Mon 31st of Aug 2026 UTC
Astronomy.co.uk Moon Phase Widget
Age: 18 days old
Phase: Waning Gibbous
Illumination: 90%
Distance: 377,497 km
from the NASA archive - 31st August 2026

A new telescope has been launched into space to study the universe.

The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope (RST) has the same size main mirror as the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) but sees 100 times more sky during each snapshot. This is possible because when compared to HST, RST's main mirror is more curved, its secondary mirror is closer, and its main camera is larger. The result is that RST can inspect more of the sky more quickly, likely allowing, among other capabilities, the discovery of many more supernovas which tell us more about the expansion rate and composition of our universe, and many more planets orbiting other stars that tell us more about the possibilities for life elsewhere in the universe. RST will orbit the Sun, not the Earth, like the James Webb Space Telescope. The featured video shows Roman being launched yesterday from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, USA aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket. APOD's main NASA site is moving: From apod.nasa.gov to science.nasa.gov/apod

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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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