sky

Comet MAPS faces a make-or-break moment when it dips into the sun on April 4 – could it shine in the daytime sky?

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image showing the possible location of the comet maps as viewed from SOHO.

We are now at home during the four month saga of Comet C/2026 A1 (MAPS). This is a break week for this thing as it heads to the long awaited meeting this weekend. The comet was discovered on January 13, 2026, by a team of four astronomers. “MAPS” is an acronym that uses the first … Read more

Are We About to Destroy the Night Sky with a Million AI Satellites and 50,000 Space Mirrors?

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Image of Starlink satellites crossing in front of Venus and the Pleiades cluster. Credit - Torsten Hansen/IAU OAE

If you thought that the current crop of satellite megaconstellations was bad, you will be very disappointed by the new proposals from SpaceX and a company called Reflect Orbital. Their joint projects would change the night sky as we know it, and the world’s astronomical community is crying – especially letters from the Royal Astronomical … Read more