Six Planets Tonight — And a Galaxy-Sized Mystery Solved ⭐

Astronomy Daily  |  S05E49  |  February 26, 2026 Six Planets, a Surprise in the Milky Way, and the First ISS Medical Evacuation Revealed   Tonight the Moon sits right next to Jupiter in what is the visual highlight of the February six-planet alignment. Meanwhile, astronomers have made a jaw-dropping discovery about our galaxy’s magnetic field, NASA has named the astronaut at the centre of last month’s historic ISS medical evacuation, and a hypersonic scramjet launch has been scrubbed. All that and more in today’s episode.   IN THIS EPISODE •       SKYWATCHING — Moon-Jupiter conjunction tonight: the six-planet alignment (Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune) is peaking right now, with Jupiter blazing beside the waxing Moon after sunset. The Blood Moon total lunar eclipse arrives March 3. •       DEEP SPACE — The world’s largest radio telescope array has made new chemical discoveries in the turbulent heart of the Milky Way around Sagittarius A*, our galaxy’s supermassive black hole. •       ARTEMIS UPDATE — NASA’s SLS rocket has returned to the Vehicle Assembly Building for repairs; early April is now the earliest realistic launch window for the crewed lunar flyby. •       ISS — NASA has named the astronaut who required the first-ever medical evacuation from the International Space Station, following last month’s early return of Crew-11. •       SCIENCE — A groundbreaking new map of the Milky Way’s magnetic field reveals an unexpected diagonal reversal in the Sagittarius Arm — a discovery that prompted an OMG moment for the lead researcher. •       LAUNCH UPDATE — Rocket Lab’s HASTE ‘That’s Not a Knife’ hypersonic mission carrying an Australian hydrogen scramjet demonstrator has been scrubbed; no new date yet.   FIND US Website: astronomydaily.io  |  Social: @AstroDailyPod  |  Part of the Bitesz.com Podcast NetworkBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/astronomy-daily-latest-space-news--5648921/support.Sponsor Details:Ensure your online privacy by using NordVPN. To get our special listener deal and save a lot of money, visit www.astronomydaily.io/nordvpn. You'll be glad you did!Get the best secure and private email on the planet. Stop your Government, google and who knows who else spying on every email you write. Do what we did and use ProtonMail. They beleive in privacy and there are no ads in their business model...yet they still provide a free forever service. Check them out and get out special deal at www.astronomydaily.io/protonmailBecome a supporter of Astronomy Daily by joining our Supporters Club. Commercial free episodes daily are only a click way... Click HereThis episode includes AI-generated content.