Astronomy news

• Astronomers discover the 1st ever green star, a cosmic zombie just in time for Halloween

  15-10-2026 22:00 via space.com
  
  How awesome would it be if the sun could take on a spooky green glow for Halloween? It turns out that scientists have discovered that our star may indeed go green, but only billions of years from now after its death  — and only if it then starts eating planets like a cosmic zombie. That's possible because scientists have discovered that white dwarfs, the type of stellar remnants sun-sized stars leave behind when they die, can actually take on a range of colors including green if they
  
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• On this day in space! Oct. 15, 1997: NASA launches Cassini-Hugyens probe on 7-year voyage to Saturn

  15-10-2026 21:13 via space.com
  
  On Oct. 15, 1997, NASA launched the Cassini spacecraft on a mission to explore Saturn and its moons. It lifted off aboard a Titan 4B rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.It took almost seven years for the Cassini spacecraft to reach Saturn, with the spacecraft entering orbit around the ringed planet in 2004. Another smaller spacecraft called Huygens hitched a ride with Cassini, and it landed on Saturn's moon Titan in 2005. Cassini spent 13 years studying the Saturn system up c
  
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• SpaceX launches classified mission for the US Space Force (video)

  15-10-2026 20:00 via space.com
  
  SpaceX launched a classified mission for the U.S. Space Force from California this evening (Oct. 15).A Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base today at 8:01 p.m. EDT (5:01 p.m. local time; 0001 GMT on Oct. 16), rising into clear blue skies above the Golden State's central coast.Such visibly striking launches are far from guaranteed; Vandenberg and its scenic surroundings are often blanketed by fog, making rocket watching in the area a dicey proposition.The Falcon 9's first st
  
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• SpaceX launches classified mission for the US Space Force (photos)

  15-10-2026 20:00 via space.com
  
  SpaceX will launch a classified mission for the U.S. Space Force this evening (Oct. 15), and you can watch the action live.A Falcon 9 rocket is scheduled to lift off from Vandenberg Space Force Base today, on California's beautiful but frequently fog-blanketed central coast, during a four-hour window that opens at 7:44 p.m. EDT (2344 GMT; 4:44 p.m. local time).You can watch it live via a SpaceX webcast, which is expected to begin about 10 minutes before launch.(Image credit: SpaceX)This evening'
  
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• Vaonis unveils Atlas, the world's 1st modular smart telescope system

  15-10-2026 19:40 via space.com
  
  Vaonis has just announced its new generation of smart telescope technology, known as Atlas. Less of a single smart telescope and more of a new optical system, Atlas was designed with interchangeability and adaptability in mind. Its new SkyDock system allows two optical tubes to be connected and the telescope has live night sky monitoring to predict available observations. You can preorder the Vaonis Atlas with a single Atlas 80 module for $3,990, or $5,490 for the twin at Adorama. But it'll also
  
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• NASA's SkyFall helicopters will 'show us parts of Mars we've never seen before', scientists say

  15-10-2026 18:00 via space.com
  
  NASA is accelerating the development of three helicopters that will be deployed into the sky above Mars after a voyage aboard NASA's Space Reactor‑1 Freedom spacecraft.Slated for launch in 2028, SR-1 Freedom is the first fission nuclear-powered interplanetary spacecraft and is assigned the duty of dropping off the SkyFall entry capsule loaded with the trio of aerial vehicles at the Red Planet. SR-1's trajectory will deliver the SkyFall helicopters in Mars' northern hemisphere during the pl
  
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• Windblown yardangs on Mars | Space photo of the day for Oct. 15, 2026

  15-10-2026 16:00 via space.com
  
  A new image from the Mars Express spacecraft reveals windblown ridges known as yardangs, seen here as wrinkled sections on the left and right sides of the image. (Image credit: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin)A new image from the European Space Agency's Mars Express spacecraft reveals the powerful erosive forces that have shaped and re-shaped the surface of the Red Planet over long periods of geological time.What is it?This new Mars Express image captures Amazonis Mensa, a large, flat mountain on the Red Plan
  
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• Beat light pollution with these six portable telescopes

  15-10-2026 15:00 via space.com
  
  Light pollution is the astronomer's biggest enemy, especially if you're gazing into deep space. And while some of the best telescopes can make a difference, there's no way to eliminate it. That's why, if you want to observe the cosmos without obstruction, you need to seek out darker skies, get a smart telescope or combine the two.You don't have to book a flight to a dark sky reserve; just traveling away from suburbia can be enough. That's where portable telescopes come in. Set one up in a field,
  
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• Scientists discover 'chemical starter kit' for life in planetary birthplaces

  15-10-2026 14:00 via space.com
  
  Methanol, coming as part of the 'chemical starter kit' around young stars, has produced some unexpected surprises that could ultimately reveal some of the conditions in which planets and potentially life form around protostars.The methanol discoveries were made by astronomers using ALMA (the Atacama Large millimeter/submillimeter Array) in the Atacama Desert in Chile, as part of a project called COMPASS (the Complex Organic Molecules in Protostars with ALMA Spectral Surveys)."Our work provides i
  
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• SpaceX wants to launch Starship more than 450 times per year from South Texas

  15-10-2026 12:00 via space.com
  
  SpaceX wants to start flying its Starship megarocket a lot more often.The company has requested permission to launch Starship from its Starbase site in South Texas up to 456 times per year. That's a big jump from the currently allowed cadence of 25.The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is in the early stages of reviewing the request. Today (Oct. 14), the agency announced "its intent to prepare a Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement, open a public scoping period and hold public sc
  
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• Watch SpaceX deliver more than 6,000 pounds of cargo to the ISS today

  15-10-2026 06:05 via space.com
  
  A Dragon is closing the gap between itself and its destination after a more than two-day-long orbital pursuit. SpaceX's cargo Dragon, flying the CRS-35 (35th Commercial Resupply Services) mission for NASA, is scheduled to rendezvous with the International Space Station (ISS) this morning (Oct. 15), delivering fresh food, long-term provisions, research and hardware to the orbital lab and its crew. Coverage of Dragon's arrival at the ISS will begin at 9:15 a.m. EDT (1315 GMT), with docking schedul
  
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• SpaceX Cargo Dragon delivers more than 6,000 pounds of supplies to the ISS

  15-10-2026 06:05 via space.com
  
  A Dragon has settled into its nest after a more than two-day-long orbital pursuit. SpaceX's cargo Dragon, flying the CRS-35 (35th Commercial Resupply Services) mission for NASA, rendezvoused with the International Space Station (ISS) this morning (Oct. 15), delivering fresh food, long-term provisions, research and hardware to the orbital lab and its crew. Coverage of Dragon's arrival at the ISS began at 9:00 a.m. EDT (1315 GMT), as the spacecraft approached from approximately 2.3 miles (3.6 km)
  
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