Galaxies

Astronomers have discovered lots of planets that we call Hot Jupiters. These are gas giant planets outside the solar system that sit extremely close to their star, taking only a few days or weeks to orbit.Read more at- https://www.universetoday.com/articles/jwst-finds-methane-atmosphere-on-temperate-exoplanet

Imagine viewing our solar system from above. You see eight planets all traveling in almost circular paths around the sun. Astronomers have discovered thousands of other planetary systems, and in most cases these planets also follow circular paths around their star. But not the exoplanet we call HD80606b. This one is different.Read more at: https://www.space.com/astronomy/exoplanets/james-webb-space-telescope-discovers-extreme-exoplanet-being-roasted-by-its-home-star

What forms first- a galaxy of stars, gas and dust, or the supermassive black hole that holds it all together? It’s the outer space version of the classic chicken and egg problem, and astronomers think they might finally have the answer.https://science.nasa.gov/missions/webb/nasas-webb-reveals-black-hole-that-formed-before-its-galaxy/

As the sun sets and the sky darkens, you may have noticed two bright dots low in the Western sky. That’s Jupiter and Venus. Jupiter is the fainter of the two dots, but it’s actually the largest planet in our solar system.https://www.nasa.gov/centers-and-facilities/goddard/jupiters-great-red-spot-a-swirling-mystery/

Researchers recently found the farthest-ever galaxy, a smudge at a distance of 13 billion light years.But when light travels a long time through an expanding universe, bizarre things happen.

It can be tricky to pinpoint the spot directly overhead in the sky, but, you can find it by looking for Deneb, a bright star nearly at the zenith. While not as brilliant as nearby Vega, Deneb is one of the most luminous stars in the sky, shining with the power of 58,000 Suns from 1,500 light-years away. If it were as close as Sirius, its light would outshine our streetlights. Deneb is also significant because it lies in the direction Earth is moving as the Sun carries us around the galaxy at 144 miles per second. Though we’ll never catch it—it’s moving too—it’s still a powerful feeling to look up and point toward the future.

Saturn Made Easy: Saturn is a stunning sight through any telescope with more than 30x magnification—something photos can’t quite capture. It’s usually hard to spot, dimmer than Jupiter or Venus and less colorful than Mars, but now is the perfect time to see it. Saturn is closest to Earth and visible just below the Moon. Its famous rings, currently angled edgewise—a rare view that happens only every 15 years—appear as a straight bright line across the planet. Finding Saturn is easy: just look for the Moon.

Until the 20th century, astronomers ignored the interiors of things. They had to. Telescopes only showed outermost layers.Scientists knew that a ball's "inside" constitutes virtually all its mass, but basic questions went unanswered: What, for example, lay below the dazzling solar surface? What mysteries might be found in the core of galaxies?

This year brings a rare lunar event called the Lunar Standstill, which happens only once every 18.5 years. Due to the Moon’s wobbling orbit aligning with Earth’s tilt, the Moon is reaching extreme positions in the sky. Recently, it appeared unusually low at first quarter, the third quarter Moon stood directly overhead—something typically impossible from the continental U.S. Even in daylight, the Moon remains high and visible, especially through sunglasses, offering a striking sight in the sky.

Vega, one of the brightest stars, is often mispronounced as "VAY-ga" but should be "WEE-ga," meaning "falling eagle" in Arabic. Visible at nightfall, it shines blue overhead, contrasting with the orange Arcturus. Located 25 light-years away, it’s 58 times brighter than the sun and spins much faster, completing a rotation in just 11 hours. In 12,000 years, Vega will become Earth's pole star. It also displays a rare blueshift, pointing to the direction we're traveling in space.