Fri 3rd of Apr 2026 UTC
Astronomy.co.uk Moon Phase Widget
Age: 17 days old
Phase: Waning Gibbous
Illumination: 97%
Distance: 400,851 km
from the NASA archive - 3rd April 2026

How can we see what is invisible?

Black holes are not easy to see in the dark cosmic night, but astronomers can find them by analyzing their gravitational effects on matter, light and spacetime. The featured image shows an illustration that combines a simulation of a black hole binary system in its final "death-dance" with an astrophotography image of the Tarantula Nebula in the background. Even though black holes don't emit light, they distort the path of light rays, acting like a gravitational lens. As a result, the nebula appears extremely distorted, forming Einstein rings and multiple images. Tarantula Nebula lies in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a dwarf galaxy that is one of the satellite galaxies of the Milky Way, 160,000 light-years away. That is more than 1,000 times closer than any of the binary black hole mergers detected so far. We'll probably never detect a merger so close to home!

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Astronomy.co.uk
19th November 2025 at 15:31
https://www.astronomy.co.uk/astronomy-picture-of-the-day/
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Astronomy.co.uk
1st May 2025 at 09:19
Th Sky Tonight - May 2025
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Astronomy.co.uk
18th December 2024 at 10:01
https://www.astronomy.co.uk/the-sky-tonight/
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Astronomy.co.uk
8th February 2022 at 00:25
The Pinwheel Galaxy -NASA
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Astronomy.co.uk
17th January 2022 at 16:33
The first Full Moon of 2022, known as the Wolf Moon, will occur tonight! Throughout cold January nights, the howling of wolves could be heard around villages in both Europe and America, so the January Full Moon became widely known as the Wolf Moon. The exact time of the Full Wolf Moon is January 17, 2022, 23:48 GMT
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Astronomy.co.uk
16th January 2022 at 14:07
The Lagoon Nebula - Hubble
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Astronomy.co.uk
5th January 2022 at 10:54
This is a small section of the Cygnus supernova blast wave which appears as a delicate streak of light. Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, W. Blair; acknowledgment: Leo Shatz
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Astronomy.co.uk
4th January 2022 at 10:01
An exploding star ! Hubble
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Astronomy.co.uk
3rd January 2022 at 12:12
The station crew sees 16 sunrises a day, and they officially started 2022 at 12am GMT.
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Astronomy.co.uk
2nd January 2022 at 09:07
The Snow Angel Nebula - Hubble
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Astronomy.co.uk
1st January 2022 at 09:04
Crescent Earth The Earth as seen from the Moon on the Command Module of Apollo17 on December 16, 1972. Credit: @NASA (image #AS17-152-23274); Processing: @JPMajor
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Astronomy.co.uk
31st December 2021 at 11:25
Dolphin head nebula located near the center of the constellation Canis Major
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Astronomy.co.uk
30th December 2021 at 13:57
DEM L249, located in the Large Magellanic Cloud, is an unusual supernova remnant. Image Credit: NASA, ESA, and Y. Chou (Academia Sinica, Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics); Processing: Gladys Kober (NASA/Catholic University of America)
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Astronomy.co.uk
29th December 2021 at 13:58
The Prawn Nebula is a massive stellar nursery located in the constellation Scorpius, about 6,000 light years from Earth Hubble
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