Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope arrives at KSC

On June 21, 2026, the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope arrived at Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida in preparation for its August launch. Image via NASA/Amber Jean Notvest.

The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope arrives at KSC

On June 21, 2026, the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope arrived at Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida ahead of its launch this summer. The new telescope completed testing at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, before being loaded on NASA’s Pegasus barge for its shipment to Florida. Amazingly, the space telescope is eight months ahead of schedule! Currently, NASA said the schedule for launch is no earlier than Sunday, August 30. That launch will be on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from Launch Complex 39A at KSC.

What’s next for the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope? Roman still has more testing ahead. Those tests will include work on its solar panels, insulation and thermal blankets. Eventually, workers will load about 290 gallons of hydrazine fuel into the spacecraft’s tanks.

After launch, the next stop for Roman will be L2, or the second sun-Earth Lagrange point. You may already be familiar with this location because the James Webb Space Telescope is also here, sending back infrared images of the universe. The Roman telescope also has infrared eyes. NASA said:

Roman’s wide field of view and rapid survey capabilities will reveal billions of galaxies, hundreds of thousands of new exoplanets, hundreds of blackholes, and will provide vast volumes of daily data for astronomers to study.

The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is complete

NASA said back on December 4, 2025, that the construction of the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope was complete. Julie McEnery, Roman’s senior project scientist at NASA Goddard, said:

With Roman’s construction complete, we are poised at the brink of unfathomable scientific discovery. In the mission’s first five years, it’s expected to unveil more than 100,000 distant worlds, hundreds of millions of stars, and billions of galaxies. We stand to learn a tremendous amount of new information about the universe very rapidly after Roman launches.

This is the fully assembled Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. Image via NASA/ Jolearra Tshiteya.

The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope by the numbers. Graphic via NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.

Meet the Nancy Grace Roman space telescope

Remember what astronomical images were like before we had the Hubble space telescope? Hubble was the first large optical telescope to be launched into space, above Earth’s obscuring atmosphere. And it fundamentally changed our view of the cosmos. Astronomers say the Nancy Grace Roman space telescope will do that, too, giving us a view of the universe we’ve never had before. The telescope will have a primary mirror of 7.9 feet in diameter (2.4 meters). That’s the same size as Hubble. But a single image from the Nancy Grace Roman space telescope will equal the sky coverage of 100 Hubble images.

Scientists expect the telescope to answer fundamental questions about distant planets orbiting stars in our Milky Way galaxy, about the dark energy we haven’t yet detected directly but believe makes up a substantial portion of our cosmos … and about what astronomers call the cosmic dawn.

The telescope’s Wide Field Instrument, its primary instrument, will have a field of view 100 times greater than Hubble’s infrared instrument. Roman’s large field of view means it can capture more sky in less time. The Wide Field Instrument will scan the Milky Way for exoplanets, or planets orbiting distant stars. Over the past 30 years, since the early 1990s until now, we’ve discovered more than 5,000 exoplanets. The Nancy Grace Roman space telescope is expected to increase that number to some 100,000 exoplanets in the next five years.

Roman’s other instrument is the Coronagraph Instrument. The Coronagraph Instrument will perform high contrast imaging and spectroscopy to gather more knowledge of individual exoplanets. More on the coronagraph below.

Interview with Néstor Espinoza

Watch this 52-second clip of astronomer Néstor Espinoza of the Space Telescope Science Institute talking with EarthSky’s Deborah Byrd. Néstor told us this telescope should increase the number of known exoplanets – or planets orbiting distant suns – from 5,000 now to 100,000 in just 5 years!

The Roman telescope’s 100,000 new exoplanets

The Roman space telescope will survey our galaxy, taking observations every 15 minutes for more than a year. What a mass of data it’ll collect in just that first year! The data will enable astronomers to track the brightness changes in stars, which could lead to discoveries of exoplanets, rogue planets, isolated black holes and more.

So how will the Roman space telescope find its 100,000 exoplanets? With the aid of the Roman Coronagraph, the first high-contrast active wavefront-control coronagraph to fly in space. NASA said:

The Roman Coronagraph will advance scientists’ ability to directly image planets and disks around other stars. Coronagraphs work by blocking light from a bright object, like a star, so that the observer can more easily see a faint object, like a planet [next to the bright object].

The Roman Coronagraph is designed to detect planets 100 million times fainter than their stars, or 100 to 1,000 times better than existing space-based coronagraphs.

The Roman Coronagraph will be capable of directly imaging reflected starlight from a planet akin to Jupiter in size, temperature and distance from its parent star.

An artist’s concept of the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. Image via NASA.

The Roman telescope and the cosmic dawn

After the Big Bang that set our universe into motion, the cosmos was dark for some 380,000 to 200 million years. Yes, dark. Even though stars had already begun to shine, neutral atoms would absorb their light, leaving the cosmos in a kind of obscuring fog. Then neutral atoms began to break apart, and the fog began to lift. The light of stars broke through and began traveling throughout space. Astronomers call this transition from dark to light the cosmic dawn. Takahiro Morishita of Caltech said:

Roman will excel at finding the building blocks of cosmic structures like galaxy clusters that later form. It will quickly identify the densest regions, where more ‘fog’ is being cleared, making Roman a key mission to probe early galaxy evolution and the cosmic dawn.

Roman’s wide field of view will help determine how common quasars are and whether certain types of galaxies played a larger role in clearing the fog. It will also look for “cosmic daybreakers” that illuminated our universe.

Artist’s concept of the cosmic dawn. This is how the universe may have looked at less than a billion years old. Image via NASA/ ESA/ and A. Schaller (for STScI).

The Roman space telescope and dark energy

Dark energy is a mysterious force that makes up about 68% of the total energy content of our universe. Dark energy is responsible for the acceleration of our expanding universe. Roman will help astronomers understand just what dark energy is by taking a closer look at how the universe has evolved. Roman’s wide field will allow us a bigger picture of the universe. Mapping the distribution of matter and measuring distant supernovae will help show how dark energy might have changed over time.

In the universe’s past, expansion occurred at a slower rate than what we see in our universe today. Dark energy is behind the accelerated expansion. Image via NASA Scientific Visualization Studio.

Who was Nancy Grace Roman?

Nancy Grace Roman has the honorary title of Mother of the Hubble Space Telescope. Born in 1925, Roman became one of the few female astronomers in a male-dominated science. Among other accomplishments, she became the first female executive at NASA and NASA’s first Chief of Astronomy. She earned her nickname by helping get the Hubble Space Telescope approved by Congress. Roman was most excited for Hubble’s discoveries on dark energy. The telescope that will now bear Roman’s name will increase our understanding of dark energy, the universe and our place in it.

Read more about Nancy Grace Roman

Nancy Grace Roman, “mother of the Hubble space telescope,” during her career at NASA. Image via NASA.

Bottom line: The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope has now arrived at Kennedy Space Center. It will be prepped for launch this summer, eight months ahead of schedule.

Via NASA

Via NASA JPL

Read more: 3 years of the Webb telescope: Here’s what it’s discovered

Read more: Alien life? Mammoth new telescope could find it in hours

The post Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope arrives at KSC first appeared on EarthSky.

from EarthSky https://ift.tt/7GoW3fc

On June 21, 2026, the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope arrived at Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida in preparation for its August launch. Image via NASA/Amber Jean Notvest.

The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope arrives at KSC

On June 21, 2026, the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope arrived at Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida ahead of its launch this summer. The new telescope completed testing at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, before being loaded on NASA’s Pegasus barge for its shipment to Florida. Amazingly, the space telescope is eight months ahead of schedule! Currently, NASA said the schedule for launch is no earlier than Sunday, August 30. That launch will be on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from Launch Complex 39A at KSC.

What’s next for the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope? Roman still has more testing ahead. Those tests will include work on its solar panels, insulation and thermal blankets. Eventually, workers will load about 290 gallons of hydrazine fuel into the spacecraft’s tanks.

After launch, the next stop for Roman will be L2, or the second sun-Earth Lagrange point. You may already be familiar with this location because the James Webb Space Telescope is also here, sending back infrared images of the universe. The Roman telescope also has infrared eyes. NASA said:

Roman’s wide field of view and rapid survey capabilities will reveal billions of galaxies, hundreds of thousands of new exoplanets, hundreds of blackholes, and will provide vast volumes of daily data for astronomers to study.

The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is complete

NASA said back on December 4, 2025, that the construction of the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope was complete. Julie McEnery, Roman’s senior project scientist at NASA Goddard, said:

With Roman’s construction complete, we are poised at the brink of unfathomable scientific discovery. In the mission’s first five years, it’s expected to unveil more than 100,000 distant worlds, hundreds of millions of stars, and billions of galaxies. We stand to learn a tremendous amount of new information about the universe very rapidly after Roman launches.

This is the fully assembled Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. Image via NASA/ Jolearra Tshiteya.

The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope by the numbers. Graphic via NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.

Meet the Nancy Grace Roman space telescope

Remember what astronomical images were like before we had the Hubble space telescope? Hubble was the first large optical telescope to be launched into space, above Earth’s obscuring atmosphere. And it fundamentally changed our view of the cosmos. Astronomers say the Nancy Grace Roman space telescope will do that, too, giving us a view of the universe we’ve never had before. The telescope will have a primary mirror of 7.9 feet in diameter (2.4 meters). That’s the same size as Hubble. But a single image from the Nancy Grace Roman space telescope will equal the sky coverage of 100 Hubble images.

Scientists expect the telescope to answer fundamental questions about distant planets orbiting stars in our Milky Way galaxy, about the dark energy we haven’t yet detected directly but believe makes up a substantial portion of our cosmos … and about what astronomers call the cosmic dawn.

The telescope’s Wide Field Instrument, its primary instrument, will have a field of view 100 times greater than Hubble’s infrared instrument. Roman’s large field of view means it can capture more sky in less time. The Wide Field Instrument will scan the Milky Way for exoplanets, or planets orbiting distant stars. Over the past 30 years, since the early 1990s until now, we’ve discovered more than 5,000 exoplanets. The Nancy Grace Roman space telescope is expected to increase that number to some 100,000 exoplanets in the next five years.

Roman’s other instrument is the Coronagraph Instrument. The Coronagraph Instrument will perform high contrast imaging and spectroscopy to gather more knowledge of individual exoplanets. More on the coronagraph below.

Interview with Néstor Espinoza

Watch this 52-second clip of astronomer Néstor Espinoza of the Space Telescope Science Institute talking with EarthSky’s Deborah Byrd. Néstor told us this telescope should increase the number of known exoplanets – or planets orbiting distant suns – from 5,000 now to 100,000 in just 5 years!

The Roman telescope’s 100,000 new exoplanets

The Roman space telescope will survey our galaxy, taking observations every 15 minutes for more than a year. What a mass of data it’ll collect in just that first year! The data will enable astronomers to track the brightness changes in stars, which could lead to discoveries of exoplanets, rogue planets, isolated black holes and more.

So how will the Roman space telescope find its 100,000 exoplanets? With the aid of the Roman Coronagraph, the first high-contrast active wavefront-control coronagraph to fly in space. NASA said:

The Roman Coronagraph will advance scientists’ ability to directly image planets and disks around other stars. Coronagraphs work by blocking light from a bright object, like a star, so that the observer can more easily see a faint object, like a planet [next to the bright object].

The Roman Coronagraph is designed to detect planets 100 million times fainter than their stars, or 100 to 1,000 times better than existing space-based coronagraphs.

The Roman Coronagraph will be capable of directly imaging reflected starlight from a planet akin to Jupiter in size, temperature and distance from its parent star.

An artist’s concept of the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. Image via NASA.

The Roman telescope and the cosmic dawn

After the Big Bang that set our universe into motion, the cosmos was dark for some 380,000 to 200 million years. Yes, dark. Even though stars had already begun to shine, neutral atoms would absorb their light, leaving the cosmos in a kind of obscuring fog. Then neutral atoms began to break apart, and the fog began to lift. The light of stars broke through and began traveling throughout space. Astronomers call this transition from dark to light the cosmic dawn. Takahiro Morishita of Caltech said:

Roman will excel at finding the building blocks of cosmic structures like galaxy clusters that later form. It will quickly identify the densest regions, where more ‘fog’ is being cleared, making Roman a key mission to probe early galaxy evolution and the cosmic dawn.

Roman’s wide field of view will help determine how common quasars are and whether certain types of galaxies played a larger role in clearing the fog. It will also look for “cosmic daybreakers” that illuminated our universe.

Artist’s concept of the cosmic dawn. This is how the universe may have looked at less than a billion years old. Image via NASA/ ESA/ and A. Schaller (for STScI).

The Roman space telescope and dark energy

Dark energy is a mysterious force that makes up about 68% of the total energy content of our universe. Dark energy is responsible for the acceleration of our expanding universe. Roman will help astronomers understand just what dark energy is by taking a closer look at how the universe has evolved. Roman’s wide field will allow us a bigger picture of the universe. Mapping the distribution of matter and measuring distant supernovae will help show how dark energy might have changed over time.

In the universe’s past, expansion occurred at a slower rate than what we see in our universe today. Dark energy is behind the accelerated expansion. Image via NASA Scientific Visualization Studio.

Who was Nancy Grace Roman?

Nancy Grace Roman has the honorary title of Mother of the Hubble Space Telescope. Born in 1925, Roman became one of the few female astronomers in a male-dominated science. Among other accomplishments, she became the first female executive at NASA and NASA’s first Chief of Astronomy. She earned her nickname by helping get the Hubble Space Telescope approved by Congress. Roman was most excited for Hubble’s discoveries on dark energy. The telescope that will now bear Roman’s name will increase our understanding of dark energy, the universe and our place in it.

Read more about Nancy Grace Roman

Nancy Grace Roman, “mother of the Hubble space telescope,” during her career at NASA. Image via NASA.

Bottom line: The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope has now arrived at Kennedy Space Center. It will be prepped for launch this summer, eight months ahead of schedule.

Via NASA

Via NASA JPL

Read more: 3 years of the Webb telescope: Here’s what it’s discovered

Read more: Alien life? Mammoth new telescope could find it in hours

The post Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope arrives at KSC first appeared on EarthSky.

from EarthSky https://ift.tt/7GoW3fc

Meet the exotic Pink Planet with salty clouds

Artist’s illustration of the Pink Planet, also known as GJ504b. New observations from the James Webb Space Telescope show that this “cold” planet has salty clouds. Image via NASA/ Goddard Space Flight Center/ Northwestern University.

• GJ504b is a gas giant exoplanet about 57 light-years from Earth. It’s called the Pink Planet due to its rosy color.
• The Pink Planet’s exotic atmosphere has clouds composed of salt, new Webb space telescope observations have revealed.
• The Pink Planet lies near the boundary between planets and brown dwarfs. Scientists still aren’t sure how it formed.

You deserve a daily dose of good news. For the latest in science and the night sky, click here to subscribe to our free daily newsletter.

The Pink Planet with salty clouds

GJ504b is a gas giant planet orbiting a sun-like star about 57 light-years from Earth. It is huge, 25 times the mass of Jupiter. And it has a rosy color, leading astronomers to nickname it the Pink Planet.

The Pink Planet has been difficult for astronomers to study. It’s cold and dim, meaning it appears as just a very faint dot in most telescopes. But now, the James Webb Space Telescope has taken a closer look and found something surprising.

A team of researchers said on June 18, 2026, that salty clouds wrap around this world. Scientists had theorized that salty clouds could exist in the atmospheres of cold planets like this one. But this is some of the first direct evidence.

Cold planets like GJ504b are too dim to study with ground-based telescopes. So these new observations are an important step in being able to find out more about them.

The researchers published their peer-reviewed results in The Astronomical Journal on June 18, 2026.

Is the Pink Planet really a planet?

Astronomers first discovered the Pink Planet back in 2013. But is it really a planet? At 25 times the mass of Jupiter, it’s so massive that it comes close to the dividing line between planets and brown dwarfs. Brown dwarfs are typically larger than planets, but smaller than stars. They are called “failed stars” because they don’t have quite enough nuclear energy inside to ignite into actual stars.

Because of this, astronomers technically refer to the Pink Planet as a “planetary-mass companion.”

The Pink Planet is a cold world

The planet is dim due to its distance from Earth and its temperature. Hot planets, like hot Jupiters, are easier to directly image. And so far, most directly imaged exoplanets have been about 1,000 to 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit (540 to 1,100 degrees Celsius). But the Pink Planet is much cooler, only about 550 degrees Fahrenheit (290 degrees Celsius). That’s still hot by human standards, of course, but a lot cooler than the other hot planets.

In fact, the Pink Planet is the coldest exoplanet ever found so far by ground-based telescopes. Lead author Aneesh Baburaj at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, said:

The Pink Planet is the coldest companion ever discovered using ground-based instruments. Many teams all around the world performed follow-up observations to study its light, but it was too faint for ground-based instruments. That made it a perfect target for JWST. When we finally obtained its spectrum, it immediately looked interesting. But once we started digging deeper into the data, we realized it was not like anything we have analyzed before.

Why is the Pink Planet so relatively cold? Scientists say it’s its age. Hot giant planets like this are born scorching hot. But they cool down as they get older. And scientists estimate that the Pink Planet is between 2.5 billion and 4 billion years old. Plenty of time to cool down.

A direct image of the Pink Planet (upper right), which the Subaru Telescope in Hawaii obtained in May 2011. It is still just a faint dot due to its distance and coldness. Image via NASA/ Goddard Space Flight Center/ NOAJ.

How do you reveal a world so faint?

So studying the Pink Planet with ground-based telescopes is not an easy task. But that’s where the James Webb Space Telescope comes in. It is much better at gathering the faint light from the planet. The glare from its nearby star still gets in the way though. So the researchers used advanced data-processing techniques to remove much of that glare.

By doing so, scientists could finally see the spectrum of the planet’s atmosphere. That’s where light is broken down into its individual component colors. Each color indicates a different element in the atmosphere. The results were way better than any previous attempts to analyze the Pink Planet’s atmosphere. Baburaj said:

In the past, other astronomers observed the companion for an entire night with some of the biggest telescopes in the world to obtain a spectrum. And they could not see the object. With JWST, our entire observation took around two hours, and we were successful.

Aneesh Baburaj at Northwestern University is the lead author of the new study about the Pink Planet. Image via Northwestern University.

Discovering the Pink Planet’s salty clouds

When they analyzed the atmosphere of the Pink Planet, the researchers found something unexpected. It has clouds composed of salt. The first results showed evidence for water vapor, methane, carbon dioxide, ammonia and other molecules. But that didn’t fully match the atmosphere that the computer simulations came up with. The simulations matched the observations only when there were other “physically implausible features” in the atmosphere. Why?

The reason was clouds. The researchers tried adding clouds to the computer model of the atmosphere. They added three different kinds of clouds, and found that the “unusual features” vanished. They were no longer needed to explain the observations. But what did explain them was clouds, and one type of cloud in particular: salt. As Baburaj explained:

We ran simulations with clouds, and the results aligned with what we know about cold planets. We tried three different types of clouds, and salt clouds fit best. When we accounted for salt clouds, it subdued the signature of molecules hidden deeper in the companion’s atmosphere. Then, the results became physically possible.

This is the first time we’ve found that salt clouds are critical to explaining the spectrum of an object. It’s a good reminder to account for clouds in our models.

Metals and the origin of the Pink Planet

Another finding is that the planet’s atmosphere is unusually rich in heavy elements, or metals.

The salt clouds explain the atmospheric observations. But they still don’t explain how the Pink Planet formed. Did it form like a planet or a small star? Only additional observations of this exotic pink world will help to answer that question.

Bottom line: New observations by the Webb space telescope of the giant exoplanet GJ504b – aka the Pink Planet – show that it has clouds made of salt.

Source: JWST-TST High Contrast: First Direct Spectroscopy of GJ 504 b Reveals Clouds and Possible Metal Enrichment

Via Northwestern University

Read more: Colorful life on exoplanets might be lurking in clouds

Read more: See colorful giant exoplanets in astonishing new Webb images

The post Meet the exotic Pink Planet with salty clouds first appeared on EarthSky.

from EarthSky https://ift.tt/M95XBHz

Artist’s illustration of the Pink Planet, also known as GJ504b. New observations from the James Webb Space Telescope show that this “cold” planet has salty clouds. Image via NASA/ Goddard Space Flight Center/ Northwestern University.

• GJ504b is a gas giant exoplanet about 57 light-years from Earth. It’s called the Pink Planet due to its rosy color.
• The Pink Planet’s exotic atmosphere has clouds composed of salt, new Webb space telescope observations have revealed.
• The Pink Planet lies near the boundary between planets and brown dwarfs. Scientists still aren’t sure how it formed.

You deserve a daily dose of good news. For the latest in science and the night sky, click here to subscribe to our free daily newsletter.

The Pink Planet with salty clouds

GJ504b is a gas giant planet orbiting a sun-like star about 57 light-years from Earth. It is huge, 25 times the mass of Jupiter. And it has a rosy color, leading astronomers to nickname it the Pink Planet.

The Pink Planet has been difficult for astronomers to study. It’s cold and dim, meaning it appears as just a very faint dot in most telescopes. But now, the James Webb Space Telescope has taken a closer look and found something surprising.

A team of researchers said on June 18, 2026, that salty clouds wrap around this world. Scientists had theorized that salty clouds could exist in the atmospheres of cold planets like this one. But this is some of the first direct evidence.

Cold planets like GJ504b are too dim to study with ground-based telescopes. So these new observations are an important step in being able to find out more about them.

The researchers published their peer-reviewed results in The Astronomical Journal on June 18, 2026.

Is the Pink Planet really a planet?

Astronomers first discovered the Pink Planet back in 2013. But is it really a planet? At 25 times the mass of Jupiter, it’s so massive that it comes close to the dividing line between planets and brown dwarfs. Brown dwarfs are typically larger than planets, but smaller than stars. They are called “failed stars” because they don’t have quite enough nuclear energy inside to ignite into actual stars.

Because of this, astronomers technically refer to the Pink Planet as a “planetary-mass companion.”

The Pink Planet is a cold world

The planet is dim due to its distance from Earth and its temperature. Hot planets, like hot Jupiters, are easier to directly image. And so far, most directly imaged exoplanets have been about 1,000 to 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit (540 to 1,100 degrees Celsius). But the Pink Planet is much cooler, only about 550 degrees Fahrenheit (290 degrees Celsius). That’s still hot by human standards, of course, but a lot cooler than the other hot planets.

In fact, the Pink Planet is the coldest exoplanet ever found so far by ground-based telescopes. Lead author Aneesh Baburaj at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, said:

The Pink Planet is the coldest companion ever discovered using ground-based instruments. Many teams all around the world performed follow-up observations to study its light, but it was too faint for ground-based instruments. That made it a perfect target for JWST. When we finally obtained its spectrum, it immediately looked interesting. But once we started digging deeper into the data, we realized it was not like anything we have analyzed before.

Why is the Pink Planet so relatively cold? Scientists say it’s its age. Hot giant planets like this are born scorching hot. But they cool down as they get older. And scientists estimate that the Pink Planet is between 2.5 billion and 4 billion years old. Plenty of time to cool down.

A direct image of the Pink Planet (upper right), which the Subaru Telescope in Hawaii obtained in May 2011. It is still just a faint dot due to its distance and coldness. Image via NASA/ Goddard Space Flight Center/ NOAJ.

How do you reveal a world so faint?

So studying the Pink Planet with ground-based telescopes is not an easy task. But that’s where the James Webb Space Telescope comes in. It is much better at gathering the faint light from the planet. The glare from its nearby star still gets in the way though. So the researchers used advanced data-processing techniques to remove much of that glare.

By doing so, scientists could finally see the spectrum of the planet’s atmosphere. That’s where light is broken down into its individual component colors. Each color indicates a different element in the atmosphere. The results were way better than any previous attempts to analyze the Pink Planet’s atmosphere. Baburaj said:

In the past, other astronomers observed the companion for an entire night with some of the biggest telescopes in the world to obtain a spectrum. And they could not see the object. With JWST, our entire observation took around two hours, and we were successful.

Aneesh Baburaj at Northwestern University is the lead author of the new study about the Pink Planet. Image via Northwestern University.

Discovering the Pink Planet’s salty clouds

When they analyzed the atmosphere of the Pink Planet, the researchers found something unexpected. It has clouds composed of salt. The first results showed evidence for water vapor, methane, carbon dioxide, ammonia and other molecules. But that didn’t fully match the atmosphere that the computer simulations came up with. The simulations matched the observations only when there were other “physically implausible features” in the atmosphere. Why?

The reason was clouds. The researchers tried adding clouds to the computer model of the atmosphere. They added three different kinds of clouds, and found that the “unusual features” vanished. They were no longer needed to explain the observations. But what did explain them was clouds, and one type of cloud in particular: salt. As Baburaj explained:

We ran simulations with clouds, and the results aligned with what we know about cold planets. We tried three different types of clouds, and salt clouds fit best. When we accounted for salt clouds, it subdued the signature of molecules hidden deeper in the companion’s atmosphere. Then, the results became physically possible.

This is the first time we’ve found that salt clouds are critical to explaining the spectrum of an object. It’s a good reminder to account for clouds in our models.

Metals and the origin of the Pink Planet

Another finding is that the planet’s atmosphere is unusually rich in heavy elements, or metals.

The salt clouds explain the atmospheric observations. But they still don’t explain how the Pink Planet formed. Did it form like a planet or a small star? Only additional observations of this exotic pink world will help to answer that question.

Bottom line: New observations by the Webb space telescope of the giant exoplanet GJ504b – aka the Pink Planet – show that it has clouds made of salt.

Source: JWST-TST High Contrast: First Direct Spectroscopy of GJ 504 b Reveals Clouds and Possible Metal Enrichment

Via Northwestern University

Read more: Colorful life on exoplanets might be lurking in clouds

Read more: See colorful giant exoplanets in astonishing new Webb images

The post Meet the exotic Pink Planet with salty clouds first appeared on EarthSky.

from EarthSky https://ift.tt/M95XBHz

Draco the Dragon and Thuban, a former pole star

Johannes Hevelius drew the constellation Draco the Dragon in Uranographia, his celestial catalog, in 1690. He plotted the sky in reverse, as if seen from above, facing down toward Earth. Note the circle around the Dragon and the star where the Dragon’s Tail intersects the circle. That star is Thuban, a former pole star. Image via Wikimedia Commons.

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Pole stars aren’t permanent

Under a dark sky tonight, you’ll be able to pick out the constellation Draco the Dragon winding around the star Polaris. Polaris is Earth’s northern pole star today … but it hasn’t always been.

The image at the top of this post shows Draco as depicted in an old star atlas by Johannes Hevelius in 1690. See the circle? It indicates the changing position of the north celestial pole over a cycle of 26,000 years.

The 26,000-year cycle is known as precession. Basically, it’s a slow, smooth wobble that causes a change in the orientation of Earth’s axis over time. Precession causes Earth’s axis to trace out a circle among the stars. Thus, over time, Earth’s north pole points to various stars, and the identity of our North Star changes.

So to our ancient ancestors, the star we now call Polaris was an unremarkable star called Phoenice. And a star in Draco, called Thuban, was the pole star when the Egyptians built the pyramids some 4,500 years ago.

Precession of the Earth's Rotation Axis and North Star. The Earth's rotation axis is not fixed in space. Like a rotating toy top, the direction of the rotation axis executes a slow precession with a period of 26,000 years. https://t.co/h7nS1BCuOl pic.twitter.com/SRVQGQDYP0

— Space Explorer Mike (@MichaelGalanin) March 27, 2021

The 26,000-year precession cycle causes the north celestial pole to move counterclockwise relative to the background stars. So, whichever star is closest to the north celestial pole is called the North Star. Image via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.5).

Draco winds between the Big and Little Dippers

The famous Big Dipper can help guide you to Draco and its star Thuban. Just remember … the entire Dragon requires a dark sky to see. You’ll find the Big Dipper high in the north on June evenings. The two outer stars in the Dipper’s bowl point to our modern-day Polaris, the North Star, which marks the end of the Little Dipper’s handle.

The Little Dipper is relatively faint. If you can find both Dippers, then your sky is probably pretty dark. And you’ll need that dark sky to see Draco. You’ll have to let your eyes and imagination drift a bit to see the entire winding shape of the Dragon in the northern heavens.

See how the tail of Draco winds between the Big and Little Dippers on the chart below?

During the northern summer, if you can find the Big and Little Dippers, you can find the constellation Draco the Dragon. The star Thuban lies between the Dippers. Chart via EarthSky.

And here’s Draco the Dragon and the Little Dipper. The four stars that make up Draco’s head usually are the easiest pattern to pick out.

Eltanin and Rastaban mark the head of Draco the Dragon. You’ll find these stars in the northern sky. Chart via EarthSky.

Our charts are mostly set for mid-latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere. To see a precise view – and time – from your location, try Stellarium Online.

Ex-pole star Thuban is easy to find

If you can find both Dippers, and if your sky is relatively dark, you can easily pick out Thuban. The star is four times fainter than Polaris, but it’s easy to find by looking between the Dippers.

Thuban is famous for having served as a pole star around 3000 BCE. This date coincides with the beginning of the building of the pyramids in Egypt. In fact, it’s said that the descending passage of the Great Pyramid of Khufu at Gizeh was built to point directly at Thuban. So, our ancestors knew and celebrated this star. Now, the descending path points toward Polaris, the current North Star.

Overall, Thuban reigned as the pole star for more than a thousand years. It was closest to the pole in the year 2830 BCE, at a distance of only 10 arcminutes, or 1/6 of a degree. This easily beats Polaris, which will get no closer than 27 arcminutes to true north next century.

Thuban was within 1 degree of true north for 200 years. It’s reign as North Star is long over, but it will get its turn again in the year 20,346 CE. Don’t wait up for it!

Through a telescope, Thuban is a blue-white star, magnitude 3.67. It is located 303 light-years away, is about five times larger than our sun and shines 240 times brighter. It also has a companion, but it is too close to the primary star to observe.

The reign of Polaris

And Polaris? Its reign as North Star began in 1547 when Gemma Frisius first referred to it as “that star which is called polar.” In July 2016, the International Astronomical Union‘s (IAU) Working Group on Star Names made the name Polaris official.

In a few thousand years, Polaris will no longer be the North Star. Perhaps then the IAU will assemble the Working Group of Star Names and change the name back to Phoenice. (P.S. Dear Pluto, there is hope!)

Brilliant Sirius, a future southern Pole Star

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

The slow wobble of Earth’s axis affects the Southern Hemisphere, too. Today, southern skywatchers have no bright equivalent to Polaris. The faint star Sigma Octantis lies closest to the south celestial pole, but it is so dim (around magnitude 5.5) that many observers struggle to find it. As a result, the southern sky currently lacks an obvious pole star.

But that won’t always be the case. As we’ve seen with Polaris and Thuban, Earth’s 26,000-year cycle of precession means that different stars take turns marking the celestial poles. Around the year 9,250 CE, the star Delta Velorum in the constellation Vela will pass within just 0.2 degrees of the south celestial pole, making it an even more accurate pole star than Polaris is today.

Looking much farther into the future, the brightest star in the night sky will briefly claim the title. Around the year 66,270 CE, Sirius, the dazzling Dog Star in the constellation Canis Major, will pass within 1.6 degrees of the south celestial pole. Although not as precise a marker as Delta Velorum, Sirius will be far more conspicuous. For the first time in tens of thousands of years, southern observers will have an exceptionally bright star close to the celestial pole, serving as a prominent guide to the south.

Sirius is relatively close to Earth, at just 8.6 light-years away. This closeness means it has a noticeable motion across our sky. And because of this motion, Sirius does not return to the same position relative to the celestial poles every precessional cycle. It was not a southern pole star in the distant past, and after its future reign near the south celestial pole, it will continue drifting onward through the Milky Way, making its role as a southern pole star a unique and temporary chapter in the long story of Earth’s changing skies.

Bottom line: Tonight, look for the winding shape of Draco the Dragon in the northern sky. This constellation contains Thuban, a former pole star.

Read more about Sirius as a future southern pole star

Read more about Thuban, a former pole star

Read more: How to find the Big Dipper

The post Draco the Dragon and Thuban, a former pole star first appeared on EarthSky.

from EarthSky https://ift.tt/lJChXEx

Johannes Hevelius drew the constellation Draco the Dragon in Uranographia, his celestial catalog, in 1690. He plotted the sky in reverse, as if seen from above, facing down toward Earth. Note the circle around the Dragon and the star where the Dragon’s Tail intersects the circle. That star is Thuban, a former pole star. Image via Wikimedia Commons.

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Pole stars aren’t permanent

Under a dark sky tonight, you’ll be able to pick out the constellation Draco the Dragon winding around the star Polaris. Polaris is Earth’s northern pole star today … but it hasn’t always been.

The image at the top of this post shows Draco as depicted in an old star atlas by Johannes Hevelius in 1690. See the circle? It indicates the changing position of the north celestial pole over a cycle of 26,000 years.

The 26,000-year cycle is known as precession. Basically, it’s a slow, smooth wobble that causes a change in the orientation of Earth’s axis over time. Precession causes Earth’s axis to trace out a circle among the stars. Thus, over time, Earth’s north pole points to various stars, and the identity of our North Star changes.

So to our ancient ancestors, the star we now call Polaris was an unremarkable star called Phoenice. And a star in Draco, called Thuban, was the pole star when the Egyptians built the pyramids some 4,500 years ago.

Precession of the Earth's Rotation Axis and North Star. The Earth's rotation axis is not fixed in space. Like a rotating toy top, the direction of the rotation axis executes a slow precession with a period of 26,000 years. https://t.co/h7nS1BCuOl pic.twitter.com/SRVQGQDYP0

— Space Explorer Mike (@MichaelGalanin) March 27, 2021

The 26,000-year precession cycle causes the north celestial pole to move counterclockwise relative to the background stars. So, whichever star is closest to the north celestial pole is called the North Star. Image via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.5).

Draco winds between the Big and Little Dippers

The famous Big Dipper can help guide you to Draco and its star Thuban. Just remember … the entire Dragon requires a dark sky to see. You’ll find the Big Dipper high in the north on June evenings. The two outer stars in the Dipper’s bowl point to our modern-day Polaris, the North Star, which marks the end of the Little Dipper’s handle.

The Little Dipper is relatively faint. If you can find both Dippers, then your sky is probably pretty dark. And you’ll need that dark sky to see Draco. You’ll have to let your eyes and imagination drift a bit to see the entire winding shape of the Dragon in the northern heavens.

See how the tail of Draco winds between the Big and Little Dippers on the chart below?

During the northern summer, if you can find the Big and Little Dippers, you can find the constellation Draco the Dragon. The star Thuban lies between the Dippers. Chart via EarthSky.

And here’s Draco the Dragon and the Little Dipper. The four stars that make up Draco’s head usually are the easiest pattern to pick out.

Eltanin and Rastaban mark the head of Draco the Dragon. You’ll find these stars in the northern sky. Chart via EarthSky.

Our charts are mostly set for mid-latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere. To see a precise view – and time – from your location, try Stellarium Online.

Ex-pole star Thuban is easy to find

If you can find both Dippers, and if your sky is relatively dark, you can easily pick out Thuban. The star is four times fainter than Polaris, but it’s easy to find by looking between the Dippers.

Thuban is famous for having served as a pole star around 3000 BCE. This date coincides with the beginning of the building of the pyramids in Egypt. In fact, it’s said that the descending passage of the Great Pyramid of Khufu at Gizeh was built to point directly at Thuban. So, our ancestors knew and celebrated this star. Now, the descending path points toward Polaris, the current North Star.

Overall, Thuban reigned as the pole star for more than a thousand years. It was closest to the pole in the year 2830 BCE, at a distance of only 10 arcminutes, or 1/6 of a degree. This easily beats Polaris, which will get no closer than 27 arcminutes to true north next century.

Thuban was within 1 degree of true north for 200 years. It’s reign as North Star is long over, but it will get its turn again in the year 20,346 CE. Don’t wait up for it!

Through a telescope, Thuban is a blue-white star, magnitude 3.67. It is located 303 light-years away, is about five times larger than our sun and shines 240 times brighter. It also has a companion, but it is too close to the primary star to observe.

The reign of Polaris

And Polaris? Its reign as North Star began in 1547 when Gemma Frisius first referred to it as “that star which is called polar.” In July 2016, the International Astronomical Union‘s (IAU) Working Group on Star Names made the name Polaris official.

In a few thousand years, Polaris will no longer be the North Star. Perhaps then the IAU will assemble the Working Group of Star Names and change the name back to Phoenice. (P.S. Dear Pluto, there is hope!)

Brilliant Sirius, a future southern Pole Star

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

The slow wobble of Earth’s axis affects the Southern Hemisphere, too. Today, southern skywatchers have no bright equivalent to Polaris. The faint star Sigma Octantis lies closest to the south celestial pole, but it is so dim (around magnitude 5.5) that many observers struggle to find it. As a result, the southern sky currently lacks an obvious pole star.

But that won’t always be the case. As we’ve seen with Polaris and Thuban, Earth’s 26,000-year cycle of precession means that different stars take turns marking the celestial poles. Around the year 9,250 CE, the star Delta Velorum in the constellation Vela will pass within just 0.2 degrees of the south celestial pole, making it an even more accurate pole star than Polaris is today.

Looking much farther into the future, the brightest star in the night sky will briefly claim the title. Around the year 66,270 CE, Sirius, the dazzling Dog Star in the constellation Canis Major, will pass within 1.6 degrees of the south celestial pole. Although not as precise a marker as Delta Velorum, Sirius will be far more conspicuous. For the first time in tens of thousands of years, southern observers will have an exceptionally bright star close to the celestial pole, serving as a prominent guide to the south.

Sirius is relatively close to Earth, at just 8.6 light-years away. This closeness means it has a noticeable motion across our sky. And because of this motion, Sirius does not return to the same position relative to the celestial poles every precessional cycle. It was not a southern pole star in the distant past, and after its future reign near the south celestial pole, it will continue drifting onward through the Milky Way, making its role as a southern pole star a unique and temporary chapter in the long story of Earth’s changing skies.

Bottom line: Tonight, look for the winding shape of Draco the Dragon in the northern sky. This constellation contains Thuban, a former pole star.

Read more about Sirius as a future southern pole star

Read more about Thuban, a former pole star

Read more: How to find the Big Dipper

The post Draco the Dragon and Thuban, a former pole star first appeared on EarthSky.

from EarthSky https://ift.tt/lJChXEx

Pinocchio frogs seem straight out of a fairy tale

Pinocchio frogs are named after the famous fictional character. Why? Because they have miraculously extending nose-like snouts! Watch this video to discover interesting facts about these fascinating amphibians. Image via Noppe Herlinde/ Shutterstock.

Pinocchio frogs seem straight out of a fairy tale

If you like the story of a wooden puppet whose nose grows whenever he tells a lie, you’re going to love Pinocchio frogs. But in their case, their noses don’t grow because they’re lying … they grow to help them flirt!

These tiny male amphibians call out to attract a mate, and when a female comes closer, she gets a look at that cute, quirky nose. Some birds show off their feathers, other animals perform elaborate dances … And Pinocchio frogs proudly show off their noses.

How cute is that little nose? Image via Ramdanimam/ iNaturalist.

Masterpieces of rainforest camouflage

Pinocchio frogs (Litoria pinocchio) are tiny creatures, usually around 2–3 inches (5–7 cm) in length. And they are arboreal. This means they live high in the canopy and only go to the ground occasionally. Their skin patterns combine browns, greens and mottled textures that match moss, bark and wet leaves, allowing them to camouflage in their habitat, the rainforests of New Guinea.

But sometimes they can appear more yellowish depending on light and humidity. In dense rainforests, sunlight filters through the branches and leaves. That yellowish color can also help them blend into their surroundings. This reflects how easily perception can change in rainforest conditions.

Despite their small size, Pinocchio frogs are highly adapted to life in the rainforest, using their cryptic coloration to remain hidden among moss, bark and leaves. Environmental conditions such as light and humidity can subtly influence how their colors are perceived. Image via Varhan Rifka/ iNaturalist.

The mystery of the shifting snout

Male frogs develop a flexible rostral extension made of soft tissue. The frog can partially erect this structure, which changes shape with activity: it becomes more visible and pronounced during calling and shrinks back when the frog rests. Females do not develop this structure, which strongly suggests a role linked to reproduction.

Scientists think that the nasal projection plays a role in visual signaling during mating interactions, working alongside vocal calls. While calls carry over distance, the nasal structure may function as a close-range display, helping individuals stand out once they are near each other. In that sense, it could act as a visual courtship signal, similar to how a peacock’s tail signals quality during courtship.

Male Pinocchio frogs develop a distinctive soft-tissue nasal projection that becomes more prominent when they call. Together with their inflated vocal sac, this feature may help attract mates through a combination of visual and acoustic signals. Image via Tangsign studio/ Shutterstock.

Survival in a vertical world

Remote mountain forests in New Guinea have revealed many previously unknown species over time. These discoveries come from multiple expeditions rather than a single moment, reflecting how little-accessible these ecosystems remain.

Within this environment, the frogs spend most of their time on vegetation above the forest floor. Sticky toe pads allow them to move across wet leaves and narrow branches, while their compact bodies help them navigate the tangled structure of the rainforest. Like many tree frogs, they feed on small insects and other invertebrates, which they capture during their nocturnal activity.

Remote mountain forests in New Guinea have yielded many previously unknown species, highlighting how little explored these ecosystems remain. These frogs live high on vegetation, using sticky toe pads to move and hunt at night. Image via Cahyo Lewar/ iNaturalist.

Life cycles in the clouds

Reproduction depends strongly on moisture. Females lay eggs in damp, protected locations close to water, where humidity prevents drying. The tadpoles begin life in water before gradually transforming into adult frogs.

Because rainfall in these forests fluctuates, breeding is closely tied to wetter periods. This dependence on microclimate conditions makes successful reproduction sensitive to environmental changes, even in relatively undisturbed habitats.

Breeding is closely linked to wetter periods, making this animal sensitive to changes in local climate conditions. Image via Tangsign studio/ Shutterstock.

Pinocchio frogs’ conservation status

There is not enough information to assign a precise conservation category to this frog. Its habitat in New Guinea is still partly remote and relatively intact, but other areas are increasingly affected by logging and land conversion.

The real uncertainty lies in what is still unknown: how many populations exist, how connected they are and how they respond to gradual environmental change. For now, much of its future remains hidden in the same forests where it does.

The so-called Pinocchio frog still appears and disappears between leaves and shadows, like something from a fairy tale that has quietly turned real in the forest.

The Pinocchio frog is often seen only in brief glimpses among the foliage, moving quietly through the forest canopy and blending into light and shadow. In a place still full of undiscovered life, it is a reminder of how much of the natural world remains hidden just out of sight. Image via Ramdanimam/ iNaturalist.

Bottom line: Pinocchio frogs use a shifting nose for courtship displays, blending fairy-tale looks with real rainforest survival strategies.

Read more: A rare and elusive frog found again after 130 years

Read more: Mexican burrowing toad looks like a deflated balloon

The post Pinocchio frogs seem straight out of a fairy tale first appeared on EarthSky.

from EarthSky https://ift.tt/lSvw3z8

Pinocchio frogs are named after the famous fictional character. Why? Because they have miraculously extending nose-like snouts! Watch this video to discover interesting facts about these fascinating amphibians. Image via Noppe Herlinde/ Shutterstock.

Pinocchio frogs seem straight out of a fairy tale

If you like the story of a wooden puppet whose nose grows whenever he tells a lie, you’re going to love Pinocchio frogs. But in their case, their noses don’t grow because they’re lying … they grow to help them flirt!

These tiny male amphibians call out to attract a mate, and when a female comes closer, she gets a look at that cute, quirky nose. Some birds show off their feathers, other animals perform elaborate dances … And Pinocchio frogs proudly show off their noses.

How cute is that little nose? Image via Ramdanimam/ iNaturalist.

Masterpieces of rainforest camouflage

Pinocchio frogs (Litoria pinocchio) are tiny creatures, usually around 2–3 inches (5–7 cm) in length. And they are arboreal. This means they live high in the canopy and only go to the ground occasionally. Their skin patterns combine browns, greens and mottled textures that match moss, bark and wet leaves, allowing them to camouflage in their habitat, the rainforests of New Guinea.

But sometimes they can appear more yellowish depending on light and humidity. In dense rainforests, sunlight filters through the branches and leaves. That yellowish color can also help them blend into their surroundings. This reflects how easily perception can change in rainforest conditions.

Despite their small size, Pinocchio frogs are highly adapted to life in the rainforest, using their cryptic coloration to remain hidden among moss, bark and leaves. Environmental conditions such as light and humidity can subtly influence how their colors are perceived. Image via Varhan Rifka/ iNaturalist.

The mystery of the shifting snout

Male frogs develop a flexible rostral extension made of soft tissue. The frog can partially erect this structure, which changes shape with activity: it becomes more visible and pronounced during calling and shrinks back when the frog rests. Females do not develop this structure, which strongly suggests a role linked to reproduction.

Scientists think that the nasal projection plays a role in visual signaling during mating interactions, working alongside vocal calls. While calls carry over distance, the nasal structure may function as a close-range display, helping individuals stand out once they are near each other. In that sense, it could act as a visual courtship signal, similar to how a peacock’s tail signals quality during courtship.

Male Pinocchio frogs develop a distinctive soft-tissue nasal projection that becomes more prominent when they call. Together with their inflated vocal sac, this feature may help attract mates through a combination of visual and acoustic signals. Image via Tangsign studio/ Shutterstock.

Survival in a vertical world

Remote mountain forests in New Guinea have revealed many previously unknown species over time. These discoveries come from multiple expeditions rather than a single moment, reflecting how little-accessible these ecosystems remain.

Within this environment, the frogs spend most of their time on vegetation above the forest floor. Sticky toe pads allow them to move across wet leaves and narrow branches, while their compact bodies help them navigate the tangled structure of the rainforest. Like many tree frogs, they feed on small insects and other invertebrates, which they capture during their nocturnal activity.

Remote mountain forests in New Guinea have yielded many previously unknown species, highlighting how little explored these ecosystems remain. These frogs live high on vegetation, using sticky toe pads to move and hunt at night. Image via Cahyo Lewar/ iNaturalist.

Life cycles in the clouds

Reproduction depends strongly on moisture. Females lay eggs in damp, protected locations close to water, where humidity prevents drying. The tadpoles begin life in water before gradually transforming into adult frogs.

Because rainfall in these forests fluctuates, breeding is closely tied to wetter periods. This dependence on microclimate conditions makes successful reproduction sensitive to environmental changes, even in relatively undisturbed habitats.

Breeding is closely linked to wetter periods, making this animal sensitive to changes in local climate conditions. Image via Tangsign studio/ Shutterstock.

Pinocchio frogs’ conservation status

There is not enough information to assign a precise conservation category to this frog. Its habitat in New Guinea is still partly remote and relatively intact, but other areas are increasingly affected by logging and land conversion.

The real uncertainty lies in what is still unknown: how many populations exist, how connected they are and how they respond to gradual environmental change. For now, much of its future remains hidden in the same forests where it does.

The so-called Pinocchio frog still appears and disappears between leaves and shadows, like something from a fairy tale that has quietly turned real in the forest.

The Pinocchio frog is often seen only in brief glimpses among the foliage, moving quietly through the forest canopy and blending into light and shadow. In a place still full of undiscovered life, it is a reminder of how much of the natural world remains hidden just out of sight. Image via Ramdanimam/ iNaturalist.

Bottom line: Pinocchio frogs use a shifting nose for courtship displays, blending fairy-tale looks with real rainforest survival strategies.

Read more: A rare and elusive frog found again after 130 years

Read more: Mexican burrowing toad looks like a deflated balloon

The post Pinocchio frogs seem straight out of a fairy tale first appeared on EarthSky.

from EarthSky https://ift.tt/lSvw3z8

Asteroid or comet? Meteor or meteorite?

View at EarthSky Community Photos. | James Reynolds in Leicester, North Carolina, caught this Leonid meteor on November 17, 2020. Thanks, James! Okay, so a stream in your night sky is a meteor. But did it originate in an asteroid or comet?

• “Asteroids” are rocky or metallic bodies, mostly orbiting in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.
• “Comets” are icy, dusty objects that originated in the freezing outer solar system. When they come near the sun, they might develop a long tail.
• A “meteor” is a fiery streak of space debris in Earth’s sky. Meteors might originate as icy debris left behind by comets. Or they might be small rocky or metallic asteroids.

Adam Lark, Hamilton College

Asteroid or comet or meteor?

Have you ever been out at night and seen a streak of light blast across the sky and disappear? Ever wonder where that shooting star came from, or how it got to be in your sky?

As the director of the Peters Observatory at Hamilton College in New York, I have seen many similar streaks across the sky, as I spend late nights at the observatory. And I am here to tell you that what you saw isn’t a star at all. You observed the end of a comet or asteroid’s 4.6-billion-year journey right before your eyes.

Remnants from the inner solar system

Roughly 4.6 billion years ago, the solar system was in its infancy. A vast ball of gas and dust that would become our solar system was accumulating matter in its center, forming what would eventually become our sun. It was also condensing dust in smaller patches farther from the center that would merge into the first chunks of materials, called planetesimals.

Asteroids formed from planetesimals in the inner portions of the solar system, near the sun. This location in the center of the solar system was warm, so the planetesimals were made mostly of the rocks and metals that could withstand the heat. The biggest of these chunks would congeal with others and form the terrestrial planets: Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars. The remaining planetesimals that did not form into the terrestrial planets are the asteroids of today, left to orbit the inner portion of the solar system.

Asteroids such as Psyche are planetary remnants typically made of metal and rock. Image via NASA.

Remnants from the outer solar system

Comets formed in the outer parts of the solar system, where it was cold enough that any water, or similar hydrogen-based compounds, took the form of ice. The planetesimals forming in this region were composed of not just rock and metal but these ices as well.

Some of the planetesimals became big enough, fast enough, that they had enough gravitational pull to hold onto large atmospheres composed of the very abundant early solar system gases, such as hydrogen and helium. These planetesimals became the Jovian planets of today: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. However, the planetesimals that did not form into the Jovian planets were left to travel through the solar system as comets.

This image of Comet Hartley is from NASA’s EPOXI mission. The comet has a thin trail of dust particles coming off its back side. Image via NASA/JPL-Caltech/UMD.

Origin of meteors

Asteroids are still abundant in the inner solar system, so inevitably some will collide with Earth. When a chunk of rock enters Earth’s atmosphere, it’s traveling at dozens of miles per second. As it enters, it may create a thunderlike sonic boom in its wake. When it travels through the air faster than the speed of sound, the asteroid produces a shock wave, which can generate that boom.

During its journey through the atmosphere over tens of miles, the asteroid collides with air molecules. And the incredible temperatures and pressure usually vaporize it. That trail of vaporizing particles breaking off the asteroid causes a bright streak of light across the sky called a meteor, or colloquially a shooting star.

Comets, though typically found in the outer solar system, can also cause meteors, and even meteor showers. A few comets take long, elliptical paths through the inner solar system every year.

These objects, which astronomers sometimes call “dirty snowballs” because they are made of dust and ices, tend to slowly melt as they get too close to the sun. This causes the comet to develop a tail of gas and debris left in its wake.

If the path of the comet intersects with Earth’s orbit, the Earth will collide with these debris fields in its yearly orbit around the sun. As that debris enters the atmosphere, it vaporizes, causing numerous trails of light called meteor showers. Since this happens in the same part of our orbit every year, meteor showers are yearly events. If you find a dark sky, you can see dozens of meteors every hour during these annual meteor showers.

Astronomers use lots of different terms to classify meteors and other rocks in the solar system. Image via Canadian Space Agency.

Finding meteorites

The meteors that are large enough to make it through Earth’s atmosphere and crash into the surface are meteorites. Meteorites tend to come from asteroids that were originally larger than a football field.

It can be difficult to identify meteorites, because they look just like Earth rocks. Typically, people recover meteorites in geologically unchanging regions, such as deserts or ice fields, where the meteorites stand out against the landscape.

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

They are often made of stone, nickel and iron and are likely magnetic. Many have irregular or pock-marked shapes, while others have a smooth crust from their time burning up in our atmosphere.

Meteorites are quite rare and important to the study of the early solar system. If you believe you’ve found one, you should verify your rock’s features fit those of a meteorite and then contact local geologists.

Next time you see a meteor in the night sky, remember that you are witnessing the end of its journey, spanning billions of years, as it burns up in the Earth’s atmosphere.

Adam Lark, Associate Professor of Instruction for Physics, Hamilton College

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Bottom line: Look up! A bright light zips through the night sky. But what is it? Asteroid or comet?

The post Asteroid or comet? Meteor or meteorite? first appeared on EarthSky.

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View at EarthSky Community Photos. | James Reynolds in Leicester, North Carolina, caught this Leonid meteor on November 17, 2020. Thanks, James! Okay, so a stream in your night sky is a meteor. But did it originate in an asteroid or comet?

• “Asteroids” are rocky or metallic bodies, mostly orbiting in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.
• “Comets” are icy, dusty objects that originated in the freezing outer solar system. When they come near the sun, they might develop a long tail.
• A “meteor” is a fiery streak of space debris in Earth’s sky. Meteors might originate as icy debris left behind by comets. Or they might be small rocky or metallic asteroids.

Adam Lark, Hamilton College

Asteroid or comet or meteor?

Have you ever been out at night and seen a streak of light blast across the sky and disappear? Ever wonder where that shooting star came from, or how it got to be in your sky?

As the director of the Peters Observatory at Hamilton College in New York, I have seen many similar streaks across the sky, as I spend late nights at the observatory. And I am here to tell you that what you saw isn’t a star at all. You observed the end of a comet or asteroid’s 4.6-billion-year journey right before your eyes.

Remnants from the inner solar system

Roughly 4.6 billion years ago, the solar system was in its infancy. A vast ball of gas and dust that would become our solar system was accumulating matter in its center, forming what would eventually become our sun. It was also condensing dust in smaller patches farther from the center that would merge into the first chunks of materials, called planetesimals.

Asteroids formed from planetesimals in the inner portions of the solar system, near the sun. This location in the center of the solar system was warm, so the planetesimals were made mostly of the rocks and metals that could withstand the heat. The biggest of these chunks would congeal with others and form the terrestrial planets: Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars. The remaining planetesimals that did not form into the terrestrial planets are the asteroids of today, left to orbit the inner portion of the solar system.

Asteroids such as Psyche are planetary remnants typically made of metal and rock. Image via NASA.

Remnants from the outer solar system

Comets formed in the outer parts of the solar system, where it was cold enough that any water, or similar hydrogen-based compounds, took the form of ice. The planetesimals forming in this region were composed of not just rock and metal but these ices as well.

Some of the planetesimals became big enough, fast enough, that they had enough gravitational pull to hold onto large atmospheres composed of the very abundant early solar system gases, such as hydrogen and helium. These planetesimals became the Jovian planets of today: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. However, the planetesimals that did not form into the Jovian planets were left to travel through the solar system as comets.

This image of Comet Hartley is from NASA’s EPOXI mission. The comet has a thin trail of dust particles coming off its back side. Image via NASA/JPL-Caltech/UMD.

Origin of meteors

Asteroids are still abundant in the inner solar system, so inevitably some will collide with Earth. When a chunk of rock enters Earth’s atmosphere, it’s traveling at dozens of miles per second. As it enters, it may create a thunderlike sonic boom in its wake. When it travels through the air faster than the speed of sound, the asteroid produces a shock wave, which can generate that boom.

During its journey through the atmosphere over tens of miles, the asteroid collides with air molecules. And the incredible temperatures and pressure usually vaporize it. That trail of vaporizing particles breaking off the asteroid causes a bright streak of light across the sky called a meteor, or colloquially a shooting star.

Comets, though typically found in the outer solar system, can also cause meteors, and even meteor showers. A few comets take long, elliptical paths through the inner solar system every year.

These objects, which astronomers sometimes call “dirty snowballs” because they are made of dust and ices, tend to slowly melt as they get too close to the sun. This causes the comet to develop a tail of gas and debris left in its wake.

If the path of the comet intersects with Earth’s orbit, the Earth will collide with these debris fields in its yearly orbit around the sun. As that debris enters the atmosphere, it vaporizes, causing numerous trails of light called meteor showers. Since this happens in the same part of our orbit every year, meteor showers are yearly events. If you find a dark sky, you can see dozens of meteors every hour during these annual meteor showers.

Astronomers use lots of different terms to classify meteors and other rocks in the solar system. Image via Canadian Space Agency.

Finding meteorites

The meteors that are large enough to make it through Earth’s atmosphere and crash into the surface are meteorites. Meteorites tend to come from asteroids that were originally larger than a football field.

It can be difficult to identify meteorites, because they look just like Earth rocks. Typically, people recover meteorites in geologically unchanging regions, such as deserts or ice fields, where the meteorites stand out against the landscape.

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

They are often made of stone, nickel and iron and are likely magnetic. Many have irregular or pock-marked shapes, while others have a smooth crust from their time burning up in our atmosphere.

Meteorites are quite rare and important to the study of the early solar system. If you believe you’ve found one, you should verify your rock’s features fit those of a meteorite and then contact local geologists.

Next time you see a meteor in the night sky, remember that you are witnessing the end of its journey, spanning billions of years, as it burns up in the Earth’s atmosphere.

Adam Lark, Associate Professor of Instruction for Physics, Hamilton College

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Bottom line: Look up! A bright light zips through the night sky. But what is it? Asteroid or comet?

The post Asteroid or comet? Meteor or meteorite? first appeared on EarthSky.

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Artemis missions target South Pole–Aitken basin on the moon

View larger. | This globe map shows the South Pole-Aitken basin (blue) and surrounding regions. Here we see rocks from the moon’s mantle, the thick, rocky layer directly beneath its thin outer crust. The rocks were blasted onto the surface by the giant impact that created this huge moon basin. Image via NASA/ JPL-Caltech/ Goddard/ Gabe Gowman-U. Arizona/ SwRI. Data from NASA’s GRAIL mission and NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Laser Altimeter.

• The South Pole-Aitken basin is the largest impact basin on the moon. It’s on the moon’s far side. How did it form?
• Two new studies show that the asteroid that struck the moon, forming the basin, came from the north at a low angle. Rocks from both the lunar crust and mantle were ejected onto the surface.
• Future Artemis astronauts will land in and around the South Pole-Aitken region. The new studies help show what the astronauts can expect to find.

You deserve a daily dose of good news. For the latest in science and the night sky, click here to subscribe to our free daily newsletter.

The South Pole–Aitken basin region is a future landing site

When Artemis astronauts return to the moon in the near future, they’ll land near the lunar south pole. Of the nine possible landing sites, some are within the South Pole-Aitken basin. Others are on or near the rim of the basin, while still others are just outside of it.

For example, the sites Nobile Rim 1, Nobile Rim 2 and Haworth are within the basin (see map below). Malapert Massif is near the basin’s rim. And de Gerlache Rim 2 is outside of the basin. Note that the basin’s boundary is rather obscure and not sharply delineated. So it’s not always clear which proposed landing sites are, technically, within the basin.

Now researchers have published two new peer-reviewed papers about the South Pole-Aitken basin. One is in Science Advances (May 6, 2026). And the other is in JGR Planets (April 23, 2026).

View larger. | The 9 possible landing sites for future Artemis missions, in and around the South Pole-Aitken basin. Note that it will no longer be the Artemis 3 mission, in late 2027, that lands first. That mission will remain in Earth orbit. It will now be Artemis 4 and beyond for the landings. Image via NASA.

Water ice and sunlight

Here are two reasons this region was chosen for the astronauts: water ice and sunlight. The landing sites closest to the moon’s south pole offer access to water ice, which the astronauts will need as a primary resource. The sites also experience long periods of sunlight.

This giant moon basin is the moon’s oldest and largest impact crater, on the far side of the moon. But how much do we really know about this region? On June 15, 2026, researchers at the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) in California, said that they have found new details about the South Pole-Aitken basin.

Since it is one of the oldest structures on the moon, the basin provides clues about the early solar system.

William Bottke is the director of the Center for Lunar Origin and Evolution (CLOE) and executive director of SwRI’s Science Directorate in Boulder, Colorado. He is also a co-author of both of the new studies. He said:

The basin offers scientists a rare opportunity to study the moon’s earliest history. The collision struck the lunar surface with such force that it may have excavated material from deep inside the moon, including portions of the lunar mantle [the region just below the moon’s thin crust].

Recreating the impact

To find out more about the future landing location for the Artemis astronauts, the researchers used advanced computer simulations and computer models. They recreated the impact that formed the basin. They found that the impacting asteroid came from the north and hit the moon’s surface at a low angle. That’s why the basin is more elongated in shape than round. (However, scientists said in 2024 that it’s actually slightly rounder than first thought). Shigeru Wakita at Purdue University, lead author of the South-Pole Aitken basin impact study, said:

Our simulation produces the right shape and nature of the impact basin. It also tells us about the projectile that created it and the direction of the impact.

Notably, the analysis suggests that the object that impacted was not just a simple asteroid. The impacting object must have been more complex, with an inner core surrounded by rock. The object’s interior appears to have been differentiated, separated into distinct compositional layers, more like a small protoplanet than a plain rock. Protoplanets are like “baby planets,” smaller objects forming from the accumulation of material in the early solar system. Many would eventually grow to become actual planets, like our own Earth.

When the impactor hit the moon, it created a deep, uneven cavity. The rock in the middle of the basin melted, and material from both the moon’s mantle and crust were thrown out into space.

Captured by the Artemis 2 crew, the heavily cratered eastern edge of the South Pole-Aitken basin – the moon’s oldest and largest impact basin – offers a glimpse into billions of years of lunar geologic history. Image via NASA.

The South Pole-Aitken basin (outlined) on the far side of the moon. Image via NASA/ Sneeuwschaap/ Wikimedia Commons.

Ejecta in the basin

The researchers also wanted to know how the ejecta from the impact was distributed in and around the basin. To do this, they compared high-resolution gravity data with models that include both crustal and mantle material. The result was that the basin likely contains a substantial amount of rock from the moon’s mantle. Those rocks are also mixed into the ejecta blanket – the rocky debris – surrounding the basin.

Also, there were smaller secondary impacts that brought some of those rocks to the surface. That is treasure for the future Artemis astronauts who will land there. Gabriel Gowman at the University of Arizona, lead author of the gravity-based study, said:

The precise distribution of mantle material has been a big unknown. Our models indicate that the [South-Pole Aitken basin] impact ejected enough deep material to form a significant deposit that should still be accessible today. Most importantly, some of that material at a trace level may exist in regions being considered for the Artemis landings.

Shigeru Wakita at Purdue University is the lead author of the South-Pole Aitken basin impact paper. Image via Google Scholar.

Gabriel Gowman at the University of Arizona is the lead author of the gravity mapping paper. Image via the University of Arizona.

Lots of mantle ejecta for astronauts to explore

Scientists had thought that the deepest part of the ejecta might be far away from the proposed landing sites in the area. But the new studies show this might not be the case. Some of the deposits could extend closer to the south polar region, including the landing sites. That’s good news for the astronauts being able to sample some of those deposits.

In 2019, scientists said they found evidence for an unusually dense mass beneath the South Pole-Aitken basin. The metallic rock is five times larger than the Big Island of Hawaii.

On June 25, 2024, the Chinese Chang’e 6 lunar probe landed in the Apollo basin, a region within the South Pole-Aitken basin. It returned samples to Earth 53 days later.

Bottom line: Two new studies examine the South Pole-Aitken basin on the moon. This region is a future landing site for Artemis astronauts.

Source: A southward differentiated impactor forms the tapered shape of the South Pole–Aitken impact basin on the Moon

Source: Gravity Mapping of Lunar Mantle Material in South Pole-Aitken Basin Ejecta

Via SwRI

Read more: Moon’s largest crater is rounder than 1st thought

Read more: What is the mystery mass on the moon?

The post Artemis missions target South Pole–Aitken basin on the moon first appeared on EarthSky.

from EarthSky https://ift.tt/AnGspkK

View larger. | This globe map shows the South Pole-Aitken basin (blue) and surrounding regions. Here we see rocks from the moon’s mantle, the thick, rocky layer directly beneath its thin outer crust. The rocks were blasted onto the surface by the giant impact that created this huge moon basin. Image via NASA/ JPL-Caltech/ Goddard/ Gabe Gowman-U. Arizona/ SwRI. Data from NASA’s GRAIL mission and NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Laser Altimeter.

• The South Pole-Aitken basin is the largest impact basin on the moon. It’s on the moon’s far side. How did it form?
• Two new studies show that the asteroid that struck the moon, forming the basin, came from the north at a low angle. Rocks from both the lunar crust and mantle were ejected onto the surface.
• Future Artemis astronauts will land in and around the South Pole-Aitken region. The new studies help show what the astronauts can expect to find.

You deserve a daily dose of good news. For the latest in science and the night sky, click here to subscribe to our free daily newsletter.

The South Pole–Aitken basin region is a future landing site

When Artemis astronauts return to the moon in the near future, they’ll land near the lunar south pole. Of the nine possible landing sites, some are within the South Pole-Aitken basin. Others are on or near the rim of the basin, while still others are just outside of it.

For example, the sites Nobile Rim 1, Nobile Rim 2 and Haworth are within the basin (see map below). Malapert Massif is near the basin’s rim. And de Gerlache Rim 2 is outside of the basin. Note that the basin’s boundary is rather obscure and not sharply delineated. So it’s not always clear which proposed landing sites are, technically, within the basin.

Now researchers have published two new peer-reviewed papers about the South Pole-Aitken basin. One is in Science Advances (May 6, 2026). And the other is in JGR Planets (April 23, 2026).

View larger. | The 9 possible landing sites for future Artemis missions, in and around the South Pole-Aitken basin. Note that it will no longer be the Artemis 3 mission, in late 2027, that lands first. That mission will remain in Earth orbit. It will now be Artemis 4 and beyond for the landings. Image via NASA.

Water ice and sunlight

Here are two reasons this region was chosen for the astronauts: water ice and sunlight. The landing sites closest to the moon’s south pole offer access to water ice, which the astronauts will need as a primary resource. The sites also experience long periods of sunlight.

This giant moon basin is the moon’s oldest and largest impact crater, on the far side of the moon. But how much do we really know about this region? On June 15, 2026, researchers at the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) in California, said that they have found new details about the South Pole-Aitken basin.

Since it is one of the oldest structures on the moon, the basin provides clues about the early solar system.

William Bottke is the director of the Center for Lunar Origin and Evolution (CLOE) and executive director of SwRI’s Science Directorate in Boulder, Colorado. He is also a co-author of both of the new studies. He said:

The basin offers scientists a rare opportunity to study the moon’s earliest history. The collision struck the lunar surface with such force that it may have excavated material from deep inside the moon, including portions of the lunar mantle [the region just below the moon’s thin crust].

Recreating the impact

To find out more about the future landing location for the Artemis astronauts, the researchers used advanced computer simulations and computer models. They recreated the impact that formed the basin. They found that the impacting asteroid came from the north and hit the moon’s surface at a low angle. That’s why the basin is more elongated in shape than round. (However, scientists said in 2024 that it’s actually slightly rounder than first thought). Shigeru Wakita at Purdue University, lead author of the South-Pole Aitken basin impact study, said:

Our simulation produces the right shape and nature of the impact basin. It also tells us about the projectile that created it and the direction of the impact.

Notably, the analysis suggests that the object that impacted was not just a simple asteroid. The impacting object must have been more complex, with an inner core surrounded by rock. The object’s interior appears to have been differentiated, separated into distinct compositional layers, more like a small protoplanet than a plain rock. Protoplanets are like “baby planets,” smaller objects forming from the accumulation of material in the early solar system. Many would eventually grow to become actual planets, like our own Earth.

When the impactor hit the moon, it created a deep, uneven cavity. The rock in the middle of the basin melted, and material from both the moon’s mantle and crust were thrown out into space.

Captured by the Artemis 2 crew, the heavily cratered eastern edge of the South Pole-Aitken basin – the moon’s oldest and largest impact basin – offers a glimpse into billions of years of lunar geologic history. Image via NASA.

The South Pole-Aitken basin (outlined) on the far side of the moon. Image via NASA/ Sneeuwschaap/ Wikimedia Commons.

Ejecta in the basin

The researchers also wanted to know how the ejecta from the impact was distributed in and around the basin. To do this, they compared high-resolution gravity data with models that include both crustal and mantle material. The result was that the basin likely contains a substantial amount of rock from the moon’s mantle. Those rocks are also mixed into the ejecta blanket – the rocky debris – surrounding the basin.

Also, there were smaller secondary impacts that brought some of those rocks to the surface. That is treasure for the future Artemis astronauts who will land there. Gabriel Gowman at the University of Arizona, lead author of the gravity-based study, said:

The precise distribution of mantle material has been a big unknown. Our models indicate that the [South-Pole Aitken basin] impact ejected enough deep material to form a significant deposit that should still be accessible today. Most importantly, some of that material at a trace level may exist in regions being considered for the Artemis landings.

Shigeru Wakita at Purdue University is the lead author of the South-Pole Aitken basin impact paper. Image via Google Scholar.

Gabriel Gowman at the University of Arizona is the lead author of the gravity mapping paper. Image via the University of Arizona.

Lots of mantle ejecta for astronauts to explore

Scientists had thought that the deepest part of the ejecta might be far away from the proposed landing sites in the area. But the new studies show this might not be the case. Some of the deposits could extend closer to the south polar region, including the landing sites. That’s good news for the astronauts being able to sample some of those deposits.

In 2019, scientists said they found evidence for an unusually dense mass beneath the South Pole-Aitken basin. The metallic rock is five times larger than the Big Island of Hawaii.

On June 25, 2024, the Chinese Chang’e 6 lunar probe landed in the Apollo basin, a region within the South Pole-Aitken basin. It returned samples to Earth 53 days later.

Bottom line: Two new studies examine the South Pole-Aitken basin on the moon. This region is a future landing site for Artemis astronauts.

Source: A southward differentiated impactor forms the tapered shape of the South Pole–Aitken impact basin on the Moon

Source: Gravity Mapping of Lunar Mantle Material in South Pole-Aitken Basin Ejecta

Via SwRI

Read more: Moon’s largest crater is rounder than 1st thought

Read more: What is the mystery mass on the moon?

The post Artemis missions target South Pole–Aitken basin on the moon first appeared on EarthSky.

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The northernmost sunset is on the June solstice, today!

The path of the sun across our sky – from about noon to sunset – on 3 different days of the year, an equinox and the summer and winter solstices. The June solstice is the Northern Hemisphere’s summer solstice. Notice the northernmost sunset on this day. Marcella Giulia Pace made these observations from Gatto Corvino village, Sicily, Italy. Used with permission.

The 2026 June solstice falls at 8:25 UTC on June 21. That’s 3:25 a.m. CDT.

Northern Hemisphere summer

The June solstice marks the year’s northernmost sunset and sunrise. It brings the year’s longest period of daylight to the Northern Hemisphere (and shortest period of daylight in the Southern Hemisphere). North of the Arctic Circle, the sun neither rises nor sets but stays above the horizon continuously around the clock.

In the Northern Hemisphere, noontime shadows are shortest at this solstice. It’s the year’s highest sun, as seen from the Tropic of Cancer and all places north.

For us in the Northern Hemisphere, the June solstice signals the beginning of summer. For the Southern Hemisphere, winter starts at this solstice.

The solstice is a whole-Earth event. It happens at the same instant for all of us – the instant the sun reaches its northernmost point in our sky. But our clocks say different times.

Day and night sides of Earth at the instant of the June 2026 solstice (June 21 at 8:25 UTC). Map via Fourmilab. Used with permission.

Southern Hemisphere winter

Earth’s orbit around the sun – and tilt on its axis – have brought us to a place in space where our world’s Northern Hemisphere has its time of greatest daylight: its longest day and shortest night. Meanwhile, the June solstice and northernmost sun brings the shortest day and longest night south of the equator.

This solstice marks the beginning of Southern Hemisphere winter.

It marks the lowest sun and longest noontime shadow for those on the southern part of Earth’s globe.

South of the Antarctic Circle, the sun neither rises nor sets but stays beneath the horizon for 24 hours.

View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Sunrises between a June and December solstice. If you are standing facing east, the sun – from day to day, and week to week – moves progressively to the right (south) between these 2 solstices. Rupesh Sangoi captured separate images of the sunrise showing the sun’s movement along the horizon between a June and December solstice. Rupesh wrote: “Did this for over a year, at sunrise.” Glorious composite, Rupesh! Thank you.

Northernmost sunset, but not latest sunset

The sun sets farthest north on the day of the solstice, bringing the longest day for the Northern Hemisphere. But this summer solstice doesn’t bring the latest sunset. And it doesn’t bring the earliest sunrise. The exact dates vary with latitude, but the sequence is always the same: earliest sunrise before the summer solstice, longest day on the summer solstice, latest sunset after the summer solstice.

For the Southern Hemisphere, where it’s winter now, the latest sunrise – and earliest sunrise – don’t come on the day of the solstice either. Again, the exact dates vary with latitude. But the sequence is always the same: earliest sunset before the winter solstice, shortest day on the winter solstice, latest sunrise after the winter solstice.

View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Wael Omar shared this stunning composite image illustrating the change in the sunset’s position during 12 months in Cairo, Egypt. Thank you, Omar!

Each solstice marks a turning of the year

Even as this northern summer begins with the solstice, throughout the world the solstice also represents a “turning” of the year.

In fact, to many cultures, the solstice can mean a limit or a culmination of something. From around the world, the sun is now setting and rising as far north as it ever does. The solstice marks when the sun reaches its northernmost point for the year.

Then after the June solstice, the sun will begin its subtle shift southward on the sky’s dome again. Thus even in summer’s beginning, we find the seeds of summer’s end.

Read more: All you need to know about the June 2026 solstice

View larger. | Nikolaos Pantazis wrote: “Every year, on the days around summer solstice, the setting sun aligns with that rock near the village of Platanos, Peloponnese, Greece.” Thank you, Nikolaos!

Bottom line: The northernmost sunset (and sunrise) happen at the June solstice. Here’s some quick info that’ll help you connect with nature on this special day.

Help support EarthSky! Check out the EarthSky store for fun astronomy gifts and tools for all ages!

The post The northernmost sunset is on the June solstice, today! first appeared on EarthSky.

from EarthSky https://ift.tt/wVFoIC0

The path of the sun across our sky – from about noon to sunset – on 3 different days of the year, an equinox and the summer and winter solstices. The June solstice is the Northern Hemisphere’s summer solstice. Notice the northernmost sunset on this day. Marcella Giulia Pace made these observations from Gatto Corvino village, Sicily, Italy. Used with permission.

The 2026 June solstice falls at 8:25 UTC on June 21. That’s 3:25 a.m. CDT.

Northern Hemisphere summer

The June solstice marks the year’s northernmost sunset and sunrise. It brings the year’s longest period of daylight to the Northern Hemisphere (and shortest period of daylight in the Southern Hemisphere). North of the Arctic Circle, the sun neither rises nor sets but stays above the horizon continuously around the clock.

In the Northern Hemisphere, noontime shadows are shortest at this solstice. It’s the year’s highest sun, as seen from the Tropic of Cancer and all places north.

For us in the Northern Hemisphere, the June solstice signals the beginning of summer. For the Southern Hemisphere, winter starts at this solstice.

The solstice is a whole-Earth event. It happens at the same instant for all of us – the instant the sun reaches its northernmost point in our sky. But our clocks say different times.

Day and night sides of Earth at the instant of the June 2026 solstice (June 21 at 8:25 UTC). Map via Fourmilab. Used with permission.

Southern Hemisphere winter

Earth’s orbit around the sun – and tilt on its axis – have brought us to a place in space where our world’s Northern Hemisphere has its time of greatest daylight: its longest day and shortest night. Meanwhile, the June solstice and northernmost sun brings the shortest day and longest night south of the equator.

This solstice marks the beginning of Southern Hemisphere winter.

It marks the lowest sun and longest noontime shadow for those on the southern part of Earth’s globe.

South of the Antarctic Circle, the sun neither rises nor sets but stays beneath the horizon for 24 hours.

View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Sunrises between a June and December solstice. If you are standing facing east, the sun – from day to day, and week to week – moves progressively to the right (south) between these 2 solstices. Rupesh Sangoi captured separate images of the sunrise showing the sun’s movement along the horizon between a June and December solstice. Rupesh wrote: “Did this for over a year, at sunrise.” Glorious composite, Rupesh! Thank you.

Northernmost sunset, but not latest sunset

The sun sets farthest north on the day of the solstice, bringing the longest day for the Northern Hemisphere. But this summer solstice doesn’t bring the latest sunset. And it doesn’t bring the earliest sunrise. The exact dates vary with latitude, but the sequence is always the same: earliest sunrise before the summer solstice, longest day on the summer solstice, latest sunset after the summer solstice.

For the Southern Hemisphere, where it’s winter now, the latest sunrise – and earliest sunrise – don’t come on the day of the solstice either. Again, the exact dates vary with latitude. But the sequence is always the same: earliest sunset before the winter solstice, shortest day on the winter solstice, latest sunrise after the winter solstice.

View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Wael Omar shared this stunning composite image illustrating the change in the sunset’s position during 12 months in Cairo, Egypt. Thank you, Omar!

Each solstice marks a turning of the year

Even as this northern summer begins with the solstice, throughout the world the solstice also represents a “turning” of the year.

In fact, to many cultures, the solstice can mean a limit or a culmination of something. From around the world, the sun is now setting and rising as far north as it ever does. The solstice marks when the sun reaches its northernmost point for the year.

Then after the June solstice, the sun will begin its subtle shift southward on the sky’s dome again. Thus even in summer’s beginning, we find the seeds of summer’s end.

Read more: All you need to know about the June 2026 solstice

View larger. | Nikolaos Pantazis wrote: “Every year, on the days around summer solstice, the setting sun aligns with that rock near the village of Platanos, Peloponnese, Greece.” Thank you, Nikolaos!

Bottom line: The northernmost sunset (and sunrise) happen at the June solstice. Here’s some quick info that’ll help you connect with nature on this special day.

Help support EarthSky! Check out the EarthSky store for fun astronomy gifts and tools for all ages!

The post The northernmost sunset is on the June solstice, today! first appeared on EarthSky.

from EarthSky https://ift.tt/wVFoIC0