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At 9:46 AM Eastern Daylight Time on June 1, 2025, instruments registered a geomagnetic K-index of 8, creeping toward 9 – a level rarely reached outside the most intense solar episodes. Such readings signal strong electric currents racing through Earth’s magnetic shield – the first sign that a severe solar storm disturbance has arrived. Power operators, satellite

The universe will smile back at us on May 29, thanks to an uncanny cosmic alignment The moon will team up with Castor and Pollux to create a smiling face in the night sky on May 29. (Image credit: Starry Night) A crescent moon will appear alongside the bright stars Castor and Pollox to form a lopsided grin in the night sky on May 29. Skywatchers in the U.S. will find the cosm

Two days after its new phase, the moon will make a close pass to Jupiter in the evening sky while the summer constellations will be rising. An illustration of the new moon of May 2025 near the sun on May 27. (Image credit: Chris Vaughan/Starry Night) The new moon of May occurs on May 26. Two days later the moon will make a close pass to Jupiter in the evening sky, and

At evening dusk – May 23, 24 and 25, 2020 – find an unobstructed horizon in the direction of sunset, and watch for the young moon, plus the planets Mercury and Venus, to pop out in the deepening twilight. From many places worldwide, it’ll be tough to spot the whisker-thin lunar crescent beneath Venus and Mercury on May 23, because the moon will be out only briefly after sunset. It’ll be

For North Americans, this is an eye-catching sight, visible even from brightly lit cities. See the moon shine between Venus and Saturn on May 23. (Image credit: Chris Vaughan/Starry Night) Should your local weather forecast suggest that Friday morning — the start of the Memorial Day Holiday Weekend — will be fair and clear, it will be well worth setting your alarm cloc

Each Monday, I pick out North America’s celestial highlights for the week ahead (which also apply to mid-northern latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere). Check my main feed for more in-depth articles on stargazing, astronomy, eclipses and more. The Night Sky This Week: May 19-25, 2025 As the moon continues to wane from being full last week, the night skies darken e

ednesday, May 21 Virgo the Maiden is draped across the southern sky late this evening, offering excellent views of a famous galaxy within its bounds: M104, also known as the Sombrero Galaxy. Glowing at magnitude 8, this edge-on spiral is some 30 million light-years from Earth. It boasts a thin, dark dust lane that blocks light across its center, which has earned it the name Sombrero. This stru

Skywatchers were left surprised, puzzled and awestruck by a mysterious streak of light slicing through the night sky. Mike Lewinski photographer the white streak above Crestone, Colorado, U.S. (Image credit: Mike Lewinski (Flickr)) The night sky offered lucky skywatchers an unexpected double feature on May 17 — a surprise geomagnetic storm and a mysterious white p

X2.7-class eruption from sunspot AR4087 disrupts radio signals as the active region rotates toward Earth, raising the risk of more flares ahead. The sun roared to life early Tuesday (May 14), unleashing a powerful X-class solar flare from a newly emerging sunspot region AR4087. The eruption peaked at 4:25 a.m. EDT (0825 GMT), triggering strong R3-level radio blackouts across Europe, Asia

The X2.7 solar flare of 14 May 2025, on the left, was captured by the Solar Dynamics Observatory. (NASA/SDO) On 14 May 2025, the Sun erupted with the biggest flare we've seen all year. From the eastern limb of the Sun – that is, the left side – active sunspot region (AR) 4087 erupted in a huge, X2.7 solar flare, peaking at 08:25 UTC. The flash of X- and gamma radiation was power