Members Can Post Anonymously On This Site
-
Similar Topics
-
By NASA
Skywatching Skywatching Home What’s Up Meteor Showers Eclipses Daily Moon Guide More Tips & Guides Skywatching FAQ Night Sky Network Saturn’s spectacle, a Conjunction, and the Autumnal Equinox
Saturn shines throughout the month, a conjunction sparkles in the sky, and we welcome the autumnal equinox.
Skywatching Highlights
All of September: Saturn is visible Sept. 19: A conjunction between the Moon, Venus, and Regulus Sept. 21: Saturn is at opposition Sept. 22: The autumnal equinox Transcript
What’s Up for September? Saturn puts on a spectacular show, a sunrise conjunction shines bright, and we ring in the autumnal equinox.
Saturn at Opposition
Saturn will be putting on an out-of-this-world performance this month.
While Venus and Jupiter shine in the eastern morning sky, the ringed planet will be incredibly bright in the sky throughout September in the eastern evening sky and western early morning sky.
But why is Saturn the star of the show? Well, on September 21, Saturn will be at opposition, meaning Earth will find itself in between Saturn and the Sun, temporarily lined up.
This also means that Saturn is at its closest and brightest all year!
Saturn will be visible with just your eyes in the night sky, but with a small telescope, you might be able to see its rings!
Sky chart showing Saturn in the western sky before sunrise in late September. NASA/JPL-Caltech Conjunction Trio
If you look to the east just before sunrise on September 19, you’ll see a trio of celestial objects in a magnificent conjunction.
In the early pre-dawn hours, look east toward the waning, crescent Moon setting in the sky and you’ll notice something peculiar.
The Moon will be nestled up right next to both Venus and Regulus, one of the brightest stars in the night sky.
The three are part of a conjunction, which simply means that they look close together in the sky (even if they’re actually far apart in space).
To find this conjunction, just look to the Moon.
And if you want some additional astronomical context, or want to specifically locate Regulus, this star lies within the constellation Leo, the lion.
Sky chart showing a conjunction between the Moon, Venus, and Regulus in the eastern sky before sunrise on September 19, 2025 NASA/JPL-Caltech The Autumnal Equinox
On September 22, we mark the autumnal equinox or the official start of fall in the northern hemisphere.
Astronomically, this is the time when the Sun finds itself exactly above the equator.
On this day, our planet isn’t tilted toward or away from the Sun, and both day and night are almost exactly 12 hours (with a few small exceptions).
An illustrated panel from an animation showing Earth’s positioning during the autumnal equinox. NASA/JPL-Caltech Moon Phases + Conclusion
Here are the phases of the Moon for September.
You can stay up to date on all of NASA’s missions exploring the solar system and beyond at science.nasa.gov.
I’m Chelsea Gohd from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and that’s What’s Up for this month.
The phases of the Moon for September 2025. NASA/JPL-Caltech Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA
Missions
Humans in Space
Climate Change
Solar System
View the full article
-
By NASA
Skywatching Skywatching Home What’s Up Meteor Showers Eclipses Daily Moon Guide More Tips & Guides Skywatching FAQ Night Sky Network Venus-Jupiter Conjunction and Meteor Mojo
Jupiter and Venus shine brightly in the mornings as they appear to graze each other in the sky on the 11th and 12th. The Perseids are washed out by the Moon.
Skywatching Highlights
All Month – Planet Visibility:
Mercury: Pops up above the horizon during the second half of August. Appears very low, below 10 degrees altitude. Venus: Shines very brightly in the east each morning before sunrise, about 20 to 30 degrees above the horizon. Mars: Can be observed low in the west during the hour after sunset, appearing about as bright as the brightest stars in the Big Dipper. Jupiter: Appears in the east each morning, together with Venus, but much less bright. Saturn: Observable late night to dawn. Rises around 10:30 p.m. early in the month, and around 8:30 p.m. by the end of the month. Find it high in the south as sunrise approaches. Skywatching Highlights:
August 11 & 12 – Venus-Jupiter Conjunction – The two brightest planets have a close meetup over several days, appearing closest over two days on the 11th and 12th, at just a degree apart.
August 19 & 20 – Moon with Jupiter & Venus – A slim lunar crescent joins Jupiter and Venus — still relatively close in the sky after their conjunction. They appear in the east in the several hours preceding sunrise.
August 12th-13th – Perseids Peak – The celebrated annual meteor shower will be hampered by an 84%-full Moon on the peak night. A few bright meteors may still be seen in the pre-dawn hours, but viewing conditions are not ideal this year.
All month – The Dumbbell Nebula (M27) – One of the easiest planetary nebulas to observe, M27 appears within the Summer Triangle star pattern, high overhead in the first half of the night.
Transcript
What’s Up for August? Jupiter and Venus have a morning meetup, we check out this year’s Perseid meteor shower, and peek into the future of our own Sun.
Mars is the lone planet in the early evening sky this month, visible low in the west for about an hour after the sky starts to darken. It’s now only about 60% as bright as it appeared back in May.
Saturn is rising by about 10 pm, and you’ll see it showing up a bit earlier each evening as the month goes on. You’ll find it in the east after dark with the constellations Cassiopeia and Andromeda. The Ringed Planet makes its way over to the western part of the sky by dawn, where early risers will find it on August mornings.
The real highlight of August is the close approach of Jupiter and Venus. They shine brightly in the east before sunrise throughout the month. The pair begin the month farther apart, but quickly approach each other in the sky. They appear at their closest on the 11th and 12th — only about a degree apart. Their rendezvous happens against a backdrop of bright stars including Orion, Taurus, Gemini, and Sirius. A slim crescent Moon joins the pair of planets after they separate again, on the mornings of the 19th and 20th.
Sky chart showing the eastern sky before sunrise on August 11th, with Venus and Jupiter only a degree apart. NASA/JPL-Caltech One of the best annual meteor showers, the Perseids, peaks overnight on August 12th and into the 13th. Unfortunately, this year the Moon is nearly full on the peak night, and its glare will wash out all but the brightest meteors. While that’s not so great for Perseid watchers, the good news is that another favorite annual meteor shower, the Geminids, is poised for Moon-free viewing in December.
August is a great time to see one of the easiest-to-observe nebulas in the sky.
The Dumbbell Nebula, also known as M27, is high overhead on August nights. It’s a type of nebula called a “planetary nebula.”
A nebula is a giant cloud of gas and dust in space, and planetary nebulas are produced by stars like our Sun when they become old and nuclear fusion ceases inside them. They blow off their outer layers, leaving behind a small, hot remnant called a white dwarf. The white dwarf produces lots of bright ultraviolet light that illuminates the nebula from the inside, as the expanding shell of gas absorbs the UV light and re-radiates it as visible light.
The Dumbbell Nebula, nicknamed for its dumbbell-like shape, appears as a small, faint patch of light about a quarter of the width of the full moon in binoculars or a small telescope. It lies within the Summer Triangle, a pattern of stars that’s easy to find overhead in the August sky. You’ll find the nebula about a third of the way between its bright stars Altair and Deneb.
Sky chart showing the Summer Triangle asterism, with the location of the Dumbbell Nebula (M27) indicated. NASA/JPL-Caltech Here’s hoping you get a chance to observe this glimpse into the future that awaits our Sun about 5 billion years from now. It’s part of a cycle that seeds the galaxy with the ingredients for new generations of stars and planets — perhaps even some not too different from our own.
Here are the phases of the Moon for August.
The phases of the Moon for August 2025. NASA/JPL-Caltech You can stay up to date on all of NASA’s missions exploring the solar system and beyond at science.nasa.gov. I’m Chelsea Gohd from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and that’s What’s Up for this month.
Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA
Missions
Humans in Space
Climate Change
Solar System
View the full article
-
By NASA
4 Min Read Stay Cool: NASA Tests Innovative Technique for Super Cold Fuel Storage
The tank for NASA’s two-stage cooling tests is lowered into a vacuum chamber in Test Stand 300 at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. Credits: NASA/Kathy Henkel In the vacuum of space, where temperatures can plunge to minus 455 degrees Fahrenheit, it might seem like keeping things cold would be easy. But the reality is more complex for preserving ultra-cold fluid propellants – or fuel – that can easily overheat from onboard systems, solar radiation, and spacecraft exhaust. The solution is a method called cryogenic fluid management, a suite of technologies that stores, transfers, and measures super cold fluids for the surface of the Moon, Mars, and future long-duration spaceflight missions.
Super cold, or cryogenic, fluids like liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen are the most common propellants for space exploration. Despite its chilling environment, space has a “hot” effect on these propellants because of their low boiling points – about minus 424 degrees Fahrenheit for liquid hydrogen and about minus 298 for liquid oxygen – putting them at risk of boiloff.
In a first-of-its-kind demonstration, teams at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, are testing an innovative approach to achieve zero boiloff storage of liquid hydrogen using two stages of active cooling which could prevent the loss of valuable propellant.
“Technologies for reducing propellant loss must be implemented for successful long-duration missions to deep space like the Moon and Mars,” said Kathy Henkel, acting manager of NASA’s Cryogenic Fluid Management Portfolio Project, based at NASA Marshall. “Two-stage cooling prevents propellant loss and successfully allows for long-term storage of propellants whether in transit or on the surface of a planetary body.”
The new technique, known as “tube on tank” cooling, integrates two cryocoolers, or cooling devices, to keep propellant cold and thwart multiple heat sources. Helium, chilled to about minus 424 degrees Fahrenheit, circulates through tubes attached to the outer wall of the propellant tank.
NASA’s two-stage cooling testing setup sits in a vacuum chamber in Test Stand 300 at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. NASA/Tom Perrin The tank for NASA’s two-stage cooling tests is lowered into a vacuum chamber in Test Stand 300 at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.NASA/Kathy Henkel The tank for NASA’s two-stage cooling tests is lowered into a vacuum chamber in Test Stand 300 at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. NASA/Kathy Henkel The tank for NASA’s two-stage cooling tests is lowered into a vacuum chamber in Test Stand 300 at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. NASA/Kathy Henkel Teams installed the propellant tank in a test stand at NASA Marshall in early June, and the 90-day test campaign is scheduled to conclude in September. The tank is wrapped in a multi-layer insulation blanket that includes a thin aluminum heat shield fitted between layers. A second set of tubes, carrying helium at about minus 298 Fahrenheit, is integrated into the shield. This intermediate cooling layer intercepts and rejects incoming heat before it reaches the tank, easing the heat load on the tube-on-tank system.
To prevent dangerous pressure buildup in the propellant tank in current spaceflight systems, boiloff vapors must be vented, resulting in the loss of valuable fuel. Eliminating such propellant losses is crucial to the success of NASA’s most ambitious missions, including future crewed journeys to Mars, which will require storing large amounts of cryogenic propellant in space for months or even years. So far, cryogenic fuels have only been used for missions lasting less than a week.
“To go to Mars and have a sustainable presence, you need to preserve cryogens for use as rocket or lander return propellant,” Henkel said. “Rockets currently control their propellant through margin, where larger tanks are designed to hold more propellant than what is needed for a mission. Propellant loss isn’t an issue with short trips because the loss is factored into this margin. But, human exploration missions to Mars or longer stays at the Moon will require a different approach because of the very large tanks that would be needed.”
The Cryogenic Fluid Management Portfolio Project is a cross-agency team based at NASA Marshall and the agency’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland. The cryogenic portfolio’s work is under NASA’s Technology Demonstration Missions Program, part of NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate, and is comprised of more than 20 individual technology development activities.
Learn more about cryogenic fluid management:
https://go.nasa.gov/cfm
Share
Details
Last Updated Jul 18, 2025 EditorLee MohonContactCorinne M. Beckingercorinne.m.beckinger@nasa.govLocationMarshall Space Flight Center Related Terms
Cryogenic Fluid Management (CFM) Marshall Space Flight Center Space Technology Mission Directorate Technology Demonstration Technology Demonstration Missions Program Explore More
3 min read NASA-Derived Textiles are Touring France by Bike
Article 2 hours ago 3 min read Registration Opens for 2025 NASA International Space Apps Challenge
Article 1 day ago 2 min read Ejection Mechanism Design for the SPEED Test Architecture Challenge
Article 2 days ago Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA
Missions
Humans in Space
Climate Change
Solar System
View the full article
-
By NASA
Skywatching Skywatching Home What’s Up Meteor Showers Eclipses Daily Moon Guide More Tips & Guides Skywatching FAQ Night Sky Network A.M./P.M. Planet Watching, Plus the Eagle Constellation
Mars shines in the evening, and is joined briefly by Mercury. Jupiter joins Venus as the month goes on. And all month, look for Aquila the eagle.
Skywatching Highlights
All Month – Planet Visibility:
Venus: Shines brightly in the east each morning during the couple of hours before sunrise, with the Pleiades and bright stars Aldebaran and Capella. Mars: Sits in the west, about 20 degrees above the horizon as twilight fades. Sets a couple of hours after dark. Jupiter: Starts to become visible low in the east in the hour before sunrise after mid-month. You’ll notice it rises a bit higher each day through August, quickly approaching closer to Venus each morning. Mercury: Visible very low in the west (10 degrees or lower) the first week or so in July. Find it for a short time before it sets, beginning 30-45 minutes after sunset. Saturn: Rises around midnight and climbs to a point high in the south as dawn approaches. Daily Highlights:
July 1 – 7 – Mercury is relatively bright and easy to spot without a telescope, beginning about 30-45 minutes after sunset for the first week or so of July. You will need an unobstructed view toward the horizon, and note that it sets within an hour after the Sun.
July 21 & 22 – Moon, Venus, & Jupiter – Look toward the east this morning to find a lovely scene, with the crescent Moon and Venus, plus several bright stars. And if you have a clear view toward the horizon, Jupiter is there too, low in the sky.
July 28 – Moon & Mars – The crescent Moon appears right next to Mars this evening after sunset.
All month – Constellation: Aquila – The Eagle constellation, Aquila, appears in the eastern part of the sky during the first half of the night. Its brightest star, Altair, is the southernmost star in the Summer Triangle, which is an easy-to-locate star pattern in Northern Hemisphere summer skies.
Transcript
What’s Up for July? Mars shines in the evening sky, sixty years after its first close-up,
July Planet Viewing
Venus brightens your mornings, and the eagle soars overhead.
First up, Mercury is visible for a brief time following sunset for the first week of July. Look for it very low in the west 30 to 45 minutes after sundown. It sets within the hour after that, so be on the ball if you want to catch it!
Mars is visible for the first hour or two after it gets dark. You’ll find it sinking lower in the sky each day and looking a bit dimmer over the course of the month, as our two planets’ orbits carry them farther apart. The crescent Moon appears right next to Mars on the 28th.
Sky chart showing Mercury and Mars in the western sky following sunset in early July. NASA/JPL-Caltech July is the 60th anniversary of the first successful flyby of Mars, by NASA’s Mariner 4 spacecraft in 1965. Mariner 4 sent back the first photos of another planet from deep space, along with the discovery that the Red Planet has only a very thin, cold atmosphere.
Next, Saturn is rising late in the evening, and by dawn it’s high overhead to the south.
Looking to the morning sky, Venus shines brightly all month. You’ll find it in the east during the couple of hours before sunrise, with the Pleiades and bright stars Aldebaran and Capella. And as the month goes on, Jupiter makes its morning sky debut,
Sky chart showing Venus in the morning sky in July. NASA/JPL-Caltech rising in the hour before sunrise and appearing a little higher each day.
By the end of the month, early risers will have the two brightest planets there greeting them each morning. They’re headed for a super-close meetup in mid-August, and the pair will be a fixture of the a.m. sky through late this year. Look for them together with the crescent moon on the 21st and 22nd.
Aquila, The Eagle
From July and into August, is a great time to observe the constellation Aquila, the eagle.
Sky chart showing the shape and orientation of the constellation Aquila in the July evening sky. Aquila’s brightest star, Altair, is part of the Summer Triangle star pattern. NASA/JPL-Caltech This time of year, it soars high into the sky in the first half of the night. Aquila represents the mythical eagle that was a powerful servant and messenger of the Greek god Zeus. The eagle carried his lightning bolts and was a symbol of his power as king of the gods.
To find Aquila in the sky, start by locating its brightest star, Altair. It’s one the three bright stars in the Summer Triangle, which is super easy to pick out during summer months in the Northern Hemisphere. Altair is the second brightest of the three, and sits at the southernmost corner of the triangle.
The other stars in Aquila aren’t as bright as Altair, which can make observing the constellation challenging if you live in an area with a lot of light pollution. It’s easier, though, if you know how the eagle is oriented on the sky. Imagine it’s flying toward the north with its wings spread wide, its right wing pointed toward Vega. If you can find Altair, and Aquila’s next brightest star, you can usually trace out the rest of the spread-eagle shape from there. The second half of July is the best time of the month to observe Aquila, as the Moon doesn’t rise until later then, making it easier to pick out the constellation’s fainter stars.
Observing the constellation Aquila makes for a worthy challenge in the July night sky. And once you’re familiar with its shape, it’s hard not to see the mythical eagle soaring overhead among the summertime stars.
Here are the phases of the Moon for July.
The phases of the Moon for July 2025. NASA/JPL-Caltech You can stay up to date on all of NASA’s missions exploring the solar system and beyond at science.nasa.gov. I’m Preston Dyches from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and that’s What’s Up for this month.
Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA
Missions
Humans in Space
Climate Change
Solar System
View the full article
-
By NASA
Skywatching Skywatching Home What’s Up Meteor Showers Eclipses Daily Moon Guide More Tips & Guides Skywatching FAQ Night Sky Network Planets, Solstice, and the Galaxy
Venus and Saturn separate, while Mars hangs out in the evening. Plus the June solstice, and dark skies reveal our home galaxy in all of its glory.
Skywatching Highlights
All Month – Planet Visibility:
Venus: Rises about 2 hours before the Sun in June, and shines very brightly, low in the eastern sky, in the morning all month. Mars: Visible in the west for a couple of hours after sunset all month. Drops lower in the sky as June continues, and passes very close to Regulus in the constellation Leo on June 16 and 17. (They will be about half a degree apart, or the width of the full moon.) Jupiter: Visible quite low in the west after sunset for the first week of June, then lost in the Sun’s glare after. Will re-appear in July in the morning sky. Mercury: Becomes visible low in the west about 30 to 45 minutes after sunset in the last week and a half of June. Saturn: Rises around 3 a.m. in early June, and around 1 a.m. by the end of the month. Begins the month near Venus in the dawn sky, but rapidly pulls away, rising higher as June goes on. Daily Highlights:
June 19 – Moon & Saturn – The third-quarter moon appears right next Saturn this morning in the hours before dawn. The pair rise in the east together around 1:30 a.m.
June 22 – Moon & Venus – Venus rises this morning next to a slender and elegant crescent moon. Look for them in the east between about 3 a.m. and sunrise.
June 20 – June Solstice – The June solstice is on June 20 for U.S. time zones (June 21 UTC). The Northern Hemisphere’s tilt toward the Sun is greatest on this day. This means the Sun travels its longest, highest arc across the sky all year for those north of the equator.
June 16 & 17 – Mars & Regulus – Mars passes quite close to the bright bluish-white star Regulus, known as the “heart” of the lion constellation, Leo. They will appear about as far apart as the width of the full moon, and should be an excellent sight in binoculars or a small telescope.
June 21-30 – Mercury becomes visible – For those with a clear view to the western horizon, Mercury becomes visible for a brief period each evening at the end of June. Look for it quite low in the sky starting 30 to 45 minutes after the Sun sets.
All month – Mars: The Red Planet can be observed for a couple of hours after dark all month. It is noticeably dimmer than it appeared in early May, as Earth speeds away in its orbit, putting greater distance between the two worlds.
All month – Milky Way core: The bright central bulge of our home galaxy, the Milky Way, is visible all night in June, continuing through August. It is best observed from dark sky locations far from bright city lights, and appears as a faint, cloud-like band arching across the sky toward the south.
Transcript
What’s Up for June? Mars grazes the lion’s heart, a connection to ancient times, and the galaxy in all its glory.
June Planet Observing
Starting with planet observing for this month, find Saturn and Venus in the eastern sky during the couple of hours before dawn each morning throughout the month. Saturn rapidly climbs higher in the sky each day as the month goes on. You’ll find the third quarter moon next to Saturn on the 19th, and a crescent moon next to Venus on the 22nd.
Sky chart showing Mercury with the crescent Moon following sunset in late June, 2025. NASA/JPL-Caltech Mercury pops up toward the end of the month. Look for it quite low in the west, just as the glow of sunset is fading. It’s highest and most visible on the 27th.
Mars is still visible in the couple of hours after sunset toward the west, though it’s noticeably fainter than it was in early May. Over several days in mid-June, Mars passes quite close to Regulus, the bright star at the heart of the constellation Leo, the lion. Have a peek on the 16th and 17th with binoculars or a small telescope to see them as close as the width of the full moon.
Sky chart showing Mars close to Regulus in the evening sky on June 16, 2025. NASA/JPL-Caltech Milky Way Core Season
June means that Milky Way “Core Season” is here. This is the time of year when the Milky Way is visible as a faint band of hazy light arching across the sky all night. You just need to be under dark skies away from bright city lights to see it. What you’re looking at is the bright central core of our home galaxy, seen edge-on, from our position within the galaxy’s disk.
Long-exposure photos make the Milky Way’s bright stars and dark dust clouds even clearer. And while our eyes see it in visible light, NASA telescopes observe the galaxy across the spectrum — peering through dust to help us better understand our origins.
However you observe it, getting out under the Milky Way in June is a truly remarkable way to connect with the cosmos.
June Solstice
June brings the summer solstice for those north of the equator, which is the winter solstice for those south of the equator. In the Northern Hemisphere, this is when the Sun is above the horizon longer than any other day, making it the longest day of the year. The situation is reversed for the Southern Hemisphere, where it’s the shortest day of the year.
Illustration from a NASA animation showing the tilt of Earth’s axis in June (Northern Hemisphere summer) with respect to the Sun, the planet’s orbit, and the North Star, Polaris. NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center Earth’s tilted rotation is the culprit. The tilt is always in the same direction, with the North Pole always pointing toward Polaris, the North Star. And since that tilt stays the same, year round, when we’re on one side of the Sun in winter, the north part of the planet is tilted away from the Sun. But six months later, the planet moves halfway around its annual path, carrying us to the opposite side of Earth’s orbit, and the northern part of the planet now finds itself tilted toward the Sun. The June solstice is when this tilt is at its maximum. This is summertime for the north, bringing long days, lots more sunlight, and warmer temperatures.
The June solstice marks a precise moment in Earth’s orbit – a consistent astronomical signpost that humans have observed for millennia. Ancient structures from Stonehenge to Chichén Itzá were built, in part, to align with the solstices, demonstrating how important these celestial events were to many cultures.
So whether you’re experiencing long summer days in the northern hemisphere or the brief daylight hours of winter in the south, find a quiet spot to watch the sunset on this special day and you’ll be participating in one of humanity’s oldest astronomical traditions, connecting you to observers across thousands of years of human history.
Here are the phases of the Moon for June.
The phases of the Moon for June 2025. You can stay up to date on all of NASA’s missions exploring the solar system and beyond at NASA Science. I’m Preston Dyches from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and that’s What’s Up for this month.
Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA
Skywatching
Planets
Solar System Exploration
Moons
View the full article
-
-
Check out these Videos
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.