Changelog
What’s new on Dark Skies Directory, newest first: new guides, new data, and anything meaningfully updated.
November 11, 2026
November 10, 2026
November 9, 2026
- Added the Nightly News item "Are the James Webb Space Telescope's mysterious Little Red Dots actually tiny black holes left over from the Big Bang era?"
- Added the Nightly News item "NASA’s ESCAPADE Completes Powered Earth Flybys, Now En Route to Mars"
- Added the Nightly News item "Meteorite that landed in Cape Cod was a 'lone wolf' from the outer solar system, scientists find"
- Added the Nightly News item "Celestron Origin’s Mosaic Mode brings wide-field astrophotography to the biggest smart telescope"
- Added the Nightly News item "NASA’s Chandra Finds Source of Star’s Mysterious Outbursts"
November 8, 2026
November 7, 2026
- Added the Nightly News item "NASA's Swift telescope has burned up, months after a robot sent to save it failed"
- Added the Nightly News item "NASA’s Swift telescope falls to Earth after nearly 22 years in space"
- Added the Nightly News item "Rubin Observatory discovers two hidden companions of the Milky Way. Hundreds more may be waiting"
November 6, 2026
- Added the Nightly News item "Hera probe gets 1st good look at asteroid system clobbered by NASA's DART mission | Space photo of the day for Nov. 6, 2026"
- Added the Nightly News item "Giant exoplanet emerges from the dark when the James Webb Space Telescope turns out the starlight"
- Added the Nightly News item "M30’s Sparkling Stars"
- Added the Nightly News item "Don't miss: Meteor showers, fireballs, and a supermoon light up November's night sky"
- Added the Nightly News item "Northern lights could reach New York and Idaho this weekend as speedy solar wind races toward Earth"
November 5, 2026
November 4, 2026
- Added the Nightly News item "The Sky Today on Tuesday, November 3: The Moon passes Regulus"
- Added the Nightly News item "The Taurid meteor shower peaks tonight, and fireballs could steal the show"
- Added the Nightly News item "Avoiding an uncontrolled reentry; boost Hubble and keep the science, Isaacman"
November 3, 2026
- Added the Nightly News item "Red and green auroras may share electron-driven origins"
- Added the Nightly News item "Ancient star collisions could explain mysterious Little Red Dots and 'impossible' black holes"
- Added the Nightly News item "10 asteroid mysteries that Hera will explore"
- Added the Nightly News item "The Star Wars Eclipse, Want to see the 2027 total solar eclipse on Tatooine? Head to Tunisia"
- Added the Nightly News item "APOD: 2026 November 3: Comet PanSTARRs and Rainbow Meteor"
November 2, 2026
- Added the Nightly News item "James Webb Space Telescope uncovers new clues about the origins of 'interstellar invader' comet 3I/ATLAS"
- Added the Nightly News item "Stars make oxygen for small galaxies, but they lose most of it"
- Added the Nightly News item "What’s Up: November 2026 Skywatching Tips from NASA"
November 1, 2026
October 31, 2026
- Added the Nightly News item "November’s Night Sky Notes: Light-Day Away"
- Added the Nightly News item "Ghostly Cat’s Head Nebula lurks within sight of Hubble and Webb"
- Added the Nightly News item "The Taurid meteor shower isn't much to look at. That's why I love it"
- Added the Nightly News item "NASA Explores Potential Commercial Servicing for Hubble Telescope"
- Added the Nightly News item "NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope Captures Eerie Cat’s Head"
October 30, 2026
- Added the Nightly News item "Earth’s “Impenetrable” Space Radiation Shield Was Just Breached From Within"
- Added the Nightly News item "Think Halloween is scary? This scorched alien world is a real-life cosmic horror story"
- Added the Nightly News item "“These Small Ones Dominate the Risk”: Are Deadly ‘Halloween Fireballs’ Just Media Ghost Stories, or is the Cosmic Airburst Threat Real?"
October 29, 2026
- Added the Nightly News item "Rubin Observatory reveals its first dwarf planet candidate in our solar system"
- Added the Nightly News item "The universe in the eye of a telescope | Space photo of the day for Oct. 29, 2026"
- Added the Nightly News item "Examining the Cat's Head Nebula with the Hubble and JWST"
- Updated: Dark sky laws by state, re-verified for all 50 states, DC and Canada
- Added: Night Sky December 2026
- Added: Night Sky November 2026
October 28, 2026
October 27, 2026
October 26, 2026
October 23, 2026
- Added the Nightly News item "27 Exoplanet Targets for the World's First Private Space Telescope"
- Added the Nightly News item "The Sky Today on Friday, October 23: Nab Neptune near the Moon"
- Added the Nightly News item "NASA’s Swift Mission Ends, Leaves Behind Scientific Bonanza"
- Added the Nightly News item "Halley's Comet dazzles from afar in spectacular astrophoto of Orionid meteor shower"
- Added the Nightly News item "NASA’s Artemis III Mission to Test Future Moon Lander Operations"
October 22, 2026
October 21, 2026
- Added the Nightly News item "Orionid meteor shower peaks tonight: Here's the best time to spot shooting stars"
- Added the Nightly News item "When will SpaceX and Blue Origin fly to the moon? NASA reveals lunar lander timelines (and an Artemis III update)"
- Added the Nightly News item "Oct. 21, 1897: Yerkes Observatory is dedicated"
- Added the Nightly News item "The Sky Today on Wednesday, October 21: Catch early-morning Orionids"
October 20, 2026
October 19, 2026
October 18, 2026
October 17, 2026
October 16, 2026
- Added the Nightly News item "7 best places to see the northern lights, according to an aurora chaser"
- Added the Nightly News item "How to see the Orionid meteor shower 2026 peak this week, and when to look"
- Added the Nightly News item "When not to watch a meteor shower, why I'm not staying up for the Orionids"
- Added the Nightly News item "Japan prepares to launch sample return mission to Phobos"
- Added the Nightly News item "Artemis II Heat Shield After Splashdown"
- Added the Nightly News item "Scientists find 'gemstones' in atmosphere of bizarre, scorching-hot 'marshmallow' exoplanet"
- Added the Nightly News item "The Sky This Week from October 16 to 23: The Orionid meteor shower peaks"
October 15, 2026
October 14, 2026
October 13, 2026
October 12, 2026
October 11, 2026
October 10, 2026
October 9, 2026
October 8, 2026
October 7, 2026
October 6, 2026
October 5, 2026
- Added the Nightly News item "Don't miss: Watch Saturn shine and Halley’s Comet debris streak across the sky"
- Added the Nightly News item "Oct. 5th, 1923: Hubble discovers galaxies beyond the Milky Way"
- Added the Nightly News item "The Sky Today on Monday, October 5: The Moon, Mars, and M44"
- Added the Nightly News item "How do professional astronomers book time on JWST or Hubble?"
October 4, 2026
October 3, 2026
October 2, 2026
October 1, 2026
- Added the Nightly News item "The Sky Today on Thursday, October 1: Perseus’ Double Cluster"
- Added the Nightly News item "What’s Up: October 2026 Skywatching Tips from NASA"
- Added "Mars Opposition 2027 Viewing Guide: How to See Mars at Its Best"
- Added "Geminids 2026 Viewing Guide: When and How to Watch"
- Added "Saturn Opposition 2026: How to See It (October 4)"
September 30, 2026
September 29, 2026
- Added the Nightly News item "How NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will open a window into the Milky Way"
- Added the Nightly News item "Galaxies in a cosmic house of mirrors"
- Added the Nightly News item "Mystery Surrounds Destruction of U.S. Spy Satellite in Orbit as Officials Assess Possible Danger to Existing Spacecraft"
- Added the Nightly News item "APOD: 2026 September 29, Sh2-188: The Shrimp Nebula"
September 28, 2026
- Added the Nightly News item "Sept. 28, 1969: The Murchison Meteorite explodes over Australia"
- Updated "Meteor Shower Calendar 2026-2027" and "Dark Sky Parks in the US and Canada" with links to the new seasonal shower and Canada preserves guides
- Corrected the Moon condition for the 2026 Orionids in "Moon Phases, Moonrise and Moonset Explained": waxing gibbous and about 74 percent lit, not largely out of the way
- Added "NASA's Budget Explained: Where the Money Goes"
- Added "Starlink and the Night Sky: Satellites and Stargazing"
- Added "UFOs and UAPs: What Official Investigations Have Found"
- Added "Dark Sky Preserves in Canada: A Province-by-Province Guide"
- Added "Night Sky October 2026: What to See in the US and Canada"
- Added "Geminids 2026: Peak Night Guide for the US and Canada"
- Added "Leonid Meteor Shower 2026: When and Where to Watch"
- Added "Orionid Meteor Shower 2026: Peak Dates and Where to Watch"
September 24, 2026
- Widened the Nightly News roundup to cover a full week, with a link to every source.
- Added a "Near me" map to the dark sky places directory.
- Added a "Plan Your Night" panel to every dark sky place page: tonight's moon phase, upcoming meteor showers, forecast and light-pollution map links, and the 5 nearest other certified places.
- Added the Dark Sky Trip Planner, with 12 months of new-moon weekend windows and calendar downloads for every event.