Our galactic neighbor is slowly coming apart

The Small Magellanic Cloud is our galactic neighbor. It’s a satellite galaxy that orbits our Milky Way galaxy. Scientists long assumed it was rotating like other galaxies, but new observations show its stars are expanding outward instead. The arrows show the motion of stars away from the center of the galaxy, and the colors indicate the velocities of the stars. Image via ESO/ VISTA VMC/ AIP/ S. Vijayasree.

• The Small and Large Magellanic Clouds are dwarf satellite galaxies of our Milky Way galaxy.
• Scientists had thought the Small Magellanic Cloud was rotating, but a new study has found that its stars are racing outwards.
• It seems it’s being ripped apart by the gravity of its neighbor, the Large Magellanic Cloud.

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Our galactic neighbor is slowly coming apart

The Small and Large Magellanic Clouds are dwarf satellite galaxies orbiting our Milky Way galaxy. Visible with the unaided eye from the Southern Hemisphere, these galaxies appear serene neighbors in southern skies. But on June 2, 2026, scientists from the Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam in Germany said that the gravitational pull from the Large Magellanic Cloud is actually ripping the Small Magellanic Cloud apart.

Scientists looked at more than 10 years of observations from the VISTA Survey of the Magellanic Clouds. This allowed them to measure the motions of millions of stars inside the Small Magellanic Cloud. These movements showed the dwarf galaxy was not rotating as once thought. Instead, the galaxy’s stars are racing away from the center. Even the inner stars appear to be heading toward the exit.

Lead author Sreepriya Vijayasree of AIP said:

The results reveal large-scale tidal expansion throughout the Small Magellanic Cloud galaxy and challenge long-standing assumptions that the Small Magellanic Cloud behaves like a rotating disk. The study shows that the internal motions of stars in the Small Magellanic Cloud are dominated not by orderly rotation, but by gravitational disturbances caused by repeated encounters with the Large Magellanic Cloud over billions of years.

The researchers submitted their study in the Letters to the Editor section of the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics. The journal accepted it for publication on May 21, 2026.

More on the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds

The Large Magellanic Cloud is one of the closest galaxies to us at about 160,000 light-years away. Meanwhile, the Small Magellanic Cloud is a bit farther at about 200,000 light-years away. As some of the closest galaxies to our home galaxy, they stand out as big, misty blobs of light under dark skies.

Scientists estimate the Small Magellanic Cloud contains around 3 billion stars, while the Large Magellanic Cloud houses some 30 billion stars. The Large Magellanic Cloud is in the constellations of Dorado and Mensa. And Tucana the Toucan is home to the Small Magellanic Cloud.

These are the Large (upper right) and Small (lower left) Magellanic Clouds. They look like smudges on a dark night sky, visible from Earth’s Southern Hemisphere. They’re classified as irregular galaxies belonging to our Local Group of galaxies, which also includes our Milky Way galaxy and the Andromeda galaxy. Image via S. Brunier/ ESO.

A disruptive galactic neighbor

The idea that the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds have influence over each other isn’t new. Their interactions have given them distorted shapes, bursts of star formation and streams of gas trailing away from the galaxies.

But the infrared observations spanning more than a decade have allowed astronomers to see a clearer picture of the stellar movements. In fact, the astronomers can see that the stars of the Small Magellanic Cloud are moving outward along a southeast–northwest axis. They said that motion was consistent with the gravitational pull exerted by the neighboring Large Magellanic Cloud.

And it’s not just the outer fringes of stars closest to the Large Magellanic Cloud that are heading outward. The stars even at the Small Magellanic Cloud’s center are heading outward and not rotating around a midpoint.

When might the Small Magellanic Cloud disperse entirely? Well, the stars are moving at an average speed of about 38,000 miles per hour (17 km per second). At that pace, the stars would travel several thousand light-years over the course of a few hundred million years. So while the dwarf galaxy will look distorted sooner rather than later, it still won’t look noticeably different anywhere within our lifetimes.

Past disruptions

Beyond the motions of the stars heading outward from the galaxy, the study also uncovered another distinct motion. This additional motion was northward, and astronomers only found it in the older red giant stars.

The researchers think this motion is leftover from an interaction that occurred more than 2 billion years ago. Life isn’t easy when you have pushy neighbors.

Bottom line: Astronomers have found the stars of our galactic neighbor, the Small Magellanic Cloud, are heading outward. This dwarf galaxy is not rotating, but is in the act of slowly coming apart.

Source: The VMC survey. LV. The coherent expansion of the SMC

Via Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam

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The Small Magellanic Cloud is our galactic neighbor. It’s a satellite galaxy that orbits our Milky Way galaxy. Scientists long assumed it was rotating like other galaxies, but new observations show its stars are expanding outward instead. The arrows show the motion of stars away from the center of the galaxy, and the colors indicate the velocities of the stars. Image via ESO/ VISTA VMC/ AIP/ S. Vijayasree.

• The Small and Large Magellanic Clouds are dwarf satellite galaxies of our Milky Way galaxy.
• Scientists had thought the Small Magellanic Cloud was rotating, but a new study has found that its stars are racing outwards.
• It seems it’s being ripped apart by the gravity of its neighbor, the Large Magellanic Cloud.

You deserve a daily dose of good news. For the latest in science and the night sky, subscribe to EarthSky’s free daily newsletter.

Our galactic neighbor is slowly coming apart

The Small and Large Magellanic Clouds are dwarf satellite galaxies orbiting our Milky Way galaxy. Visible with the unaided eye from the Southern Hemisphere, these galaxies appear serene neighbors in southern skies. But on June 2, 2026, scientists from the Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam in Germany said that the gravitational pull from the Large Magellanic Cloud is actually ripping the Small Magellanic Cloud apart.

Scientists looked at more than 10 years of observations from the VISTA Survey of the Magellanic Clouds. This allowed them to measure the motions of millions of stars inside the Small Magellanic Cloud. These movements showed the dwarf galaxy was not rotating as once thought. Instead, the galaxy’s stars are racing away from the center. Even the inner stars appear to be heading toward the exit.

Lead author Sreepriya Vijayasree of AIP said:

The results reveal large-scale tidal expansion throughout the Small Magellanic Cloud galaxy and challenge long-standing assumptions that the Small Magellanic Cloud behaves like a rotating disk. The study shows that the internal motions of stars in the Small Magellanic Cloud are dominated not by orderly rotation, but by gravitational disturbances caused by repeated encounters with the Large Magellanic Cloud over billions of years.

The researchers submitted their study in the Letters to the Editor section of the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics. The journal accepted it for publication on May 21, 2026.

More on the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds

The Large Magellanic Cloud is one of the closest galaxies to us at about 160,000 light-years away. Meanwhile, the Small Magellanic Cloud is a bit farther at about 200,000 light-years away. As some of the closest galaxies to our home galaxy, they stand out as big, misty blobs of light under dark skies.

Scientists estimate the Small Magellanic Cloud contains around 3 billion stars, while the Large Magellanic Cloud houses some 30 billion stars. The Large Magellanic Cloud is in the constellations of Dorado and Mensa. And Tucana the Toucan is home to the Small Magellanic Cloud.

These are the Large (upper right) and Small (lower left) Magellanic Clouds. They look like smudges on a dark night sky, visible from Earth’s Southern Hemisphere. They’re classified as irregular galaxies belonging to our Local Group of galaxies, which also includes our Milky Way galaxy and the Andromeda galaxy. Image via S. Brunier/ ESO.

A disruptive galactic neighbor

The idea that the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds have influence over each other isn’t new. Their interactions have given them distorted shapes, bursts of star formation and streams of gas trailing away from the galaxies.

But the infrared observations spanning more than a decade have allowed astronomers to see a clearer picture of the stellar movements. In fact, the astronomers can see that the stars of the Small Magellanic Cloud are moving outward along a southeast–northwest axis. They said that motion was consistent with the gravitational pull exerted by the neighboring Large Magellanic Cloud.

And it’s not just the outer fringes of stars closest to the Large Magellanic Cloud that are heading outward. The stars even at the Small Magellanic Cloud’s center are heading outward and not rotating around a midpoint.

When might the Small Magellanic Cloud disperse entirely? Well, the stars are moving at an average speed of about 38,000 miles per hour (17 km per second). At that pace, the stars would travel several thousand light-years over the course of a few hundred million years. So while the dwarf galaxy will look distorted sooner rather than later, it still won’t look noticeably different anywhere within our lifetimes.

Past disruptions

Beyond the motions of the stars heading outward from the galaxy, the study also uncovered another distinct motion. This additional motion was northward, and astronomers only found it in the older red giant stars.

The researchers think this motion is leftover from an interaction that occurred more than 2 billion years ago. Life isn’t easy when you have pushy neighbors.

Bottom line: Astronomers have found the stars of our galactic neighbor, the Small Magellanic Cloud, are heading outward. This dwarf galaxy is not rotating, but is in the act of slowly coming apart.

Source: The VMC survey. LV. The coherent expansion of the SMC

Via Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam

The post Our galactic neighbor is slowly coming apart first appeared on EarthSky.

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Names for days of the week come from the solar system

Did you know the names for the days of the week come from bodies in our solar system? Image via Pixabay/ EarthSky.

Science news, night sky events and beautiful photos, all in one place. Click here to subscribe to EarthSky’s free daily newsletter.

Names for days of the week come from the solar system

Did you know the days of the week are named after objects in our solar system? Sure, Sunday is easy for us to recognize as being named for the sun. And maybe you can even spot Monday as originating from the moon. But how did Mars become Tuesday?

Well, long ago people looked to the sky to keep track of time. The sun rose and set and rose again and people marked a day. The moon was full and then waned until it disappeared and then grew again to full, and people marked a month of time.

Eventually, according to Kristin Heineman of Colorado State University, the ancient Babylonians back in 2,300 BCE began dividing those months into seven-day segments. Why seven? Because these astronomers monitored the bright lights that wandered among the stars: the sun, moon and five visible planets. Unlike the stars, these seven objects shift location each day or night.

So, the sun, moon and five visible planets became the representatives for each of the days of the week. And, over millennia, the concept of a seven-day week spread around the globe. As the idea spread to other cultures, the names of the week morphed from the gods the planets were named for to gods in other lore with similar attributes.

Sunday is the sun’s day

Sunday is the day of the week that’s easiest to see as having a direct relationship to a solar system object. The name Sunday honored the brightest object in our daytime sky, the sun. Our English word for the sun comes from the Old English version, Sunnandæg, which means “sun’s day.”

This video from NOAA’s GOES-19 SUVI instrument captures a solar flare on the sun on June 3, 2026. Video via NOAA/GOES.

Monday is the moon’s day

Not surprisingly, then, the name Monday comes from “moon’s day.” The moon is the brightest object we can see in the nighttime sky. So not only were months (or should we say moonths?) originally arranged from one full moon to the next, the moon was also honored with a day of the week. The Old English Monandæg, moon’s day, was how we got our English word Monday.

View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Saqlain Haider in Pattoki, Punjab, Pakistan captured the full moon on May 31, 2026. Thank you, Saqlain!

Tuesday is Mars’ day

Tuesday is where the days of the week and planets start to look less straightforward. That’s because people of Germanic languages substituted the Roman gods for their own Norse gods. So Mars, the Roman god of war, was switched for the Germanic peoples’ own god of war, Tyr, or Tiw. And then Tiw’s day evolved to become what we know of as Tuesday.

View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Guido Santacana in San Juan, Puerto Rico, captured Mars on January 31, 2025. Thank you, Guido!

This is a 15th-century depiction of Mars, the god of war. Image via Wikimedia Commons. Public domain.

Wednesday is Mercury’s day

Wednesday was named for Mercury. For Romans, Wednesday was Dies Mercurii, the “day of Mercury.” Germanic people translated the day of Mercury to the day of Woden. Woden, or Odin, was the Norse god of travel and similar to Mercury, the fleet-footed messenger. Over time, “Woden’s day” evolved into Wednesday.

View larger. | This enhanced-color image of Mercury comes from NASA’s MESSENGER spacecraft. The colors bring out the chemical, mineralogical and physical differences among the rocks that make up Mercury’s surface. Image via NASA/ Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/ Carnegie Institution of Washington.

This fresco of Mercury, or Hermes, was on a wall in Pompeii. It dates to the 1st century. Image via Wikimedia Commons. Public domain.

Thursday is Jupiter’s day

Thursday is probably much more readily recognizable as being Thor’s day. Thor is the powerful Norse god of thunder. And the equivalent Roman god was Jupiter, the king of the gods.

View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Brian Martin captured Jupiter on November 30, 2025, from California. Thank you, Brian!

This bust of Jupiter/ Zeus/ Thor sits in the Vatican. Image via Biser Todorov/ Wikimedia Commons.

Friday is Venus’s day

Friday is in honor of Venus, the brightest planet, which the ancients named for the goddess of love and beauty. For Romans it was Dies Veneris, or “day of Venus”. Germanic peoples connected Venus with the goddess Frigg or Freya, leading to “Frigg’s day,” later shortened to Friday.

View larger. | Venus is the brightest planet from Earth and the second-closest planet to the sun. Image via JAXA/ ISAS/ DARTS/ Kevin M. Gill/ Flickr (CC BY 2.0).

This is a medieval representation of Venus, the goddess of love. Image via Wikimedia Commons.

Saturday is Saturn’s day

Once we hit the end of the week, we’re back on familiar ground again. Saturday kept its Roman planetary connection almost unchanged. Dies Saturni was the “day of Saturn,” named for the planet Saturn and the Roman god of agriculture and time. Unlike the other weekday names, the English-language version did not swap in a Norse god.

The Cassini spacecraft caught the 6th planet from the sun and its rings like never before. In this image, Saturn’s rings are gloriously backlit with the sun blocked by the planet. Image via NASA/ JPL/ Space Science Institute.

This fresco of Saturn was on a wall in Pompeii. Image via Carole Raddato/ Wikimedia Commons.

Bottom line: The names for the days of the week come from the solar system bodies that the ancients could see in the sky.

The post Names for days of the week come from the solar system first appeared on EarthSky.

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Did you know the names for the days of the week come from bodies in our solar system? Image via Pixabay/ EarthSky.

Science news, night sky events and beautiful photos, all in one place. Click here to subscribe to EarthSky’s free daily newsletter.

Names for days of the week come from the solar system

Did you know the days of the week are named after objects in our solar system? Sure, Sunday is easy for us to recognize as being named for the sun. And maybe you can even spot Monday as originating from the moon. But how did Mars become Tuesday?

Well, long ago people looked to the sky to keep track of time. The sun rose and set and rose again and people marked a day. The moon was full and then waned until it disappeared and then grew again to full, and people marked a month of time.

Eventually, according to Kristin Heineman of Colorado State University, the ancient Babylonians back in 2,300 BCE began dividing those months into seven-day segments. Why seven? Because these astronomers monitored the bright lights that wandered among the stars: the sun, moon and five visible planets. Unlike the stars, these seven objects shift location each day or night.

So, the sun, moon and five visible planets became the representatives for each of the days of the week. And, over millennia, the concept of a seven-day week spread around the globe. As the idea spread to other cultures, the names of the week morphed from the gods the planets were named for to gods in other lore with similar attributes.

Sunday is the sun’s day

Sunday is the day of the week that’s easiest to see as having a direct relationship to a solar system object. The name Sunday honored the brightest object in our daytime sky, the sun. Our English word for the sun comes from the Old English version, Sunnandæg, which means “sun’s day.”

This video from NOAA’s GOES-19 SUVI instrument captures a solar flare on the sun on June 3, 2026. Video via NOAA/GOES.

Monday is the moon’s day

Not surprisingly, then, the name Monday comes from “moon’s day.” The moon is the brightest object we can see in the nighttime sky. So not only were months (or should we say moonths?) originally arranged from one full moon to the next, the moon was also honored with a day of the week. The Old English Monandæg, moon’s day, was how we got our English word Monday.

View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Saqlain Haider in Pattoki, Punjab, Pakistan captured the full moon on May 31, 2026. Thank you, Saqlain!

Tuesday is Mars’ day

Tuesday is where the days of the week and planets start to look less straightforward. That’s because people of Germanic languages substituted the Roman gods for their own Norse gods. So Mars, the Roman god of war, was switched for the Germanic peoples’ own god of war, Tyr, or Tiw. And then Tiw’s day evolved to become what we know of as Tuesday.

View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Guido Santacana in San Juan, Puerto Rico, captured Mars on January 31, 2025. Thank you, Guido!

This is a 15th-century depiction of Mars, the god of war. Image via Wikimedia Commons. Public domain.

Wednesday is Mercury’s day

Wednesday was named for Mercury. For Romans, Wednesday was Dies Mercurii, the “day of Mercury.” Germanic people translated the day of Mercury to the day of Woden. Woden, or Odin, was the Norse god of travel and similar to Mercury, the fleet-footed messenger. Over time, “Woden’s day” evolved into Wednesday.

View larger. | This enhanced-color image of Mercury comes from NASA’s MESSENGER spacecraft. The colors bring out the chemical, mineralogical and physical differences among the rocks that make up Mercury’s surface. Image via NASA/ Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/ Carnegie Institution of Washington.

This fresco of Mercury, or Hermes, was on a wall in Pompeii. It dates to the 1st century. Image via Wikimedia Commons. Public domain.

Thursday is Jupiter’s day

Thursday is probably much more readily recognizable as being Thor’s day. Thor is the powerful Norse god of thunder. And the equivalent Roman god was Jupiter, the king of the gods.

View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Brian Martin captured Jupiter on November 30, 2025, from California. Thank you, Brian!

This bust of Jupiter/ Zeus/ Thor sits in the Vatican. Image via Biser Todorov/ Wikimedia Commons.

Friday is Venus’s day

Friday is in honor of Venus, the brightest planet, which the ancients named for the goddess of love and beauty. For Romans it was Dies Veneris, or “day of Venus”. Germanic peoples connected Venus with the goddess Frigg or Freya, leading to “Frigg’s day,” later shortened to Friday.

View larger. | Venus is the brightest planet from Earth and the second-closest planet to the sun. Image via JAXA/ ISAS/ DARTS/ Kevin M. Gill/ Flickr (CC BY 2.0).

This is a medieval representation of Venus, the goddess of love. Image via Wikimedia Commons.

Saturday is Saturn’s day

Once we hit the end of the week, we’re back on familiar ground again. Saturday kept its Roman planetary connection almost unchanged. Dies Saturni was the “day of Saturn,” named for the planet Saturn and the Roman god of agriculture and time. Unlike the other weekday names, the English-language version did not swap in a Norse god.

The Cassini spacecraft caught the 6th planet from the sun and its rings like never before. In this image, Saturn’s rings are gloriously backlit with the sun blocked by the planet. Image via NASA/ JPL/ Space Science Institute.

This fresco of Saturn was on a wall in Pompeii. Image via Carole Raddato/ Wikimedia Commons.

Bottom line: The names for the days of the week come from the solar system bodies that the ancients could see in the sky.

The post Names for days of the week come from the solar system first appeared on EarthSky.

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Summer Triangle: Star pattern of the season

The Summer Triangle, ascending for Northern Hemisphere observers in the east on June evenings. Are you in the Southern Hemisphere? See below. Chart via EarthSky.

Northern summer is Summer Triangle time

During the summertime in the Northern Hemisphere, the days are long. The sun is high in the midday sky. And our summer sky is with us, too. Watch for the famous Summer Triangle, now ascending in the eastern sky on these late June and July evenings.

The Summer Triangle isn’t a constellation. It’s an asterism, or noticeable pattern of stars. This pattern consists of three bright stars in three separate constellations: Deneb in the constellation Cygnus the Swan, Vega in the constellation Lyra the Harp, and Altair in the constellation Aquila the Eagle.

Learn to recognize the Summer Triangle asterism now, and you can watch it all summer as it shifts higher in the east, then finally appears high overhead in the late northern summer and early northern autumn sky.

From the Southern Hemisphere, the Summer Triangle appears upside down – as it’s viewed from the Northern Hemisphere – and low above the northern horizon during the southern winter months.

Seeing the Summer Triangle from the Northern Hemisphere

As night falls in June or July, look east for a sparkling blue-white star. That will be Vega, in Lyra the Harp. Reigning at the apex of the celebrated Summer Triangle, Vega is also the brightest of the Summer Triangle’s three stars, which are all bright enough to be seen from many light-polluted cities.

Look to the lower right of Vega to locate the Summer Triangle’s second brightest star. That’s Altair, the brightest star in the constellation Aquila the Eagle. A ruler (12 inches/ 30 cm) held at arm’s length fills the gap between these two stars.

Look to the lower left of Vega for another bright star: Deneb, the brightest in the constellation Cygnus the Swan and the third brightest in the Summer Triangle. An outstretched hand at arm’s length approximates the distance from Vega to Deneb.

It’s difficult to convey the huge size of the Summer Triangle. But you’ll see it. These three bright stars — Vega, Deneb and Altair — will become your summertime favorites.

Once Cygnus the Swan clears the horizon, you can easily see all of the Summer Triangle asterism. It’s a summertime favorite and easy to see.

Summer Triangle in Winter? A View from the South

Via Daniel Gaussen, Founder & Guide – Stargaze Mackenzie – New Zealand

From the Southern Hemisphere, the Summer Triangle appears flipped upside down and rises low into the northern sky. But, for many at populated latitudes across the Southern Hemisphere, Deneb is close to or below the northern horizon rendering the triangle incomplete for many observers. If you are closer to the South Pole than about 45 degrees S. latitude, you won’t see Deneb.

So we don’t tend to recognize the triangle as it is seen in the north, and even if we do, it’s only visible, briefly, during our winter season. So the name Summer Triangle is somewhat lost on us. Instead, the sight of Vega and Altair rising to the northeast are a clear sign of winter in the southern hemisphere.

Altair reaches a modest altitude of about 35–40 degrees from latitudes like those in New Zealand and Australia.

But Vega sits very low, between about 5–15 degrees from many places down under. For example:

• Sydney, Australia (approx. 34° S): Vega reaches a maximum altitude of about 17° above the northern horizon.
• Auckland, New Zealand (approx. 37° S): Vega reaches a maximum altitude of about 14° above the northern horizon.
• Christchurch, New Zealand (approx. 43.5° S): Vega reaches a maximum altitude of about 7.5° above the northern horizon.

Still, Vega is the 5th-brightest star as seen from Earth as a whole. So it blazes brightly to those with a clear view of the northern horizon. And both Vega and Altair stars act as luminous markers of the Southern Hemisphere’s winter northern sky.

Arching through the sky between these two stars is the glow of the Milky Way, with Vega to the west and Altair to the east. They frame the galaxy as if it were a river flowing between them.

In Japanese tradition, this is celebrated in July during the summer star festival and the story of Tanabata, where Vega and Altair represent two separated lovers, divided by the Milky Way and allowed to meet only once a year.

From the Southern Hemisphere, this cultural imagery remains fitting, as the two stars appear as distant beacons low in the northern sky, divided by the glowing stream of the galaxy.

Looking north from the Southern Hemisphere. Assuming you’re at about 40 degrees S. – to the equator – you can see all of the so-called Summer Triangle during your southern winter months by looking north. If you’re closer to the South Pole than about 40 degrees S. latitude, you likely won’t see Deneb! Technically you can see it from slightly further south. But, in reality, the murk on your northern horizon will likely block it from your view. Chart via EarthSky.

The Summer Triangle is a northern road map to the Milky Way, too

Likewise, from the Northern Hemisphere, if you’re lucky enough to be under a dark sky on a moonless night, you’ll see the great swath of stars passing between the Summer Triangle’s Vega and Altair. For our latitudes, the star Deneb bobs in the middle of this river of stars, which arcs across dark summer skies. This sky river is, of course, the edgewise view into our own Milky Way galaxy. Every star you see with the unaided eye is a member of the Milky Way. And at this time of year, we can see clearly into the galaxy’s flat disk, where most of the stars congregate. By August and September, we’ll have a good view toward the galaxy’s center.

Once northern observers master the Summer Triangle, they can always locate the Milky Way on a clear, dark night. How about making the most of a dark summer night to explore this band of stars, this starlit boulevard with its celestial delights? Use binoculars to reveal the gossamer beauty of the haunting nebulae and bejeweled star clusters along this starlit trail.

The 3 brightest stars in this image make up the asterism of the Summer Triangle, a giant triangle in the sky composed of the bright stars Vega (top left), Altair (lower middle) and Deneb (far left). Also in this image, under a dark sky and on a moonless night, is the Great Rift that passes right through the Milky Way and the Summer Triangle. Image via NASA/ A. Fujii/ ESA.

A word about asterisms

As we mentioned above, asterisms aren’t constellations; they’re just patterns on the sky’s dome. Constellations generally come to us from ancient times. In the 1930s, the International Astronomical Union officially drew the boundaries of the 88 constellations we recognize today.

Meanwhile, you can make up and name your own asterisms, in much the same way you can recognize shapes in puffy clouds on a summer day.

Of course, some asterisms are so obvious that they’re acknowledged around the world. And – especially if you can see it from the Northern Hemisphere – the Summer Triangle is one of these.

Bottom line: For us in the Northern Hemisphere, the Summer Triangle says “summer” in the sky.

What’s a constellation? What’s an asterism?

What is the Milky Way? It’s our home galaxy

The post Summer Triangle: Star pattern of the season first appeared on EarthSky.

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The Summer Triangle, ascending for Northern Hemisphere observers in the east on June evenings. Are you in the Southern Hemisphere? See below. Chart via EarthSky.

Northern summer is Summer Triangle time

During the summertime in the Northern Hemisphere, the days are long. The sun is high in the midday sky. And our summer sky is with us, too. Watch for the famous Summer Triangle, now ascending in the eastern sky on these late June and July evenings.

The Summer Triangle isn’t a constellation. It’s an asterism, or noticeable pattern of stars. This pattern consists of three bright stars in three separate constellations: Deneb in the constellation Cygnus the Swan, Vega in the constellation Lyra the Harp, and Altair in the constellation Aquila the Eagle.

Learn to recognize the Summer Triangle asterism now, and you can watch it all summer as it shifts higher in the east, then finally appears high overhead in the late northern summer and early northern autumn sky.

From the Southern Hemisphere, the Summer Triangle appears upside down – as it’s viewed from the Northern Hemisphere – and low above the northern horizon during the southern winter months.

Seeing the Summer Triangle from the Northern Hemisphere

As night falls in June or July, look east for a sparkling blue-white star. That will be Vega, in Lyra the Harp. Reigning at the apex of the celebrated Summer Triangle, Vega is also the brightest of the Summer Triangle’s three stars, which are all bright enough to be seen from many light-polluted cities.

Look to the lower right of Vega to locate the Summer Triangle’s second brightest star. That’s Altair, the brightest star in the constellation Aquila the Eagle. A ruler (12 inches/ 30 cm) held at arm’s length fills the gap between these two stars.

Look to the lower left of Vega for another bright star: Deneb, the brightest in the constellation Cygnus the Swan and the third brightest in the Summer Triangle. An outstretched hand at arm’s length approximates the distance from Vega to Deneb.

It’s difficult to convey the huge size of the Summer Triangle. But you’ll see it. These three bright stars — Vega, Deneb and Altair — will become your summertime favorites.

Once Cygnus the Swan clears the horizon, you can easily see all of the Summer Triangle asterism. It’s a summertime favorite and easy to see.

Summer Triangle in Winter? A View from the South

Via Daniel Gaussen, Founder & Guide – Stargaze Mackenzie – New Zealand

From the Southern Hemisphere, the Summer Triangle appears flipped upside down and rises low into the northern sky. But, for many at populated latitudes across the Southern Hemisphere, Deneb is close to or below the northern horizon rendering the triangle incomplete for many observers. If you are closer to the South Pole than about 45 degrees S. latitude, you won’t see Deneb.

So we don’t tend to recognize the triangle as it is seen in the north, and even if we do, it’s only visible, briefly, during our winter season. So the name Summer Triangle is somewhat lost on us. Instead, the sight of Vega and Altair rising to the northeast are a clear sign of winter in the southern hemisphere.

Altair reaches a modest altitude of about 35–40 degrees from latitudes like those in New Zealand and Australia.

But Vega sits very low, between about 5–15 degrees from many places down under. For example:

• Sydney, Australia (approx. 34° S): Vega reaches a maximum altitude of about 17° above the northern horizon.
• Auckland, New Zealand (approx. 37° S): Vega reaches a maximum altitude of about 14° above the northern horizon.
• Christchurch, New Zealand (approx. 43.5° S): Vega reaches a maximum altitude of about 7.5° above the northern horizon.

Still, Vega is the 5th-brightest star as seen from Earth as a whole. So it blazes brightly to those with a clear view of the northern horizon. And both Vega and Altair stars act as luminous markers of the Southern Hemisphere’s winter northern sky.

Arching through the sky between these two stars is the glow of the Milky Way, with Vega to the west and Altair to the east. They frame the galaxy as if it were a river flowing between them.

In Japanese tradition, this is celebrated in July during the summer star festival and the story of Tanabata, where Vega and Altair represent two separated lovers, divided by the Milky Way and allowed to meet only once a year.

From the Southern Hemisphere, this cultural imagery remains fitting, as the two stars appear as distant beacons low in the northern sky, divided by the glowing stream of the galaxy.

Looking north from the Southern Hemisphere. Assuming you’re at about 40 degrees S. – to the equator – you can see all of the so-called Summer Triangle during your southern winter months by looking north. If you’re closer to the South Pole than about 40 degrees S. latitude, you likely won’t see Deneb! Technically you can see it from slightly further south. But, in reality, the murk on your northern horizon will likely block it from your view. Chart via EarthSky.

The Summer Triangle is a northern road map to the Milky Way, too

Likewise, from the Northern Hemisphere, if you’re lucky enough to be under a dark sky on a moonless night, you’ll see the great swath of stars passing between the Summer Triangle’s Vega and Altair. For our latitudes, the star Deneb bobs in the middle of this river of stars, which arcs across dark summer skies. This sky river is, of course, the edgewise view into our own Milky Way galaxy. Every star you see with the unaided eye is a member of the Milky Way. And at this time of year, we can see clearly into the galaxy’s flat disk, where most of the stars congregate. By August and September, we’ll have a good view toward the galaxy’s center.

Once northern observers master the Summer Triangle, they can always locate the Milky Way on a clear, dark night. How about making the most of a dark summer night to explore this band of stars, this starlit boulevard with its celestial delights? Use binoculars to reveal the gossamer beauty of the haunting nebulae and bejeweled star clusters along this starlit trail.

The 3 brightest stars in this image make up the asterism of the Summer Triangle, a giant triangle in the sky composed of the bright stars Vega (top left), Altair (lower middle) and Deneb (far left). Also in this image, under a dark sky and on a moonless night, is the Great Rift that passes right through the Milky Way and the Summer Triangle. Image via NASA/ A. Fujii/ ESA.

A word about asterisms

As we mentioned above, asterisms aren’t constellations; they’re just patterns on the sky’s dome. Constellations generally come to us from ancient times. In the 1930s, the International Astronomical Union officially drew the boundaries of the 88 constellations we recognize today.

Meanwhile, you can make up and name your own asterisms, in much the same way you can recognize shapes in puffy clouds on a summer day.

Of course, some asterisms are so obvious that they’re acknowledged around the world. And – especially if you can see it from the Northern Hemisphere – the Summer Triangle is one of these.

Bottom line: For us in the Northern Hemisphere, the Summer Triangle says “summer” in the sky.

What’s a constellation? What’s an asterism?

What is the Milky Way? It’s our home galaxy

The post Summer Triangle: Star pattern of the season first appeared on EarthSky.

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Arietids – most active daytime meteor shower – around June 10

The Arietids are an active shower, but they’re visible mostly in daytime. Watch for them in the sunrise direction in the dark hour before dawn from May 22 to July 3. They’ll be best around June 10. You’ll be looking for meteors that shoot up from the horizon. The radiant is below the constellation Aries the Ram. Chart by EarthSky.

June 2026 daytime meteor shower … the Arietids

Most meteor showers are easy to observe. Just find a dark sky, and look up! But what about meteor showers that happen in the daytime, when the sun is up? The Arietids are sometimes said to be the most active daytime meteor shower. In 2026, their predicted** peak will be around the mornings of June 10. You might catch some Arietids around that morning in the dark hour before dawn.

When to watch: Watch from May 22 to July 3. There’s a predicted** peak for the mornings around June 10, 2026. Watch for them in the sunrise direction in the dark hour before dawn breaks.
Nearest moon phase: In 2026, a 3rd quarter moon occurs at 10:00 UTC on June 8. So on the mornings around June 10, a thick waxing crescent moon will interfere with watching for meteors. Watch from a place that’s in the moon shadow or find a distant object to block out the light of the moon.
Radiant: The shower’s radiant point – the point in the sky from which the meteors appear to radiate – is in the constellation Aries. You’ll find this constellation in the east before sunrise.
Duration of shower: May 22 to July 3.
Expected meteors at peak: This is tricky for daytime meteor showers because once the sun comes up, you won’t be able to see them. But the Arietids have a strong zenithal hourly rate (ZHR)! Meteor counts with radar and radio echoes have indicated a rate of 60 meteors per hour, and perhaps as high as 200 meteors per hour.
Note: The Arietids are sometimes said to be the most active daytime meteor shower.

Read more: Arietids, most active daytime meteor shower

Report a fireball (very bright meteor) to the American Meteor Society: it’s fun and easy!

More about a shower’s radiant point

The Arietids shower’s radiant point – the point in the sky from which the meteors appear to radiate – is only 30 degrees from the sun. This 30-degree angle – the angle between the sun and the meteor radiant as seen from Earth – is the shower’s elongation.

How to observe the Arietids

So – although most Arietid meteors fly in daylight – you might catch an Arietid in the last dark hour before dawn, any time during the first and second weeks of June.

The trick is to catch them in the narrow window after the radiant rises (or when it is about to rise), but before the visible breaking of dawn. The radiant rises just before the beginning of astronomical twilight – the darkest twilight stage – which is defined as the period of time when the center of the sun is 12 degrees below the horizon to 18 degrees below the horizon. You probably won’t even notice any illumination in the sky during astronomical twilight.

Face east and watch for meteors moving away from the radiant. The meteors will be moving out in all directions from the radiant. Therefore, many will never breach your horizon. But some meteors will move upward in your eastern predawn sky.

How many meteors will you see?

A shower’s zenithal hourly rate is the number of meteors you’ll see in one hour when the radiant is directly overhead and you can see stars as faint as magnitude 6.5.

For daytime meteor showers, we have a couple of problems here. When a daytime meteor shower’s radiant is overhead, it’s daytime. And so you can’t see stars down to magnitude 6.5. But when it’s nighttime and seeing faint stars becomes possible, a daytime meteor shower’s radiant is below your horizon.

So we never have ideal conditions for seeing the Arietids. But they have an awesome hourly rate! Meteor counts with radar and radio echoes have indicated a rate of 60 meteors per hour, and perhaps as high as 200 meteors per hour.

How many will you see on the morning of June 10, or the several mornings around then? Meteor shower peaks often vary between experts. But who knows? And it’d be fun to see any meteors from this (mostly) daytime shower.

You can keep track of the activity of daytime meteor showers, as well as those beyond the limits of visual observing, by visiting the NASA Meteor Shower Portal. You can move the sky globe to see different areas of the sky. Colored dots indicate shower meteors while white dots indicate sporadic (random) activity. The large orange disk indicates the position of the sun, so little activity will be seen in that area of the sky.

Arietids history and parent comet

The Arietids have a fascinating history. Astronomers at the Jodrell Bank Radio Telescope in England first noticed them in 1947. Here’s a paper that discusses this daytime meteor shower, plus three other showers. Scientists made the discovery with radar echoes and confirmed them, in some cases, with photographs.

For many years, no one knew the parent comet for the Arietids. Then, in May 1986, Don Machholz, discovered a comet that became known as 96P/Machholz. This comet might be directly involved with this meteor shower, or the shower’s source might be a part of the Machholz Complex. The Machholz Complex is a combination of two comet groups, eight meteor showers and at least one asteroid all associated with Comet 96P/Machholz.

If you capture an Arietid meteor, share your image with us!

Bottom line: The Arietids – the most active daytime meteor shower – peak on the mornings around June 10. Watch for them before dawn, but find a way to block out the light of a waxing crescent moon.

**Predicted peak times and dates for meteor showers are from the American Meteor Society. Note that meteor shower peak times can vary.

EarthSky’s meteor shower guide

The post Arietids – most active daytime meteor shower – around June 10 first appeared on EarthSky.

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The Arietids are an active shower, but they’re visible mostly in daytime. Watch for them in the sunrise direction in the dark hour before dawn from May 22 to July 3. They’ll be best around June 10. You’ll be looking for meteors that shoot up from the horizon. The radiant is below the constellation Aries the Ram. Chart by EarthSky.

June 2026 daytime meteor shower … the Arietids

Most meteor showers are easy to observe. Just find a dark sky, and look up! But what about meteor showers that happen in the daytime, when the sun is up? The Arietids are sometimes said to be the most active daytime meteor shower. In 2026, their predicted** peak will be around the mornings of June 10. You might catch some Arietids around that morning in the dark hour before dawn.

When to watch: Watch from May 22 to July 3. There’s a predicted** peak for the mornings around June 10, 2026. Watch for them in the sunrise direction in the dark hour before dawn breaks.
Nearest moon phase: In 2026, a 3rd quarter moon occurs at 10:00 UTC on June 8. So on the mornings around June 10, a thick waxing crescent moon will interfere with watching for meteors. Watch from a place that’s in the moon shadow or find a distant object to block out the light of the moon.
Radiant: The shower’s radiant point – the point in the sky from which the meteors appear to radiate – is in the constellation Aries. You’ll find this constellation in the east before sunrise.
Duration of shower: May 22 to July 3.
Expected meteors at peak: This is tricky for daytime meteor showers because once the sun comes up, you won’t be able to see them. But the Arietids have a strong zenithal hourly rate (ZHR)! Meteor counts with radar and radio echoes have indicated a rate of 60 meteors per hour, and perhaps as high as 200 meteors per hour.
Note: The Arietids are sometimes said to be the most active daytime meteor shower.

Read more: Arietids, most active daytime meteor shower

Report a fireball (very bright meteor) to the American Meteor Society: it’s fun and easy!

More about a shower’s radiant point

The Arietids shower’s radiant point – the point in the sky from which the meteors appear to radiate – is only 30 degrees from the sun. This 30-degree angle – the angle between the sun and the meteor radiant as seen from Earth – is the shower’s elongation.

How to observe the Arietids

So – although most Arietid meteors fly in daylight – you might catch an Arietid in the last dark hour before dawn, any time during the first and second weeks of June.

The trick is to catch them in the narrow window after the radiant rises (or when it is about to rise), but before the visible breaking of dawn. The radiant rises just before the beginning of astronomical twilight – the darkest twilight stage – which is defined as the period of time when the center of the sun is 12 degrees below the horizon to 18 degrees below the horizon. You probably won’t even notice any illumination in the sky during astronomical twilight.

Face east and watch for meteors moving away from the radiant. The meteors will be moving out in all directions from the radiant. Therefore, many will never breach your horizon. But some meteors will move upward in your eastern predawn sky.

How many meteors will you see?

A shower’s zenithal hourly rate is the number of meteors you’ll see in one hour when the radiant is directly overhead and you can see stars as faint as magnitude 6.5.

For daytime meteor showers, we have a couple of problems here. When a daytime meteor shower’s radiant is overhead, it’s daytime. And so you can’t see stars down to magnitude 6.5. But when it’s nighttime and seeing faint stars becomes possible, a daytime meteor shower’s radiant is below your horizon.

So we never have ideal conditions for seeing the Arietids. But they have an awesome hourly rate! Meteor counts with radar and radio echoes have indicated a rate of 60 meteors per hour, and perhaps as high as 200 meteors per hour.

How many will you see on the morning of June 10, or the several mornings around then? Meteor shower peaks often vary between experts. But who knows? And it’d be fun to see any meteors from this (mostly) daytime shower.

You can keep track of the activity of daytime meteor showers, as well as those beyond the limits of visual observing, by visiting the NASA Meteor Shower Portal. You can move the sky globe to see different areas of the sky. Colored dots indicate shower meteors while white dots indicate sporadic (random) activity. The large orange disk indicates the position of the sun, so little activity will be seen in that area of the sky.

Arietids history and parent comet

The Arietids have a fascinating history. Astronomers at the Jodrell Bank Radio Telescope in England first noticed them in 1947. Here’s a paper that discusses this daytime meteor shower, plus three other showers. Scientists made the discovery with radar echoes and confirmed them, in some cases, with photographs.

For many years, no one knew the parent comet for the Arietids. Then, in May 1986, Don Machholz, discovered a comet that became known as 96P/Machholz. This comet might be directly involved with this meteor shower, or the shower’s source might be a part of the Machholz Complex. The Machholz Complex is a combination of two comet groups, eight meteor showers and at least one asteroid all associated with Comet 96P/Machholz.

If you capture an Arietid meteor, share your image with us!

Bottom line: The Arietids – the most active daytime meteor shower – peak on the mornings around June 10. Watch for them before dawn, but find a way to block out the light of a waxing crescent moon.

**Predicted peak times and dates for meteor showers are from the American Meteor Society. Note that meteor shower peak times can vary.

EarthSky’s meteor shower guide

The post Arietids – most active daytime meteor shower – around June 10 first appeared on EarthSky.

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The constellation Norma is home to the Great Attractor

The constellation Norma in the Southern Hemisphere is meant to represent a right angle. Chart via EarthSky.

What is the Great Attractor?

The Great Attractor is a massive gravitational anomaly: an invisible, unimaginably colossal amount of mass in space that astronomers did not expect to find. They know it’s there because it’s pulling on everything around it. It’s like a cosmic tug-of-war champion, pulling millions of galaxies – including our own Local Group of galaxies – toward it. In fact, our local region of space is rushing toward this central point at a blistering speed of about 1.4 million miles per hour (600 km/s). The Virgo Supercluster and the Hydra-Centaurus Supercluster are also defying the smooth expansion of our universe and rushing toward the Great Attractor.

And, at the heart of the Great Attractor, is a giant galaxy cluster called the Norma Cluster. It’s called that because this pull is coming from the direction to our constellation Norma.

Science news, night sky events and beautiful photos, all in one place. Click here to subscribe to our free daily newsletter.

The Norma Cluster

The Great Attractor covers such a large expanse of space that it spans Norma plus the neighboring constellation Triangulum Australe, the Southern Triangle.

The galaxy cluster at the heart of the Great Attractor is the Norma Cluster, also known as Abell 3627. And it’s one of the most massive galaxy clusters known.

Stars of Norma

Norma’s stars are dim. Indeed, stargazers in large cities will surely see nothing but sky here. All of the stars are 4th magnitude and dimmer. The brightest star in Norma is magnitude 4.02 Gamma Normae, a double star that is hardly distinguishable from its neighbors. Gamma Normae lies 127 light-years away.

The Norma Cluster isn’t easy to observe, either. It lies behind the plane of the Milky Way galaxy, which obscures our view.

About the name Norma

Norma is an unusual name for a constellation. The 18th-century astronomer Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille named it, along with 13 other constellations in the Southern Hemisphere. Plus, most northern constellations are more older. They’re named for ancient gods and animals. But, generally, Lacaille named constellations for scientific instruments.

Also, Norma is Latin for normal, and it’s supposed to represent a carpenter’s square or level.

Seeing Norma from the Southern Hemisphere

Via Daniel Gaussen, Founder & Guide – Stargaze Mackenzie – New Zealand

For Southern Hemisphere observers, Norma climbs high in the winter sky, often reaching altitudes of around 80 degrees from locations such as New Zealand. It’s highest at midnight around June. And its high elevation and position within the Milky Way produce exceptionally sharp, bright views of dense star fields spanning thousands of light years.

But from latitudes south of about 45°S, Norma becomes circumpolar, meaning it circles the celestial pole and never sets below the horizon.

From Southern Hemisphere locations, where the constellation climbs high into the sky, Norma becomes an exciting region for stargazers and astrophotographers alike, revealing rich nebulae and dense Milky Way star fields that are difficult or impossible to observe from most northern latitudes.

For example, near the border between the constellation Norma and its neighboring constellation, Ara, you can find one of the southern sky’s most spectacular deep-sky treasures. It’s called the Fighting Dragons of Ara Nebula (NGC 6188).

This vast emission nebula spans more than two degrees of sky and is filled with glowing hydrogen gas illuminated by young, hot stars. Dark lanes of interstellar dust weave through the nebula, creating dramatic dragon-like shapes that give the object its popular nickname.

NGC 6188 (Fighting Dragons of Ara Nebula) captured in narrowband HSO over 9 hours with a 400mm telescope. Photo via Daniel Gaussen – Stargaze Mackenzie Photography,Twizel NZ.

Seeing Norma from the Northern Hemisphere

Norma is south of the celestial equator, a great circle around our sky above the earthly equator. With this in mind, it’s best viewed from the Southern Hemisphere. But you can glimpse it from latitudes of 30 degrees N or southward. For example, you can see it from the U.S. state of Florida.

Norma culminates at midnight – or appears highest in the sky at midnight – in June. So the months around June are the best time to glimpse it from the Northern Hemisphere. The constellation sits beside Lupus and south of Scorpius.

Its stars are dim, so your best bet is to first trace out the form of the Scorpion and then look for the dark patch of sky to the south.

The stars of Norma. Image via IAU/ Sky and Telescope/ Wikimedia Commons.

Stars and deep-sky objects in Norma

Norma’s location in the Milky Way means that it holds a number of deep-sky observing targets. The star cluster NGC 6067 is magnitude 5.6 and lies 1/2 degree north of Kappa Normae, a magnitude 4.94 star. NGC 6087 is a magnitude 5.4 open cluster almost 4 degrees below NGC 6067. And if you scan the region of Norma in binoculars, you can see at least eight open clusters.

NGC 6067 is a star cluster at magnitude 5.6. Image via Wikimedia Commons.

Bottom line: The constellation Norma lies in southern skies and is home to the the Great Attractor.

The post The constellation Norma is home to the Great Attractor first appeared on EarthSky.

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The constellation Norma in the Southern Hemisphere is meant to represent a right angle. Chart via EarthSky.

What is the Great Attractor?

The Great Attractor is a massive gravitational anomaly: an invisible, unimaginably colossal amount of mass in space that astronomers did not expect to find. They know it’s there because it’s pulling on everything around it. It’s like a cosmic tug-of-war champion, pulling millions of galaxies – including our own Local Group of galaxies – toward it. In fact, our local region of space is rushing toward this central point at a blistering speed of about 1.4 million miles per hour (600 km/s). The Virgo Supercluster and the Hydra-Centaurus Supercluster are also defying the smooth expansion of our universe and rushing toward the Great Attractor.

And, at the heart of the Great Attractor, is a giant galaxy cluster called the Norma Cluster. It’s called that because this pull is coming from the direction to our constellation Norma.

Science news, night sky events and beautiful photos, all in one place. Click here to subscribe to our free daily newsletter.

The Norma Cluster

The Great Attractor covers such a large expanse of space that it spans Norma plus the neighboring constellation Triangulum Australe, the Southern Triangle.

The galaxy cluster at the heart of the Great Attractor is the Norma Cluster, also known as Abell 3627. And it’s one of the most massive galaxy clusters known.

Stars of Norma

Norma’s stars are dim. Indeed, stargazers in large cities will surely see nothing but sky here. All of the stars are 4th magnitude and dimmer. The brightest star in Norma is magnitude 4.02 Gamma Normae, a double star that is hardly distinguishable from its neighbors. Gamma Normae lies 127 light-years away.

The Norma Cluster isn’t easy to observe, either. It lies behind the plane of the Milky Way galaxy, which obscures our view.

About the name Norma

Norma is an unusual name for a constellation. The 18th-century astronomer Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille named it, along with 13 other constellations in the Southern Hemisphere. Plus, most northern constellations are more older. They’re named for ancient gods and animals. But, generally, Lacaille named constellations for scientific instruments.

Also, Norma is Latin for normal, and it’s supposed to represent a carpenter’s square or level.

Seeing Norma from the Southern Hemisphere

Via Daniel Gaussen, Founder & Guide – Stargaze Mackenzie – New Zealand

For Southern Hemisphere observers, Norma climbs high in the winter sky, often reaching altitudes of around 80 degrees from locations such as New Zealand. It’s highest at midnight around June. And its high elevation and position within the Milky Way produce exceptionally sharp, bright views of dense star fields spanning thousands of light years.

But from latitudes south of about 45°S, Norma becomes circumpolar, meaning it circles the celestial pole and never sets below the horizon.

From Southern Hemisphere locations, where the constellation climbs high into the sky, Norma becomes an exciting region for stargazers and astrophotographers alike, revealing rich nebulae and dense Milky Way star fields that are difficult or impossible to observe from most northern latitudes.

For example, near the border between the constellation Norma and its neighboring constellation, Ara, you can find one of the southern sky’s most spectacular deep-sky treasures. It’s called the Fighting Dragons of Ara Nebula (NGC 6188).

This vast emission nebula spans more than two degrees of sky and is filled with glowing hydrogen gas illuminated by young, hot stars. Dark lanes of interstellar dust weave through the nebula, creating dramatic dragon-like shapes that give the object its popular nickname.

NGC 6188 (Fighting Dragons of Ara Nebula) captured in narrowband HSO over 9 hours with a 400mm telescope. Photo via Daniel Gaussen – Stargaze Mackenzie Photography,Twizel NZ.

Seeing Norma from the Northern Hemisphere

Norma is south of the celestial equator, a great circle around our sky above the earthly equator. With this in mind, it’s best viewed from the Southern Hemisphere. But you can glimpse it from latitudes of 30 degrees N or southward. For example, you can see it from the U.S. state of Florida.

Norma culminates at midnight – or appears highest in the sky at midnight – in June. So the months around June are the best time to glimpse it from the Northern Hemisphere. The constellation sits beside Lupus and south of Scorpius.

Its stars are dim, so your best bet is to first trace out the form of the Scorpion and then look for the dark patch of sky to the south.

The stars of Norma. Image via IAU/ Sky and Telescope/ Wikimedia Commons.

Stars and deep-sky objects in Norma

Norma’s location in the Milky Way means that it holds a number of deep-sky observing targets. The star cluster NGC 6067 is magnitude 5.6 and lies 1/2 degree north of Kappa Normae, a magnitude 4.94 star. NGC 6087 is a magnitude 5.4 open cluster almost 4 degrees below NGC 6067. And if you scan the region of Norma in binoculars, you can see at least eight open clusters.

NGC 6067 is a star cluster at magnitude 5.6. Image via Wikimedia Commons.

Bottom line: The constellation Norma lies in southern skies and is home to the the Great Attractor.

The post The constellation Norma is home to the Great Attractor first appeared on EarthSky.

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Rare meteorite hints at giant early planet

This is a view of the rare meteorite NWA 12774 under cross-polarized light. Scientists from the University of Colorado Boulder said the source of the meteorite might be a giant, early planet that shattered in a collision billions of years ago. Image via CU Boulder/ John Kashuba.

Rare meteorite hints at giant early planet

Fragmented rocks and debris in our solar system sometimes strike Earth, burning up in our atmosphere as meteors. Occasionally, those pieces of debris are large enough to survive the trip through Earth’s atmosphere and make it to the ground. Scientists have analyzed these meteorites and discovered most are from three sources: asteroids, the moon and Mars. But a few rare meteorites are from other sources. And on June 1, 2026, researchers from the University of Colorado Boulder said the meteorite NWA 12774 is likely from a previously unknown massive, early planet that shattered billions of years ago.

The journal Earth and Planetary Science Letters will publish the researchers’ peer-reviewed study on July 1, 2026.

Our early solar system was chaotic

Our solar system formed out of a large cloud of gas and dust about 4.5 billion years ago. It was a chaotic environment, with objects colliding and sticking together or shattering apart. And the meteorite that scientists have labeled NWA 12774 reveals a world that might have been trying to form along with Earth and the other planets.

The scientists said the world might have been as large as the moon or Mars when a collision shattered it, producing the fragment that eventually made its way to the Sahara Desert in Northwest Africa.

Aaron Bell of CU Boulder was the lead author of the new paper. Bell said:

It’s incredible to think there was once a world this large. We only know it existed because a few fragments of it happened to land on Earth. These meteorites preserved evidence of a completely different pathway through which early planets developed.

The rare meteorite is an angrite

This meteorite is from a rare class of meteorites that scientists call angrites. People have discovered more than 80,000 meteorites on Earth. But only 68 of those have been angrites. They have a different makeup than meteorites that are from asteroids, the moon and Mars.

Silicon dioxide – aka silica – is a common material that’s in quartz, sand and nearly every known terrestrial planet in the solar system. But it’s scarce in angrites. So most scientists thought these meteorites came from an asteroid.

This is a 40mm long slice of the meteorite NWA 12774. Image via CU Boulder/ John Kashuba.

High pressure must have formed the meteorite

But when the CU Boulder researchers studied NWA 12774, they found a rock-forming mineral called clinopyroxene. And the clinopyroxene had an unusual abundance of aluminium. These ingredients told the researchers that the meteorite originally formed under enormous pressure deep underground. In fact, they found the pressure that would have been needed to form NWA 12774 was greater than the pressure at the bottom of the ocean.

To be specific, forming the aluminum-rich clinopyroxene in NWA 12774 would require at least 17.5 kilobars of pressure. And the pressure at the Mariana Trench in the Pacific (the deepest trench on Earth) is 1 kilobar.

So the researchers concluded that only a large parent body could have produced this meteorite. The parent body would have had to be at least 1,242 miles across (2,000 km).

Or was the planet even bigger?

But wait. The crystals in the meteorite still have sharp edges. This would not be the case if the rock sample formed deep underground. And it also had delicate chemical patterns that could not have formed deep underground either. So that means it likely formed underground but at shallow depths of an even larger parent body.

The researchers estimate the parent body could have been the size of the moon or Mars, or some 2,240 miles (3,600 km) to 4,100 miles (6,600 km) across.

Could there be more meteorites pointing to other lost worlds? Bell said:

There are many meteorites sitting in drawers that haven’t been thoroughly studied, so there were likely more of these protoplanets we don’t know about.

This is an X-ray view of meteorite NWA 12774. Image via Aaron Bell/ CU Boulder.

Bottom line: Scientists have found a rare meteorite that contains evidence of a lost early protoplanet. It offers a glimpse into the chaotic collisions that shaped our solar system.

Source: High-pressure clinopyroxene in Northwest Africa 12774 and new geobarometric evidence for a planetary embryo-sized angrite parent body

Via CU Boulder

Read more: Meteorite hunting? Here’s tips on how to find one

The post Rare meteorite hints at giant early planet first appeared on EarthSky.

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This is a view of the rare meteorite NWA 12774 under cross-polarized light. Scientists from the University of Colorado Boulder said the source of the meteorite might be a giant, early planet that shattered in a collision billions of years ago. Image via CU Boulder/ John Kashuba.

Rare meteorite hints at giant early planet

Fragmented rocks and debris in our solar system sometimes strike Earth, burning up in our atmosphere as meteors. Occasionally, those pieces of debris are large enough to survive the trip through Earth’s atmosphere and make it to the ground. Scientists have analyzed these meteorites and discovered most are from three sources: asteroids, the moon and Mars. But a few rare meteorites are from other sources. And on June 1, 2026, researchers from the University of Colorado Boulder said the meteorite NWA 12774 is likely from a previously unknown massive, early planet that shattered billions of years ago.

The journal Earth and Planetary Science Letters will publish the researchers’ peer-reviewed study on July 1, 2026.

Our early solar system was chaotic

Our solar system formed out of a large cloud of gas and dust about 4.5 billion years ago. It was a chaotic environment, with objects colliding and sticking together or shattering apart. And the meteorite that scientists have labeled NWA 12774 reveals a world that might have been trying to form along with Earth and the other planets.

The scientists said the world might have been as large as the moon or Mars when a collision shattered it, producing the fragment that eventually made its way to the Sahara Desert in Northwest Africa.

Aaron Bell of CU Boulder was the lead author of the new paper. Bell said:

It’s incredible to think there was once a world this large. We only know it existed because a few fragments of it happened to land on Earth. These meteorites preserved evidence of a completely different pathway through which early planets developed.

The rare meteorite is an angrite

This meteorite is from a rare class of meteorites that scientists call angrites. People have discovered more than 80,000 meteorites on Earth. But only 68 of those have been angrites. They have a different makeup than meteorites that are from asteroids, the moon and Mars.

Silicon dioxide – aka silica – is a common material that’s in quartz, sand and nearly every known terrestrial planet in the solar system. But it’s scarce in angrites. So most scientists thought these meteorites came from an asteroid.

This is a 40mm long slice of the meteorite NWA 12774. Image via CU Boulder/ John Kashuba.

High pressure must have formed the meteorite

But when the CU Boulder researchers studied NWA 12774, they found a rock-forming mineral called clinopyroxene. And the clinopyroxene had an unusual abundance of aluminium. These ingredients told the researchers that the meteorite originally formed under enormous pressure deep underground. In fact, they found the pressure that would have been needed to form NWA 12774 was greater than the pressure at the bottom of the ocean.

To be specific, forming the aluminum-rich clinopyroxene in NWA 12774 would require at least 17.5 kilobars of pressure. And the pressure at the Mariana Trench in the Pacific (the deepest trench on Earth) is 1 kilobar.

So the researchers concluded that only a large parent body could have produced this meteorite. The parent body would have had to be at least 1,242 miles across (2,000 km).

Or was the planet even bigger?

But wait. The crystals in the meteorite still have sharp edges. This would not be the case if the rock sample formed deep underground. And it also had delicate chemical patterns that could not have formed deep underground either. So that means it likely formed underground but at shallow depths of an even larger parent body.

The researchers estimate the parent body could have been the size of the moon or Mars, or some 2,240 miles (3,600 km) to 4,100 miles (6,600 km) across.

Could there be more meteorites pointing to other lost worlds? Bell said:

There are many meteorites sitting in drawers that haven’t been thoroughly studied, so there were likely more of these protoplanets we don’t know about.

This is an X-ray view of meteorite NWA 12774. Image via Aaron Bell/ CU Boulder.

Bottom line: Scientists have found a rare meteorite that contains evidence of a lost early protoplanet. It offers a glimpse into the chaotic collisions that shaped our solar system.

Source: High-pressure clinopyroxene in Northwest Africa 12774 and new geobarometric evidence for a planetary embryo-sized angrite parent body

Via CU Boulder

Read more: Meteorite hunting? Here’s tips on how to find one

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Crystal Ball Nebula hides a fading star and its companion

The Crystal Ball Nebula, also known as NGC 1514, is an exquisite ball of gas encircling a pair of stars. The Gemini North telescope captured this image from atop Mauna Kea in Hawaii. Image via International Gemini Observatory/ NOIRLab/ NSF/ AURA.

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Meet the Crystal Ball Nebula

NOIRLab released this sensational new image of the Crystal Ball Nebula on May 21, 2026. The Gemini North telescope captured this image from atop Mauna Kea in Hawaii. The Crystal Ball Nebula, also known as NGC 1514, lies in the constellation Taurus the Bull, at a distance of 1,500 light-years from us.

Astronomer William Herschel first spotted the Crystal Ball Nebula in 1790. Through his telescope he saw it as a star surrounded with a faintly luminous atmosphere.

A hidden pair shaping the nebula

But modern observations show there are actually two stars at the center of the nebula. One of the two stars in this binary pair, an O-type star, has shed its outer layers as it nears the end of its life. That’s what has created the ball of gas and dust around the stars, which astronomers call a planetary nebula. The name is a bit misleading, because its creation does not involve planets. It was in fact Herschel who coined the term planetary nebula, because their round shape reminded him of the planets.

The two stars complete an orbit around each other approximately once every nine years. That makes this pair’s orbit the longest known for any planetary nebula.

The Crystal Ball Nebula is a bit unusual for a planetary nebula. Most have smoother shapes. But the strong winds blowing from these stars create the sculpted tendrils of gas we can see in this image.

Bottom line: The Crystal Ball Nebula is a giant sphere of gas and dust encircling a pair of stars in the direction of the constellation Taurus the Bull.

Read more: Iconic Ring Nebula holds a mysterious iron bar, study finds

Read more: Meet the Crab Nebula, remnant of an exploding star

The post Crystal Ball Nebula hides a fading star and its companion first appeared on EarthSky.

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The Crystal Ball Nebula, also known as NGC 1514, is an exquisite ball of gas encircling a pair of stars. The Gemini North telescope captured this image from atop Mauna Kea in Hawaii. Image via International Gemini Observatory/ NOIRLab/ NSF/ AURA.

Science news, night sky events and beautiful photos, all in one place. Click here to subscribe to EarthSky’s free daily newsletter.

Meet the Crystal Ball Nebula

NOIRLab released this sensational new image of the Crystal Ball Nebula on May 21, 2026. The Gemini North telescope captured this image from atop Mauna Kea in Hawaii. The Crystal Ball Nebula, also known as NGC 1514, lies in the constellation Taurus the Bull, at a distance of 1,500 light-years from us.

Astronomer William Herschel first spotted the Crystal Ball Nebula in 1790. Through his telescope he saw it as a star surrounded with a faintly luminous atmosphere.

A hidden pair shaping the nebula

But modern observations show there are actually two stars at the center of the nebula. One of the two stars in this binary pair, an O-type star, has shed its outer layers as it nears the end of its life. That’s what has created the ball of gas and dust around the stars, which astronomers call a planetary nebula. The name is a bit misleading, because its creation does not involve planets. It was in fact Herschel who coined the term planetary nebula, because their round shape reminded him of the planets.

The two stars complete an orbit around each other approximately once every nine years. That makes this pair’s orbit the longest known for any planetary nebula.

The Crystal Ball Nebula is a bit unusual for a planetary nebula. Most have smoother shapes. But the strong winds blowing from these stars create the sculpted tendrils of gas we can see in this image.

Bottom line: The Crystal Ball Nebula is a giant sphere of gas and dust encircling a pair of stars in the direction of the constellation Taurus the Bull.

Read more: Iconic Ring Nebula holds a mysterious iron bar, study finds

Read more: Meet the Crab Nebula, remnant of an exploding star

The post Crystal Ball Nebula hides a fading star and its companion first appeared on EarthSky.

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