LIVE SKY
THE DAILY COSMOS POSTCARD · SUN AUG 16, 2026

The heart of the Eagle Nebula — where stars are being born right now.

Every day NASA releases one image of the universe. We bring it to you with its story told in plain words — what you're looking at, why it matters, and the source linked.

📷 Image: NASA · APOD — the real photo of the day goes here, credited & linked

📡 DATA: NASA · NOAA 🔗 SOURCES LINKED 🤖 UPDATES ITSELF
NASA IMAGE OF THE DAY
Eagle Nebula · M16 APOD · 2026-08-16

▮ THE SKY AT A GLANCE

🟢 good for stargazing · live data with history — updates itself

🌙 MOON TONIGHT
16%
WAXING · DARK SKIES ✓
☄️ ROCKS NEARBY · 7 DAYS
9
NONE DANGEROUS
☀️ SUN'S MOOD · Kp
3/9
QUIET · NO STORMS
🚀 NEXT LAUNCH
T−2days
WINDOW: TUE (SAMPLE)

THE ROCK RADAR — this week's close visitors

Every asteroid passing near Earth, at real scale in lunar distances (1 LD = Earth→Moon). NASA data, updated itself.

1 DL 5 DL 20 DL Luna 2026 PQ2 · 4.1 DL
☄️ ROCK OF THE WEEK
2026 PQ2
SIZE
~120 mabout a stadium
CLOSEST PASS
4.1 DL4× farther than the Moon
SPEED
8.4 km/sColumbus→NYC in 90 sec
WHEN
Thu Aug 20then it waves goodbye

✅ Danger? None. It sails past at a safe distance — but it puts on a show for telescopes. We track every close pass, in plain words.

Open the full rock tracker →

🛰️ THE OBSERVATION ROOM

updates itself

Space news translated for humans: what happened + why you should care. Source linked in every story.

ALL 🔴 Mars 🌙 Moon 🚀 Rockets 🪐 Solar system Deep space 🔭 Exoworlds
🔴 NOW42 min agoROCKETS

The spacecraft headed to Europa — Jupiter's icy moon — just aced its key engine test

→ read the full story (source linked)
3 h agoMARS

The rover found a rock with veins that, on Earth, only water leaves behind

→ read the full story (source linked)
yesterdayEARTH

The total solar eclipse of Aug 12 left these images from Spain and Iceland

→ read the full story (source linked)
5 h agoEXOWORLDS

Astronomers confirm an Earth-sized world in the temperate zone of a nearby dwarf star

→ read the full story (source linked)
THE MAGNET · YOUR 2-MINUTE GUIDE BEFORE STEPPING OUTSIDE

Tonight's sky, with your bare eyes 👀

  • 🌠 Perseid meteors — still active; best after midnight, look northeast
  • 🌙 Thin crescent Moon — sets early: dark skies all night ✓
  • 🔴 Mars — low in the west at dusk (sample data)
  • 🪐 Saturn — rises late in the southeast (sample data)
Open TONIGHT'S SKY →
The tool that brings people back every night — like /ruta does for truckers.