Astronomy news

• 22 Jan 2023 (8 hours away): Jupiter at perihelion

  21-01-2023 22:10 via in-the-sky.org
  
  Jupiter reaches its closest point to the Sun.
  
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• 08 Sep 2026 (4 days away): Conjunction of the Moon and Jupiter

  04-09-2026 17:11 via in-the-sky.org
  
  The Moon and Jupiter share the same right ascension, at a separation of 50'.
  
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• 04 Sep 2026 (5 minutes ago): Venus at aphelion

  04-09-2026 17:06 via in-the-sky.org
  
  Venus passes the furthest point along its orbit from the Sun.
  
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• 05 Sep 2026 (11 hours away): Lunar occultation of Beta Tauri

  04-09-2026 16:54 via in-the-sky.org
  
  The Moon will pass in front of Beta Tauri (Elnath), creating a lunar occultation visible from parts of Africa.
  
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• 04 Sep 2026 (12 minutes away): Venus at aphelion

  04-09-2026 16:54 via in-the-sky.org
  
  Venus passes the furthest point along its orbit from the Sun.
  
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• 04 Sep 2026 (32 minutes away): Venus at aphelion

  04-09-2026 16:33 via in-the-sky.org
  
  Venus passes the furthest point along its orbit from the Sun.
  
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• 04 Sep 2026 (49 minutes away): Venus at aphelion

  04-09-2026 16:17 via in-the-sky.org
  
  Venus passes the furthest point along its orbit from the Sun.
  
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• On this day in space! Sept. 4, 1962: NASA's Mariner 2 spacecrafts performs the 1st-ever maneuver in deep space so it could reach Venus

  04-09-2026 16:00 via space.com
  
  On Sept. 4, 1962, NASA's Mariner 2 spacecraft performed the first-ever rocket maneuver in deep space as it did a quick mid-course correction on its way to Venus. It had launched just eight days earlier and needed to burn its engines to ensure that its trajectory would take it to Venus. The midcourse maneuver was necessary because the Atlas-Agena rocket that launched Mariner 2 didn't launch with enough accuracy to get the trajectory right in one shot. When it was about 1.5 million miles (2.4 mill
  
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• Hubble Telescope sees spectacular 'superbubble' | Space photo of the day for Sept. 4, 2026

  04-09-2026 16:00 via space.com
  
  This nebula is named LHA 120-N44, or N44 for short, and it’s located in the constellation Dorado. (Image credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, D. Gouliermis)About 160,000 light-years away lies one of our Milky Way's little galactic neighbors: The Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). And thanks to a new observing program, the Hubble Space Telescope has provided us with an intricate image of a nebula in the LMC. The surprising part? There's a giant void at the center. Scientists call it a "superbubble."Wh
  
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• 05 Sep 2026 (12 hours away): Lunar occultation of Beta Tauri

  04-09-2026 15:38 via in-the-sky.org
  
  The Moon will pass in front of Beta Tauri (Elnath), creating a lunar occultation visible from parts of Africa.
  
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• 04 Sep 2026 (1 hour away): Venus at aphelion

  04-09-2026 15:21 via in-the-sky.org
  
  Venus passes the furthest point along its orbit from the Sun.
  
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• We played 'Exodus', a sci-fi RPG that should please 'Mass Effect' fans, even if you can't romance the talking octopus

  04-09-2026 15:00 via space.com
  
  Exodus' journey so far has been quite transparent, with publisher Wizards of the Coast and developer Archetype Entertainment giving us a surprising number of updates and looks at the sci-fi action RPG over the years. Now, at Gamescom 2026, they've finally given us the release date and a striking hands-on demo.I was able to play a 50-minute demo that takes protagonist Jun Aslan (who you can customize Commander Shepard-style) and their companions to Khonsu, a huge orbital space platform above the
  
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• How did the infant sun form? Scientists get surprising new insights from 4.6-billion-year-old space dust

  04-09-2026 15:00 via space.com
  
  New research suggests that dust from meteorites contains a "fossil record" dating back to the formation of the sun. The research reveals that magnetism played a far greater role in the birth of the solar system than had previously been suspected.Around 4.6 billion years ago, the solar system was a cloud of gas and dust, known as a solar nebula. Over the next few million years, this cloud began to flatten, forming a donut-shaped ring or torus with a budding star gathering mass at its core. Eventu
  
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• 05 Sep 2026 (13 hours away): Lunar occultation of Beta Tauri

  04-09-2026 14:48 via in-the-sky.org
  
  The Moon will pass in front of Beta Tauri (Elnath), creating a lunar occultation visible from parts of Africa.
  
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• 04 Sep 2026 (2 hours away): Venus at aphelion

  04-09-2026 14:17 via in-the-sky.org
  
  Venus passes the furthest point along its orbit from the Sun.
  
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• 05 Sep 2026 (14 hours away): Lunar occultation of Beta Tauri

  04-09-2026 13:39 via in-the-sky.org
  
  The Moon will pass in front of Beta Tauri (Elnath), creating a lunar occultation visible from parts of Africa.
  
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• 04 Sep 2026 (3 hours away): Venus at aphelion

  04-09-2026 13:19 via in-the-sky.org
  
  Venus passes the furthest point along its orbit from the Sun.
  
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• 05 Sep 2026 (15 hours away): Lunar occultation of Beta Tauri

  04-09-2026 12:46 via in-the-sky.org
  
  The Moon will pass in front of Beta Tauri (Elnath), creating a lunar occultation visible from parts of Africa.
  
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• 04 Sep 2026 (4 hours away): Venus at aphelion

  04-09-2026 12:21 via in-the-sky.org
  
  Venus passes the furthest point along its orbit from the Sun.
  
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• Scientists watch a comet being born 3 billion miles away

  04-09-2026 12:00 via space.com
  
  Astronomers have witnessed a small, icy body that orbits the sun out beyond Jupiter transforming into a comet, providing a missing link between comets and inert bodies called centaurs.The object in question is called 450P/LONEOS and is named after the Lowell Observatory survey that found it back in 2004. It is a centaur, which is a breed of inactive body that orbits the sun between Jupiter and Neptune. These objects are thought to have wandered in from the Kuiper Belt beyond Pluto, their paths p
  
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• 05 Sep 2026 (16 hours away): Lunar occultation of Beta Tauri

  04-09-2026 11:43 via in-the-sky.org
  
  The Moon will pass in front of Beta Tauri (Elnath), creating a lunar occultation visible from parts of Africa.
  
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• 04 Sep 2026 (5 hours away): Venus at aphelion

  04-09-2026 11:08 via in-the-sky.org
  
  Venus passes the furthest point along its orbit from the Sun.
  
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• 05 Sep 2026 (17 hours away): Lunar occultation of Beta Tauri

  04-09-2026 10:50 via in-the-sky.org
  
  The Moon will pass in front of Beta Tauri (Elnath), creating a lunar occultation visible from parts of Africa.
  
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• 04 Sep 2026 (6 hours away): Venus at aphelion

  04-09-2026 10:09 via in-the-sky.org
  
  Venus passes the furthest point along its orbit from the Sun.
  
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• 08 Sep 2026 (4 days away): Close approach of the Moon and M44

  04-09-2026 09:51 via in-the-sky.org
  
  The Moon and M44 pass close to each other.
  
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• 05 Sep 2026 (18 hours away): Lunar occultation of Beta Tauri

  04-09-2026 09:51 via in-the-sky.org
  
  The Moon will pass in front of Beta Tauri (Elnath), creating a lunar occultation visible from parts of Africa.
  
  Read more

• 04 Sep 2026 (7 hours ago): Moon at Last Quarter

  04-09-2026 09:51 via in-the-sky.org
  
  The Moon reaches last quarter phase – rising in the east at around midnight and appearing high in the sky by sunrise.
  
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• 04 Sep 2026 (6 hours ago): Moon at Last Quarter

  04-09-2026 09:51 via in-the-sky.org
  
  The Moon reaches last quarter phase – rising in the east at around midnight and appearing high in the sky by sunrise.
  
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• 04 Sep 2026 (58 minutes ago): Moon at Last Quarter

  04-09-2026 09:51 via in-the-sky.org
  
  The Moon reaches last quarter phase – rising in the east at around midnight and appearing high in the sky by sunrise.
  
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• 04 Sep 2026 (5 hours ago): Moon at Last Quarter

  04-09-2026 09:51 via in-the-sky.org
  
  The Moon reaches last quarter phase – rising in the east at around midnight and appearing high in the sky by sunrise.
  
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