{ "title": "Night sky news, October 26, 2026: moon, events, aurora", "description": "Waning Gibbous, 99% lit. 2 sky events this week and 3 sourced news items for October 26, 2026.", "canonicalUrl": "https://darkskiesdirectory.com/nightly-news/2026-10-26", "breadcrumbs": [ { "name": "Home", "url": "/" }, { "name": "Nightly News", "url": "/nightly-news" }, { "name": "2026-10-26", "url": "/nightly-news/2026-10-26" } ], "updated": "2026-10-26T23:00:33.937Z", "data": { "date": "2026-10-26", "sky": { "location": "Denver, Colorado", "moon": { "phase": "Waning Gibbous", "illuminationPct": 99, "moonrise": "2026-10-27T00:01:57.921Z", "moonset": "2026-10-26T14:02:07.312Z", "text": "On the evening of October 26, 2026 the Moon is waning gibbous, 99% illuminated. That day the Moon sets at 8:02 AM MDT and rises at 6:01 PM MDT. Times are for Denver, Colorado; they shift by minutes to an hour elsewhere in the US and Canada." }, "visibleThisWeek": [ { "id": "aurora-outlook-2026-2028", "title": "Aurora Outlook: Solar Cycle 25 Decline", "date": "2026-09-24", "end_date": "2028-12-31", "url": "https://darkskiesdirectory.com/events/aurora-outlook-2026-2028" }, { "id": "full-moon-2026-10-26", "title": "Hunter's Moon (2026-10-26)", "date": "2026-10-26", "end_date": null, "url": "https://darkskiesdirectory.com/events/full-moon-2026-10-26" } ], "aurora": null }, "items": [ { "id": "2026-10-26-scientists-can-now-spot-hidden-sunspots-on-the-solar-far-side", "date": "2026-10-26", "slug": "scientists-can-now-spot-hidden-sunspots-on-the-solar-far-side", "headline": "Scientists Can Now Spot Hidden Sunspots on the Solar Far Side", "editorial_note_md": "Researchers have found a way to map hidden sunspots on the Sun's far side, a blind spot for space weather forecasters. A team led by Bibhuti Kumar Jha of the Southwest Research Institute used probability to infer activity there, which matters because the Sun takes 27 days to rotate and coronal mass ejections can hit satellites and power grids. Earlier warning of what is rotating toward us helps aurora chasers who watch space weather forecasts.", "source_name": "Universe Today", "source_url": "https://www.universetoday.com/articles/scientists-can-now-spot-hidden-sunspots-on-the-solar-far-side", "topics_json": "[\"aurora and space weather\"]", "published_at": "2026-10-26T23:00:33.937Z", "topics": [ "aurora and space weather" ] }, { "id": "2026-10-26-the-sky-today-on-monday-october-26-observe-the-october-hunter-s-moon", "date": "2026-10-26", "slug": "the-sky-today-on-monday-october-26-observe-the-october-hunter-s-moon", "headline": "The Sky Today on Monday, October 26: Observe the October Hunter’s Moon", "editorial_note_md": "October's Full Moon, the Hunter's Moon, occurred at 12:12 a.m. EDT on Oct. 26 and shone in both the morning and evening sky. Full phase is hard to observe because shadows are shortest and the terrain looks flat, but the bright rays of ejecta thrown out by ancient impacts stand out. A Moon filter, or sunglasses worn only at the eyepiece, cuts glare, and higher magnification dims the view.", "source_name": "Astronomy.com", "source_url": "https://www.astronomy.com/observing/the-sky-today-monday-october-26-2026/", "topics_json": "[\"celestial events\"]", "published_at": "2026-10-26T23:00:30.811Z", "topics": [ "celestial events" ] }, { "id": "2026-10-26-glowing-cauldron-of-new-stars-space-photo-of-the-day-for-oct-26-2026", "date": "2026-10-26", "slug": "glowing-cauldron-of-new-stars-space-photo-of-the-day-for-oct-26-2026", "headline": "Glowing 'cauldron' of new stars | Space photo of the day for Oct. 26, 2026", "editorial_note_md": "Webb's new view of N159, a star forming region in the Large Magellanic Cloud 161,000 light-years away, spans a swath 230 light-years wide. Glowing blue clouds of ionized hydrogen fill the center, threaded with filaments of reddish molecular hydrogen that hide young stars. The Cloud is a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way, close enough that Webb can resolve this much detail.", "source_name": "Space.com", "source_url": "https://www.space.com/astronomy/glowing-cauldron-of-new-stars-space-photo-of-the-day-for-oct-26-2026", "topics_json": "[\"NASA/ESA/CSA missions and funding\"]", "published_at": "2026-10-26T23:00:19.448Z", "topics": [ "NASA/ESA/CSA missions and funding" ] } ] }, "jsonld": { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://darkskiesdirectory.com/#organization", "name": "Dark Skies Directory", "url": "https://darkskiesdirectory.com", "logo": "https://darkskiesdirectory.com/apple-touch-icon.png", "member": [ { "@type": "Person", "@id": "https://darkskiesdirectory.com/#person-peter-benes", "name": "Peter Benes", "url": "https://darkskiesdirectory.com/editors/peter-benes", "jobTitle": "Editor", "sameAs": [ "https://benesthemenace.com", "https://travelpec.com/about" ], "worksFor": { "@id": "https://darkskiesdirectory.com/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Person", "@id": "https://darkskiesdirectory.com/#person-adrienne-kmetz", "name": "Adrienne Kmetz", "url": "https://darkskiesdirectory.com/editors/adrienne-kmetz", "jobTitle": "Editor", "sameAs": [ "https://adriennekmetz.com", "https://attentionoptimization.com" ], "worksFor": { "@id": "https://darkskiesdirectory.com/#organization" } } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://darkskiesdirectory.com/#website", "url": "https://darkskiesdirectory.com", "name": "Dark Skies Directory", "publisher": { "@id": "https://darkskiesdirectory.com/#organization" } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://darkskiesdirectory.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Nightly News", "item": "https://darkskiesdirectory.com/nightly-news" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "2026-10-26", "item": "https://darkskiesdirectory.com/nightly-news/2026-10-26" } ] } ] } }