Astronomy

This week, Venus will pass through the so-called Golden Gate of the Ecliptic. Although the name has risen to prominence with science popularisers in recent decades, its exact origin is …

This week, the bright star Spica greets the passing moon. The chart shows the view looking south-west from London at 22.15 BST on 3 July 2025. At 8.3 days old, …

For more than a century, astronomers assumed she had simply “computed” complex calculations for the Victorian men who had exclusive use of Cambridge Observatory telescopes. But researchers now say that …

Spectacular views of distant galaxies, giant dust clouds and hurtling asteroids have been revealed in the first images captured by a groundbreaking telescope that is embarking on a 10-year survey …

Following last week’s conjunction between Regulus and Mars, the moon now gets in on the act. This meeting of a star, a planet and a moon takes place on 29 …

Astrophysics is, as many astrophysicists will tell you, the story of everything. The nature and evolution of stars, galaxies, galaxy clusters, dark matter and dark energy—and our attempts to understand …

Summer in the UK and similar northern latitudes is the best time of year to catch sight of the zodiacal constellation Scorpius, the scorpion. The constellation contains the beautiful star …

It’s time to watch for the beautiful cloud formations known as noctilucent clouds. Latin for “night shining”, noctilucent clouds are seasonal and become visible in the northern hemisphere from late …

This week, we track down one of the zodiacal constellations, Virgo, the virgin. It is a prominent constellation in the northern hemisphere’s spring night sky because of its sheer size. …