Astronomy news

• James Webb Space Telescope finds coldest exoplanet ever seen, and it orbits a dead star

  02-05-2025 23:00 via space.com
  
  Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) have confirmed the existence of the first known planet closely orbiting a dead star — offering new insights into how planets may evolve during the final stages of a star's life.
  
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• Will SpaceX's Starbase become a city? Voters will decide on May 3

  02-05-2025 22:30 via space.com
  
  People who live near SpaceX's Starbase facility in South Texas will vote on Saturday (May 3) to determine if the site becomes an incorporated city.
  
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• SpaceX's Starbase becomes a new Texas city after landslide election

  02-05-2025 22:30 via space.com
  
  People who live near SpaceX's Starbase facility in South Texas voted on Saturday (May 3) to incorporate the Starship launch as a manufacturing hub as a city.
  
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• SpaceX's Starbase becomes a city

  02-05-2025 22:30 via space.com
  
  People who live near SpaceX's Starbase facility in South Texas voted on Saturday (May 3) to incorporate the Starship launch as a manufacturing hub as a city.
  
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• Ruko F11PRO 2 drone review

  02-05-2025 21:00 via space.com
  
  The Ruko F11PRO 2 is a small drone featuring easy operation and a host of useful features but the small sensor in the camera produces soft images.
  
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• Reshaping our return to the moon: Trump's 2026 budget gives Artemis a major facelift

  02-05-2025 20:23 via space.com
  
  The White House's proposed 2026 budget would reshape NASA's Artemis moon program, canceling the Gateway space station and retiring the SLS rocket and Orion capsule after two more flights.
  
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• Experts alarmed as White House proposes 'largest single-year cut to NASA in American history'

  02-05-2025 20:23 via space.com
  
  "It would recklessly slash NASA’s science budget by 47%."
  
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• Look up! How to see the Eta Aquarid meteor shower 2025 peak overnight on May 5-6

  02-05-2025 20:00 via space.com
  
  Eta Aquarids are known for leaving glowing debris trails in their wake.
  
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• 'Borderlands 4' shows off new planet Kairos in gameplay deep dive, and it's coming a week earlier than we expected (video)

  02-05-2025 20:00 via space.com
  
  Gearbox is ready to talk about what's new in Borderlands 4, and the new entry in the iconic sci-fi FPS-RPG series looks like a blast.
  
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• Trump administration proposes slashing NASA budget by 24%

  02-05-2025 18:39 via space.com
  
  The White House's proposed 2026 budget cuts $6 billion in NASA funding and cancels Mars sample return and the Gateway moon-orbiting space station, among other projects.
  
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• Gaze at a cluster of glowing galaxies | Space photo of the day for May 2, 2025

  02-05-2025 18:30 via space.com
  
  Galaxy cluster Abell 1489, as imaged by the International Gemini Observatory, contains more than 200 of the gravitationally-bound systems of stars, stellar remnants, interstellar gas and dust.
  
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• SpaceX fires up Starship spacecraft ahead of 9th test flight (photo)

  02-05-2025 18:00 via space.com
  
  SpaceX conducted a static fire test of a Starship upper-stage vehicle this week, continuing to gear up for the megarocket's ninth test flight.
  
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• New JWST observations of 'trans-Neptunian objects' could help reveal our solar system's past

  02-05-2025 17:00 via space.com
  
  The James Webb Space Telescope has observed surface ice methanol — a key building block for organic compounds necessary for life, including sugars — on trans-Neptunian objects.
  
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• DARPA wants a spacecraft to search for water on the moon

  02-05-2025 16:00 via space.com
  
  DARPA (the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) is looking for a private company to build spacecraft to orbit the moon and search for water.
  
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• 06 May 2025 (4 days away): η-Aquariid meteor shower 2025

  02-05-2025 15:20 via in-the-sky.org
  
  The η-Aquariid meteor shower reaches its peak.
  
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• New images of Soviet Venus lander falling to Earth suggest its parachute may be out

  02-05-2025 15:00 via space.com
  
  The soon-to-reenter Soviet Cosmos 482 Venus probe is getting increased attention by satellite trackers – and new imagery provides some interesting details.
  
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• NASA just got the Orion spacecraft that will fly astronauts around the moon on Artemis 2 in 2026

  02-05-2025 14:00 via space.com
  
  Orion, the next spacecraft to fly humans around the moon, has been delivered to NASA for prelaunch preparations ahead of Artemis 2's planned 2026 liftoff.
  
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• 02 May 2025 (Yesterday): Asteroid 4 Vesta at opposition

  02-05-2025 13:58 via in-the-sky.org
  Asteroid 4 Vesta makes closest approach to the Earth.
  
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• 02 May 2025 (9 hours ago): Asteroid 4 Vesta at opposition

  02-05-2025 13:58 via in-the-sky.org
  Asteroid 4 Vesta makes closest approach to the Earth.
  
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• 02 May 2025 (8 hours ago): Asteroid 4 Vesta at opposition

  02-05-2025 13:58 via in-the-sky.org
  Asteroid 4 Vesta makes closest approach to the Earth.
  
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• 02 May 2025 (7 hours ago): Asteroid 4 Vesta at opposition

  02-05-2025 13:58 via in-the-sky.org
  Asteroid 4 Vesta makes closest approach to the Earth.
  
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• 02 May 2025 (6 hours ago): Asteroid 4 Vesta at opposition

  02-05-2025 13:58 via in-the-sky.org
  Asteroid 4 Vesta makes closest approach to the Earth.
  
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• 02 May 2025 (5 hours ago): Asteroid 4 Vesta at opposition

  02-05-2025 13:58 via in-the-sky.org
  
  Asteroid 4 Vesta makes closest approach to the Earth.
  
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• 02 May 2025 (4 hours ago): Asteroid 4 Vesta at opposition

  02-05-2025 13:58 via in-the-sky.org
  
  Asteroid 4 Vesta makes closest approach to the Earth.
  
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• 02 May 2025 (4 days ago): Asteroid 4 Vesta at opposition

  02-05-2025 13:58 via in-the-sky.org
  Asteroid 4 Vesta makes closest approach to the Earth.
  
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• 02 May 2025 (3 days ago): Asteroid 4 Vesta at opposition

  02-05-2025 13:58 via in-the-sky.org
  Asteroid 4 Vesta makes closest approach to the Earth.
  
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• 02 May 2025 (23 hours ago): Asteroid 4 Vesta at opposition

  02-05-2025 13:58 via in-the-sky.org
  Asteroid 4 Vesta makes closest approach to the Earth.
  
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• 02 May 2025 (22 hours ago): Asteroid 4 Vesta at opposition

  02-05-2025 13:58 via in-the-sky.org
  Asteroid 4 Vesta makes closest approach to the Earth.
  
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• 02 May 2025 (21 hours ago): Asteroid 4 Vesta at opposition

  02-05-2025 13:58 via in-the-sky.org
  Asteroid 4 Vesta makes closest approach to the Earth.
  
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• 02 May 2025 (20 hours ago): Asteroid 4 Vesta at opposition

  02-05-2025 13:58 via in-the-sky.org
  Asteroid 4 Vesta makes closest approach to the Earth.
  
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• 02 May 2025 (2 days ago): Asteroid 4 Vesta at opposition

  02-05-2025 13:58 via in-the-sky.org
  Asteroid 4 Vesta makes closest approach to the Earth.
  
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• 02 May 2025 (19 hours ago): Asteroid 4 Vesta at opposition

  02-05-2025 13:58 via in-the-sky.org
  Asteroid 4 Vesta makes closest approach to the Earth.
  
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• 02 May 2025 (18 hours ago): Asteroid 4 Vesta at opposition

  02-05-2025 13:58 via in-the-sky.org
  Asteroid 4 Vesta makes closest approach to the Earth.
  
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• 02 May 2025 (17 hours ago): Asteroid 4 Vesta at opposition

  02-05-2025 13:58 via in-the-sky.org
  Asteroid 4 Vesta makes closest approach to the Earth.
  
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• 02 May 2025 (16 hours ago): Asteroid 4 Vesta at opposition

  02-05-2025 13:58 via in-the-sky.org
  Asteroid 4 Vesta makes closest approach to the Earth.
  
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• 02 May 2025 (15 hours ago): Asteroid 4 Vesta at opposition

  02-05-2025 13:58 via in-the-sky.org
  Asteroid 4 Vesta makes closest approach to the Earth.
  
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• 02 May 2025 (14 hours ago): Asteroid 4 Vesta at opposition

  02-05-2025 13:58 via in-the-sky.org
  Asteroid 4 Vesta makes closest approach to the Earth.
  
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• 02 May 2025 (13 hours ago): Asteroid 4 Vesta at opposition

  02-05-2025 13:58 via in-the-sky.org
  Asteroid 4 Vesta makes closest approach to the Earth.
  
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• 02 May 2025 (12 hours ago): Asteroid 4 Vesta at opposition

  02-05-2025 13:58 via in-the-sky.org
  Asteroid 4 Vesta makes closest approach to the Earth.
  
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• 02 May 2025 (11 hours ago): Asteroid 4 Vesta at opposition

  02-05-2025 13:58 via in-the-sky.org
  Asteroid 4 Vesta makes closest approach to the Earth.
  
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• 02 May 2025 (10 hours ago): Asteroid 4 Vesta at opposition

  02-05-2025 13:58 via in-the-sky.org
  Asteroid 4 Vesta makes closest approach to the Earth.
  
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• 02 May 2025 (1 hour ago): Asteroid 4 Vesta at opposition

  02-05-2025 13:58 via in-the-sky.org
  
  Asteroid 4 Vesta makes closest approach to the Earth.
  
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• See the moon and Mars buzz a cosmic Beehive this weekend

  02-05-2025 12:00 via space.com
  
  The Red Planet will buzz the Beehive during May 4-5, with the moon joining the party on May 3.
  
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• This strange bacteria aligns to Earth's magnetic field and needs friends to survive

  02-05-2025 11:00 via space.com
  
  A unique type of bacteria appears to have social groups — left alone, they'd die.
  
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• 02 May 2025 (5 hours away): Asteroid 4 Vesta at opposition

  02-05-2025 08:30 via in-the-sky.org
  
  Asteroid 4 Vesta makes closest approach to the Earth.
  
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• SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches 28 Starlink satellites to orbit from Florida (photos)

  02-05-2025 07:14 via space.com
  
  A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Florida's Space Coast on Thursday night (May 1), carrying 28 Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit.
  
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• 05 May 2025 (3 days away): Close approach of Mars and M44

  02-05-2025 02:40 via in-the-sky.org
  Mars and M44 pass close to each other.
  
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• 04 May 2025 (2 days away): Moon at First Quarter

  02-05-2025 02:40 via in-the-sky.org
  The Moon reaches first quarter phase – appearing high in the sky at sunset and setting in the west at around midnight.
  
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• 04 May 2025 (2 days away): Conjunction of Venus and Neptune

  02-05-2025 02:40 via in-the-sky.org
  Venus and Neptune share the same right ascension, at a separation of 2°03'.
  
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• 04 May 2025 (2 days away): Close approach of the Moon and Mars

  02-05-2025 02:40 via in-the-sky.org
  The Moon and Mars pass close to each other.
  
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