Aurora Afterglow: Northern Lights Recede to Poles One of this week’s big celestial events was an unexpected aurora display that ventured far beyond the polar regions. A long-lasting solar flare on Aug 30 unleashed a coronal mass ejection (CME) toward Earth, sparking a geomagnetic storm (Kp 7–8) that hit on Sept 1–2 ts2.tech ts2.tech. The…
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Dark “Black Moon” Nights & Shooting Stars Late August 2025 brings unusually dark skies thanks to a rare Black Moon. The new Moon on Aug. 23 was the third new Moon in a season of four space.com – a configuration that leaves the next days moonless. By Aug 27–28 the slim crescent Moon is just a…
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A rare Black Moon occurred on August 23, 2025, as Summer 2025 had four new moons (June 25, July 23, Aug 23, Sept 21), yielding ultra-dark skies for Aug 24–26. Perseid meteors, peaking Aug 12–13 at up to ~100 per hour under ideal dark skies, were heavily washed out by an 84%-full Moon, leaving observed…
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The Perseid meteor shower remains active on Aug 21–22, offering a handful of meteors per hour under dark skies with the radiant in Perseus and occasional bright fireballs as the Moon is a thin waning crescent near new. The minor Kappa Cygnid meteor shower peaks around Aug 18 and produces about three meteors per hour…
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In late August 2025, a six-planet parade—Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune—will be visible in the pre-dawn sky along with a rare Black Moon. The Black Moon moment occurs around 2:06 a.m. EDT on Saturday, August 23, 2025 (6:06 UTC), placing the new moon between Earth and Sun. The Black Moon itself is invisible,…
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The Perseid meteor shower peaks on the night of August 12 into the early hours of August 13, 2025, with an expected rate of 10–20 meteors per hour under an 84% full moon. Even with the bright Moon, the brightest Perseid fireballs and colorful streaks are expected to punch through the moonlight. The best viewing…
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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…
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The Perseid meteor shower is active from mid-July to late August and is expected to peak around August 11–13 with up to about 100 meteors per hour under dark skies, though the full Sturgeon Moon on August 9 will brighten the sky and reduce counts to mostly the brightest fireballs. On August 4–5, the Moon…
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The Geminid meteor shower peaks overnight on December 13–14, 2025, with as many as 100–150 meteors per hour under dark skies, originating from asteroid 3200 Phaethon. The Ursid meteor shower peaks around December 21–22, 2025, near 11:00 UTC, typically producing 5–10 meteors per hour under dark skies thanks to a new Moon on December 20.…
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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…
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