#astronomy

Astronomers have identified a trans-Neptunian object beyond Pluto with a thin atmosphere, the first confirmed case of its kind outside Pluto and a sign that the outer solar system may be more active than once believed.

The Paranal solar ESPRESSO Telescope has begun observations at ESO’s Paranal site in Chile, giving astronomers a dedicated way to study the Sun as a stand-in for stellar noise that can obscure Earth-like exoplanets.

The Eta Aquariid meteor shower is expected to peak overnight on May 5-6, with fast meteors from Halley’s Comet visible despite moonlight that may wash out dimmer streaks.

A new preprint analyzing 51 infant binary systems finds evidence that many close stellar pairs likely formed from a single unstable disk, strengthening the case for disk fragmentation.

A new preprint says a machine-learning analysis of more than 83 million TESS light curves identified 11,554 possible exoplanets, a haul large enough to potentially transform the field if confirmed.

The Moon enters a waning gibbous phase on May 2, but remains effectively fully illuminated in the night sky, with another full moon expected later in the month.

Astronomy watchers get a crowded month in 2026, starting with the Flower Moon on May 1 and ending with a second full moon on May 31, a calendar quirk that turns this month into a two-full-moon event.

A new Hubble image of NGC 3137 highlights a spiral galaxy 53 million light-years away that could help astronomers study star formation, black holes, and a galaxy group that may resemble our own.

Long-term observations suggest Uranus's two outermost rings are not near twins after all, but chemically and visually distinct structures with different possible sources.

A proposed Canadian mission called POET would search for Earth-sized and super-Earth exoplanets transiting small, cool stars where the signal could be easier to detect.

A temperature imbalance in the Milky Way’s enormous halo of hot gas now appears to have a culprit: the gravitational tug of the Large Magellanic Cloud, which is slowly pushing the galaxy southward and compressing gas on

The European Space Agency’s Euclid mission has released a much larger dataset, and astronomers are asking the public to help identify the arcs and rings of gravitational lensing hidden inside it.

Researchers say a new AI approach called GAME could improve how astronomers reconstruct the universe’s evolution, potentially giving scientists a stronger way to test the standard model of cosmology.

Researchers analyzing more than 100,000 giant stars say they have identified the edge of the Milky Way’s star-forming disc at roughly 40,000 light-years from the galactic center.

New research suggests young solar-mass stars may dim and soften in X-rays earlier than previously thought, potentially easing some of the atmospheric stripping risk for nearby planets.

Using data from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument, researchers have built the largest 3D map of the universe yet, giving scientists a more detailed way to trace cosmic structure and probe dark energy.

Videos from volunteer skywatchers helped scientists compare lunar impact flashes seen from Earth with observations made during Artemis II, and NASA says the project is only beginning.

The Moon is 82% illuminated on April 27, putting skywatchers just days away from a full moon that NASA expects on May 1.

NASA used Hubble’s 36th launch anniversary to highlight a new close-up image of the Trifid Nebula, showing a turbulent patch of gas and dust shaped by massive stars over hundreds of thousands of years.

A seasonal skywatching explainer revisits why some star patterns remain familiar year-round while others, such as Orion, are tied to particular months and hemispheres.