Skywatchers can spot all planets in the solar system during November, with Daylight Saving Time ending Nov. 1 giving earlier sunsets and more viewing time before bedtime. Mercury becomes easier to see after reaching western elongation on Nov. 20, while Venus grows more visible as it moves farther from the sun throughout the month. Mars, Jupiter and Saturn remain visible nightly, with Jupiter, Mars and the star Regulus forming a notable trio in the eastern sky.
cnet.com
· 2026-10-31
A team led by Tübingen archaeologist Nicholas Conard tested a perforated mammoth-ivory artifact found at Germany's Hohle Fels cave, discovering that its spiral-grooved holes could guide cattail fibers into twisted strands. Using the tool, researchers produced 16 feet of strong rope in about ten minutes, suggesting the object functioned as a fiber-working tool rather than a symbolic item as first assumed.
smithsonianmag.com
· 2026-10-07
A team led by planetary scientist Hiroki Karyu at Tohoku University used a microphysical model to explain the yellowish haze in Venus' lower atmosphere, first seen by Venera and Pioneer Venus probes in the 1970s. The study, published in Nature Astronomy, found the haze forms when sulfuric acid reacts with dust particles left behind by meteorites burning up in the atmosphere, ruling out volcanic ash or surface dust as the source.
arstechnica.com
· 2026-10-01
Skywatchers can spot every planet in the solar system at some point during October, according to CNET's monthly sky guide. Mercury's best viewing falls around Oct. 12 during its elongation, while Venus becomes visible after sunset only by Oct. 31. Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune and Uranus are visible on most or all nights throughout the month.
cnet.com
· 2026-09-29
MIT researchers created a laboratory solution of 98% sulfuric acid, mimicking conditions in Venus's clouds, and tested whether complex organic molecules such as peptides could remain stable in it. The peptides retained their structure, contradicting the long-held assumption that such acidity would immediately destroy complex chemistry.
gizmodo.com
· 2026-09-28
A new study in The Astrophysical Journal argues Venus once had a natural moon that gradually spiraled inward and collided with the planet, explaining why Venus is moonless today. Lead author Stephen Kane, an astrophysicist at UC Riverside, says the moon's demise didn't require a violent impact event, but resulted from the interplay between Venus's gravity and its slow rotation rate.
futurism.com
· 2026-09-27
Researchers at the University of California, Riverside modeled how Venus' extremely slow rotation—243 Earth days per spin—combined with its gravity could have gradually dragged a hypothetical moon inward until it broke apart and was absorbed by the planet. Lead author Steven Kane says this process wouldn't have required a catastrophic collision, contradicting an earlier theory that Venus' moon was destroyed by an impact with another body. The team built a computer simulation of gravitational interactions to test this mechanism.
wired.com
· 2026-09-24
The European Space Agency is pressing ahead with its Envision mission to Venus after NASA signaled it likely can't deliver the US-built synthetic aperture radar it had promised under a 2024 partnership agreement. That radar was meant to be the spacecraft's main tool for mapping the planet's volcanic surface through its thick sulfuric-acid clouds at ten times the resolution of NASA's 1990s Magellan mission. ESA's project scientist says development will continue at full pace regardless.
arstechnica.com
· 2026-09-10
Stargazers can look forward to several notable sky events in September 2026, including Venus appearing near the bright star Spica on September 1-2, and the moon passing close to the Pleiades star cluster on September 3. Later in the month, Venus will hit peak brightness, Neptune will reach its best viewing position of the year, and a minor meteor shower will follow August's Perseids.
wired.com
· 2026-09-01
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