And just like that, it’s over. Total solar eclipses are incredible moments in time, but they are fleeting. As the moon passes directly in front of the sun and its shadow sweeps across Earth’s surface, the temperature drops and the light takes on an eerie twilight quality. Birds and other animals go quiet. It’s a […]
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The Perseid meteor shower, one of the most prolific and impressive meteor showers of the year, peaks tonight! Widely regarded as one of the best meteor showers of the year, the Perseids can produce up to 100 meteors per hour under ideal viewing conditions and weather permitting. This year’s display is particularly favorable because the […]
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Today (Aug. 12), millions of people across Greenland, Iceland and Spain will witness a total solar eclipse as the moon completely covers the sun, turning day into night, albeit briefly. It’s Europe’s first total solar eclipse since 1999, and with a maximum of 2 minutes, 18 seconds of totality, it will be worth the wait […]
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A total solar eclipse isn’t just a spectacular sight to witness for those lucky enough to lie in the path of totality (or travel to it, as many dedicated skywatchers do). It also gives scientists a rare chance to study the sun’s outer atmosphere, or corona, during the day. As such, NASA plans to take […]
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A spectacular total solar eclipse will coincide with the peak of the Perseid meteor shower on Aug. 12-13. But will you be able to spot shooting stars in the false twilight of totality? Perseids appear as Earth plows through the stream of debris shed by comet Swift-Tuttle. Up to 100 shooting stars may be seen […]
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Originally launched a decade ago, the ZWO ASI174MM is a planetary astrophotography camera — something you insert into the eyepiece of a telescope to take images and video of deep-sky objects, planets, the moon and the sun. This one is very much geared towards the latter, with solar and lunar imaging its goal. Specifications Product […]
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On Aug. 12, 2026, a total solar eclipse will sweep across Earth, giving skywatchers across Greenland, Iceland and northern Spain an incredible view of totality. As the moon completely covers the sun, day will briefly turn to twilight, revealing the sun’s faint outer atmosphere, the corona. But could totality reveal something else too? Although totality […]
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If you’re planning to watch the total solar eclipse on Aug. 12, knowing exactly when to look up is crucial. While totality will be visible from parts of Greenland, Iceland and Spain, millions more people across Europe will experience a dramatic partial solar eclipse. Whether you’re chasing the moon‘s shadow in Reykjavik or watching the […]
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Every total solar eclipse is different. While the silhouette of the moon passing across the sun barely changes, the moment our natural satellite covers the entire solar disk, something spectacular happens — the emergence of the corona. The Latin word for “crown”, the solar corona is one of the wonders of nature. To gaze upon […]
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We’re just a few short days away from the Aug. 12 total solar eclipse, when millions will watch as the moon glides across the face of the sun, hiding its light in a wondrous display of orbital mechanics. The eclipse will unfold during August’s new moon phase, as the lunar disk slips silently between the […]
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Early risers will catch a spectacular sight in the predawn hours of Aug. 9, as the slender crescent moon shines close to the red light of Mars among the stars of the constellation Taurus. The 17%-lit crescent moon will rise around four hours before sunrise, or shortly after 2 a.m. for viewers in New York. […]
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It’s hardly a “Great American Eclipse,” but on Aug. 12, 2026, some parts of the North American continent will see a partial solar eclipse. Will it be as impressive as on April 8, 2024, when totality visited Mexico, 15 U.S. states and six provinces in Canada? No, yet in some parts of the U.S. and […]
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Specifications Resolution: 2,073,600 counts/rev; 0.625 arc-second Slewing speeds: 16x and 1200x Payload capacity: 8.8 lbs/4kg Dovetail saddle: 45mm Vixen-style Controls: Power button and 8-way sliding switch Power: 8x AA batteries (not supplied)/external 12V DC via adaptor panel Mount head weight: 2.9 lbs/1.3kg Total weight with optional tripod: 8.8 lbs/4.05kg Tripod: 31.7-59.8 inches/80.5-152cm adjustable aluminum tripod […]
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Solar observation can be tricky or underwhelming when trying to observe with handheld methods such as using solar eclipse glasses and solar binoculars. Hunting for the sun with binoculars can be tricky due to the essential ISO 12312-2 rated solar filters on the glass blocking all vision except for the solar disk itself. This is […]
Read MoreIt will be a magnificent day for England’s south coast. From Portsmouth’s Historic Dockyard and Brighton’s Royal Pavilion to Dorset’s Jurassic Coast and Cornwall’s Land’s End, beaches and cliff tops will be plunged into darkness in the day during the U.K.’s first total solar eclipse for almost 91 years. There is, however, a problem — […]
Read MoreAre you ready for the eclipse? Whether you’re bound for the path of totality or set to see a partial eclipse from Europe, Canada or the northeast U.S. on Wednesday, Aug. 12, there’s a dirty word eclipse chasers hate to utter during an eclipse season, and yet become completely obsessed with — clouds. Related: Total […]
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The Aug. 12 total solar eclipse is less than a week away! We know that eclipse planning can be daunting, so we’ve put together a list of great eclipse apps to help make things that little bit easier. Over 15 million people across Spain, Greenland and Iceland will witness totality on Aug. 12, while almost […]
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The total solar eclipse on Aug. 12, 2026 will sweep across parts of the Northern Hemisphere, offering millions of people a chance to witness one of nature’s most spectacular sights. The path of totality — in which the moon completely covers the sun — begins over the Arctic Ocean, before crossing eastern Greenland, western Iceland […]
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The Aug. 12 total solar eclipse is nearly here, and if you’re hoping to observe totality, you will likely be heading to Greenland, Iceland, or Spain. The UK gets a solid 90% show, while the US only catches a small partial solar eclipse. Wherever you’re watching it from, do not look directly at the sun […]
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Get notified of updates One week until the total solar eclipse 2026: The countdown has begun… are you ready? The countdown has begun! The total solar eclipse 2026 will occur on Aug. 12. (Image credit: Photo by Erin Clark/The Boston Globe via Getty Images) In just one week, millions of people across Greenland, Iceland and […]
Read MoreGet ready stargazers! We’re just one week away from the total solar eclipse on Aug. 12, when millions of stargazers will be treated to a spectacular display as the lunar disk passes in front of the sun, blocking its light. Roughly 15.2 million people spread across Greenland, Iceland, Portugal, Russia and Spain will be in […]
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Meet the Dynamic Eclipse Broadcast Initiative — a passion-driven citizen science endeavour that shares breathtaking views of total solar eclipses while capturing valuable data on the sun’s incandescent atmosphere. At the heart of our solar system is a burning ball of superheated gas 100 times the width of Earth, with a thermonuclear reaction raging at […]
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The full moon of August 2026 will occur at 12:18 a.m. (0416 GMT) on Aug. 28, as the lunar disk shines directly opposite the sun in Earth’s sky. Its arrival will trigger a breathtaking lunar eclipse late in the month, which will be visible across the Americas and parts of Africa and Europe as Earth […]
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When brand new entry-level telescopes start at a few hundred dollars, the idea of getting anything decent for pocket change sounds like a pipe dream. Yet the secondhand market often hides real bargains for those willing to hunt them down. Deals like this appear because people buy on impulse, then quickly lose interest for various […]
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Specifications Aperture: 3 inches / 76mm Focal length: 25-inches / 630mm Focal ratio: f/8.3 Optical design: Achromatic doublet dedicated H-alpha refractor Filter type: Hydrogen-alpha, 656.28nm (meets ISO 12312-2) Etalon: Sky-Watcher Solis etalon technology (<0.5 Å bandwidth) Blocking filter: 11.5mm blocking filter integrated into supplied diagonal Tuning system: Mechanical Trifid/Triffid pressure tuner Focuser: 2-inch dual-speed Crayford […]
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Mention that a total solar eclipse is coming, and almost nobody will say, “Wow, we get to see the solar corona!” That’s despite the sun’s tenuous outer atmosphere being the number one sight during totality — a genuine jaw-dropper. Instead, the focus on social media is always on the darkness during the day, arguably the […]
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Spotting scopes are typically used by birders and for hunting, but under a dark sky, the Nocs Provisions Lite View reveals a different personality. With a 56mm objective lens and a versatile 9x-27x zoom range, this compact spotting scope is surprisingly capable when turned toward not just the moon, but bright star clusters, too. Key […]
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The excitement of the new moon mission has potentially helped create a new generation of stargazers, just like the Apollo program did 60 years ago. These new observers will be looking for a beginner’s telescope that is easy to use and which can show them the craters on the moon in particular. The Celestron Moon […]
Read MoreIf you’ve not seen the Milky Way this year from the Northern Hemisphere, it’s time to make a plan. August’s dark sky window opens around Aug. 6, when the moon begins to rise late at night as a waning crescent, meaning dark moonless skies for about 10 nights. That’s when to see the Milky Way […]
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Looking forward to the 2026 solar eclipse, happening on Aug. 12? I know I am and even though it’s not a total solar eclipse here in the UK (the path of totality crosses Greenland, Iceland and northern Spain), we’ll still get to watch the moon obscure around 90% of the Sun, a sight that terrified […]
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Venus dominates the evening sky throughout August, but early risers have a special treat too, as Mercury and Jupiter draw together in a beautiful dawn conjunction around mid-month. From our vantage point on Earth, Venus reaches the end of its tether to the sun on the evening of Aug. 15, when it is at greatest […]
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