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The Smile mission released its 1st stunning footage of #auroras! The mission is a collaboration of the European Space Agency and the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Read about the Smile mission, here: buff.ly/YxDlT1K 📸 ESA.

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The evening sky features 3 #planets. Brilliant Venus is beckoning low in the western twilight. Meanwhile, #Mercury will be at its greatest distance from the sun on October 12. And bright Saturn is rising in the east. Read more at buff.ly/acHGvvn.

Round sky chart showing Saturn, Mercury and Venus along a curved green line, the ecliptic.

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Why do #leaves change color in #autumn? 🤔🍂 Learn why here from biologists: buff.ly/vnqSTaD 📸 Lois Vanbroekhoven.

Bright sun shining through red autumn leaves and scattered clouds in the sky.

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What happened when an old Soviet weather #satellite broke apart in low Earth orbit this week? Its fragments remain in orbit. And this isn't rare. LeoLabs tracks space debris. Find out what what they detected after the satellite's destruction: buff.ly/A8Cp1Jj 📸 Gemini AI.

Illustration of a satellite violently fragmenting into debris above Earth.

A new clue: ancient Martian rainwater combining with formaldehyde might have kickstarted life, Japanese researchers said this month. What does this mean for the search for life on #Mars? Find out here: buff.ly/mHdtTyA 📸 Kevin Gill/ Flickr.

Artist’s illustration of an ancient lake and river system in Gale Crater on Mars.

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Now’s a great time to see #Mercury from the Southern Hemisphere! Look west after sunset. It’s now farthest from the sun for this year (25 degrees). Northern Hemisphere? Too close to the horizon for a good view. Read more and see charts: buff.ly/XDJ2TZt

3 sky charts showing positions of Venus, Mercury and the thin crescent moon near the steep ecliptic line.

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A volatile #sunspot region on the sun's face fired an M6.7 flare yesterday afternoon. It hurled a chunk of sun-stuff into space, too. Coming toward us? We'll see. Read today's #sun news at: buff.ly/kt8GqMM 📸 NOAA.

Bright solar flare erupting from the sun, shown in green-tinted ultraviolet imagery.

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It's a cosmic ghost! 🌠👻 Have you heard of the #Andromedid #meteorshower? A couple hundred years ago it surged in 2 meteor storms, with more than 1,000 meteors an hour! But then … it largely disappeared. And the origin of the shower comes from the ghost of a #comet. buff.ly/LLKhBZJ 📸 Wikipedia.

2 light streaks on a dark sky, one with a spiral head and one with an oval head.

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Where do you think this is? Utah? The Kalahari? Nope, it's #Mars! The Curiosity rover captured this view of a Martian dawn. And now, Curiosity is headed toward those distant, sunlit crags. What'll it see when it gets there? 🌅🔴 buff.ly/SrdjE2U 📸 NASA/ JPL-Caltech/ MSSS.

Creamy, solid sky with light on distant cliffs and closer cliffs darker.

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🐉 Look up tonight! #Draconid meteors are peaking and will be flying as soon as the sky darkens after sunset. ☄️ The shower is generally modest. But sometimes the Dragon wakes up! Watch this video with EarthSky’s Deborah Byrd to find out when and where to watch: buff.ly/5Cwf06n 📹 EarthSky.org.

A smiling woman with glasses. In the background behind her, there is a view of Earth from space with a meteor shower.

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Check this out. Tuesday's blast from the sun — now racing toward Earth — might bring auroras to latitudes like those in the northern US, starting before dawn on Friday. Another blast is expected to reach us on Saturday. 👀 Read the sun news: buff.ly/kt8GqMM 📸 buff.ly/l7kLsVn.

Map of North America with a red oval ringed in green touching the northern edge of the U.S.

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Incoming! 🌀 After the longest wait on modern record, this year’s Atlantic hurricane season has its first hurricane: Hurricane #Isaias. It strengthened into a hurricane last night and should reach the northern Gulf Coast tomorrow as a strong category 2. Read more: buff.ly/yhWdKwV 📸 CIRA/ NOAA.

View of huge white rotating storm from above, in a gulf region on the shoreline of a continent.

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Say what?! Massive #planets could form in the dusty regions around active supermassive #blackholes. They could start around the mass of Jupiter and then keep growing. And a single black hole could spawn millions of planets at a time. 😮 🪐⚫️ Find out more: buff.ly/mi397qX 📸 EHT Collaboration/ ESO.

Striated orange spiral with brighter areas and a black center.

Have you ever seen the Andromeda Galaxy? This is a great time of year to look for it, and we'll tell you how! Try this method. Look northward for Cassiopeia. Next locate the star Schedar. It’s the constellation’s brightest star, and it points to the Andromeda Galaxy. More: buff.ly/N2EAl21

Star chart showing dots and lines forming Cassiopeia and Andromeda with a spiral for the galaxy location.

What is that!? 😱 It's an enormous, newly discovered 10-sided shape at Saturn's south pole. Weird! EarthSky's Will Triggs has the story in this new video. buff.ly/OPHgLHl 📸 EarthSky.

A smiling man with glasses appears beside a large, ringed object.
Text reads “WHAT MADE THIS?”, with an arrow pointing to its dark center.

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The moon and Jupiter played hide and seek this week! 🌕 Steven Bellavia in Cherry Springs State Park, Pennsylvania, captured #Jupiter half hidden behind the #moon on Tuesday morning. Thank you, Steven! #astronomy See more pics: buff.ly/U12ipuR Do YOU have a photo? Send it to us! buff.ly/aCnqZq1

Limb of the moon with craters and striped Jupiter tiny and half hidden behind it.

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#Draconid meteor shower happening now! 🌠👀 And there's a 2nd, even better October meteor shower — the Orionids — on the mornings of October 20, 21 and 22 ... EarthSky's Deborah Byrd has the story. The stream drops at noon central time (17 UTC) today. Join us! buff.ly/5Cwf06n

Smiling woman with meteor shower graphics in dark sky behind her.

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A chunk of sun-stuff is heading our way! Yesterday a #flare blasted solar material apparently straight toward Earth. Then we spotted a 2nd blob of solar material coming toward Earth, with arrival estimated early on October 9. Could there be auroras? Read the #sun news: buff.ly/oyQvpiW 📸 NOAA

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Hurricane Nolo is now Typhoon Nolo! Where's it going? 💨 #HurricaneNolo, which threatened Hawaii in late September, has become #TyphoonNolo. But good news! The storm is not currently threatening land. It's positioned well west of Hawaii and far east of Japan. buff.ly/NDgtma9 📸 CIMSS.

Rotating hurricane seen from above, in enhanced colors.

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Hello, Gwen! Your pics are great!

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Will El Niño bring strong coastal flooding to the U.S. West Coast? 🌊 How might it happen? Find out about #Kelvinwaves at earthsky.org. 📸 Image via Pexels/ Connor Scott McManus. buff.ly/kdJNuYu

A Road Closed sign, with water behind it.

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Have you ever seen a very flashing star in autumn? 🌟🌌 Every star has the potential to flash colorfully, but some #stars are definitely much flashier than others. And it so happens that there are 3 bright stars shining in October skies! buff.ly/pb5CWfN 📸 Igor Cibulsky/ Pexels.

Lone man stands on pinnacle, looking starward.

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Yay, an evening meteor shower! 🌠 The Draconid #meteorshower peaks overnight October 8–9. This shower could produce a rare meteor storm, with hundreds or even thousands of #meteors streaking across the sky every hour. Could it happen this year? Details here: buff.ly/gLWf0Vz 📸 EarthSky.

Smiling woman in lower left corner, with an illustration of a dragon breathing fire in the night sky. Bold white text says 'Raaar! Meteors'

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Hi, skywatchers! The #moon was fabulous near #Jupiter in the eastern predawn sky this morning. And you have another chance tomorrow and Thursday. Shortly before sunrise, the moon will glow below Jupiter and the star Regulus: For more, visit EarthSky’s night sky guide: buff.ly/acHGvvn 📸 EarthSky.

The moon near a dot, the star Regulus and a bigger dot, Jupiter.

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People have been loving this video! In it, EarthSky's Marcy Curran explains why she loves #smartscopes, and how she thinks they might inspire a new generation of amateur astronomers. Could you be one of them? 🔭🌌 buff.ly/qpyLhnm 📸 Image via EarthSky.

Smiling woman on the left, and a small telescope on the right, with stars in the background. Bold white text says 'You'll want one!'

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Wow! 3 moderate #flares out of nowhere! ☀️ After days of only weak flaring, our star surprised us with 3 M-class flares. A pair of these came from AR4549, which has rapidly grown into a highly potent sunspot region. What can we expect next? Read today's #sun news: buff.ly/oyQvpiW 📸 NOAA.

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Take a tour of some of the weirdest moons in the solar system 🌕 Some of the most bizarre worlds in our solar system are #moons. From icy geysers to endless volcanic eruptions to hidden oceans, they are much more dynamic than our own dormant (but beautiful) moon: buff.ly/UUcW5vo 📸 NASA.

A collage of moons with different colors and surface markings.

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Did you see bright #Jupiter hanging right next to the #moon this morning? It was a gorgeous sight! You can even see 4 of Jupiter's own moons. 😍 Don't miss a thing! Remember to check out our night sky guide for more events like this one: buff.ly/acHGvvn 📸 Karl Diefenderfer.

A bright crescent moon with Jupiter above it, with tiny dots aligned in a line.

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It starts just after 8, and ends around noon, with the max occultation around 10. According the RASC handbook and many other sources. But you are right, we should say the 8:00 time, as that is when it starts.

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EarthSky @earthskyscience.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Behold Saturn and its moons! Roberto Ortu in Cabras, Sardinia, Italy, captured this view of #Saturn and some of its larger #moons in late September. Thank you, Roberto! #astronomy 🪐📸 buff.ly/9ANBnYy Now is a great time to see the ringed planet. Here's how to find it: earthsky.org/astronomy-es...

A tan-colored planet with rings around it. Five moons are also visible around it as dots.

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Hoot, hoot! 🦉Judy Boyle in Whitehall, Montana, sent us this photo of a wonderful northern pygmy #owl watching from a tree last Friday. Thank you, Judy! #birds buff.ly/c2IRQjT See more great photos and submit yours to EarthSky Community Photos: buff.ly/2AfQjvs

A medium-sized owl perched on a tree branch. It has brown and white feathers, with bright yellow eyes and a yellow beak.

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EarthSky @earthskyscience.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

EarthSky's Marcy Curran in Cheyenne, Wyoming, captured this beautiful image of a galaxy not so far, far away ... the #AndromedaGalaxy! It's only about 2 million light-years away. Thank you, Marcy! 📸🌌 #astronomy buff.ly/nu79cYU See more great photos and submit yours: buff.ly/2AfQjvs

Huge spiral galaxy that looks oval from this viewing angle. Two smaller bright patches of light are on the lower edge and just above the galaxy. A teddy bear is in the lower right corner.

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EarthSky @earthskyscience.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Have you ever seen a green glow at the top edge of the sun? That's the #greenflash. If you haven’t seen one yet, you can! Here are a few tips to help you spot it: buff.ly/vQNqhDk Jelieta Walinski captured this one in Oregon on September 26. Thank you! buff.ly/2dF2jHt

The top half of the sun is visible above the horizon, while the other half remains below it. A green glow appears along the sun’s upper edge.

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The #moon is going to blot bright #Jupiter from view at 10 UTC on October 6! Wow! It's gonna be cool. Many in North America and beyond will be in the "occultation path," and will be able to see it. EarthSky's Marcy Curran has details. Watch her video here. buff.ly/z5AS36Y

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EarthSky's Cristina Ortiz wants to show you the world's BIGGEST lizard. The #Komodo dragon grows up to 10 feet (3 meters) long and weighs up to 200 pounds (90 kg). Hello, Komodo. buff.ly/cFdtQAR

Woman presenting a video about Earth's largest lizard, the Komodo dragon.

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The thick waning #moon will sweep past #Jupiter and #Mars early this week. Look east before sunup. Some North American observers will see the moon occult – or pass in front of – Jupiter at 10 UTC on October 6. More here: buff.ly/aXmUhY5

Sky chart showing the moon near Mars, the Beehive Cluster and Jupiter on October 5 and 6, 2026.

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For the 1st time, scientists have found helium gas escaping from the atmosphere of an #exoplanet. It means this distant world might have a temperature that could let liquid water exist on its surface. Could it also support life? Read: buff.ly/jxuMNG7 📸 ESO.

A big orangish sun-looking star with a dark planet in front.

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#Voyager 1 is nearly 1 light-day from Earth ... That'll happen at 12:16:07 a.m. CST on November 18, 2026. Onward, Voyager 1! Read more at: buff.ly/3HPVOLq 📸 Caltech/ NASA-JPL.

A spacecraft with antenna dish and a long strut, against star clouds.

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Saturn's opposition is today. 🪐 Earth takes a year to orbit the sun — while #Saturn takes nearly 30 years. So every year, we gain a lap on Saturn. This is a great time to see Saturn! Charts and more here: buff.ly/p8IvbA5. 📸 Lowell Observatory. Thanks, y'all! ❤️

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World #Space Week starts today. This year's theme is The Rocket Revolution, focusing on the rapid transformation of the space launch industry. Find an event near you! Read more here: buff.ly/KKzWtaT 📸 WSWA.

Teacher, pointing out a window at rockets blasting off, and students watching the rockets in wonder.