Cosmic Perspectives from Amid the Stars:
Astronomy Blog

In July 2026, astronomers at the European Southern Observatory announced evidence of what could be the first discovery of an exomoon—a moon that exists in a solar system beyond our own. If confirmed, this so-called moon would be a gaseous body at least the mass of Jupiter, which raises the question, what makes it a moon instead of a gas giant planet?

The Solar System—the gravitational system composed of the Sun and everything that orbits it—is like our local neighborhood in space. Nearly everything within the influence of the Sun’s gravity shares a common origin. But how did it all start? How did the Solar System form?

Take a look into the early evening sky any night this summer, and you’ll see a bright light over the western horizon, just above where the sun set. It looks like an incredibly bright star, but it’s actually the planet Venus. Venus has often been called Earth’s sister planet. It’s a rocky planet with about the same size and mass, as well as being the closest planet to Earth, but the similarities end there. Venus is actually about as different from Earth as a rocky planet can g

In less than a week, on Sunday, June 21, summer will begin, at least in the Northern Hemisphere. But in the south, it will actually be the start of winter. Just how is it possible that two different places on the same planet could be experiencing different seasons at the same time?