Astronomy News 10 August 2025

Historic Vulcan Launch, Artemis Moon Hardware & Perseid Meteor Spectacle – Space News Roundup (Aug 11–12, 2025)

The Orion Stage Adapter for Artemis II was completed at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center and will ship to Kennedy Space Center, with Artemis II planned as a 10-day crewed lunar trip around the Moon by April 2026. NASA announced Phase 2 of its LunaRecycle challenge offering up to $2 million in prizes to prototype recycling systems for a lunar base, with finalists demonstrating their tech in August 2026. NASA awarded a $3.6 billion contract to KBR Wyle Services LLC to support astronaut health and performance research through 2035, covering programs at Johnson Space Center from the ISS to Artemis.

12 August 2025

Dazzling Meteor Shower Peaks Tonight – Your Skywatch Guide for August 11–12, 2025

Perseid meteor shower peaks August 11–12 (into the pre-dawn hours) with an 84% full Moon washing out fainter meteors, so expected rates drop to about 10–20 per hour instead of the usual 50–100. The best viewing window is midnight to dawn, with a peak surge around 2–3 a.m. local time as the Perseid radiant in Perseus climbs high. Fireballs may still appear, and occasional long-lasting earthgrazers could skim the atmosphere early in the night even under moonlight. Venus and Jupiter form a close dawn conjunction on August 11–12, about 1 degree apart, visible to the naked eye about 1–2 hours

11 August 2025

Astronomy · Events · Meteor Showers · NASDAQ:AMZN · Skywatching · Stargazing

How to Watch the Perseid Meteor Shower 2025 – Peak Dates, Best Viewing Times, and Tips

The Perseids peak on August 12–13, 2025, as Earth passes through the densest part of Swift-Tuttle’s debris, with the official peak around 02:30–03:00 UTC on August 13. The Moon will be a bright waning gibbous at about 83–84% illumination during peak, severely reducing counts from the typical 50–100 meteors per hour to about 10–20 per hour. The best viewing times are after midnight local time, with NASA noting a prime window around 2–3 a.m. local time. The radiant lies in the constellation Perseus, near the Perseus–Cassiopeia border, so many meteors appear to radiate from that area. The shower’s material comes

11 August 2025

Astronomy · Meteor Showers · Night Sky · Perseids · Viewing Tips

Battle of the Telescopes: StellaLyra 8″ & Apertura AD8 Dobsonians vs. Vaonis Vespera II Smart Scope (2025 Comparison)

StellaLyra 8″ f/6 and Apertura AD8 are both 203 mm (8″) parabolic-mirror Dobsonians with a 1200 mm focal length (≈ f/6). Vaonis Vespera II uses a 50 mm f/5 quadruplet apochromatic refractor with a built‑in camera and a Sony IMX585 sensor (8.3 MP). The StellaLyra and Apertura are manual Dobsonians on wooden alt-az mounts, while the Vespera II is a motorized GoTo system with auto‑initialization and tracking. The Vespera II offers a native field of view around 1.6° × 0.9°, enabling large targets to be captured on its screen. Visual observing with the 8″ Dobs delivers real-time eyepiece views, whereas

10 August 2025

Astronomy · Dobsonian Telescopes · Product Reviews · Smart Scopes · Telescope Comparison

The Best Telescopes of 2025: What the Pros Are Using and What You Should Buy

The Celestron NexStar 8SE is a 203 mm Schmidt-Cassegrain with a GoTo computerized fork mount and f/10 optics, delivering bright, detailed views but at a high price for beginners. The Sky-Watcher 8-inch Dobsonian is a 203 mm reflector on a manual alt-azimuth mount with f/6, offering a large light bucket at low cost but no tracking. The Celestron NexStar Evolution 9.25 has a 235 mm aperture, premium Go-To fork mount with built-in battery and WiFi app, but is heavy (~28 kg) and expensive. The Sky-Watcher SkyMax 150 Maksutov-Cassegrain delivers high-power planetary detail with a 150 mm aperture and f/12, but

10 August 2025

Astronomy · Buying Guides · Equipment Reviews · Recommendations · Telescopes

Epic Skywatch Alert (Aug 10–11, 2025): Perseid Meteor Shower Peaks under Bright Moon – Plus Venus & Jupiter’s Dazzling Conjunction

The Perseid Meteor Shower peaks on the night of August 11–12, 2025, under a waning gibbous Moon about 84% illuminated, with expected meteor rates of 10–20 per hour in bright conditions despite the usual 50–100 per hour under dark skies. Venus–Jupiter conjunction occurs August 11–12, 2025, with the two planets separated by about 0.5°–1°, Venus at magnitude −4 and Jupiter at magnitude −2, rising in the eastern pre-dawn sky around 4:30–5:00 a.m. Saturn rises around 10:30 p.m. in early August and by mid-August is up by about 8:30 p.m., shining in Aquarius with its rings visible in a small telescope.

10 August 2025

Astronomy · Meteor Showers · Planetary Events · Skywatching · Space Highlights

Spectacular Venus–Jupiter “Cosmic Kiss” Dazzles Early Morning Skies (Don’t Miss It!)

The Venus–Jupiter conjunction occurs August 11–13, 2025, with its closest approach on August 12 at about 0.86° apart. Venus will shine around magnitude -4.0 and Jupiter around -1.8 to -2 during the pairing. The pair sits about 35° from the Sun, enabling viewing in a dark dawn sky. Observers should view about 45 minutes to an hour before sunrise, when the planets are 5–10° above the horizon and will rise to 15–20° as dawn progresses. In the dawn sky, Venus appears lower and brighter, with Jupiter above, forming a striking naked-eye close pair. With binoculars or a telescope, both planets

10 August 2025

Astronomy · Celestial Events · Jupiter · Morning Sky · Venus

August 2025 Night Sky Spectacles: Rare Black Moon, Nebula Treasure, Mars in Virgo & Saturn’s Shadow Show

On August 23, 2025, the Moon undergoes a seasonal Black Moon New Moon in Virgo at 06:06 UTC, the third New Moon in a season with four. The Dumbbell Nebula, M27, in Vulpecula is a bright planetary nebula visible throughout August 2025 and was first discovered by Charles Messier in 1764. Mars in August 2025 has a brightness of about magnitude 1.6 and a disk roughly 5 arcseconds across. Mars makes a close approach to Beta Virginis (Zavijava) on August 2, 2025, passing about 8 arcminutes to the southeast. By August 24, 2025, Mars will be about 2.7° south of

10 August 2025

Astronomy · Night Sky · Planets · Space Events · Stargazing

Six Planets Will Align in the Sky This Month—Here’s When and How to Watch the Rare “Planet Parade”

On August 10, six planets—Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune—will line up in a broad arc in the pre-dawn sky. Four of these planets (Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, Saturn) are visible to the naked eye, while Uranus and Neptune require binoculars or a small telescope. NASA notes that planetary parades of this kind occur only every few years, and become rarer as more planets join the lineup. The best viewing period is in mid-to-late August, with the prime nights around August 23 when the Moon is near new and does not wash out the view. Venus and Jupiter come very

10 August 2025

Astronomy · Events · Planets · Skywatching · Space

Full Moons 2025–2026: Supermoons, Blood Moons & Cultural Celebrations You Can’t Miss

Sept. 7, 2025 – Corn Moon full moon coincides with a total lunar eclipse (Blood Moon) visible in Asia, Africa, and Australia. Oct. 6–7, 2025 – Harvest Moon is a near-perigee supermoon, peaking around 11:48 PM EDT, with the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival celebrated across China and Asia. Nov. 5, 2025 – Beaver Moon is a supermoon and the closest full moon of 2025, about 356,980 km from Earth and appearing roughly 14% bigger and 30% brighter. Dec. 4, 2025 – Cold Moon is the third consecutive full supermoon of 2025. Jan. 3, 2026 – Wolf Moon is a supermoon, peaking

10 August 2025

Astronomy · Blood Moons · Culture · Events · Supermoons

December 2025’s Dazzling Cold Moon – A Final Supermoon Lighting Up the Long Winter Night

The December 4, 2025 full Moon, known as the Cold Moon, peaks at 23:15 UTC (6:15 p.m. EST; 3:15 p.m. PST in Los Angeles). This full Moon is a supermoon, about 7–8% larger in apparent size and roughly 15% brighter than a typical full Moon. It is the final in a series of three back-to-back 2025 supermoons, following October and November events. It is the closest full Moon to the winter solstice in 2025, though it occurs a couple weeks before the solstice and is also called the Long Night Moon. Because the Moon is at perigee, tides around the

10 August 2025

Astronomy · Moon · Night Sky · Supermoon · Winter

Beaver Moon 2025: November’s Supermoon Spectacle Illuminates Sky and Storytelling

The Beaver Moon occurs on November 5, 2025, with peak illumination at 13:19 GMT (8:19 a.m. EST). At peak, the Moon will be about 356,980 km (221,818 miles) from Earth, roughly 7.9% closer and about 16% brighter than an average full Moon. It’s a supermoon—the biggest and brightest full Moon of 2025, and the closest full Moon since 2019. The full Moon is traditionally Beaver Moon, but in 2025 it can also be regarded as the Hunter’s Moon because the Harvest Moon fell on October 6; this overlap last occurred in 2020 and won’t recur until 2028. The Moon sits

10 August 2025

Astronomy · Moon · Night Sky · Storytelling · Supermoon

Astronomy News 10 August 2025 - 12 August 2025