NASA has ended its attempts to reconnect with the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) spacecraft and begun decommissioning the orbiter, closing the book on a mission that spent over a decade studying how Mars lost its atmosphere. At a June 3 media conference, NASA officials announced that an anomaly review board — which wasContinue reading "NASA fails to reestablish contact, decommissions MAVEN"

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Celestron Nature DX ED 10x42mm Roof Binoculars CelestronTorrance, California Celestron Nature DX ED 10x42mm Roof Binoculars feature extra-low dispersion objective lenses and BaK-4 prisms, assuring proper color without fringing. All lenses are fully multicoated. The binoculars have a true field of view of 5.9° and can focus as close as 6.5 feet (2 meters). WeighingContinue reading "Kickstart summer with these new astronomy products"

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In early 1987, a team led by MIT’s Jacqueline Hewitt was imaging radio-emitting objects with the Very Large Array radio telescope as part of a gravitational lens survey. The unusual appearance of object MG1131+0456 – an oval with elongated bright spots at the ends – led to further investigation, and the researchers eventually concluded itContinue reading "June 9, 1988: First image of an Einstein ring"

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Looking for a sky event this week? Check out our full Sky This Week column.  June 8: Venus and Jupiter close in Venus and Jupiter have now inched closer together and stand 1.6° apart in the evening sky; the former officially passed due north of the latter at 8 A.M. EDT this morning.  Compare the view thisContinue reading "The Sky Today on Tuesday, June 9: Bright planets’ conjunction"

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Jeffrey Horne, taken from Nashville, Tennessee The Rosette Nebula (NGC 2237–9) is a vast star-forming complex about 5,000 light-years away in Monoceros. This portrait combines 200⅓ hours of SHO data taken from Jan. 1 to April 12, 2026, with a 5-inch f/5.6 scope. The extremely deep exposure reveals myriad delicate tendrils within the nebula, whereContinue reading "Budding stars"

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