Astronomy News 10 July 2025

All Eyes on the Skies: September 2025 Celestial Spectacles (Meteor Showers, Eclipses & More)

September 7, 2025 features a total lunar eclipse (Blood Moon) with about 83 minutes of totality, visible across Antarctica, Australia, Asia, the western Pacific and Africa, peaking around 18:11 UTC. A deep partial solar eclipse on September 21, 2025 reaches about 85% coverage, with maximum at 19:41 UTC and best views from New Zealand and nearby open-ocean regions between NZ and Antarctica. Saturn at opposition on September 21, 2025 appears near magnitude 0.6 with its rings tilted about 2° toward Earth, though the ring-plane is almost edge-on this year. Venus is occulted by the Moon on September 19, 2025, visible

30 July 2025

August 2025 Skywatch Alerts: Meteor Showers, Planetary Parades & Celestial Surprises

Perseid Meteor Shower peaks on the night of August 11–12 (into the pre-dawn of August 13), with up to about 100 shooting stars per hour under dark skies, though the August 9 full Sturgeon Moon at 84–90% illumination will wash out many dim meteors. On the morning of August 10, a rare six-planet parade will place Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, and Saturn visible to the naked eye, with Uranus and Neptune needing binoculars, and a nearly full Moon passing near Saturn. Aug 12 dawn sees a Venus–Jupiter conjunction with about 0.8 degrees separation; Venus at magnitude −4.0 and Jupiter at −1.9,

30 July 2025

Astronomy · Meteor Showers · Planets · Sky Events · Stargazing

Spectacular Skywatching Alert: Twin Meteor Showers, Dazzling Planets & More on July 30–31, 2025

Two meteor showers—Southern Delta Aquariids and Alpha Capricornids—are near peak around July 30, 2025, with the best viewing on the nights of July 29–31 under dark skies. Southern Delta Aquariids originate from debris of comet 96P/Machholz and run roughly July 18–August 12, with ideal conditions producing about 15–20 meteors per hour. Alpha Capricornids peak around July 30 and are known for slow, bright fireballs with long-lasting trails, linked to the parent body 169P/NEAT. The Moon will be about 27% illuminated at the peak, reducing moonlight interference with meteor visibility. Venus (magnitude −4.1) and Jupiter (magnitude −1.9) are visible in the

30 July 2025

Astronomy · Meteor Showers · Night Sky · Planets · Skywatching

SpaceX Launch, Artemis Accords & a ‘5-Hour Year’ Planet: Space Roundup (July 23–24, 2025)

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 launched NASA’s TRACERS mission from Vandenberg Space Force Base on July 23 at 2:13 p.m. EDT. The Falcon 9 first stage was on its 16th flight and performed a pinpoint landing at Vandenberg, marking SpaceX’s 479th booster recovery. TRACERS, Tandem Reconnection and Cusp Electrodynamics Reconnaissance Satellites, consists of two 200-kg satellites to study magnetic reconnection in Earth’s magnetosphere. Five small rideshare satellites accompanied TRACERS carrying experiments such as next-generation communication terminals and Earth radiation budget sensors. In the U.S., House appropriators on July 23 directed NASA to study alternatives to the SLS’s planned Exploration Upper Stage for

24 July 2025

Artemis Accords · Astronomy · Science News · Space · Space Exploration · SpaceX

Astronomers Spot a 7-Billion-Year-Old Interstellar Comet – Could It Be the Oldest Ever Seen?

On July 1, 2025, the ATLAS telescope in Río Hurtado, Chile, detected 3I/ATLAS near Jupiter’s orbit with a hyperbolic, interstellar trajectory. 3I/ATLAS is the third interstellar object identified, following 1I/ʻOumuamua in 2017 and 2I/Borisov in 2019. Estimates place 3I/ATLAS at 7–10 billion years old if formed in the Milky Way’s thick disk, making it possibly the oldest comet we’ve seen. Backward-orbit modeling using Gaia data and the Ōtautahi–Oxford model suggests an origin in the Milky Way’s thick disk. The nucleus is estimated to be 6–15 miles (10–24 km) across, larger than 1I/ʻOumuamua (~0.25 mile) and 2I/Borisov (~0.67 mile). It travels

17 July 2025

Astronomy · Comets · Discoveries · Science News · Space

Meet “Ammonite” – Fossil World at Solar System’s Edge Challenges Planet Nine Theory

Ammonite is the informal name for the trans-Neptunian object 2023 KQ14, discovered by the FOSSIL survey with Subaru’s 8.2-meter telescope in early 2023. Follow-up observations in July 2024 with the Canada–France–Hawaii Telescope and archival data from 2005 extended its observational arc to 19 years. Ammonite is a sednoid, a distant trans-Neptunian object with a highly eccentric orbit (e ≈ 0.74) and a diameter estimated at 220–380 km. Its orbital direction is markedly different from the three previously known sednoids, breaking their apparent clustering. Backward and forward simulations show Ammonite has been on a stable solar orbit for at least 4.5

17 July 2025

Astronomy · Fossils · Planet Nine · Solar System · Space Science

Cosmic Webs, Hidden Galaxies, and Political Turbulence: This Week’s Space News Will Change How You See the Universe / Updated: 2025, July 13th, 00:01 CET

Konstantinos Migkas and team mapped a 23-million-light-year cosmic web filament with temperatures around 10 million degrees, more than 20 times the Milky Way’s size, detected via the Sunyaev-Zel’dovich effect and Planck data. Durham University simulations predict 80–100 undetected Milky Way satellite galaxies, the so‑called orphan galaxies stripped of dark matter halos, potentially solving the missing satellites problem and bolstering the ΛCDM model. Interstellar object 3I/ATLAS, the third known interstellar visitor, is over 7 billion years old and travels at about 60 km/s, observed by Zwicky Transient Facility and confirmed by the Very Large Telescope with peak brightness expected in late

13 July 2025

Astronomy · Cosmology · Global Politics · NYSE:LMT · Science News · Space

Space News Explosion: Solar Sails, Interstellar Visitors, and the Race to Dominate the Final Frontier / Updated: 2025, July 12th, 00:00 CET

The SWIFT satellite constellation uses advanced solar sails to deliver earlier, more accurate space weather warnings. In December 2024, NASA’s Parker Solar Probe yielded the closest-ever images of the Sun’s corona and CMEs, vastly improving space weather predictions. SpaceX’s Starlink now has nearly 6,000 satellites in orbit and has regulatory approval to operate in India. Firefly Aerospace aims for an IPO around $2 billion, leveraging its Alpha rocket, Blue Ghost lunar lander, and Northrop Grumman partnerships. The Crew-11 mission will launch on July 31, sending four astronauts—two from NASA, one from JAXA, and one from Roscosmos—to the ISS aboard Crew

12 July 2025

Astronomy · Exploration · Future Trends · NYSE:NOC · Space · Space News · Technology

Space News Shockers: Satellite Wars, NASA Upheaval, and the Next Celestial Wonders Revealed / Updated: 2025, July 11th, 12:01 CET

Over 2,000 senior NASA employees have resigned amid budget cuts, with a potential 25% funding reduction threatening missions, while Sean Duffy, a former congressman and reality TV star, was named interim NASA administrator and serves as both NASA administrator and Secretary of Transportation. An alleged Iranian missile strike destroyed a $15 million U.S. communications radome at Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, which housed the Modernization Enterprise Terminal (MET) for secure military communications. Russia’s secret Nivelir project drew attention after Cosmos 2558 released a small object in orbit, a move interpreted as a possible anti-satellite test signaling space-arms concerns. The

11 July 2025

Astronomy · NASA · Satellites · Science News · Space

July 10 2025’s ‘Buck Moon’ Will Be the Farthest‑From‑the‑Sun, Low‑Riding Full Moon of the Decade—Here’s the Exact Time, Best Viewing Tricks & Pro Photo Hacks You Need

The Buck Moon peaks on 10 July 2025 at 4:37 p.m. EDT (20:37 UTC). Earth reached aphelion on 4 July 2025, making this the farthest full Moon from the Sun in 2025. During the 18.6-year major lunar standstill, the Moon hugs the southern horizon, producing the lowest July full Moon path since 2006. The Moon is not a supermoon, as it occurs near apogee on 5 July 2025 at a distance of 404,400 km. July’s full Moon is traditionally named Buck Moon (Algonquin) and Thunder Moon. In New York, Moonrise is at 8:53 p.m. and sunset at 8:28 p.m., a

10 July 2025

Astronomy · Moon Phases · Photography Tips · Space Events · Stargazing

Space in Crisis and Glory: NASA Shakeup, Starlink Expansion & Buck Moon Spectacle! / Updated: 2025, July 10th, 12:01 CET

The Buck Moon on July 10, 2025 will reach peak illumination at 4:37 p.m. UTC and appear as a micromoon due to its distance, coinciding with Earth’s aphelion and a Major Lunar Standstill. President Trump appointed Sean Duffy as interim NASA Administrator in July 2025, replacing Jared Isaacman amid a backdrop of budget cuts that could eliminate more than 2,000 senior NASA jobs, including 279 at Marshall Space Flight Center. NASA’s DART mission altered Dimorphos’ orbit and ejected more than 100 boulders, adding momentum almost as large as the spacecraft itself. China’s Chang’e-6 mission returned Moon far-side rocks, including 2.8-billion-year-old

10 July 2025

Astronomy · NASA · Satellites · Science News · Space

Space News Roundup: July 2025 / Updated: 2025, July 10th, 00:00 CET

NASA deployed the WB-57 and UAVSAR-equipped Gulfstream III to support Texas flood recovery, delivering high-resolution real-time data despite persistent cloud cover, with over 110 fatalities and more than 170 missing. The European Launcher Challenge finalists are Isar Aerospace, Rocket Factory Augsburg, MaiaSpace, PLD Space, and Orbex, each eligible for contracts up to €169 million. Airbus Defence and Space España will build two PAZ-2 radar satellites for Hisdesat, delivering sub-25 cm SAR imagery with AI analytics, and first in-service expected by 2031, with 65% of work performed by Spanish firms. India approved Starlink to operate under IN-SPACe for five years, allowing

10 July 2025

Astronomy · News · Science · Space · Technology

Astronomy News 10 July 2025 - 30 July 2025