears are packing on the pounds with the goal of surviving winter. Explore.org hosts live webcams in the park, so you can watch them fatten up on salmon and other available food. And you can vote on your favorite!
For Fat Bear Week, the bears are paired up in head-to-head matches, similar to your March Madness brackets. You can vote on who you think is the chubbiest chunk simply by clicking the picture of you chosen bear. You’ll have to enter your email when prompted, so there will only be one vote per email address. After you vote, you can see the results of the polls so far.
So, when can you start voting? The polls are open between 11 a.m. and 8 p.m. CDT from September 22-29.
Go! Cast your vote for the 2026 champion of ursine eating!
Meet 128 Grazer. She won back-to-back Fat Bear titles in 2023 and 2024. And she’s still going strong. She’s been observed at Brooks River in Katmai National Park throughout 2025 and 2026, where she successfully raised her cub (128 Jr.) before separating from her in early summer 2026. She wasn’t selected for this year’s Fat Bear tournament. But 2 of her offspring — Bear 428 “Studious” and Bear 903 “Gully” — are competing! Image via NPS/ M. Carenza.
Why fat bears?
Explore.org explains:
During hibernation, bears do not eat or drink and lose one-third of their body weight. Their winter survival depends on accumulating ample fat reserves before entering the den.
To get fat, bears gorge on the richest and most accessible foods they can find. In Katmai National Park that often means salmon. Dozens of bears gather at Brooks River to feast on salmon from late June until mid-October. Perhaps no other river on Earth offers bears the chance to feed on salmon at one place for so long.
Meet 435 Holly. This bulky brown bear in Katmai National Park was the winner of Fat Bear Week back in 2019. Image via NPS/ L. Carter.
Meet the bears of Fat Bear Week
Get to know the bears in competition for the Fat Bear title. Visit this page to see not just single adult males and females, but also subadults and bear families with a mom and cubs!
Here’s a peak at some of the nominees.
This is bear 131. She did a good job of packing on the pounds over the summer. Image via Explore.org.This bear is 164 Bucky. He’s made good use of his summer by pumping up the plump. Image via Explore.org.Mama bear 132 and her 3 cubs have also been gaining girth over the summer. Will it be enough to push them to a win? Image via Explore.org.
The brackets for Fat Bear Week 2026
Ready to participate? See all the bears, pick your favorites, and then vote! It’s easy. Just visit FatBearWeek.org.
Here is the bracket for Fat Bear Week 2026. Who will win? Cast your vote at FatBearWeek.org. Image via Sara Wolman/ Explore.org.
Bottom line: It’s time for Fat Bear Week 2026! Vote for your favorite corpulent cutie as the brown bears of Katmai National Park fatten up for winter.
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Raúl Cortés captured the September equinox sun from Mexico and wrote: “This photo shows the sun coming out exactly at due west as seen from Cerro del Obispado in Monterrey, Mexico.” Thank you, Raúl! Are day and night equal at the equinox? See below.
The 2026 September equinox will fall at 00:05 UTC on September 23, 2026. That’s 19:05 p.m. CDT on September 22. It’s the Northern Hemisphere’s autumn equinox and Southern Hemisphere’s spring equinox. You sometimes hear it said that, at the equinoxes, everyone receives equal daylight and darkness. But there’s really more daylight than darkness at the equinox, eight more minutes or so at mid-temperate latitudes. Two factors explain why we have more than 12 hours of daylight on this day of supposedly equal day and night. They are:
Illustrations like this one make it seem as if day and night should be equal at the equinox. In fact, they aren’t exactly equal. Image via Wikimedia Commons.
The sun is a disk, not a point
Watch any sunset, and you know the sun appears in Earth’s sky as a disk.
It’s not point-like, as stars are. And yet – by definition – most almanacs regard sunrise as when the leading edge of the sun first touches the eastern horizon. They define sunset as when the sun’s trailing edge finally touches the western horizon.
This provides an extra 2 1/2 to 3 minutes of daylight at mid-temperate latitudes.
Atmospheric refraction raises the sun about 1/2 degree upward in our sky at both sunrise and sunset. This advances the time of actual sunrise, while delaying the time of actual sunset. The result is several minutes of extra daylight, not just at an equinox, but every day. Image via Wikipedia.
Atmospheric refraction
The Earth’s atmosphere acts like a lens or prism. It uplifts the sun about 0.5 degrees from its true geometrical position whenever the sun nears the horizon. Coincidentally, the sun’s angular diameter spans about 0.5 degrees, as well.
In other words, when you see the sun on the horizon, it’s actually just below the horizon geometrically.
What does atmospheric refraction mean for the length of daylight? It advances the sunrise and delays the sunset, adding nearly another six minutes of daylight at mid-temperate latitudes. Hence, more daylight than night at the equinox.
Astronomical almanacs usually don’t give sunrise or sunset times to the second. That’s because atmospheric refraction varies somewhat, depending on air temperature, humidity and barometric pressure. Lower temperature, higher humidity and higher barometric pressure all increase atmospheric refraction.
On the day of the equinox, the center of the sun would set about 12 hours after rising. That’s given a level horizon, as at sea, and no atmospheric refraction.
So, no, day and night are not exactly equal at the equinox.
And here’s a new word for you, equilux. The word is used to describe the day on which day and night are equal. The equilux happens a few to several days after the autumn equinox, and a few to several days before the spring equinox.
Much as earliest sunrises and latest sunsets vary with latitude, so the exact date of an equilux varies with latitude. That’s in contrast to the equinox itself, which is a whole-Earth event, happening at the same instant worldwide. At and near the equator, there is no equilux whatsoever. That’s because the daylight period is over 12 hours long every day of the year.
Bottom line: There’s slightly more day than night on the day of an equinox. That’s because the sun is a disk, not a point of light, and because Earth’s atmosphere refracts (bends) sunlight.
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Raúl Cortés captured the September equinox sun from Mexico and wrote: “This photo shows the sun coming out exactly at due west as seen from Cerro del Obispado in Monterrey, Mexico.” Thank you, Raúl! Are day and night equal at the equinox? See below.
The 2026 September equinox will fall at 00:05 UTC on September 23, 2026. That’s 19:05 p.m. CDT on September 22. It’s the Northern Hemisphere’s autumn equinox and Southern Hemisphere’s spring equinox. You sometimes hear it said that, at the equinoxes, everyone receives equal daylight and darkness. But there’s really more daylight than darkness at the equinox, eight more minutes or so at mid-temperate latitudes. Two factors explain why we have more than 12 hours of daylight on this day of supposedly equal day and night. They are:
Illustrations like this one make it seem as if day and night should be equal at the equinox. In fact, they aren’t exactly equal. Image via Wikimedia Commons.
The sun is a disk, not a point
Watch any sunset, and you know the sun appears in Earth’s sky as a disk.
It’s not point-like, as stars are. And yet – by definition – most almanacs regard sunrise as when the leading edge of the sun first touches the eastern horizon. They define sunset as when the sun’s trailing edge finally touches the western horizon.
This provides an extra 2 1/2 to 3 minutes of daylight at mid-temperate latitudes.
Atmospheric refraction raises the sun about 1/2 degree upward in our sky at both sunrise and sunset. This advances the time of actual sunrise, while delaying the time of actual sunset. The result is several minutes of extra daylight, not just at an equinox, but every day. Image via Wikipedia.
Atmospheric refraction
The Earth’s atmosphere acts like a lens or prism. It uplifts the sun about 0.5 degrees from its true geometrical position whenever the sun nears the horizon. Coincidentally, the sun’s angular diameter spans about 0.5 degrees, as well.
In other words, when you see the sun on the horizon, it’s actually just below the horizon geometrically.
What does atmospheric refraction mean for the length of daylight? It advances the sunrise and delays the sunset, adding nearly another six minutes of daylight at mid-temperate latitudes. Hence, more daylight than night at the equinox.
Astronomical almanacs usually don’t give sunrise or sunset times to the second. That’s because atmospheric refraction varies somewhat, depending on air temperature, humidity and barometric pressure. Lower temperature, higher humidity and higher barometric pressure all increase atmospheric refraction.
On the day of the equinox, the center of the sun would set about 12 hours after rising. That’s given a level horizon, as at sea, and no atmospheric refraction.
So, no, day and night are not exactly equal at the equinox.
And here’s a new word for you, equilux. The word is used to describe the day on which day and night are equal. The equilux happens a few to several days after the autumn equinox, and a few to several days before the spring equinox.
Much as earliest sunrises and latest sunsets vary with latitude, so the exact date of an equilux varies with latitude. That’s in contrast to the equinox itself, which is a whole-Earth event, happening at the same instant worldwide. At and near the equator, there is no equilux whatsoever. That’s because the daylight period is over 12 hours long every day of the year.
Bottom line: There’s slightly more day than night on the day of an equinox. That’s because the sun is a disk, not a point of light, and because Earth’s atmosphere refracts (bends) sunlight.
