Omaha Astronomical Society

05/01/2026

Today is May Eve, the traditional Beltane, the springtime opposite of Halloween. Both are about halfway from an equinox to a solstice. On these nights, people in parts of ancient Europe believed, the veil between the ordinary world and the spirit world became unusually thin and permeable.
https://buff.ly/ZsYUicR

04/21/2026

The thickening crescent Moon hangs about halfway between Venus and Jupiter at nightfall. These are the three brightest objects in the early-evening sky.
https://buff.ly/w1zUkp1

04/21/2026

Today, as darkness falls, you’ll see the young near . When true darkness falls, you'll see the bright star and – if your sky is dark enough – the star cluster. Look for them before midnight! 🌒🌌

Watch this video for more information:
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/icfLOjYVptk

And for more sky events, visit EarthSky’s night sky guide:
https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/visible-planets-tonight-mars-jupiter-venus-saturn-mercury/

📸 Chart via EarthSky.org.

04/18/2026

Meet the neighbors...

is often said to be the closest star to our sun. It's true that when you look at this star - the 3rd-brightest star in our night sky - you can think of it as the closest star. But, really, it's the closest star system to our sun. The single star we see as Alpha Centauri becomes 2 stars through a telescope. This pair is just 4.37 light-years away from us. A 3rd star in the system, Proxima Centauri, orbits around the 2 larger stars. And, at 4.25 light-years away, Proxima is the closest known star.

Read more at: https://earthsky.org/brightest-stars/alpha-centauri-is-the-nearest-bright-star/

📸 NASA PhotoJournal.

04/18/2026

Moderate chance of aurora visible tonight. Having no bright moon in the sky helps. So does a darker sky. Here's hoping!

The large, negative polarity coronal hole is now directly facing Earth. A high speed solar wind stream is expected to reach Earth within the next 24 hours. Moderate (G2) geomagnetic storming is currently in the forecast. This coincides with a new moon phase so aurora viewing conditions will be improved. Middle to high latitude sky watchers should be alert if the G2 level is reached. Image by SDO/AIA.

SolarHam.com

04/04/2026

Still the best prank our summer students have ever pulled. 😅 This photo is not edited - the students physically placed an "L" and "G" on the NRAO building!

04/03/2026

Wednesday brings Global Astronomy Month!
Astronomers Without Borders

We all live on the same planet

We all live on a very small world floating in a vast, largely unknown cosmos. Sometimes we think that with humanity’s many differences, peoples in different lands have little in common with one another.

One commonality, though, is that we all see much of the same sky. People in the USA, in Canada, in Australia, in Brazil, in China, and in Russia – and in Ukraine; people in every country of Europe, Africa, Asia, South America and Central America; people in the developed and in the undeveloped world; people living in large, modern cities, in rural farmlands, and on isolated oceanic islands; in other words, everyone everywhere all see the same moon, the same planets, many of the same stars – and we all live under the same sun.

Stand under the starry dome and gaze skyward. Join the rest of humanity and experience the wonder, beauty, and mystery of this incredible universe.

Global Astronomy Month begins April 1.

https://astronomerswithoutborders.org/programs/global-astronomy-month/gam2026-main99730

https://www.facebook.com/astronomerswithoutborders

Created and organized by Astronomers Without Borders.
And, yes, the Astronomical League is proud to contribute.

03/26/2026

Now give that a quick stir 🥣

The NASA/USGS Landsat 8 spacecraft caught a swirl of sediment – known as "glacial flour" – flowing in a branch of the Nansen Sound fjord system during the summer melt season.

Glacial flour is rock that has been pulverized by a glacier. As the glacier's surface melts, water gets under the glacier and flushes out the glacial flour. The crushed rock is a critical source of nutrient for phytoplankton—the foundation of marine food webs.

03/26/2026

If you’re out on an evening walk in late March or early April, notice this seasonal aspect of the night . The famous constellation the Hunter - an easy-to-spot star pattern in January and February - now seems to have moved and turned considerably. It’s very low in the western part of the sky when the sun goes down, and will soon disappear into the sun’s glare. 🌌

Find out more about the westward shift of Orion:
https://earthsky.org/tonight/the-westward-shift-of-orion-and-all-the-stars/

📸 Chart via EarthSky.org.

03/19/2026

Bright Sirius now stands due south on the meridian as the stars come out. Sirius is the bottom star of the big, equilateral Winter Triangle. The triangle's other two stars are orange Betelgeuse to Sirius's upper right and Procyon to Sirius's upper left.
https://buff.ly/8GvrfXT