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Blue Origin to rebuild launch facilities after a major New Glenn explosion and be flying before the end of the year Booster "Never Tell Me The Odds" and upper stages are safe after the explosion We posted an update to last week's blog about the massive explosion, or "anomaly" that engulfed the Blue Origin launch pad and New Glenn launch vehicle during a static fire test.   As this is the company's only launch facility there had been speculation that it might mean a delay of some years to rebuild before it could launch again, and this might put pressure on NASA's crewed return to the Moon by 2028. NASA had contracted Blue Origin to provide transport of key hardware to the Lunar surface, including rovers.  The Blue Origin CEO, David Limp, said that surprisingly key components such as "The propellant farm, oxygen, liquid hydrogen and LNG tanks are all in good shape."  It also means according to Limp that "We will fly again before the end of this year." Fingers crossed that this won't cause delays to the NASA Moon program! (BTW, there's no link between the Jeff Bezos owned Blue Origin pad rebuild and any incoming increases to your Amazon Prime subscriptions...)  You can read more at the Blue Origin site here. NASA says farewell to MAVEN  Expected to only last one year, MAVEN returned key information for more than 11 years On the 3rd of June 2026, NASA confirmed that their MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution) mission was officially over, following loss of communication with the spacecraft in December 2025. Despite best efforts, contact was unable to be re-established.  MAVEN was the first mission entirely devoted to studying the atmosphere of Mars and its evolution.  One of the important findings of MAVEN was a deeper understanding of how much radiation is blocked by Mars' atmosphere and how it would impact future crewed missions.  “The science MAVEN has given us is key to informing what kind of radiation protection and safety measures we must take before sending humans to Mars,” said Louise Prockter, director of the Planetary Science Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “The data collected from MAVEN will continue to provide valuable insight into Mars for decades to come.” Other discoveries of MAVEN included: How the Martian atmosphere is eroded by Solar storms Different types of aurorae are found not just at the poles like they are here on Earth The gradual leaking of Mars’ atmosphere into space A better understanding of Martian dust storms Even chasing Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS as it headed out in the far reaches of the Solar System Plus more As the Planetary Society commented on the spacecraft that was designed to last a year but worked for eleven, "That'll do, MAVEN, that'll do." Signs of a large planet in the early Solar System that disappeared The early Solar System was a chaotic place! A slice of NWA 12774 We already know the complex history of the Earth-Moon system and other large bodies might have merged into other planets through collisions.  Astronomers have now found evidence of a large world, maybe even the size of the Moon or Mars, that slammed into another body and completely shattered into dust and rubble. While this world has completely disappeared from the Solar System as we know it today, we've found evidence of its past through meteorites that have fallen to Earth that are very different to the local geology to put it mildly! “It’s incredible to think there was once a world this large,” said Aaron Bell, an assistant research professor in the Department of Earth Science at CU Boulder. “We only know it existed because a few fragments of it happened to land on Earth. These meteorites preserved evidence of a completely different pathway through which early planets developed.” One meteorite fragment that points to this different pathway is an angrite, in particular one called NWA 12774. Of the approx. 80,000 meteorites that have been found on Earth, only 68 are angrites.  Their chemistry is different from Earth's and were thought to have formed on asteroids of less than 400 km in diameter.  Studies showed that NWA 12774 was the result of pressures in a rocky body much, much bigger than that, of some 3,600km in diameter similar to the Moon or even 6,500km making it comparable to Mars.  We know that the Moon and Mars have different chemical ingredients from NWA 12774, and this leads to the question "What happened to it?" Scientists are unsure. It might have collided into another large rocky planet in the early days of the Solar System, and these fragments might have even contributed to the formation of other planets including Earth.   Even more tantalising is there might be other members of the Solar System family we don't know about.  “There are many meteorites sitting in drawers that haven’t been thoroughly studied, so there were likely more of these protoplanets we don’t know about,” Bell said.  Read more here. Aussie astronomers produce the largest map of the Universe's magnetic fields Mapping the twisted light reveals where magnetic fields are found throughout the skies One of the major advancements in recent decades is how astronomers use different light wavelengths, gravitational waves, neutrinos, and cosmic rays to form a more complete picture of the formation and development of galaxies and the large-scale structure of the Universe we live in. (This is often referred to as Multi-Messenger Astronomy.) There are also large magnetic fields spread throughout the Universe and these influence its evolution over billions of years.  Astronomers are unable to directly view these magnetic fields, but by working out indirect methods to map them on a wide scale, they are able to study the fine details of the matter between nearby stars and an enormous of  number distant galaxies.  A new map released this week will offer future researchers an even better view of this influence on of the Universe as it's five times larger than all other magnetic maps combined.  Produced by the CSIRO and the SKA Observatory (SKA), the map, called SPICE-RACS, is the result of observations with the CSIRO’s ASKAP radio telescope. It works by measuring how much light in radio wavelengths is twisted by magnetic fields as it travels vast distances.   “For the first time, we can investigate fine details of the material between nearby stars, and study a huge number of distant galaxies." Said lead researcher Dr Alec Thomson.  “We collected rotation measures from every galaxy detected in RACS – nearly four million galaxies – and reprocessed this original data from ASKAP to retrieve the full picture,” Dr Thomson continued.  “With the information we now have on magnetic fields throughout the Universe, we can study things like how magnetic fields affect the galactic-scale interaction of our own Milky Way and its neighbours, the Magellanic Clouds. We can even potentially find the answer to questions like when did magnetic fields first appear in the Universe? We had once thought it would be impossible to answer these questions. I’m excited to say that is no longer the case." said Professor Naomi McClure-Griffiths, SKAO’s Chief Scientist. You can read more about the release of SPICE-RACS here.  Cheers, Earl White BINTEL 6th June 2026

22 July 2028 · Sydney, Australia The day the Sun goes out over Sydney A total solar eclipse is crossing directly over Sydney. The first since 1857, and the last until 2858. Countdown to totality -- Days -- Hours -- Minutes -- Seconds Totality begins ≈ 2:00 pm AEST, Saturday 22 July 2028 1857 Last total eclipse over Sydney 3:44 Minutes of totality 100% Of the Sun covered 2858 Next one after 2028 By the Bintel Team · Published 1 June 2026 · 6 min read A total solar eclipse passes right over Sydney on 22 July 2028, and for a few minutes the sky goes dark, the temperature drops, and the Sun's corona appears as a pearly halo around a black disc where our star used to be. We haven't had one over Sydney since 1857, and we won't get another until 2858, so this really is a once-in-many-lifetimes event. On this page What's actually happening The path of totality Exact timing for Sydney How to watch it safely The gear you need FAQ The phenomenon What's actually happening A total solar eclipse happens when the Moon passes right between the Earth and the Sun and drops its shadow onto us. Stand inside the narrow central shadow (the path of totality) and the Moon covers the Sun completely for a few minutes. The day turns to an eerie twilight, bright stars and planets pop out, and the Sun's outer atmosphere, the corona, shows up as a shimmering halo of pearly light. Here's the thing though, it only looks like this from inside the path of totality. A 99% partial eclipse is a nice curiosity, but 100% is a completely different beast. The good news for us is that Sydney sits smack inside the 2028 path, and you can check the exact track on NASA's eclipse pages. The corona and pink prominences flash into view at totality. Image via NASA/Carla Thomas. Our star, up close. This is the Sun captured through proper solar gear. On 22 July 2028 the Moon hides all of it, and reveals the corona you can normally never see. Geography The path of totality The Moon's shadow first hits land in Western Australia's Kimberley region, then sweeps south-east across the Northern Territory, south-west Queensland and into New South Wales, passing right over Sydney before heading out across the Tasman Sea to New Zealand. The longest stretch of totality, a bit over five minutes, lands near the Drysdale River in WA. All up, the shadow races across the country for nearly three hours from first landfall to last contact. What makes 2028 so special is the geography. Any given spot on Earth only sees totality about once every 375 years or so, which is why Sydney has waited since 1857 for this one. The path runs straight over the Sydney metro area and its five million-odd people, so most of us won't have to travel far at all to stand under it. If you do want to chase the centreline, the Astronomical Society of Australia has the full state-by-state rundown. Timing Exact timing for Sydney From Sydney the partial phase kicks off early in the afternoon as the Moon takes its first bite out of the Sun. Totality arrives around 2:00 pm AEST and lasts up to about 3 minutes 44 seconds, depending on exactly where you're standing relative to the centreline. After that the partial phase carries on for over an hour as the Moon slides off the other side. July is mid-winter downunder with no daylight saving, so all times are AEST (UTC+10). We'll lock in the exact second-by-second contact times closer to the day. Eye-safety warning. It's only safe to look at the Sun with the naked eye during the brief moments of total eclipse. During every partial phase, any time even a sliver of the Sun's disc is visible, you must use certified ISO 12312-2 eclipse glasses, and any telescope or binoculars must have a proper solar filter fitted over the front. Looking at the partial Sun without protection causes permanent, painless retinal damage. Stay safe How to watch it safely The good news is that watching safely is easy and pretty cheap. Here's the plan. For your eyes Wear certified ISO 12312-2 eclipse glasses for the entire partial phase. They block 99.999% of sunlight, and ordinary sunglasses, smoked glass and exposed film simply won't cut it. Only take them off once the Sun is 100% covered and totality has begun, then pop them straight back on the instant the first bead of sunlight returns. For binoculars & telescopes Never point an unfiltered telescope or binocular at the Sun, the concentrated light will destroy your eye in an instant. Fit a certified white-light solar filter over the front of the scope (never one of those little eyepiece-end 'sun' filters). For the most detailed view, a dedicated hydrogen-alpha solar telescope shows up prominences and surface detail in glowing red. Plan your spot Anywhere in Sydney inside the path gets totality, but a clear view low toward the Sun's afternoon spot helps. Scout somewhere with open sky, get there early, and have a backup nearby in case of cloud. Get ready The gear you need from Bintel We're Australia's specialist binocular and telescope shop, and there are really just three things that'll get you set for totality. Eclipse Glasses Certified ISO 12312-2. The essential, affordable starting point for safe naked-eye viewing. Shop eclipse glasses → Telescopes From grab-and-go refractors to serious aperture, bringing the corona and prominences up close. Shop telescopes → Solar Filters White-light front filters that turn your telescope or binoculars into a safe solar instrument. Shop solar filters → Don't wait until the week before. Eclipse stock sells out fast as the date nears. Get sorted early and be ready when Sydney goes dark. Shop Solar Viewing Gear Good to know Frequently asked questions When is the total solar eclipse in Sydney? Saturday 22 July 2028. Totality occurs around 2:00 pm AEST and lasts up to about 3 minutes 44 seconds. Is it safe to look at a solar eclipse? Only during the brief moments of total eclipse. During every partial phase you must use certified ISO 12312-2 eclipse glasses, and any telescope or binoculars must have a certified solar filter over the front. Viewing the partial Sun unprotected causes permanent eye damage. Where can I see the 2028 eclipse? The path of totality crosses the Kimberley (WA), the Northern Territory, south-west Queensland and New South Wales, passing directly over Sydney, then crosses the Tasman Sea to New Zealand. Sydney is inside the path. When is the next total solar eclipse over Sydney after 2028? The 2028 eclipse is the first over Sydney since 1857. The next will not occur until 3 June 2858. Credits Brought to you by Bintel, The Binocular and Telescope Shop. Sun image by Geoff. Eclipse timing and path data from the Astronomical Society of Australia, NASA and timeanddate.com. Exact contact times will be confirmed closer to the event. Shop Solar Observing →

NASA Announces Semi-permanent base on the Moon by 2032 Missions to explore and map the Moon's south pole start landing this year BIG news from NASA this morning about their future plans for long term presence on the Moon's surface. They are establishing Moon Base, which will be humanity's first outpost away from Earth.  It will be situated near the Moon's south pole, a region where useful resources including water is likely to be found.  NASA is aiming to have Artemis astronauts living and working there on a semi-permanent basis by 2032.   The Moon Base timeline. Image via NASA This will happen in three stages.  From 2026-2029; Experiment and Learn  A large number of Lunar missions, including 21 landings. These will include rovers and MoonFall drones as well as crewed landings Testing of communication systems and power supplies on the Lunar surface, including nuclear radioisotope heaters designed to work throughout the periods of darkness during long nights on the Moon First deliverables of Moon Base with about 4 tonnes of materials to see what does and doesn't work on the Lunar surface From 2029-2032; Early habitation Extended solar power and compact fission reactors More advanced rovers and early astronaut habitation modules Beefed up communication systems Delivery of up to 60 tonnes of cargo using as many as 24 landings of heavy class cargo landers From 2032 and beyond; Sustained Human Presence Larger crew modules  Advanced logistics using both crewed and autonomous rovers Delivery of approx. 38 tonnes of cargo annually NASA also announced the awarding of contracts to several companies for the hardware including rovers and landing systems.  The Pegasus Lunar Terrain Vehicle is being developed by Lunar Outpost and has been selected by NASA to be part of the initial transport system on the Lunar surface.  We'll be covering more of these developments as NASA rolls out definitive plans for us to return to the Moon and travel beyond.  You can find out more at the NASA Moon Base at their site here. Update 29/5: NASA had selected Blue Origin as a major component of the Moon Base program, tasking them with landing their rovers near the Lunar south pole.  In what is probably the largest explosion of a rocket since the ill-fated Soviet N1 Moon rocket, Blue Origin's New Glenn vehicle blew up on the launch pad during a test firing today.  "Exploded" is probably an understatement about the event! SpaceX Starship makes a 12th flight Yep, it flew! Largely successful test flight of their new "V3" version Last weekend after some short delays, the latest test flight of the SpaceX mega rocket, Starship, took place. This is the first test of the new "V3" stack which offers major payload improvements and system upgrades.  The flight suffered some engine malfunctions. It also deployed a number of dummy Starlink satellites. Like the other Starship tests, while reaching space, it wasn't aiming for insertion into low Earth orbit. All parts of the rocket splashed down in the ocean.  This mission comes ahead of major test flights where they plan to transfer fuel between two Starships in orbit. The refuelling of spacecraft in orbit has never been achieved before and is a key part of the SpaceX Human Landing System (HLS) to ferry astronauts to the Moon's surface. Each of these flights could require up to 12 tankers to get them underway.  We'll certainly be keeping an eye on those upcoming missions! Update 28/5:  The American FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) has grounded Starship V3 until further notice. It has stated that: "After a thorough assessment of the operation, the FAA has determined the May 22 SpaceX Starship Flight 12 launch resulted in a mishap. The mishap involved the Super Heavy booster as it flew back to the Gulf of America after stage separation. There are no reports of public injury or damage to public property" It's likely that Starship will be back flying soon after their investigation. Read more here at the FAA website. ZWO Seestar S30 Pro Equatorial Head and Tripods What do you need and why? The little ZWO S30 Pro Smart Telescope has really made an impression in the astronomy community by allowing even complete beginners to take simply beautiful astro images. It's also got more than enough power and features to keep up with you as your skills grow. As we like to say, you don't stay a beginner for very long! One thing we've had a few questions from our BINTEL customers about is what is the ZWO TH10 Equatorial Head and why do you need it. Stars don't just rise in the East and set in the West Out of the box, the ZWO S30 Pro tracks the night sky very nicely, and will follow it as it turns over your head during the evening. It works in what's called Alt-Az (Altitude-Azimuth) mode. In other words, it goes up and down and right and left. This lets it follow astro objects with no dramas.  The issue is that things in the night sky don't simply travel directly overhead. Instead, they spin around a point in the night sky called the south celestial pole. This is directly south and at the same latitude as where you're located.  This path is especially noticeable when viewing in the far southern parts of the sky. Objects appear to rotate around this spot in the sky and will never "set".  For example, the Southern Cross never dips below the horizon in a good chunk of Australia.  To follow stars, telescopes like the ZWO Seestar S30 Pro not only need to move left and right in Alt-Az mode but need to swivel a little bit as well. This tracks objects quite well. This tiny swivel means the view rotates ever so slightly as well.  This is called Field Rotation. This reduces the time for each exposure that the telescope can make. The S30 Pro will still easily stack together multiple exposures. The edges of each frame will also blur slightly as they're the parts of the image most impacted by field rotation.  Equatorial Or "EQ" mode To get around this*, telescopes are tilted and pointed directly at the south celestial pole. For the S30 Pro, you could use a ZWO TH10 Tripod Head. This sits on top of the tripod and you attach the S30 Pro to it.  This allows you to tilt and point the S30 Pro toward the south celestial pole and use it in  Equatorial/EQ mode.    Polar Alignment You might also hear the term polar alignment. This is the procedure to correctly point the Az or Azimuth axis or swivel base directly south and at the same tilt as your latitude.  This can be a bit tricky and take a little practice especially for us folks in the southern hemisphere where we don't have a "North Star" or Polaris to help line things up. To make life easier for Seestar owners, they feature a polar alignment routine to quickly show you where to point the telescope so it's accurately lined up.  ZWO TC20 Tripod  While the small tabletop tripod that comes with the S30 Pro is handy for storage and travel, there's also a larger TC20 tripod that lets you raise the S30 Pro off the ground further.  It also comes as a bundle with the TH10 head.  This is quite a handy combo and can be used with other DSLR or mirrorless cameras as well as the S30 Pro. The carbon fibre legs make it fairly light and this might be handy for travelling.  If you already have a ZWO Seestar S50 and think the TC20 looks familiar, it's the same tripod that was supplied with that original ZWO Smart Telescope.  I already have a good tripod with a decent tilt head. Will this let me use my ZWO Seestar S30 Pro in EQ mode? Yes.  All the TH10 does is tilt and swivel smoothly. If your tripod can carry 2kg or more without shaking, it will work fine with the S30 Pro. The S30 Pro uses the larger of the two common tripod screw sizes at 3/8". If you only have a 1/4" thread size you might need to grab a small adaptor. These are very inexpensive and easy to find.   Do I actually need a TH10 Tripod Head to take photos with my new ZWO Seestar S30 Pro? No. Out of the box the S30 Pro is going to deliver amazing results. We're often told by our customers they are able to capture astro images on their first night out that they'd been struggling for ages to achieve with other gear. In fact, it was some time before EQ mode was even added to the original Seestar S50 via software updates. However... Putting the S30 Pro into EQ mode using a gizmo like the TH10 will result in even sharper and more detailed astrophotos. It's something we'd highly recommend that you either purchase with your new telescope or as an upgrade to help get the most from these very cool little gizmos.  After 12 flights, how does Starship compare to NASA's Saturn V flight record from the 1960s and 70s? Starship will undergo a number of further test flights before becoming fully operational Now SpaceX's Starship has launched 12 times, it's interesting to see where NASA's Saturn V rocket was after that many launches.  It had achieved: 2 x test flights (Apollo 4 and 7) 3 x crewed orbital missions to the Moon (Apollo 8, 10 and 13) 6 x crewed landings on the Moon (Apollo 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17) (There was also a 13th Saturn V uncrewed flight where it launched NASA Skylab space station into Earth orbit.) Payload capacity Saturn V could hoist about 140 tonnes to low Earth orbit. Starship V3 is aiming for approx. 200 tonnes to orbit.  Once off vs reusable A key point about the design philosophy between the two mega rockets is that Saturn V and other rockets of that era were a once off use type of vehicle. No part of the entire stack was ever planned to launch again.  NASA didn't produce a reusable human space vehicle until the Space Shuttle program which commenced launches in 1981.  Starship will be entirely reusable and SpaceX already has other rockets that fly into space over and over again. Costs Each Saturn V launch was well over USD$1.2 billion in today's money. Starship on the other hand will aim for each launch to be in the order of tens of millions of dollars mainly as they don't chuck the rocket away after each launch! Think of how expensive international airline travel would be if planes couldn't land and passengers parachuted to the ground before each flight crashed.  Destination Saturn V was designed to get humans to the Moon, and it did this successfully multiple times. Starship is likely to deliver crews and materials to the Moon as part of a permanent human presence there. It's also slated to form a large part of humanity's efforts to venture to Mars in the next decade.  Bottom line Yes, the Saturn V had flown to the Moon multiple times in the time it has taken Starship to make a first test of the current version.  However, future launches will be considerably less expensive than the one-use Saturn V.  This doesn't take away from the remarkable achievement of Saturn V which was developed some 60+ years ago.  Second drop of US Government UFO files There was another large "drop" of UFO related files published by the USA government last weekend. This points to there being quite a number more being released to the public, and on a regular basis too. There's still no definitive explanation for many of the videos, images and first hand testimonies.  NASA administrator Jared Isaacman commented while there's no crashed spaceships or such, the material is a clear invitation for folks to look at what is being presented.  "This is citizen science right now. Take a look at our files, tell us what you think." he said.  As we said recently about this interesting topic, more soon! You can check this second release out for yourself here. Cheers, Earl White BINTEL 27th May 2026 *The other way to solve this is to rotate the camera in the telescope using a gizmo called a field rotator. This saves having to tilt the entire telescope mount. This type of technology is slowly coming to amateur telescopes but has been common in professional telescopes for some time. It reduces the overall size and costs of large telescopes by allowing them to work fully in Alt-Az rather than putting them on EQ mounts.     

SpaceX Starship V3 to fly from a new launch pad The flight is expected NET (Not Earlier Than) 19th May  First full test of the upper parts of the new Starship V3 stack. Image via SpaceX SpaceX is returning to launching their Starship mega rocket, with the next flight expected this coming week. This will be the new "V3" stack that has a number of major changes including upgrades to fuel transfer systems, new version of the Raptor 3 Engines and big upgrades to the avionics to streamline the launch process especially.  It will also launch from a new launchpad. SpaceX stated this week that they are looking at building Starship launch facilities in other parts of the world. Selfie time Part of this test mission will be the deployment of 22 dummy, small spacecraft of a similar size to the next generation of Starlink satellites, which is a major upgrade to the 10 carried on previous Starship flights. Two of these will be able to transmit images of Starship back to mission controllers so expect better views of the rocket's mission during its sub-orbital flight path.  Given SpaceX's record with flying new hardware, there could be further delays or possibly even major "malfunctions" on the launchpad. More news next week! NASA's Psyche spacecraft flies past Mars on the way to a metal asteroid Will swing by Mars at 19,848 kph  Navigation in the Solar System is often not just a simple matter of launching directly from the Earth to a destination beyond the Moon. It can involve looping around the inner planets and even flying past larger bodies to get a gravitational boost along the way.  Since its launch in 2023, NASA's Psyche has been doing just that on its way to learn about the asteroid of the same name. It's one of the stranger objects in the Solar System. Psyche orbits in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter and is thought to contain large amounts of primeval metals. We don't have the technology to bore into the Earth's core and study the metals thousands of kilometres directly beneath our feet. We can though visit a chunk of these types of metals as they orbit the Sun. The spacecraft will arrive in 2029 where it will spend two years photographing and analysing this strange, metal asteroid.  This weekend our time the Psyche spacecraft will make its closest approach to Mars where it will pick up speed due to the red planet's gravity. There should be close ups of the approach appearing online soon. You can check out the NASA Psyche site here where you can keep track of this fascinating mission. Congrats to BINTEL's Jess Gilmore!  We celebrated this week the recent graduation of BINTEL team member, Jess Gilmore, who was awarded a Bachelor of Science degree, majoring in Astronomy and Astrophysics from Macquarie University in Sydney. If you'd like to know more about telescopes and astronomy, members of the BINTEL crew are not just fanatical hobbyists but also have formal professional qualifications in the area too! What's a Blue Moon? Everyone knows the expression "Once in a blue moon!" that means hardly ever, but where did it come from? A Blue Moon is when two full Moons occur in a single calendar month. As each Lunar cycle is approx. 29.5 days long and months are 30 or 31 days with the exception of February, you can see how it's possible to squeeze two Full Moons into a single calendar month. This is going to happen in May 2026, with a Full Moon on the 2nd of May, a New Moon this coming weekend and another Full Moon, which will be "Blue Moon" on the 31st of May. (Sydney time). You won't be able to spot a Blue Moon visually as it's purely a naming convention. It certainly won't appear blue in colour! They're not that rare as well, with a Blue Moon occurring every 2 or 3 years.  However, this particular Blue Moon coincides with a "Micro Moon".  We've mentioned "Super Moons" in previous blogs. As the Moon orbits the Earth in a slightly elliptical orbit, its distance varies by a small amount. When the Moon is at its closest during a Full Moon, it's a Super Moon. When it's further away, it's called a Micro Moon. There's not a lot between the largest and smallest sizes that the Moon we see, less than 15% difference in size which means about a 30% difference in brightness.  If you see social media posts or news reports about the Blue Moon or Blue Micromoon this month, it won't actually be blue nor will it be that "micro".  As always though, a Full Moon is a wonderful time to enjoy the night sky, so make sure you head outside to catch it! ZWO Seestar S30 Pro scores an APOD The Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD) is a website run by NASA and Michigan Technological University which has featured since 1995 a daily astronomy image. Having your image featured on this site and having an APOD is regarded as a big thing by astronomers of all calibres.  Yesterday, APOD Sylvain Villet featured his wonderful entire Messier Catalog that he'd taken using a ZWO Seestar S30 Pro Smart Telescope across 148 hours of exposure. While many APOD winners have been images from professional astronomers and observatories, efforts like this from Sylvain are a reminder that amazing results are achievable using astro gear that's accessible to everyone. You can see his APOD here and make sure you check out his Instagram page too.  You can see the full resolution image at the APOD site here.  Ok, so let's chat about the US Government release of UFO files... There was, umm, an interesting "release" from the US government last weekend. This is the first drop of what they say will be on ongoing series of files that are related to phenomena that are unexplained at this stage.  They can be found at: https://www.war.gov/ufo/ Many of these had been previously seen with others new to the general public. There are a few that have been debunked in the past, while others feature videos of objects moving across landscapes that are harder to come up with firm conclusions about what they are.  There are some old news items, reports going back to the 1940s and even testimonies from Gemini and Apollo astronauts. An image showing a zoomed in section of photo taken from the Moon's surface showing three objects taken during the Apollo 17 mission in December 1972. The US government has stated that "While this photo has been previously released and discussed by keen observers, there is no consensus about the nature of the anomaly." More here.  These especially are interesting as they're first-hand reports from experienced, hard-nosed astronauts with thousands of hours of flight experience and had already seen countless examples of reflections off paint flecks, flares off glass windows and much more. There's also a large collection of videos of more recent times, often taken using infrared sensors, from military aircraft showing unknown objects flying through their field of view and sometimes making extremely high speed turns and other changes of direction.  It's a diverse collection of what promises to be an ongoing series of images, personal accounts and videos. So what am I seeing or reading about? Nowhere in these files is there a firm suggestion that aliens are involved. There's also a good chance that a large percentage of these files will be eventually explained as being of fairly prosaic and possibly pretty boring in nature. Others might turn out to be new technology that was captured by existing aircraft.  With this information being released to the public and the stated aim that much more is to come, it's an interesting site to explore and come up with your own ideas about these materials. There's also going to be a few reports however that we might be all pondering deeply over for some time.... Cheers, Earl White BINTEL 15th May 2026                  

Two hundred years ago: 29th April 1826. A night of discovery from Parramatta  There's a "fair" amount of light pollution in the middle of Parramatta, about 20km west of Sydney, in 2026. However, wind the clock back 200 years to this time of the year to a  remarkable evening of discovery at Parramatta Observatory by astronomer James Dunlop.  First of all he observed a new nebula (NGC 4945), and then some 30 minutes later another patch of cloud in the sky known as NGC 5128. We now know that both of these discoveries are not patches of patches of star-forming gases, but rather massive galaxies millions of light years away from the Milky Way.  James Dunlop’s sketch of NGC 5128 (Figure 20) from 1828. Credit: Dunlop/Robertson et al. 2010. At the time these were the only two galaxies in the far southern sky recorded by astronomers aside from the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds.  Here's a more modern take on NGC 5128 taken by Chi Chan and with a Celestron EdgeHD 9.25 Telescope and a ZWO ASI286MM camera. NGC 5128 is the 5th brightest galaxy in the night sky and is great for both astro imagers and visual observers, with its central dark lane being visible even in fairly small telescopes.  Where can I see NGC 5128 at the moment? Just like James Dunlop spotted this lovely galaxy 200 years ago in our Sydney autumn, you'll be able to see NGC 5128 in the south eastern sky. The view from Sydney around 7.30pm showing NGC 5128 (labelled C 77 in this image) near the Southern Cross. It will rise higher in the night sky as evening progresses.  You can spot it as a small, fuzzy patch with binoculars. Larger telescopes such as a 6" Dobsonian will show the dark central band which is the result of galactic mergers. Why are comets green? And why their tails are not. Glenn Pickford posted his image of Comet Panstarrs to the BINTEL Society Facebook group. Check out his post here. There are some simply beautiful images being captured this week of Comet C/2025 R3 (PANSTARRS) or simply Comet Panstarrs as it's being called. This is an Oort Cloud comet, meaning a ball of loosely bound dust, gases, water and other material is making what could be its first trip into the inner Solar System from a vast region that extends into interstellar space.  You might see media reports about it being a "once in a lifetime experience" and that's true of this particular comet. Its orbital period seems to be around 170,000 years and I doubt any of us will be around to see it again, no matter how good your diet and skin care routine is. However, comets like these are visible once every few years and we were lucky enough last year to even have two visible in the same part of the sky at once! Binoculars are ideal for looking at comets and the BINTEL Society is a handy way to pick up tips and ideas for photographing them as well.  One question that does pop up is "Why are the heads of some comets green?" In fact up until a few years ago, we didn't know why! It's a fascinating story about  Solar radiation breaking up molecules that it only just created. These dicarbon molecules glow bright green, but themselves don't hang around that long and are soon broken up. They don't have time to fall away from the head or nucleus of a comet and spread into space as the comet's tail. They fade away before they have time to make it that far. That's why the region close to the comet's nucleus might appear green but the tail won't be. You can read more about how the team from the University of New South Wales discovered this in a BINTEL blog article from a couple of years ago.   One thing to remember when observing comets is that while these green colours are often easily captured in photos, you won't see them with your eyes when looking at them through a telescope or binoculars. New evidence of organic materials found on Mars Seven organic molecules detected for the first time on Mars Mars rover, Curiosity, taking a selfie in 2022. Image via NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS NASA announced recently another set of findings that point toward the possibility of past life existing on the surface of Mars. After drilling into a rock called "Mary Anning 3”, named after an English fossil collector and , scientists found the most diverse collection of organic molecules ever found on Mars. The rocks on the surface of Mars where Curiosity collected samples in October 2020. Image via NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS Twenty-one carbon-containing molecules were identified in the samples, seven of them were detected for the first time on Mars.  It should be pointed out that organic molecules or "organics" are not themselves direct signs of life. They are the "stuff" that life is made up of or the results of life processes. They can also be produced by non-biological reactions and processes. At the moment, we have no direct way of knowing what led to the growing list of organic molecules being found on Mars. Organics are found elsewhere in the Solar System and in gas clouds in deep space. “That detection is pretty profound because these structures can be chemical precursors to more complex nitrogen-bearing molecules,” said the paper’s lead author, Amy Williams of the University of Florida in Gainesville. “Nitrogen heterorcycles have never been found before on the Martian surface or confirmed in Martian meteorites.” “This is Curiosity and our team at their best. It took dozens of scientists and engineers to locate this site, drill the sample, and make these discoveries with our awesome robot,” said the mission’s project scientist, Ashwin Vasavada of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. “This collection of organic molecules once again increases the prospect that Mars offered a home for life in the ancient past. What does this mean for the chances of one day confirming life on Mars? These results add to the growing number of organics and other chemicals found on Mars that might have been produced by past life. They've been collected from regions that were once covered by water as indicated by the local geology.  The issue is that no hardware currently on the surface of Mars has sufficient onboard technology to carry out the sorts of tests to definitely confirm that once was life was indeed present at these sites. It's going to take either "boots" on the ground where specialist astronauts can carry out the sorts of experiments needed, or sufficient samples returned to Earth.  Until then these discoveries offer tantalising hints of what might have existed on the Red Planet.  You can read more at the NASA site here. Cheers, Earl White BINTEL 6th May 2026  

Tele Vue eyepieces have a reputation that precedes them. If you've spent any time at a star party, on an astronomy forum, or chatting with folks at our shop counter, you've probably heard someone say something like "just get the Tele Vue" with a knowing nod. They're not cheap, and we get asked all the time whether they're really worth the money. Short answer: yes. Here's the longer version. Quick summary: Tele Vue eyepieces are designed and quality-tested in New York by a company founded by a former NASA optical engineer. Every single eyepiece is inspected at f/4 before it ships. The range covers everything from 50-degree Plossls to 100-degree Ethos eyepieces, and they hold their value better than almost any other accessory in astronomy. The man behind the glass Al Nagler founded Tele Vue Optics in 1977 with his wife Judi, and the company started serving amateur astronomers in 1979. But Al wasn't just a bloke who liked telescopes. Before Tele Vue, he spent years at Farrand Optical designing infinity display simulators for NASA's Gemini and Apollo programs. We're talking about the optical systems that trained astronauts to dock spacecraft and land on the Moon. The simulators used a mirror eight feet wide and lenses three feet in diameter to project realistic starfields and lunar surfaces for the astronauts to practise with. When Al turned that level of optical expertise toward telescope eyepieces, the results were pretty dramatic. The first Nagler eyepiece arrived in 1980 with an 82-degree apparent field of view. At the time, most eyepieces offered around 40 to 50 degrees. People started calling it "the space walk eyepiece" because looking through one felt like floating in space rather than peering through a tube. It was a genuine turning point for visual astronomy. Sadly, Al passed away in October 2025 at the age of 90. But his legacy is enormous. As Terence Dickinson wrote in The Backyard Astronomer's Guide, "Al Nagler has introduced more innovations in telescope eyepiece design than anyone else in the history of amateur astronomy." That's quite a statement, and it's hard to argue with. Just weeks before his 90th birthday, the PUNCH satellites launched carrying Tele Vue designed objective lenses, putting Tele Vue optics into orbit for a NASA solar observation mission. What actually makes Tele Vue eyepieces different? A few things set them apart, and it starts with the glass itself. Tele Vue uses high-index lanthanum and fluorite-type glasses that can cost up to 15 times more than ordinary optical glass. The company's philosophy is "how can we make it better" rather than "how can we make it cheaper." You can feel that when you pick one up. Every eyepiece gets fully multi-coated optics with blackened lens edges to reduce internal reflections. The barrels are chrome-plated rather than anodised, which provides a smoother surface and better durability over the long term. Anti-reflection threading inside the barrel kills stray light that would otherwise reduce contrast. These are the kinds of details that add up when you're at the eyepiece trying to tease out faint detail in a galaxy or split a tight double star. How does Tele Vue test every eyepiece? This is one of the things that really sets Tele Vue apart. Every single eyepiece that leaves the factory gets tested on a proprietary 5-inch f/4 refractor that Tele Vue designed and built specifically for quality control. They call it the MPT (Multi-Purpose Telescope). Testing at f/4 is quite demanding because faster focal ratios expose optical flaws that slower systems would hide. If an eyepiece can deliver sharp, flat images at f/4, it'll perform well in just about anything. No other eyepiece manufacturer does 100% inspection at this level. Most companies test a sample from each batch and call it done. Tele Vue tests every one, both cosmetically and optically. They had to design their own test equipment because nothing on the market met their standards. The focal length control is so precise that if you bought a Nagler eyepiece twenty years ago and pair it in a binoviewer with a brand new one of the same model, they'll match. Their eyepieces are manufactured in Japan and Taiwan by dedicated partner factories that have long-term relationships with Tele Vue and produce no competing products. The optics are then shipped to Chester, New York, where they go through Tele Vue's own inspection process before being released. It's a belt-and-braces approach, and it's why you very rarely hear about a dud Tele Vue eyepiece. Which Tele Vue eyepiece is right for you? Tele Vue makes six main eyepiece families, and each one is designed for a slightly different purpose. You can see the full specs on TeleVue's website, but here's the rundown. Ethos (100 degrees) The Ethos is the flagship. A 100-degree apparent field of view means you get an immersive, wrap-around view that feels like looking out a window rather than through a tube. Available from 3.7mm up to 21mm, these are the eyepieces that people describe as a "space walk" experience. They have 15mm of eye relief across the range, which is comfortable for most observers. If you're doing deep sky observing and want the widest possible true field with pinpoint stars right to the edge, the Ethos is hard to beat. The 3.7mm and 4.7mm models push that to 110 degrees. Nagler (82 degrees) The eyepiece that started the wide-field revolution. The current Nagler range spans several generations (Type 4 through Type 7) and covers focal lengths from 3.5mm to 31mm. The 31mm Nagler Type 5 is legendary for deep sky work, giving you a massive true field of view in a 2-inch barrel. Naglers deliver 82 degrees of apparent field with excellent edge correction. The Type 7 models offer 19mm of eye relief, which is a nice improvement over the earlier generations. For Dobsonian owners who track objects manually, these wide-field eyepieces are a real game-changer because objects stay in view much longer as the sky drifts past. Delos (72 degrees) The Delos is a favourite among observers who wear glasses. Every model has a generous 20mm of eye relief, and the optical design shares DNA with the Ethos, just with a slightly narrower field. Available from 3.5mm to 17.3mm in 1.25-inch barrels (plus a 24mm in 2-inch), these are fantastic for planetary and lunar observing where you want a sharp, contrasty image with comfortable viewing. Many experienced observers reckon the Delos is just a touch sharper than the Ethos at the centre of the field, which makes them brilliant for planets. DeLite (62 degrees) Think of the DeLite as the Delos's lighter, more affordable sibling. Same 20mm eye relief across the whole range, same build quality, but a 62-degree apparent field that keeps the weight and price down. Available from 3mm to 18.2mm, these are a brilliant entry point into the Tele Vue lineup if you want premium optics without the premium weight (and price) of the wider-field designs. They're also handy if you're building a set of eyepieces on a budget and want to start with something really excellent. Panoptic (68 degrees) The Panoptic has been a staple of the Tele Vue range for decades. These are available in longer focal lengths from 19mm to 41mm, which makes them ideal for low-magnification, wide-field sweeping. The 41mm Panoptic in particular is a classic for scanning large star fields and open clusters. Eye relief varies from 13mm on the 19mm model up to a very generous 27mm on the 41mm. If you're after a rich-field view of the Milky Way or big targets like the Magellanic Clouds (a real treat from Australia), the Panoptics are a superb choice. Plossl (50 degrees) The humble Plossl is where Tele Vue actually started in the eyepiece business, and their version of this classic 4-element design is still one of the best you can buy. Available from 8mm to 55mm, they offer a sharp 50-degree field at a fraction of the cost of the wider-field designs. The 32mm Plossl is one of the most recommended "first upgrade" eyepieces in astronomy, and for good reason. It's simple, sharp, and works well in just about any telescope. A great starting point. Nagler Zoom (3-6mm, 50 degrees) Also worth a mention: the Nagler Zoom covers 3-6mm with a click-stop mechanism and maintains Tele Vue quality throughout the zoom range. It's a handy eyepiece for planetary observing when you want to dial in the perfect magnification for the seeing conditions on any given night. Are Tele Vue eyepieces worth the price? We won't pretend they're cheap. An Ethos 21mm will set you back around $1,400 and even a DeLite starts north of $500. But there are a couple of things worth considering. First, a good eyepiece will outlast your telescope. You might upgrade your scope two or three times over the years, but a Tele Vue eyepiece goes with you. They're built to last decades and come with a lifetime limited warranty for the original owner. Second, they hold their value remarkably well. If you ever decide to sell a Tele Vue eyepiece, you'll get a fair chunk of your money back. Try that with a budget eyepiece. Third, and this is the big one: you actually see more. A sharper, wider, higher-contrast view means you'll pick up fainter details, resolve tighter doubles, and enjoy a more comfortable experience at the eyepiece. It's the difference between looking at the night sky and being immersed in it. We're Tele Vue's official Australian dealer, so we carry the full range. If you'd like advice on which Tele Vue eyepiece would suit your scope and your observing style, have a look at our Tele Vue range online or pop into the shop and we'll sort you out.

Artemis II splashes down! A perfect return to Earth around 10:07am Sydney time. The world has been thrilled by the four NASA astronauts as they spend around ten days travelling to the Moon, looping around the far side of our large natural satellite and returning home with a textbook landing in the Pacific Ocean.  Can you track future Artemis missions to and from the Moon with your telescope?  Short answer: you sure can! There was a lot of interest in people using their telescopes to image the Artemis II mission on its journey to and from the Moon. Professor Karl Glazebrook from Swinburne University sent me this fascinating short animation of Artemis II on its journey taken from his home in suburban Melbourne using a ZWO Seestar S50 Smart Telescope. The square box outlines the spacecraft as it moves against a background of stars. Here is another Seestar S50 image from the same location:   He also produced an Artemis II tracker app that you can access here: https://astronomy.swin.edu.au/~karl/artemis2_track.html It allows you to wind the mission timeline back and forward to see where Artemis II was located in the sky, plus some notes on resources used to construct it. A very handy tool! Efforts like these certainly bode well for tracking future missions to the Moon. If you'd like to see what really large telescopes like the 3.9m Anglo-Australian Telescope at Siding Spring near Coonabarabran can produce, check out the link that Karl sent me this morning.   Parts of Artemis II have flown into space before Some of the launch hardware has been to space before on the Shuttle program. Some of the rocket engines on the recent launch of Artemis II had previously flown on NASA Space Shuttles. Image via NASA It's interesting to discover that of the four main RS-25 rocket engines used in the SLS rocket that sent Artemis II to the Moon, three had been flown into space before when they were attached to Space Shuttle orbiters. One of them, Engine 2047 flew on 15 missions including one to dock with the Russian space station, Mir.  All of the hardware had been thoroughly checked and upgraded with new components and software upgrades. The core of these engines however remains unchanged. If you have a reliable and proven piece of hardware it makes sense to keep using it! Sadly, as the SLS is not a reusable rocket, all four of these engines are now at the bottom of the ocean.   Find out more about what hardware was reused on Artemis II here  Comet news. Yes, it's broken up There were high hopes for Comet C/2026 A1 (MAPS)  NASA image of Comet C/2026 A1 (MAPS) showing some debris is it passed the Sun Astronomers were holding their breath as this recently discovered comet looped around the Sun, with hopes it would be a very bright sight in the night sky as it headed back out into the depths of the Solar System. It was a part of a group of comets known as "Kreutz sungrazers" which are all thought to be parts of a much larger comet that broke up some time ago.  Because their orbital paths take them so close to the Sun, they are very prone to breaking up due to the extreme Solar radiation and particle winds they encounter. As comets, even large ones such as Comet C/2026 A1 (MAPS), are loose collections of dusts and ices they are easily destroyed with their materials scattered into the inner Solar System. This isn't the first one of these types of comets which we've mentioned in this blog before that suffered this fate. If they do survive the part of their orbits that takes them close to the Sun, there's a high chance they'll be a spectacle in the weeks following. Quite a few of the "Great Comets" over the last few centuries have been Kreutz sungrazers and we're well overdue for one to put on a show for the world. There's a great animation of the comet's close and fatal encounter with the Sun here. Australia loses access to some of the world's most outstanding telescopes Less than ideal news to wrap up the week The Federal Government has decided that Australia will not join the European Southern Observatory (ESO) at the conclusion of its current Strategic Partnership. This will include not having access to the upcoming ELT (Extremely Large Telescope) heading towards completion in Chile. Progress on the ELT in Feb 2026. Image via ESO There's no doubt the loss of access to the world's best telescopes will hinder astronomy in Australia.  “If we are no longer able to be part of world-class international facilities, then we’re going to lose those types of capabilities.” said Professor Brian Schmidt from ANU who was awarded the Nobel Prize in 2011 for helping to discover the rate at which the Universe is expanding is accelerating.  Next week...news from NEAF NEAF or The Northeast Astronomy Forum & Space Expo is the largest astro gear and tradeshow on the planet. It's on this weekend in the USA and we'll have all the latest news, product releases other goodies that will be revealed. Stay tuned! Cheers, Earl White BINTEL 11th April 2026    

NASA defines a new direction Permanent base on the Moon and nuclear-powered rockets to Mars! In what was one of the most pivotal announcements from NASA in recent decades, the US space agency is making major realignments to their plans for missions to the Moon and some exciting plans for sending rockets to Mars. At the NASA Ignition event this week a number of key programs were announced.  First of all, the planned Lunar Gateway, a station in orbit around the Moon like the ISS (International Space Station) orbits the Earth, has effectively been cancelled and a permanent base on the Moon's surface to be set up instead. This will happen in three phases. First to test hardware and technology on the Lunar surface, then to set up a semi-permanent station on the Moon and finally to establish a long-term, permanent Lunar base. This will mean that humans will return to the Moon and then always remain, much like the ISS has now seen people always in orbit for over 25 years. Astronauts will travel to the Moon every 6 months, with the frequency of missions increasing over time. The building of a full time base on the Moon will mean more than just exploration of the Lunar surface. It offers the opportunity to learn about living and thriving on another planet.  NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said “We aren’t just returning to the Moon. We are building the railroad that allows the private sector to follow.” When? The first Moon landing by humans since 1972 is due to take place in 2028. There will also be a further 30 robotic missions to the Moon starting in 2027. The USD$20 billion program will have the full time Moon base operational by 2036. The next flight to the Moon should be the delayed Artemis II mission due for launch this week on April 1st 2026. As we've mentioned many times in this blog, this will be the first time that humans have left Earth orbit since Apollo 17. Also announced was the Space Reactor-1 (SR-1) Freedom mission, a nuclear-electric powered rocket set to fly to Mars in 2028. This will be the first time this type of propulsion technology has been tested in deep-space. While it won't get to the red planet any faster than a traditional chemical rocket, it will be an important test of what could become a handy method to transfer hardware to other more distant parts of the Solar System. The main payload of SR-1 will be Skyfall, a small fleet of Ingenuity class helicopters that will continue exploring Mars. You can read more about this expansive program at the NASA website here. Life could exist on rogue moons with a few ifs and maybes  We chatted a few years ago about rogue planets. You can read about it here. These are planets that have formed around stars and been ejected by their host system. Astronomers estimate they're quite numerous too, with some suggesting there are as many in the Milky Way as stars themselves. One possible thought is "could life develop on a rogue exoplanet?"  And yes, while life might find a warm niche to begin and thrive for extended periods of time, even as long the Earth has been able to provide, it will be dark. Chemical processes and bioluminescence from life might be able to produce small amounts of light, but they can't in any way compare to the amount of light from a star such as our Sun. The good ol' conversion of hydrogen into helium through nuclear fusion that occurs in a main sequence star has a lot going for it! Apart from light and warmth, life as  we experience here on Earth also requires liquid water. This is also a bit hard to find a planet without direct heat from a nearby star and likely close in temperature to absolute zero in deep interstellar space. An artist's impression of a moon around an rogue exoplanet.  Image via D. Dahlbüdding  However (and there's always a "however" in astronomy!) researchers have suggested that moons around rogue planets could keep oceans of liquid water for over four billion years through tidal effects with their host planets and thick hydrogen atmosphere. One of the results of being thrown out of a star system is that any moons that a planet has could be that they move into highly elliptical orbits. This would put stresses and strains on the moon, compress and decompress it and in doing so, heat it up enough to keep any water on its surface from freezing over. Combine this with a dense atmosphere of molecular hydrogen under certain conditions acting as heat trap and the environment for life to form and develop might exist.   “Our collaboration with the team of Prof. Braun helped us recognize that the cradle of life does not necessarily require a sun,” says David Dahlbüdding, doctoral researcher at LMU and lead author of the study. “We discovered a clear connection between these distant moons and the early Earth, where high concentrations of hydrogen through asteroid impacts could have created the conditions for life.” While these combinations might be rare, the vast numbers of rogue planets floating free in the Milky Way might show another pathway to life as well as studying how life arose on Earth.   "These environments are interesting to model because they push planetary modelling into unusual regimes, but they also serve to understand the environments in which potential life precursors emerged on Earth", said Dr. Tommaso Grassi, an MPE Scientist More on this interesting proposal here. What did our own Solar System look like as it formed? WISPIT 2 means we now might have a clue VLT images of two planets forming around the young star WISPIT 2 Image via: ESO/C. Lawlor, R. F. van Capelleveen Astronomers have so far found over 6,100 exoplanets, around about 4,575 stars, but have just spotted a planetary system being formed around another star system for the second time. Even better, the newly found system around WISPIT 2 shows a pattern of rings and gaps pointing towards more than one planet in the process of being born.  “WISPIT 2 is the best look into our own past that we have to date,” says Chloe Lawlor, PhD student at the University of Galway, Ireland, and lead author of the study published today in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.   This newly discovered exoplanet system is only the second known, after PDS 70, where two planets have been directly observed in the process of forming around their host star. WISPIT 2 has a very extended planet-forming disc with distinctive gaps and rings. "These structures suggest that more planets are currently forming, which we will eventually detect.” Lawlor says.  "WISPIT 2 gives us a critical laboratory not just to observe the formation of a single planet but an entire planetary system," says Christian Ginski, who is the study co-author and researcher at the University of Galway. The first planet around WISPIT 2 called WISPIT 2b was found in 2025 and appears to have a mass of around five times that of Jupiter and about 60 times as far away from WISPIT 2 as the Earth and Sun are.  There are even hints of a third planet being formed, with it maybe around the mass of Saturn. With new, larger telescopes, there's hope that it might be imaged directly.  Ginski commented that “with ESO’s upcoming Extremely Large Telescope, we may be able to directly image such a planet.”  As usual, it's worth pointing out that this new star is beyond what you'll see with your own telescope.  Next week: fingers crossed we'll be keeping track of the Artemis II crew as they travel to the Moon over the Easter long weekend. Cheers, Earl White BINTEL 28th March 2026  

Nikon's new Action binoculars are here, and they fix the one thing the Aculon A211 was always criticised for. The eye relief on the old Aculon was pretty poor for glasses wearers, and we heard about it constantly at the counter. Nikon has sorted that out properly with the new range, and made a few other meaningful improvements while they were at it. The Aculon A211 is officially discontinued. The Action series is its replacement, with seven models covering the range from compact 8x42s through to a 16x50 and a 10-22x zoom. The Nikon Action series replaces the Aculon A211 with eye relief of 15mm or more across most models (up from 11.6mm on the old 10x42), wider fields of view on several models, and an aluminium alloy chassis. Seven models are available from 8x42 to 16x50, plus a 10-22x zoom. Available now at Bintel. What Changed from the Nikon Aculon A211? The biggest change is eye relief, followed by a wider field of view on several models and a new aluminium chassis. These aren't cosmetic updates, they address the main complaints customers had with the Aculon. On the 10x42, the real field of view has gone from 6.0 to 6.8 degrees, which is a pretty meaningful improvement at 10x magnification. Three models in the range now have an apparent field of 60 degrees or more (the 10x42, 12x50 and 16x50), putting them in wide-field territory. That's genuinely hard to find at this price point. The body has changed too. The Aculon used polycarbonate construction; the Action switches to an aluminium alloy chassis with rubber armouring. It adds a little weight (790g on the 42mm models, 935-950g on the 50mm models) but the feel is quite different in the hand. More solid, better grip, and the rubber eyecups are now multi-click so you can lock in your exact position. Are the Nikon Action Binoculars Good for Glasses Wearers? Yes, most models in the Nikon Action range are well suited to glasses wearers, which is a big improvement over the Aculon A211. The old 10x42 had just 11.6mm of eye relief, making it uncomfortable for anyone wearing glasses. The new 10x42 offers 16.1mm, and most of the range comes in at 15mm or more. The 7x50 is the standout at 19.6mm of eye relief, and the 8x42 sits at 17.3mm. The only model that falls short is the 16x50 at 13mm, which is still better than the old Aculon but less generous than the rest of the lineup. If eye relief is your main concern, the 8x42 or 7x50 are the picks. Which Nikon Action Binocular Is Best for Birdwatching? For most birdwatchers, the 8x42 is the one to go for. It is hard to go past this format as an all-rounder: eight times magnification is stable enough to hold comfortably for long periods, the 42mm objective collects plenty of light for most conditions, and the 8-degree real field of view makes it easy to track a bird moving through bush or scrub. The 17.3mm of eye relief means glasses wearers are well looked after too. You can find it here: Nikon ACTION 8x42. If you want a bit more reach, the 10x42 is a good option. The wider FOV compared to the old Aculon 10x42 is a real improvement here. Popular for birding in open environments where you're often scanning across a wider area or watching birds in flight. For early morning or late evening sessions where light is low, the 7x50 is worth a serious look. At 7x magnification with a 50mm objective, the exit pupil comes out at just over 7mm, which is about as much light as your eye can actually use. It's also popular for marine use for the same reason. What About the Higher Magnification Models? The 10x50 and 12x50 both bring more light gathering than the 42mm models, which suits observers who want to use their binoculars in lower light or pick out finer detail at distance. The 12x50 is particularly interesting because despite the higher magnification it still delivers a 60-plus degree apparent field of view, which is not something you often find at this price. The 10x50 is a more relaxed handheld option if 12x feels a bit much. The 16x50 is for specific use cases where you really need that extra magnification, spotting sport at distance, watching wildlife across a paddock, that sort of thing. At 16x, a tripod adapter (the Nikon TRA-2 or TRA-3) is pretty much essential for comfortable extended use. Are Zoom Binoculars Worth It? Zoom binoculars are worth it if you genuinely need a single pair to cover multiple magnifications and are happy to trade a little optical sharpness for that versatility. The Action Zoom 10-22x50 lets you step from 10x right up to 22x with a smooth zoom mechanism, which sounds appealing. There are situations where it comes into its own, identifying something in the distance and then zooming in for a closer look, or switching between scanning and detailed observation without swapping binos. The trade-off is that image quality at any fixed magnification won't quite match a dedicated fixed model at the same price, and the field of view narrows significantly as you push towards 22x. For most birdwatchers, a fixed 8x42 or 10x42 will serve better. But if versatility is genuinely your priority, it's a solid option. Buy Nikon Action Binoculars in Australia We've got the full Nikon Action range in stock now at Bintel. If you've been a fan of the Aculon A211 or have been holding off waiting for a better option at this price point, the Action series is a pretty compelling step up. The eye relief improvement alone makes a meaningful difference for a large portion of buyers, and the wider fields of view on the 10x42 and 12x50 are a real bonus. Have a question about which model is right for you? Pop into the BINTEL shop or give us a call. We're always happy to talk binoculars.

Building blocks of life found on another asteroid Just over a year ago we talked about the discovery of some of the building blocks for life being found in samples returned from the asteroid Bennu from the OSIRIS-REx mission. (This is the one where the  lid was "stuck" on the sample jar!) Now researchers have found thymine, nucleobases adenine, guanine, cytosine, and uracil which are the foundations for both RNA and DNA and from which all life on Earth is formed. These were discovered in a sample of the asteroid Ryugu and returned to Earth by Japan's Hayabusa 2 in 2020. Carbonaceous asteroids or "C-type" asteroids like Ryugu are common in the asteroid belt and are targets for exploration as they contain pristine organic materials from the earliest period of the Solar System. "Organics" are not signs of life, but they are what life is formed from. We observe them throughout the Solar System as well in vast quantities in interstellar space. Organic materials have also been collected from other sources, including the famous Murchison meteorite. Did the foundations of life arrive from space? Another finding of organic materials on an asteroid, this time from Ryugu, certainly boosts the certainty that this might be the case. It also points to organics being widespread throughout the Solar System.  A detailed, although not too technical overview on these results can be found here at astrobiology.com If you'd like to read the full scientific article at Nature, click here Hubble captures the break up of Comet C/2025 K1 (ATLAS) You might remember we chatted about a number of comets that graced our skies in 2025, including when two were visible in the same camera frame! Several of our BINTEL customers managed to capture this and we featured their images in our blogs and newsletters.  Image from Comet C/2025 R1 (SWAN) and Comet C/2025 K1 (ATLAS) captured near Mars by Glenn Pickford on the 21st of September and featured in my blog post a few days after. The smaller comet near the bottom left of the frame is the one that has broken up. One of these comets, C/2025 K1 (ATLAS), has broken up into smaller pieces and in a amazing stroke of luck, was being observed by the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) while it was happening! The event happened in November 2025 and the strange thing is the comet wasn't the target of the observation by Hubble.  “Sometimes the best science happens by accident,” said co-investigator John Noonan, a research professor in the Department of Physics at Auburn University in Alabama. “This comet got observed because our original comet was not viewable due to some new technical constraints after we won our proposal. We had to find a new target—and right when we observed it, it happened to break apart, which is the slimmest of slim chances.”  Sequence showing the break up via NASA, ESA, Dennis Bodewits (AU) It was also some time before the break up was discovered on the Hubble images.  It appears to have broken into at least four separate objects, each with their own coma and tail, with further fragmentation likely.  While I was taking an initial look at the data, I saw that there were four comets in those images when we only proposed to look at one,” said Noonan. “So we knew this was something really, really special.” One of the interesting things is that astronomers have been trying to catch detailed observations of cometary disintegrations but scheduling precious telescope time has always been an issue. Basically, there's no way to work out when it will happen. It's been tried before and has never been successful.  The approx. location in the Solar System where the comet broke up “The irony is now we're just studying a regular comet and it crumbles in front of our eyes,” said principal investigator Dennis Bodewits, also a professor in Auburn University’s Department of Physics.  We always like to point out whether astro events like these could be seen with your own telescope. While the fragments of Comet C/2025 K1 (ATLAS) are now on the way out the Solar System and unlikely to return, they're beyond seeing in your own gear. Read more at the NASA website here. Eleven new moons for Saturn Brings the total to 285 Astronomers using the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope at Maunakea, Hawaii have discovered 11 new moon of the gas giant planet, Saturn. Layout of some of Saturn's major moons. Image via NASA Saturn already had the largest number of known moons of any planet in the Solar System and this discovery pushes the number even higher.  Given the complex environment around Saturn this number is likely to continue to grow as more discoveries are made. Sadly, you won't be able to observe these newly found moons even with the telescopes we sell at BINTEL as they are too faint. They are also yet to receive any official names. You can read the announcement made this week at the Minor Planet Center here. Artemis II rolls out after leak fixes Astronauts enter quarantine once again.  It's been a long process, but this week NASA commenced what it hopes to be the final roll out of Artemis II ahead of the launch from the 1st of April onwards.  NASA’s crawler-transporter 2 will carry the 11-million-pound stack, including the mobile launcher, at about 1 mph* along the four-mile route from Kennedy’s Vehicle Assembly Building to the launch pad. The journey can take up to 12 hours. Meanwhile the four astronauts have again gone into quarantine in preparation for the flight.  The entire "stack" will need to go through another round of full propellant loading and unloading, sometimes called a wet rehearsal, ahead of the launch and I think all space fans are crossing their fingers for successful flight to this Moon this Easter. Memories of Halley’s Comet in 1986? Finally for this week, we're coming up on the 40th anniversary of Halley's Comet being visible in 1986.  I'm sure many of our umm, mature, members of the BINTEL community might have some fond memories or even images they'd be happy to share around to mark the occasion.  Get in contact with us if you do. Cheers, Earl White BINTEL 21st March 2026 *It's NASA, so sometimes they still use imperial measurements for general public announcements like this!