Sky Matters: February's big space event is NASA’s Artemis II mission

This will be the first time humans have embarked on a journey towards the moon since 1972 when Apollo 17 completed the manned exploration of our nearest neighbour

Artemis II crew [NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, along with CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen] in front of an Orion simulator on January 23 at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. Picture: NASA/Robert Markowitz

During January many of us were fortunate enough to experience another round of aurora — those wonderful green and red curtains of light that accompany explosions from the surface of the sun.

The aurora borealis or northern lights viewed from Glanmire, East Cork, on Monday January 19, 2026. Picture: Michael Crowley