X-Headlines – Astronomy Now

How to see the 3 March total lunar eclipse

25 February 2026 Emily Baldwin-Fiebrich

A total lunar eclipse is centred on the mid-Pacific 3 March, visible to observers in New Zealand and sweeping eastern Australia and western USA, with a large partial eclipse extending further east and west.

Potentially bright ‘sungrazing’ comet discovered

16 January 2026 Emily Baldwin-Fiebrich

A potentially large member of the Kreutz family comets is speeding its way to a perihelion encounter during the first week of April this year. The object was discovered on 13 January 2026.

Astronomy Now relaunches digital platform

12 September 2025 Emily Baldwin-Fiebrich

We are pleased to announce that our new Astronomy Now app is live! Since taking ownership of the magazine in July, creating an enhanced digital experience has been a high priority for our new Astronomy Now team.

A stunning night sky composite photograph shows dozens of bright Perseid meteors streaking across the sky above a rural landscape, with the Milky Way arching overhead. The foreground features trees, a house, and softly lit structures, creating a serene countryside scene.

It’s time again for Perseid meteors!

8 August 2025 Emily Baldwin-Fiebrich

August means the Perseids: the annual shooting star spectacular reaches its peak to wow meteor enthusiasts with abundant bright events, writes Astronomy Now’s Night Sky manager Mark Armstrong.

Lonely giant planets may form their own planetary systems

30 July 2025 Stuart Clark

Planets without stars may not be so lonely after all. New research led by astronomers at the University of St Andrews suggests that free-floating giant planets—those adrift in interstellar space—can host their own miniature planetary systems.

Congratulations Professor Michele Dougherty – our new Astronomer Royal

30 July 2025 Stuart Clark

His Majesty The King has approved Professor Michele Dougherty as the new Astronomer Royal. Professor Dougherty will be the sixteenth person and the first woman to hold this role since its creation 350 years ago.

Is the Hubble Tension Resolved?

9 June 2025 Astronomy Now

New measurements from Hubble and Webb suggest the Hubble tension may be resolved, with expansion rates aligning and the standard model of cosmology remaining intact—for now.

Caught in the current of the wonderful Whirlpool

25 April 2025 Astronomy Now

Messier 51 (NGC 5194) in Canes Venatici is the archetypal face-on spiral galaxy. Aptly named and very well known as the Whirlpool Galaxy, this magnificent object has few rivals across the entire sky and, if the sheer volume of images received at Astronomy Now headquarters over recent years is any indicator, only mighty Messier 31 in Andromeda is as popular.

A more youthful globular cluster

24 June 2024 Astronomy Now

The Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), which is the nearest galaxy to our Milky Way at about 159,000 light years, is home to about 60 globular clusters. Pictured here is one of these great balls of stars, namely NGC 2210, which shines in the night sky at magnitude +11.

Follow the leader

23 June 2024 Astronomy Now

This line of galaxies is a cosmic coincidence behind the interacting system Arp-Madore 2105-332, which is a pair of galaxies 200 million light years away in the suitably small constellation of Microscopium.