APOD — 2026 August 28, The Sky Turns Above Paranal: Why This Matters Tonight

0:03 Caloroga Shark Media. Space weather is brought to you with the help of AI. APOD 2026, August 28th. The sky turns above Paranal. APOD Science. APOD APOD 2026, August 28th. Today's APOD Archive Submissions Index Search Calendar. RSS Education about Discuss APOD Astronomy. Picture of the Day. Discover the Cosmos. Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. The sky. Tonight the moon passes through part of Earth's shadow in a partial lunar eclipse. It won't turn fully red like a total eclipse, but you'll notice a dark shadow creeping across the lunar surface. Both gas giants put on a show. Saturn is at its yearly best, while Jupiter grows brighter and rises earlier each evening.

1:06 Tonight's full moon is the Sturgeon Moon, named for the large fish that were most readily caught in the Great Lakes during August. A Falcon-heavy rocket is set to launch in the next couple of days from Kennedy Space Center, Florida. SpaceX is behind this one. The booster will attempt a drone ship landing in the Atlantic. NASA's space weather trackers also note, a burst of solar material was seen on the north side of the sun, moving at moderate speed. Quick solar update. The sun is quite active, with numerous sunspot groups visible. That means a moderate chance of northern lights tonight for those in northern latitudes. Look north after dark if skies are clear. That's your space update for today, compiled by AI from NASA and Space Flight News. For the strange side of the sky, search Spreaker for UFO sightings today.