February 2026

February 1 2026

WHAT’S UP(COMING)! – Observation Calendar Feb-Apr 2026

Source for events and links below are In-The-Sky.org, Dominic Ford, Editor. The links provide details for each event including a scale on how difficult they are to observe. Additionally, here’s a link to a printable PDF for “Navigating the mid February Night Sky” from our friends at the Astronomical League! Feb 1 – Close approach of the Moon and M44 – Full Moon Feb 17 – New Moon Feb 18 – Conjunction of the Moon and Mercury Feb 19 – Messier 81 is well placed – Conjunction of the Moon and Saturn Feb 20 – Mercury at highest altitude in evening sky Feb 23 – Close approach of the Moon and M45 Feb 26 – Conjunction of the Moon and Jupiter Feb 27 – Asteroid 7 Iris at opposition Feb 28 – Close approach of the Moon and M44 Mar 3 – Total lunar eclipse – Full Moon Mar 18 – New Moon Mar 20 – Conjunction of the Moon and Venus – March equinox Mar 21 – Asteroid 20 Massalia at opposition Mar 22 – Mercury at highest altitude in morning sky Mar 23 – Close approach of the Moon […]

February 1 2026

NASA Webb Pushes Boundaries of Observable Universe Closer to Big Bang

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has topped itself once again, delivering on its promise to push the boundaries of the observable universe closer to cosmic dawn with the confirmation of a bright galaxy that existed 280 million years after the big bang.

February 1 2026

Why Are Tatooine Planets Rare? General Relativity Explains Why Binary Star Systems Rarely Host Planets

Astronomers have found thousands of exoplanets around single stars, but few around binary stars—even though both types of stars are equally common. Physicists can now explain the dearth.

February 1 2026

Kissing The Sun: Unraveling Mysteries of the Solar Wind

Using data collected by NASA’s Parker Solar Probe during its closest approach to the sun, a University of Arizona-led research team has measured the dynamics and ever-changing “shell” of hot gas from where the solar wind originates.

February 1 2026

New Dark Matter Map Shows the Universe in Detail

Scientists using JWST have created the largest and highest-resolution map of dark matter ever, shedding light on the universe’s evolution.

February 1 2026

Dark Matter’s “Nightmare Scenario” Looks More Likely Than Ever

Our great hope is that today’s indirect, astrophysical evidence will someday lead to successful direct detection. What if that’s impossible?

February 1 2026

The Ring Nebula Has an “Iron Bar”

The Ring Nebula in Lyra, also known as Messier 57, is the most famous planetary nebula in the sky. It’s also one of the most imaged and studied objects of its class. But when Roger Wesson (Cardiff University, UK) and his colleagues analyzed a series of spectra taken between May and June 2023, they found something completely new: An oddly shaped “bar” of ionized iron gas that crosses the nebula roughly from west to east along the elliptical ring’s major axis.