Last update:
Astronomy & Space news
Rare blue optical transient points to possible new class of cosmic explosion
Chinese astronomers report the detection of a peculiar optical transient event that occurred in the center of a dwarf galaxy. The newly discovered event, designated AT2019ijn, is a fast-rising, slow-decaying blue optical ...
SpaceX launches Starship on another test flight, this time with the most advanced Starlinks
SpaceX's mammoth Starship rocket blasted off Friday on another test flight stretching halfway around the world, this time releasing 20 of the most advanced Starlinks.
Space Exploration
15 hours ago
0
22
Astronomers catch massive galaxy assembling piece by piece 1.2 billion years after Big Bang
Astronomers have discovered a remarkably tiny group of six young galaxies just 1.2 billion years after the Big Bang. This may be a rare glimpse of how some of the universe's largest galaxies formed. The paper outlining the ...
Why Europa's hidden ocean may be more difficult to reach than scientists thought
Europa, one of Jupiter's icy moons, has long fascinated scientists because of what may lie beneath its frozen shell: a global ocean of liquid water. That hidden ocean has made Europa one of the most compelling places in the ...
Astrobiology
Jul 24, 2026
0
137
Rocks from unexplored far side of the moon help rewrite lunar history
Ancient samples from the moon's far side are helping scientists uncover how asteroid impacts shaped the early solar system. The findings challenge decades of thinking about when those impacts occurred and offer new insights ...
Planetary Sciences
Jul 24, 2026
0
38
Io's volcanic output offers a 40‑day forecast of plasma density in Jupiter's magnetosphere
A careful statistical comparison of observations recorded by NASA's Juno mission and the Planetary Science Institute's Io Input Output observatory (IoIO) shows that IoIO observations reliably predict the density of Jupiter's ...
Astronomy
Jul 24, 2026
1
13
Young rift flanks suggest Venus remains tectonically active
Venus is an inhospitable place, with temperatures soaring to several hundred degrees Celsius (hundreds of degrees Fahrenheit) and no oceans like those on Earth. Planetary scientists long believed Venus was geologically dormant. ...
Astronomy
Jul 24, 2026
1
32
UK in pole position to lead key instrument in NASA's hunt for Earth-like worlds
UK astronomers are a step closer to playing a leading role in NASA's search for alien life in the coming decades as they continue developing one of the core instruments of the Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO). The exciting ...
Astrobiology
Jul 24, 2026
0
7
Should scientists have research 'reserves' on the moon?
The worlds of the solar system are exciting and, so far, mostly pristine places for planetary scientists to study. As space missions continue to travel to Mars, Europa, asteroids and other worlds, questions arise about keeping ...
Astronomy
Jul 24, 2026
0
9
JWST captures rare glimpse of early black hole growing inside network of young galaxies
Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope have captured one of the clearest views yet of how an early supermassive black hole may grow within a network of young galaxies. The compact active galaxy, seen just a billion ...
Most powerful Northern Lights in a generation expose weaknesses in UK infrastructure
Millions of people across the UK marveled at the spectacular northern lights that lit up the night sky in May 2024. But while the display captivated skywatchers, the geomagnetic storm behind it also served as the biggest ...
Planetary Sciences
Jul 23, 2026
0
197
Could alien signals be hiding on a different radio channel?
Astronomers searching for signs of extraterrestrial intelligence may have been missing alien signals in part of the radio spectrum that has not recently been explored.
Astronomy
Jul 23, 2026
0
46
Mars auroras reveal miniature version of Earth's magnetic engine
NASA MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution) mission scientists have uncovered a key puzzle piece in understanding certain types of auroras on Mars, finding that they form in a similar way to Earth–based auroras.
Planetary Sciences
Jul 23, 2026
1
43
NASA's new space telescope will tackle some of the universe's biggest mysteries
NASA is about to launch a space observatory that could help settle some of the biggest mysteries in modern astronomy. The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will study how the universe began, what it is made of and how it ...
Astronomy
Jul 23, 2026
0
50
Hawai'i serves as model for Western researchers studying the moon's volcanic history
The moon is 384,000 kilometers (239,000 miles) away from Earth, but one of the best places to study its surface is much closer to home. Western planetary scientist Catherine Neish and PhD candidate Sashank Vanga traveled ...
Planetary Sciences
Jul 23, 2026
0
5
Astronomers are still trying to understand how a galaxy's spiral arms form
The Whirlpool galaxy (M51) is a classic grand spiral galaxy. It was the first object identified as a spiral, way back in 1845. At the time, it and other galaxies were considered spiral nebulae, since astronomers didn't know ...
Astronomy
Jul 22, 2026
4
101
Jupiter-mass 'exomoon' orbiting brown dwarf challenges cosmic labels
Observations made with the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope (ESO's VLT) have revealed evidence for a moon-like object in the CD-35 2722 system. Unlike moons in our solar system, the newly found object ...
Astronomy
Jul 22, 2026
1
245
Juno takes temperature of Jupiter's fiery moon Io
NASA's Juno mission has provided the first measurements of the temperature below the surface of Jupiter's moon Io, revealing significant heating within the shallow subsurface of the most volcanically active world in the solar ...
Planetary Sciences
Jul 22, 2026
0
177
Private mission launches to extend life of out-of-gas communication satellites
A two-armed space robot blasted off on a private salvage operation Tuesday to slap life-extending jetpacks on old satellites running low on fuel thousands of miles up.
Space Exploration
Jul 22, 2026
0
115
Rescuing satellites is harder than it looks. A growing space junk problem will make doing so more important
A commercial robotic spacecraft called LINK launched on an emergency mission to save NASA's Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, which has been slowly falling toward Earth, on July 3, 2026. Over the coming weeks, LINK, built by ...
Space Exploration
Jul 22, 2026
0
23
More news
When a SpaceX rocket crashes into the moon, scientists will be watching
US-India satellite delivers data, reveals 'hummingbird' in Antarctica
New NASA Earth missions gear up to start science flights
Electyrolyzer experiment designated ready-to-fly by NASA
Other news
How fishing may be changing one fish species at the molecular level
Fossilized wood reveals 300 million years of Earth's history
Samples reveal how Earth slows solar wind striking moon's near side
Image: The growing crescent of Mars as NASA's psyche mission approaches
