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Moon Occults Mercury Today & Artemis 2 Critical Test Underway - Space News (Feb 18, 2026)
Published 3 months, 1 week ago
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Episode Transcript
Moon Occults Mercury Today
Let's start with tonight's main event. For observers across much of North America, Mexico, and Central America, the young crescent Moon will slide directly in front of the planet Mercury. This is called an occultation, and it's rarer than you might think. Mercury is notoriously difficult to spot because it stays so close to the Sun. But today, February 18th, it's reaching what astronomers call greatest eastern elongation—its farthest point from the Sun this evening—which means it's actually in a pretty good spot for viewing. From places like Dallas and westward through New Mexico, you'll see Mercury disappear behind the Moon's dark edge and then reappear on the bright edge about thirty minutes later. Even if you miss the occultation itself, Mercury and the Moon will make for a nice pairing in the western sky around sunset. Just remember to look well after the Sun has gone down to protect your eyes.
Artemis 2 Critical Test Underway
Shifting gears to something that's been a bit of a rollercoaster. NASA's Artemis 2 mission has hit some technical snags, but the team is pressing forward. Right now, they're in the middle of a critical second attempt at a wet dress rehearsal—basically a full practice run of
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Today's topics:
Moon Occults Mercury Today - The crescent Moon passes directly in front of Mercury today, a rare celestial event visible from parts of North America with keywords: lunar occultation, Mercury visibility, celestial mechanics.
Artemis 2 Critical Test Underway - NASA's second Artemis 2 wet dress rehearsal is underway after initial hydrogen leak issues, with fueling scheduled for February 19 to test systems before lunar launch, keywords: Space Launch System, rocket testing, moon mission preparation.
SpaceX Continues Starlink Expansion - SpaceX launched additional Starlink satellites on February 14 and 16, continuing rapid deployment of its broadband megaconstellation now exceeding 9,600 active spacecraft, keywords: Starlink deployment, satellite internet, SpaceX operations.
Crew-12 Begins ISS Science Mission - Four astronauts from Crew-12 docked at the ISS on February 14 and are now conducting advanced scientific investigations including cancer research and plant biology in microgravity, keywords: International Space Station, human spaceflight, orbital research.
JWST Tracks Potentially Hazardous Asteroid - NASA's James Webb Space Telescope is monitoring asteroid 2024 YR4 with a 4.1 percent chance of impacting the Moon in 2032, gathering precise trajectory data through spectroscopy, keywords: asteroid tracking, planetary defense, JWST observations.
Planetary Parade Coming Late February - Six planets will align in the evening sky on February 28, with Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, Mercury, Uranus, and Neptune all visible after sunset for skywatchers worldwide, keywords: planetary alignment, February 2026 astronomy, evening sky observation.
Episode Transcript
Moon Occults Mercury Today
Let's start with tonight's main event. For observers across much of North America, Mexico, and Central America, the young crescent Moon will slide directly in front of the planet Mercury. This is called an occultation, and it's rarer than you might think. Mercury is notoriously difficult to spot because it stays so close to the Sun. But today, February 18th, it's reaching what astronomers call greatest eastern elongation—its farthest point from the Sun this evening—which means it's actually in a pretty good spot for viewing. From places like Dallas and westward through New Mexico, you'll see Mercury disappear behind the Moon's dark edge and then reappear on the bright edge about thirty minutes later. Even if you miss the occultation itself, Mercury and the Moon will make for a nice pairing in the western sky around sunset. Just remember to look well after the Sun has gone down to protect your eyes.
Artemis 2 Critical Test Underway
Shifting gears to something that's been a bit of a rollercoaster. NASA's Artemis 2 mission has hit some technical snags, but the team is pressing forward. Right now, they're in the middle of a critical second attempt at a wet dress rehearsal—basically a full practice run of