Tonight's moon
Drag to explore the far side
Today’s phase · 3D surface explorer
NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio · LROWaxing gibbous
99% lit · Day 13.8 of the cycle
Already up at sunset
- Next full moon
- Mon, Oct 26
- Next new moon
- Mon, Nov 9
ASTRONo. 298
Tonight, what's in the sky?
Explore tonight's moon and planets, upcoming astronomical events and the latest space exploration news.
A universe in motionScroll down. Let the stars make way.
TonightSangam-dong, Seoul
Tonight's sky over Sangam-dong, Seoul
Times are calculated for Sangam-dong, Seoul. Hills and buildings may affect when objects come into view. Planet positions are for 9:00 PM. Moonlight and nearby lighting also affect sky brightness.
Sun and moon
Sunset 5:42 PMSunrise tomorrow 6:50 AM
- Astronomical dusk ends7:10 PM
- Astronomical dawn5:23 AM
- Moonset6:43 AM
Planets this evening
- SaturnSE · 45° upmag 0.3Naked eyeCetus
- VenusRises at 6:48 AMVirgo
- JupiterRises at 1:12 AMLeo
- MercuryBelow the horizonLibra
- MarsRises at 12:29 AMCancer
Computed 4:07 PM · Astronomy Engine
From spaceNews from space
News from space
This week's stories, picked by our editors. The originals live with each agency and outlet.
Exploration
Story of the week
Japan's MMX lifts off to bring back a piece of Mars' moon Phobos
JAXA launched its Martian Moons eXploration spacecraft before dawn from Tanegashima Island, and the probe separated from the rocket's upper stage on schedule about an hour later. It will gather at least 10 grams of Phobos surface material and deliver it to Earth in 2031.
No mission has yet returned samples from Mars or its moons.
Source · AP (News4JAX)
Solar system
Euclid, built to study the dark universe, finds its first new comet
A telescope hunting dark matter caught a comet along the way.
Source · ESA
Astronomy
Chandra reveals a galaxy-cluster crash behind the cosmic 'Treble Clef'
A black hole and a cluster collision drew this note together.
Source · NASA
Astronomy
Webb finds the tiny home galaxy of the farthest fast radio burst
A millisecond flash sent out 3 billion years after the big bang.
Source · NASA
Korea in space
Nuri's fifth flight puts five Korean cluster satellites in orbit
South Korea's Nuri rocket made its fifth flight on 7 October, carrying 15 satellites and releasing them at about 570 km altitude. All five main-payload microsatellites deployed normally, and one soon made first contact via King Sejong Station in Antarctica. One cubesat failed to detach, so 14 of the 15 reached their target orbit.
Source · MTN 머니투데이방송
Exploration
Artemis II crew saw five faint impact flashes on the Moon
NASA's preliminary science report on the 6 April lunar flyby says the astronauts spotted five tiny pinpricks of light from 46,000 miles away, each from a rock no more than a couple of inches across. The crew also watched the Sun stay hidden behind the Moon for 54 minutes.
Source · NASA
Solar system
Mars's 1800-km ice cloud may form in a way never seen before
Each southern spring and summer on Mars, a water-ice cloud up to 1800 km long streams downwind of the 20-km-tall Arsia Mons volcano. Modelling based on data from three Mars Express cameras suggests ice particles may form directly from water vapour without dust or other seed particles, a process called homogeneous nucleation.
Source · ESA
Night sky
October skies: Saturn all night, the Orionids, and the Pleiades
Saturn reached opposition on 4 October, rising around sunset and staying up for much of the night. The Orionids, debris from Halley's Comet, peaked on the night of 21 to 22 October, and on the night of 27 to 28 October the Moon passes close to the Pleiades.
Source · NASA
Beyond the visible
The universe, brought to light
NASA / ESA / CSA · WEBB ARCHIVE
WEBB / NIRCam 01 / 03
Where stars are born
NGC 3324 in Carina, about 7,600 light-years away. Light and winds from young stars sculpt these immense clouds.
Sky calendarComputed with Astronomy Engine
The sky in the next two months
The days the moon changes shape, the planets shine their best and the seasons turn, written down ahead.
Full moon
Up all night, round and bright
1:12 PM
Last quarter
Half the disc lit
5:28 AM
The Moon meets Mars
The Moon and planet appear 1° apart in the sky.
10:37 PM
The Moon meets Jupiter
The Moon and planet appear 0.5° apart in the sky.
7:47 AM
New moon
No moonlight: the darkest skies
4:02 PM
First quarter
Half the disc lit
8:48 PM
Leonids peak
Around the peak · the moon is 55% lit and hides faint meteors
8:31 AM
Mercury at greatest western elongation
20° from the Sun: best seen in the morning, low in the east
8:35 AM
Full moon
Up all night, round and bright
11:54 PM
The Moon meets Jupiter
The Moon and planet appear 1.1° apart in the sky.
5:27 PM
The Moon meets Mars
The Moon and planet appear 3° apart in the sky.
1:57 AM
Last quarter
Half the disc lit
3:09 PM
Launch scheduleLaunch Library 2
Upcoming launches
Launch times move often. Times are in Korea Standard Time; launches with only a date show no time.
Next launch inGo for Launch
01d21h37m00s
Falcon 9 Block 5 | Starlink Group 15-16
SpaceX · Low Earth Orbit
- Launch time
- Launch site
- Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA
Go
Falcon 9 Block 5 | Starlink Group 15-18
SpaceX · Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA
TBC
GSLV Mk II | IRNSS-1L (NVS-03)
Indian Space Research Organization · Satish Dhawan Space Centre, India
TBD
Long March 12A | Flight 2
China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation · Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, People's Republic of China
TBD
Electron | The Sea God Surveys (iQPS Launch 9)
Rocket Lab · Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1, Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand
Go
Falcon 9 Block 5 | Starlink Group 15-21
SpaceX · Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA
TBC
Falcon 9 Block 5 | NROL-195
SpaceX · Vandenberg SFB, CA, USA
Schedule updated Oct 25, 3:21 PM
Close approachesNASA NeoWs
Asteroids passing Earth
Asteroids passing close to Earth in the next seven days. Distances count the Earth-Moon distance (about 384,000 km) as 1.
Measured distances · illustrative directions and lunar orbit
Lunar period compressed to 40 seconds · Earth imagery NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center/Reto Stöckli ↗
44 this week
Closest pass
2018 GS1
11.0 lunar distances
4,241,000 km · Oct 29, 1:15 AM KST · About 81–180 m across · 9.3 km/s
'Potentially hazardous' is a class defined by size and orbit; it does not mean an impact this time.
NASA NeoWs updated Oct 25, 3:21 PM
Sunday letter
Every Sunday night, the week's sky in a letter
What to look for in the coming week and three stories our editors picked. Unsubscribe any time in one click.
Subscriptions are not open yet. Email addresses entered here are not saved.
AboutASTRO
A science channel for space and astronomy
ASTRO shares night-sky observing information and space exploration news in Korean and English.
- 01
We name our sources
Every number and story carries its original source.
- 02
We use official sources
We calculate celestial positions and use official sources for launch schedules.
- 03
We write in two languages
Read the same observing information and space news in Korean and English.