This Week's Sky at a Glance, May 15 – 24 15 May 2026, 4:57 am

The Moon, Venus, and Jupiter — the three brightest celestial objects after the Sun — will form up beautifully in twilight this Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.

The post This Week's Sky at a Glance, May 15 – 24 appeared first on Sky & Telescope.

How Did This Peculiar Planet Pair Form? 15 May 2026, 2:48 am

A planetary odd couple — a mini-Neptune and a hot Jupiter — probably formed much farther away from their star before migrating closer in.

The post How Did This Peculiar Planet Pair Form? appeared first on Sky & Telescope.

Webb Telescope Reveals Brown Dwarfs Masquerading as Early Galaxies 14 May 2026, 8:00 am

Two objects that appeared to be galaxies residing in a universe about 150 million years old turn out to be brown dwarfs in the Milky Way.

The post Webb Telescope Reveals Brown Dwarfs Masquerading as Early Galaxies appeared first on Sky & Telescope.

Moon and Planets to Gather in Twilight Spectacle on May 18–20 13 May 2026, 1:48 pm

Watch the crescent Moon dance with the planets when it returns next week.

The post Moon and Planets to Gather in Twilight Spectacle on May 18–20 appeared first on Sky & Telescope.

A Black Hole’s Puzzling X-Ray Bursts 11 May 2026, 9:00 am

In 2019, a supermassive black hole in a galaxy 300 million light-years away woke up. Now, it’s puzzling astronomers with an unexpected slowdown in its X-ray bursts.

The post A Black Hole’s Puzzling X-Ray Bursts appeared first on Sky & Telescope.

This Week's Sky at a Glance, May 15 – 24 15 May 2026, 4:57 am

The Moon, Venus, and Jupiter — the three brightest celestial objects after the Sun — will form up beautifully in twilight this Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.

The post This Week's Sky at a Glance, May 15 – 24 appeared first on Sky & Telescope.

How Did This Peculiar Planet Pair Form? 15 May 2026, 2:48 am

A planetary odd couple — a mini-Neptune and a hot Jupiter — probably formed much farther away from their star before migrating closer in.

The post How Did This Peculiar Planet Pair Form? appeared first on Sky & Telescope.

Webb Telescope Reveals Brown Dwarfs Masquerading as Early Galaxies 14 May 2026, 8:00 am

Two objects that appeared to be galaxies residing in a universe about 150 million years old turn out to be brown dwarfs in the Milky Way.

The post Webb Telescope Reveals Brown Dwarfs Masquerading as Early Galaxies appeared first on Sky & Telescope.

Moon and Planets to Gather in Twilight Spectacle on May 18–20 13 May 2026, 1:48 pm

Watch the crescent Moon dance with the planets when it returns next week.

The post Moon and Planets to Gather in Twilight Spectacle on May 18–20 appeared first on Sky & Telescope.

A Black Hole’s Puzzling X-Ray Bursts 11 May 2026, 9:00 am

In 2019, a supermassive black hole in a galaxy 300 million light-years away woke up. Now, it’s puzzling astronomers with an unexpected slowdown in its X-ray bursts.

The post A Black Hole’s Puzzling X-Ray Bursts appeared first on Sky & Telescope.

Two planets spotted forming around a young star | ESO News 24 Mar 2026, 9:00 am

Using ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT), astronomers have observed two exoplanets forming around the young star WISPIT 2. Both planets are gas giants, more massive than Jupiter, and are carving out gaps in the disc of gas and dust around their host star. The WISPIT 2 system could therefore resemble a young Solar System. This video summarises the discovery.

An unexpected shock wave | ESO News 12 Jan 2026, 5:00 am

Astronomers are surprised by a mysterious shock wave around the dead star RXJ0528+2838, studied with ESO’s Very Large Telescope. The dead star moves through space creating a so-called bow shock, as the surrounding material is pushed away. Structures like this one are typically caused by a strong outflow from the star. However, in the case of RXJ0528+2838, no known mechanism could be causing the outflow. A hidden energy source, perhaps magnetic fields, might be the answer to this mystery.

What’s the true shape of a supernova? | ESO News 12 Nov 2025, 2:00 pm

Astronomers have observed a supernova just a day after it was first detected. In the early stages of the blast, the explosion has not yet interacted with the material around the star, retaining its true shape. This initial shape has now been revealed for the first time. This video summarises the discovery.

Rogue planet found growing at record rate | ESO News 2 Oct 2025, 8:00 am

Astronomers have found an intense ‘growth spurt’ in a rogue planet –– a planet that doesn’t orbit a star. Observations with ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) reveal that this free-floating planet is eating up gas and dust from its surroundings at a rate of six billion tonnes a second, the strongest ever found for a planet of any kind. This video summarises the discovery.

Hayabusa2’s next target is smaller and faster than we thought | ESO News 18 Sep 2025, 5:00 am

Astronomers have discovered that the next target for Japan’s Hayabusa2 spacecraft, the asteroid 1998 KY26, is almost three times smaller than previously thought, and spinning much faster than expected. This study was conducted using ESO’s Very Large Telescope, and its results offer important new information for the upcoming mission, just six years out from the spacecraft’s encounter with this tiny asteroid.