Latest observations, tips, and discoveries from the cosmos
A metallic sphere with no welds, unknown etchings, and nine internal microspheres landed in Buga, Colombia in March 2025. Is it alien technology, an art project, or something else entirely?
Ian Clayton
6 March 2026
NASA has identified the culprit behind the helium flow issue that forced Artemis II off the launch pad: a dislodged seal in a quick disconnect fitting. With repairs complete and additional work underway in the VAB, a rollout later this month puts an April launch back in reach.
Ian Clayton
5 March 2026
NASA has fundamentally redesigned Artemis III: the mission will no longer land on the Moon. Instead, astronauts will dock with commercial landers in Earth orbit as a test run, with the first actual lunar landing now planned for 2028.
Ian Clayton
28 February 2026
Trump's UAP disclosure order is real and recent. But claims that religious fundamentalists inside the Pentagon are currently blocking the release deserve careful scrutiny. Here's what's verified, and what isn't.
Ian Clayton
26 February 2026
Just days after a successful wet dress rehearsal raised hopes for a March launch, a helium flow anomaly in the rocket's upper stage has forced NASA to roll Artemis II back to the Vehicle Assembly Building. March is now ruled out, so when will four astronauts finally fly to the Moon?
Ian Clayton
24 February 2026
There's been a massive surge in public interest surrounding UFOs and UAPs, alongside renewed rumours that the U.S. government may finally be ready to disclose what it knows. We unpack what's real, what's rumour, and what Trump's announcement actually means.
Ian Clayton
24 February 2026
NASA continues preparations for the historic Artemis II mission, addressing technical challenges as the agency targets a March 2026 launch for humanity's first crewed lunar flyby in over 50 years.
Ian Clayton
13 February 2026
Up to 6 planets are visible in the pre-dawn sky late February–early March 2026. Venus anchors the lineup at magnitude −4.2, with Jupiter, Saturn, Mars, Uranus and Neptune spread across the southeast. No telescope needed for the four brightest.
Ian Clayton
12 February 2026
Jupiter reached opposition on 10 January 2026 in Gemini, closest approach ~633 million km, magnitude −2.7. Evening object through early July, then returns to morning sky from mid-August. Month-by-month guide to cloud bands, Great Red Spot and Galilean moons.
Ian Clayton
11 February 2026
Mars is having a quiet but significant year in 2026. It passed behind the Sun on 9 January (solar conjunction) and was completely invisible for a couple of m…
Ian Clayton
11 February 2026
Mercury is one of the most satisfying planets to track down precisely because it's awkward. It never wanders far from the Sun, so you're always hunting for i…
Ian Clayton
11 February 2026
Neptune is the hardest of the eight planets to observe. It never becomes naked-eye, it looks like an ordinary faint star in binoculars unless you know exactl…
Ian Clayton
11 February 2026
Saturn is most people's favourite thing to see through a telescope, and 2026 is a good year to point one at it. After the rings turned nearly edge-on in 2025…
Ian Clayton
11 February 2026
Uranus is a genuinely interesting challenge. At magnitude +5.6 it's just within naked-eye reach from a dark field, yet it looks exactly like a faint star: no…
Ian Clayton
11 February 2026
Venus is impossible to miss when it's in the sky. In 2026 it's giving us a long, well-placed evening apparition, dominant in the western sky from March right…
Ian Clayton
11 February 2026
Mercury reaches greatest elongation around 20–22 February: the best window of early 2026. Look 30–45 minutes after sunset, low in the western sky. Here's exactly where and when.
Ian Clayton
10 February 2026
Moon phases are caused by your viewing angle on the illuminated half, not Earth's shadow. This guide covers all 8 phases, the 29.5-day cycle, and the best phase for telescope viewing.
Ian Clayton
5 February 2026
Winter gives you the longest nights of the year plus Orion, Sirius and the Pleiades, here's how to make the most of them, from layering up to finding your first deep-sky objects.
Ian Clayton
15 January 2026