Meet the February Full Moon! 🦁🌝 On Feb 12, the Full Moon shines in Leo, just 2° from its brightest star Regulus. 🌟 Don’t miss this stunning sight! More details here: 🔗

🌙✨ Moon & Pollux Close Approach – February 10! ✨🌙 On February 10 at 05:19 GMT, the Moon will pass near Pollux, the brightest star in the constellation Gemini! 🌟👯 🔭 How to see it? - Both objects will rise during the day and be best visible in the late evening. - The apparent distance between them will be 2°12', making for a beautiful sight! 📍 Tip: Use a stargazing app like Sky Tonight or Star Walk 2 to easily spot them in the night sky! #Moon #Pollux #Stargazing #AstronomyLovers #SkyTonight #StarWalk

🌒 Venus has phases too! 🌘 But here’s the twist: when it’s full, it’s hidden behind the Sun. ☀️ The best view? As a crescent! 🌙 That’s when Venus is biggest & brightest in the sky! Learn the best time to spot Venus here: 🌟

Jupiter’s Retrograde Motion Has Ended! 🌌🔄 On February 4, 2025, Jupiter finished its retrograde motion and is now moving forward again. It will appear to move “backward” again from November 11, 2025, to March 11, 2026. 🧐 What is retrograde motion? It’s an optical illusion! Planets normally move west to east in the sky (prograde motion), but sometimes they appear to move backward (retrograde motion). 🚗💨 Think of it like this: When you're in a car and pass a slower vehicle, it briefly looks like it's moving backward—even though it’s still going forward! The same thing happens with planets. Earth moves faster than Jupiter, so when we pass it in our orbit, Jupiter appears to move in reverse for a while. ✨ Jupiter isn't the only planet that goes into retrograde. Want to track planetary motion in real time? Use Sky Tonight or Star Walk 2 to see the planets in action! #Jupiter #Retrograde #Astronomy #PlanetaryMotion #Stargazing #StarWalk

🌠 Alpha Centaurids: February’s Only Meteor Shower! 🌌 ✨ Southern Hemisphere stargazers, don’t miss the Alpha Centaurids peaking Feb 8-9! 🌟 Spot up to 6 meteors/hour in the pre-dawn hours. ⬇️⬇️⬇️

Moon close to Jupiter on Feb 7! 🌙✨ The 69%-illuminated Moon will shine close to Jupiter (mag -2.4) in Taurus. Don’t miss this celestial show! 🌟

Could You Fly on Titan? Absolutely! 🪶 Saturn’s largest moon, Titan, is one of the few places in the Solar System where humans could actually fly with wings! Here’s why: ✅ Low Gravity – Titan’s gravity is just 1/7th of Earth’s, meaning you’d need much less lift to take off. ✅ Dense Atmosphere – Titan’s atmosphere is 4 times thicker than Earth’s, providing extra support for flight. ✅ Slow Fall – With so much air resistance, falling feels more like sinking — giving you plenty of time to adjust your wings! With the right equipment, you could glide effortlessly across Titan’s orange skies. The only catch? It’s a brisk -290°F (-179°C)! ❄️ Would you try flying on Titan if you had the chance? Let us know in the comments! 👇 #space #titan #moon #didyouknow #starwalk

🌙✨ Celestial Alert for Stargazers! ✨🌙 On February 6 at 06:43 GMT, get ready for an extraordinary celestial event. The Moon and the Pleiades star cluster will come together in a breathtaking display. Here's what you need to know: 🔭 What's Happening? 🔹 The 59% illuminated Moon will be just 0°30' from the Pleiades cluster. 🔹 Both will be high in the southern sky on the evening of February 5. 🔹 Look for them in the constellation Taurus! 🌟 Special Treat for Some Observers 🌟 If you’re in the Pacific, Alaska, or Mountain Time Zones (longitudes 100°W - 150°W), you'll experience a lunar occultation! 🌕✨ During this, the Moon will pass over the Pleiades, blocking the cluster temporarily. 🕦 Timing: From 6:00 to 7:15 GMT on February 6! 🔭 Pro Tip: Grab a pair of binoculars to get a closer, more detailed view of the Pleiades and this beautiful cosmic show! 🌠👀 #pleaides #moon #nightsky #starrysky #starwalk

Martian Geysers in Action! 🌋 This amazing photo was taken by NASA’s HiRISE camera on October 29, 2018 at the South Pole of Mars! 🧊 What’s happening? As spring arrives on Mars, the carbon dioxide ice that built up over winter starts to warm up and turn into gas. As the sun shines on the ice, gas underneath finds a weak spot and erupts as geysers of dust and vapor! 📸 HiRISE Camera: This camera on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter can capture wide scenes and spot features as small as a kitchen table! Ever wonder what a Martian spring would look like? Comment below! 📷 Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona #Mars #HiRISE #NASA #Space #Geysers #MartianSpring #Astronomy #StarWalk

✨ Jupiter ends retrograde motion! ✨ After months of moving "backward" in the sky, Jupiter has officially ended its retrograde motion today, February 4! 🚀🔭 🌌 What is retrograde motion? If you observe a planet at the same time each day for several weeks, you'll notice that it usually moves in one direction. But sometimes, it appears to loop backward before continuing forward—this is retrograde motion, an optical illusion caused by Earth's movement. 🔄 Which planets are still in retrograde? - Mars: Until February 24, 2025 - Uranus: Until January 30, 2025 🪐 Upcoming retrogrades in 2025: - Mercury: March 14 - April 6, July 17 - August 10, November 9 - December 29 - Neptune: July 4 - December 10 - Saturn: July 13 - November 28 #Retrograde #Jupiter #Astronomy #Space #PlanetaryMotion #StarWalk

✨ A Stunning Sight in the Night Sky! ✨ Photographer Chris Levitan captured an incredible moment featuring Capella, the brightest star in the constellation Auriga. 🌟 His camera caught a unique pattern of double triangles, likely caused by the diffraction of light in an ice crystal at just the right moment! ❄️📷 Capella shines brightly at magnitude 0.24 and is one of the brightest stars in the sky, located 42.2 light-years away. Its location near the Celestial North Pole makes it a favorite for stargazers! 🔭✨ 📸 Image Credit: Chris Levitan Have you ever seen anything like this? Share your thoughts in the comments! 👇 #Capella #NightSky #Astronomy #Astrophotography #Stargazing #Space #StarWalk

JWST’s First Near-Infrared Image of Saturn On June 25, 2023, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope captured its first near-infrared observations of Saturn, offering a striking new perspective on the ringed giant. Taken with Webb’s NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera), the image presents Saturn in an unusual golden hue — its atmosphere appearing dark due to methane absorption, while the icy rings remain bright. This observation was part of Webb’s Guaranteed Time Observation program 1247, which included deep exposures designed to search for faint moons. Any newly discovered moons could provide insights into Saturn’s current system and its evolutionary history. What do you think of this stunning new view of Saturn? #Saturn #JWST #SpaceExploration #Astronomy #StarWalk Image Credits: NASA, ESA, CSA, Matthew Tiscareno (SETI Institute), Matthew Hedman (University of Idaho), Maryame El Moutamid (Cornell University), Mark Showalter (SETI Institute), Leigh Fletcher (University of Leicester), Heidi Hammel (AURA)

Moon & Venus Pairing on Feb 1! 🌙✨ The 13%-illuminated Moon will shine close to dazzling Venus (mag -4.7) in Pisces. Don’t miss this celestial sight. 🌟

February 2025: the shortest month packed with celestial events! ✨ From Venus shining brightest (-4.9 mag) to a 7-planet alignment (this time with Mercury!), check out all the events February has to offer: 🌟

NASA Discovers Life’s Building Blocks on Asteroid Bennu! ☄️ NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission recently returned rock and dust from asteroid Bennu — and the findings are incredible! Researchers identified: ▪️ Amino acids (the “building blocks” of proteins, which are crucial for living organisms), ▪️ Nucleobases (key components of DNA and RNA, which store and transmit genetic information), ▪️ A high concentration of ammonia (important as a nitrogen source), ▪️ And evidence of saltwater that could have allowed these molecules to combine and evolve. Why does this matter❓ These “ingredients” are essential for life as we know it and, importantly, they are trustworthy to have come from Bennu's own environment (not from contamination from Earth). This suggests that the raw materials for life were likely widespread across the early Solar System — meaning they could have been delivered to planets like Earth by traveling asteroids. 🌎 NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission already is rewriting the textbook on what we understand about the beginnings of our Solar System. Let's get ready for more revelations about our Solar System’s past — and possibly the origin of life itself! 🧬🚀 Image Credit: NASA #nasa #asteroid #spacelife #space #starwalk

Top Astronomy Events of February 2025 ✨ #Astronomy #Planets #Comet #Stargazing #StarWalk

🌟 February’s Night Sky: Stargazing Made Easy! 🌟 ⁠ ⁠ February’s skies are bursting with stunning constellations! Here’s your quick guide to the highlights: ⁠ ⁠ 🔭 What to Spot: ⁠ - Orion: Find the three stars of Orion’s Belt and the glowing Orion Nebula. ⁠ - Canis Major: Home to Sirius, the brightest star in the sky. ⁠ - Taurus: Look for the red star Aldebaran and the sparkling Pleiades cluster. ⁠ - Gemini: Spot the twin stars, Castor and Pollux, with bright Mars nearby. ⁠ - Auriga: Don’t miss Capella, one of the sky’s brightest stars. ⁠ ⁠ 🌌 Pro Tip: Use the free Sky Tonight app to find constellations effortlessly! Learn More: ⁠ ✨ Fun Fact: Orion’s dogs (Canis Major & Minor) chase the hare (Lepus) across the sky.⁠ ⁠ 📅 Don’t Miss: ⁠ - Feb 6: Moon passes the Pleiades. ⁠ - Feb 27: New Moon = perfect stargazing! ⁠ ⁠ Step outside, look up, and let the stars amaze you! 🌠 ⁠ ⁠ #Stargazing #NightSky #Orion #Taurus #Astronomy #SkyTonight #StarWalk

Asteroid 2024 YR4: Impact Range 🌍☄️ The newly discovered asteroid 2024 YR has a 1/88 chance to hit Earth on December 22, 2032. In the worst-case scenario, where exactly will it hit? 🗺️ Asteroid 2024 YR4 is predicted to follow an equatorial path that could take it over some pretty populated places, like Mumbai in India, parts of the Arabian Peninsula, and some countries in Africa like Nigeria and Ghana. 🌐 It is also likely to pass over the Atlantic and into South America, potentially impacting places like Venezuela and Colombia. #asteroid #2024YR4 #asteroid2025 #astronomy #starwalk

Direct Image of a Sun-like Star with Two Exoplanets! ✨🌌 In 2020, for the first time ever, the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) has captured an image of a young, Sun-like star (TYC 8998-760-1) accompanied by two giant exoplanets. And it still looks stunning! 🤩 📍 Located 300 light-years away, this system is a “young version” of our Solar System, offering a glimpse into how planets like Jupiter and Saturn may have formed. ➡️ The two planets (TYC 8998-760-1b and TYC 8998-760-1c) are visible as two bright dots, noted by arrows. Other bright dots are background stars. By taking different images at different times, the team was able to distinguish the planets from the background stars. 🔭 Using the SPHERE instrument, astronomers blocked the star’s bright light to reveal two gas giants: 🪐The inner planet is 14 times the mass of Jupiter 🪐The outer planet is 6 times the mass of Jupiter 💡 Images of systems with multiple exoplanets are extremely rare, so this discovery is a huge step in our exploration of the cosmos! #solarsystem #exoplanet #space #astronomy #starwalk

🚨 New Dangerous Asteroid Discovered ⚠️ 🌍 Asteroid 2024 YR4 has a 1/88 chance of hitting Earth on December 22, 2032. Potential impact zones include India, Africa, and South America. What we know so far: 🌌 Impact Probability: 1%–6% (highest since Apophis in 2004) 🛑 Torino Scale Rating: 3 – The only asteroid currently ranked this high 💥 Potential Impact: Comparable to an atomic bomb blast 🗺️ Equatorial Path: Predicted to pass over populated regions like Mumbai, Nigeria, Venezuela, and Colombia 🔬 Good News: Further observations will likely reduce the impact risk (fingers crossed 🤞). 👨‍🚀 What’s Next? Scientists are keeping a close watch on 2024 YR4 for updates. Let’s stay informed and hope for a reassessment to 0 probability. 💬 Thoughts? Fears? Questions? Drop them below! Let's discuss this cosmic event. 🌠 #asteroid #2024YR4 #apophis #dangerousasteroids #starwalk