A French research team announced the launch of the FRIPON (Fireball Recovery and Planetary Interobservation Network) project, an interconnected network of, at least, one hundred cameras in charge of watching the skies in search for meteorites. The cameras have been…
On June 3, planet Saturn will be at its closest approach to Earth and its face will be fully illuminated by the Sun. It will be brighter than any other time of the year and visible all night long. The best time of the month to observe faint objects such as galaxies…
A rare transit of Mercury across the Sun will take place on May 9, 2016, starting at about 11:12 UTC and lasting about 7.5 hours. This is an extremely rare event that occurs only 13 or 14 times in each century. There will be one other transit of Mercury in 2019 and…
The Eta Aquarid meteor shower will reach its maximum rate of activity this year on the night of May 5 and the morning of May 6. This is an above average shower, capable of producing up to 60 meteors per hour at its peak, with most of the activity seen in the…
May hosts an above average meteor shower – the Eta Aquarids – with its peak on the night of May 5 and the morning of May 6. This will also be the best time of the month to observe faint objects in the night sky because there is no moonlight to interfere. A rare…
Jono Matla, a photographer from Wellington, New Zealand, captured a bright green meteor flashing across the night sky around 21:00 local time on April 5, 2016. The event started as a ball of orange and turned into a neon green as it streaked the sky over Waikanae,…
April hosts two meteor showers, but only one major. The first – Virginid meteor shower – will reach its maximum rate of activity on April 12. The Moon will be 5 days old and will present minimal interference. The maximum rate of meteors expected to be visible from a…
Two astronomers have captured images of a small comet or asteroid as it impacted Jupiter at 00:18 UTC on March 17, 2016. The videos of the same event were captured from Austria and Ireland. The object is probably in the tens-of-meters wide range, according to Phil…
Observers located in the extreme eastern Asia, eastern Australia, the Pacific Ocean and the west coast of North America including Alaska will get to see a penumbral lunar eclipse on March 23, 2016, the first of three lunar eclipses in 2016. The eclipse will reach…
Total solar eclipse of March 9, 2016, is now long over. If you missed the show, here is a collection of the best totality videos available today. Be sure not to miss the Alaska Airlines flight 870 video. The Exploratorium and NASA went to Woleai, a tiny atoll in the…
