Nightly News edition
Moon. On the evening of September 23, 2026 the Moon is waxing gibbous, 93% illuminated. That day the Moon sets at 3:31 AM MDT and rises at 5:27 PM MDT. Times are for Denver, Colorado; they shift by minutes to an hour elsewhere in the US and Canada.
A stream of solar wind from a coronal hole was forecast to reach Earth and could trigger auroras. If you are at a northern latitude, check the NOAA aurora forecast and look north after dark when activity rises.
Read the source: EarthSky (opens in new tab)
Roughly 17,000 active satellites now orbit Earth, up from about 1,000 in 2013, according to CelesTrak figures cited by Ars Technica. Starlink alone has around 11,000, and Amazon and several Chinese constellations are adding thousands more. Experts disagree on how close low orbit is to the cascading collisions known as Kessler syndrome, a debate that matters to anyone who wants an uncluttered night sky.
Read the source: Ars Technica (Space) (opens in new tab)
Hubble imaged galaxy cluster MACS J0417 on Sept. 19, 2026 to watch for the return of supernova Athena. Webb found Athena in 2025, and the cluster's gravity bends its light, so repeat appearances are predicted between now and early March 2027, and their timing will refine the universe's expansion rate. Hubble also logged its 200,000th orbit that day, a sign it is still producing new science.
Read the source: NASA (all news) (opens in new tab)