Asteroid Torifune was just imaged by Japan's Hayabusa 2. This asteroid is a rubble pile. If you could gently place it in the middle of a parking lot, it might look something like this. 🔭 #astro

Why is tonight's Full Moon so low? For the Northern Hemisphere, around the June Solstice, the full Moon takes its lowest path of the year. We're also near a minor lunar standstill, making the Moon's nightly path even lower than usual. 🔭 #astro

Venus-Jupiter conjunction simulated. Planets' diameters exaggerated 100x. 🔭 #astro

For a couple weeks around the 𝐉𝐮𝐧𝐞 𝐒𝐨𝐥𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞, there is a brief moment each day when 𝟏𝟎𝟎% of mainland North America is on Earth's day side while 𝟏𝟎𝟎% of mainland South America is on Earth's night side, defined by 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫. 🔭 #astro

A proposed mission to Kuiper Belt object 2002 XV₉₃ • Launch: 2034 • Jupiter gravity assist • Uranus plane-change maneuver • Flyby in 2043 Trajectory found by @adamsspaceresearch.bsky.social. www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHV4... 2002 XV₉₃ is in the news because it may possess a thin atmosphere.

Tomorrow, asteroid 2026 JH2 will pass less than 1/4 the distance of the Moon as it flies over South Africa. #astro 🔭

This asteroid, previously known as ST26E86 is now known as 2026 JN4 🔭 #astro

Earlier today, an asteroid about the size of a person impacted Earth over Papua New Guinea. This is only the 12th object to be discovered before impact. #astro 🔭

Inspired by the 12,000 Artemis II images just released, a simulation of Earthset as seen by the astronauts (3:16 real time). A bit slower than a sunset on Earth. 🔭 #astro Timelapse (15 seconds): orbitsimulator.com/BA/artemis_I... Real speed (3:16): orbitsimulator.com/BA/artemis_I...

A rocket booster will slam into the Moon on August 5. 2025-010D is the upper stage of a Falcon 9 rocket that brought the Blue Ghost Mission 1 to the Moon.

Newly-discovered asteroid 2026 HZ4 approached closer than our geostationary satellites 2 days ago. It is 2-7 meters wide. 🔭

The Moon.Simulation.

Artemis II splashdown off San Diego, less than 45 minutes from now. Inertial frame.

Artemis II doesn’t reverse direction like its ground track implies. Far out, its motion is mostly radial (toward Earth), so its small eastward speed is slower than Earth’s rotation, so it appears to drift west. Closer in, tangential speed grows and overtakes Earth’s rotation, so it moves east.

In a few hours, at ~9 PM PDT, Artemis II will be halfway between Earth and the Moon (by distance). The Moon will look unusually large to the crew. But they’re not halfway there in time. Earth’s gravity has been slowing them the entire way, and will continue to do so.

Right now, the astronauts must be thinking: "The Earth is getting awfully big in the window." Artemis II is dropping toward perigee for the TLI burn that will send it to the Moon.🔭 #astro

Here's a view of what the astronauts on Artemis II see right now. This is very similar to what their view will be in 24 hours when they will perform the TLI burn that will send them to the Moon.

A view of Earth from Artemis II. If you can see your region, then you might be able to spot Artemis II with a telescope or binoculars. #astro 🔭

I forgot to put the 🔭emoji in my post, so it didn't show up on the Astronomy feed!

Artemis II is scheduled to launch on Wednesday evening.

Asteroid 2024 YR₄ will NOT hit the Moon. JWST observations refined the orbit, dropping the lunar impact probability from 4% to zero. Independent researcher Sam Deen had already reached the same conclusion using 2016 precoveries. science.nasa.gov/blogs/planet...

Totality. Lunar eclipse.

The Lunar eclipse, which just began, would be a solar eclipse if you were on the Moon. Here's a view from the Moon.

Asteroid 2025 MH348, discovered last year, is possibly a trojan of Neptune. #astro 🔭

For those commenting that Voyager 1 will be 1 light day away in November 2026, that's from Earth. My post said from the Sun. That happens on February 3, 2027.

In 1 year from today, Voyager 1 will be one light day from the Sun. 🔭 orbitsimulator.com/gravitySimul...

116 years of Barnard's Star: 1940 to 2056. Proper motion and parallax are visible. The field of view is ~ as wide as the full Moon. #astronomy #astro 🔭

What would happen if you took a full-sky picture every day at noon from San Francisco for a year? I have no idea! It’s too cloudy here. So I simulated it. #astronomy #analemma

Space ambulance: Dragon returns a sick astronaut to Earth. Shot from San Francisco minutes before splashdown off San Diego. Skip to ~1:00 if the slow horizon motion bores you. Thank you @marwellaspaceart.bsky.social for reminding me to look up! pic.x.com/cuXLHH2N2h

Comet 3I/ATLAS, our interstellar visitor, poses for my eVscope from San Francisco. @unistellar.bsky.social @unistellarusa.bsky.social

The first 4 asteroids discovered this year are 2026 AA 2026 AB 2026 AC 2026 AD

Finally! Tens of thousands of asteroids are found each year. Yet 2026 had ZERO through Jan 6. The drought is over. Possibly as big as a jet liner. Possibly as large as a football field. Meet 2026 AA. Blame the Full Moon for the drought.🌕 Expect many more soon.

Polaris is not always the North Star. Due to Earth's precession, over the course of 26,000 years, Polaris, Alderamin, Vega, and Thuban take turns as the closest prominent star to the celestial pole.

Flying into Orion’s Belt at 0.001c 🌌 The hunter isn’t flat. It’s a real 3D region of space. (Upgraded animation!) #astronomy 🔭

@bot.astronomy.blue signup

Taurus is prominent in January's evening sky. The Hyades star cluster forms its familiar V-shape, and Aldebaran appears to belong to the cluster. But over ~100,000 years of proper motion, the illusion breaks: Aldebaran is moving to its own beat.

18 asteroids passed closer than the Moon in November. And every one of them was discovered this month. #Astronomy

Newly-discovered asteroid 2025 WZ₃ is currently passing through Earth's anti umbra 3 days before making a close approach of 1.15x the Moon's distance.

Asteroid 2022 RD₂ may become a mini-moon not once, but three times in 2043–2044. This may not exactly look like an orbit, But during each capture, if the Sun suddenly vanished, RD₂ would remain gravitationally bound to Earth indefinitely. iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3...

Comet C/2025 D1 (Groeller) has a perihelion over 14 AU, making it too dim for my backyard telescope. But it looks nice in Orbit Simulator. #Astronomy

The ESCAPADE mission to Mars is about to launch. It will stay near Earth for about 1 year before using an Oberth maneuver to send it to Mars.

Potentially Hazardous #Asteroid (PHA) 3361 Orpheus is an Apollo-class Near-Earth Asteroid (NEA). Last night it posed for a 30-minute image taken with my eVscope from San Francisco. Dim, mag 15.9 it is centered in the image. @unistellar.bsky.social

The asteroid is now known as 2025 UC11. This animation shows where the observations were made. #astronomy

A quick trip through the thermosphere turns newly-discovered asteroid ST25J47 from an Apollo to an Aten. It is no bigger than a meter.

After billions of years heading towards us, interstellar comet #3IATLAS is currently at its closest approach to the Sun right NOW. Perihelion. #astronomy #comet

Another mini-moon? Maybe. Newly discovered 2025 US6 is officially listed as an asteroid. Unlike our quasi-moon 2025 PN7, this one is actually bound to Earth, for now. Its orbit is pure chaos. Enjoy it while it lasts. It’ll probably be demoted to space junk.

Some YouTubes, even one by a famous astrophysicist, confuse mini-moons with quasi-moons. Simple test: 🔴 Delete the Sun. – Still orbiting Earth, even years later? Mini-moon (bound), like 2024 PT5. – Gone forever? Quasi-moon, like 2025 PN7.

What was 'quasi-moon' 2025 PN7 doing before it entered its quasi state? It was tracing horseshoe orbits. Horseshoe orbits are called that because some people think they look like horseshoes.

Watch Earth’s newest quasi-moon in motion. 🌍🌀 The new paper “Meet Arjuna 2025 PN7” confirms #asteroid 2025 PN7 is trapped in a quasi-satellite orbit, looping around Earth (in a rotating frame) from the 1960s to the 2080s. iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3...

Two Near-Earth Asteroids (NEAs) in the same field of view in my eVscope @unistellar. 2004 FN18 (middle) and 2000 EZ148.