Astronomy news

• 7 fascinating facts about lunar eclipses

  06-03-2025 17:00 via space.com
  
  From fiery 'blood moons' to ancient legends, discover the surprising science and history behind lunar eclipses.
  
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• The X-Files Lego set is a wonderful bit of 90s sci-fi nostalgia

  19-10-2026 22:00 via space.com
  
  Millennials get a lot of flak for being overly nostalgic, but I don't think that's fair. When the modern-day world has nothing to offer us but AI slop, shrinkflation and a sad acceptance that we can't be bothered to do anything about global warming. It's easy to see why we yearn for the days of Pogs, the Backstreet Boys, and Saved by the Bell.One area that we definitely had it good in the 90s was sci-fi, when legendary shows like Star Trek: The Next Generation, Stargate SG-1, and — of cour
  
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• Japan launches historic MMX sample-return mission to Mars' moon Phobos (video)

  19-10-2026 21:53 via space.com
  
  Japan's groundbreaking mission to Mars is officially underway, headed to the Red Planet's mysterious moons Phobos and Deimos for a historic sample-return attempt.The Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) mission launched today (Oct. 19) from Tanegashima Space Center in Japan, riding an H3 rocket that lifted off from Pad-2 at Tanegashima's Yoshinobu Launch Complex at 3:41 p.m. EDT (1941 GMT; 4:41 a.m. local time in Japan on Oct. 20). The JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency)-led MMX mission is boun
  
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• On this day in space! Oct. 19, 2016: Europe's ExoMars orbiter and Schiaparelli lander arrive at Mars

  19-10-2026 21:40 via space.com
  
  On Oct. 19, 2016, the European Space Agency's ExoMars mission arrived at Mars! ExoMars 2016 consists of the Trace Gas Orbiter and the Schiaparelli lander. The orbiter and lander traveled there together and separated on Oct. 16, three days before the orbiter entered orbit around Mars, and the lander touched down on the planet's surface. But something went wrong during the lander's descent, and it crashed into the ground. Schiaparelli did not survive the accident, but the Trace Gas Orbiter is stil
  
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• The moon is shrinking. 10,000 cracks on the lunar surface reveal by how much

  19-10-2026 21:00 via space.com
  
  The moon is shrinking, and scientists are narrowing in on exactly how much our natural satellite has dwindled over the years. The moon is thought to have formed from a violent collision between a massive object and our young Earth roughly 4.5 billion years ago, and its interior is still gradually cooling off from this ancient collision. As it cools, the moon contracts, leading to a long, slow shrinking process. Now, in a new study, scientists think that they have figured out how much smaller the
  
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• 'They're kind of goth': NASA spacecraft gives mysterious brown dwarfs a close-up

  19-10-2026 17:06 via space.com
  
  Using NASA’s SPHEREx spacecraft, astronomers have studied a host of "failed stars," also known as brown dwarfs. These strange cosmic bodies straddle the line between planets and stars, possessing a mass between 13 and 80 times that of Jupiter (0.013 to 0.08 times the mass of the sun). They get the nickname failed stars because they form like stars from collapsing clouds of gas and dust but fail to gather enough mass to trigger the fusion of hydrogen to helium in their cores, the process th
  
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• Elephant Island is an icy sight from orbit | Space photo of the day for Oct. 19, 2026

  19-10-2026 16:00 via space.com
  
  Ice floats by in West Antarctica as winter comes to an end in the Southern Hemisphere.(Image credit: contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data (2026), processed by ESA)Antarctica is a magnificent sight, and that beauty is visible all the way from space. What is it?Orbiting planet Earth, the European Space Agency's (ESA) Copernicus Sentinel-3 mission captured a close-up of West Antarctica. Winter is ending in the Southern Hemisphere, meaning this is the peak of icy weather and sea ice in the Arc
  
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• Did a giant object collide with Earth to form the moon?

  19-10-2026 14:00 via space.com
  
  For as long as humans have watched the night sky, we have wondered about the moon, pondering everything from its alien appearance to its influence over phenomena on Earth such as ocean tides, climate stability, and even the natural rhythms of many organisms.Among the many questions we have about Earth's lone natural satellite, one remains preeminent: what are the moon's origins, and how long has it orbited Earth?Today, the leading theory among astronomers is that deep in our planet's past &mdash
  
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• Watch Japan launch a bold sample-return mission to Mars moon Phobos today

  19-10-2026 12:00 via space.com
  
  Japan will launch an epic mission to Mars today (Oct. 19), and you can watch the action live.The Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) mission is scheduled to lift off atop an H3 rocket from Japan's Tanegashima Space Center today at 3:41 p.m. EDT (1941 GMT; 4:41 a.m. on Oct. 20 local Japan time).You can watch it live via the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). Coverage will begin at 2:45 p.m. EDT (1845 GMT). An artist’s concept of JAXA’s MMX spacecraft during its Mars orbit insertio
  
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• Japan launching bold sample-return mission to Mars moon Phobos today: Watch it live

  19-10-2026 12:00 via space.com
  
  Japan will launch an epic mission to Mars today (Oct. 19), and you can watch the action live.The Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) mission is scheduled to lift off atop an H3 rocket from Japan's Tanegashima Space Center today at 3:41 p.m. EDT (1941 GMT; 4:41 a.m. on Oct. 20 local Japan time).You can watch it live via the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). Coverage will begin at 2:45 p.m. EDT (1845 GMT). An artist’s concept of JAXA’s MMX spacecraft during its Mars orbit insertio
  
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• Returning the first samples from a Martian moon: Inside the science of Japan's bold MMX mission to Mars

  18-10-2026 21:20 via space.com
  
  Japan's mission to Mars is one of the most ambitious in spaceflight history. It aims to become the first spacecraft to return to Earth from Mars orbit, carrying with it the first-ever samples from the Red Planet system.The mission, known as Martian Moons eXploration (MMX), is a first-of-its-kind endeavor to study the origin of Mars' moons Phobos and Deimos. The robust undertaking includes a landing on Phobos to collect the samples — which will likely be the first from the Mars system to re
  
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• Returning samples from a Martian moon: Inside the science of Japan's bold MMX mission to Mars

  18-10-2026 21:20 via space.com
  
  Japan's mission to Mars is one of the most ambitious in spaceflight history. It aims to become the first spacecraft to return to Earth from Mars orbit, carrying with it the first-ever samples from the Red Planet system.The mission, known as Martian Moons eXploration (MMX), is a first-of-its-kind endeavor to study the origin of Mars' moons Phobos and Deimos. The robust undertaking includes a landing on Phobos to collect the samples — which will likely be the first from the Mars system to re
  
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• Returning samples from a Mars moon: Inside the science of Japan's bold MMX mission

  18-10-2026 21:20 via space.com
  
  Japan's mission to Mars is one of the most ambitious in spaceflight history. It aims to become the first spacecraft to return to Earth from Mars orbit, carrying with it the first-ever samples from the Red Planet system.The mission, known as Martian Moons eXploration (MMX), is a first-of-its-kind endeavor to study the origin of Mars' moons Phobos and Deimos. The robust undertaking includes a landing on Phobos to collect the samples — which will likely be the first from the Mars system to re
  
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• Computer scientist Margaret Hamilton was a problem-solver for the ages (op-ed)

  18-10-2026 18:00 via space.com
  
  Dean Robbins is a journalist and children's author. He contributed this article to Space.com's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights.The pioneering computer scientist Margaret Hamilton, who died on Sept. 30 at age 90, played a key role in putting astronauts on the moon. She was a problem-solver extraordinaire, and it all started in early childhood.Considering the name "daddy longlegs" unfair to female arachnids, young Margaret decided to call half of them "mommy longlegs." Wondering why the neighb
  
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• On this day in space! Oct. 18, 1963: France's Félicette Becomes the 1st Cat in Space! >^..^<

  18-10-2026 15:52 via space.com
  
  On Oct. 18, 1963, a cat went to space! Félicette was a French "catstronaut" who became the first and only feline to fly to space. While the U.S. and Soviet Union were busy launching primates, dogs and humans, the French decided to join the space race by launching a cat. Félicette, a stray tuxedo cat from the streets of Paris, was a substitute for another cat named Felix, who somehow escaped on launch day. So Félicette went where no cat had ever gone before. She boarded a Fre
  
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• Astronomers want your help finding 'missing' black holes in the Milky Way

  18-10-2026 14:00 via space.com
  
  Astronomers estimate that our home galaxy, the Milky Way, has churned out more than 10 million black holes over its 13-billion-year history. Yet so far, they have found only 70.Now, a group of astronomers in the U.K. is trying to close that vast gap by enlisting the public. Their project, called Black Hole Hunters, is looking for volunteers with a computer and a few spare minutes to sift through troves of data gathered by a NASA space telescope. By flagging recognizable patterns that could point
  
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• 10 best places to see the 2027 total solar eclipse in Spain

  18-10-2026 12:00 via space.com
  
  Spain is one of the easiest places in the world to experience the total solar eclipse on Aug. 2, 2027. The so-called "eclipse of the century" first makes landfall in Andalucía, where totality will last up to 4 minutes and 40 seconds during mid-morning, with the sun comfortably high at around 38-42 degrees above the horizon in the eastern sky. Excellent roads, plentiful accommodation and Málaga's international airport make this an obvious alternative to North Africa and the Middle E
  
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• 'Let's all choose to make tomorrow better', Artemis II astronauts honored with Stephen Hawking Medal at Starmus

  18-10-2026 11:12 via space.com
  
  TENERIFE, CANARY ISLANDS — The Artemis II astronauts may have traveled hundreds of thousands of miles away from Earth to the moon, but they made sure the rest of us didn't miss out on the adventure. Now, their efforts to bring the wonders of space exploration back down to Earth have earned them one of science communication's most prestigious honors: the Stephen Hawking Medal. NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman and Victor Glover, alongside Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen, accepted t
  
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• On this day in space! Oct. 17, 2016: Private Antares rocket returns to flight after catastrophic launch explosion

  17-10-2026 16:49 via space.com
  
  On Oct. 17, 2016, Orbital ATK (now Northrop Grumman Space Systems) returned to flight, successfully launching a cargo shipment to the International Space Station (ISS) after its previous cargo mission failed to launch. The private spaceflight company was contracted by NASA to fly cargo to the ISS, and stakes were high for this launch. Orbital ATK's last attempt nearly two years earlier ended in a catastrophic explosion a few seconds after liftoff. Despite some delays, the newly upgraded Antares
  
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• This Week In Space podcast: Episode 232 — The Lunar Dump

  17-10-2026 16:17 via space.com
  
  On Episode 232 of This Week In Space, Rod Pyle and Tariq Malik are joined by Chelsea Gohd, former writer for NASA/JPL and now with Space.com, to talk about the recent large data dump from the Artemis II mission.What was included? Why is this new data important? What observations were made, and what discoveries might result from them? What kind of annotations and notes did the astronauts include that make these observations uniquely valuable? And finally, we talk about Artemis III - what is the m
  
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• 6 scientifically accurate star projectors to turn any room into a home planetarium

  17-10-2026 16:00 via space.com
  
  Want to educate young children about the wonders of the cosmos? Depending on the time of year, your location and the weather, your hopes to see the night sky in real life might not be as easy as heading into the backyard and peering up. That's why one of the best star projectors might be the solution.That's why we've picked out six star projectors that actually deliver scientifically accurate images, from projections of the northern hemisphere to breathtaking pictures from the Hubble Space Teles
  
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• 'Lanterns' shocking finale left us with a lot of unanswered questions for a potential season 2

  17-10-2026 14:00 via space.com
  
  HBO and HBO Max's "Lanterns" served up its big cliffhanger finale on Oct. 4, 2026, and we’ve been slowly digesting thoughts on what the creative direction and ultimate legacy of this debut season were. While by no means a perfect experiment in trying to shake up the aging superhero genre, there are enough worthy elements to consider this sci-fi mystery show an evolutionary step towards the next generation of comic-based storytelling. After the emerald-tinted dust has settled, there are man
  
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• The Orionid meteor shower peaks next week! Here's what to expect

  17-10-2026 12:00 via space.com
  
  The Orionid meteor shower peaks overnight on Oct. 21-22, triggering a spectacular display of shooting stars as Earth plunges through the densest part of the debris trail shed by Halley's Comet. Here's what you need to know.When is the best time to see Orionid shooting stars?Orionid meteors are best spotted between the hours of midnight and dawn on Oct. 22, when 10-20 shooting stars may be seen brightening the night sky each hour under ideal dark-sky.The glare cast by the 74%-lit waxing gibbous m
  
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• 'It really does change you': SpaceX Crew-12 commander wishes we could all see our fragile Earth from space

  17-10-2026 00:00 via space.com
  
  The astronauts of SpaceX's Crew-12 mission to the International Space Station wish that we could all see Earth as they just did.An orbital view reveals the immense beauty of our blue planet, the only world we know of that hosts life. But it also highlights how fragile that life is, tethered to our lonely Earth in the vast void of space, according to Crew-12 commander Jessica Meir of NASA."You see this very thin, tenuous band of an atmosphere, and you know that that is all that is supporting life
  
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• When not to watch a meteor shower — why I'm not staying up for the Orionids

  16-10-2026 22:00 via space.com
  
  I used to think being interested in the night sky meant I had to try every meteor shower. If a calendar said "peak," I interpreted that as an instruction. I'd set an alarm, find several layers of clothing and go outside at around 2:00 a.m. when even the neighborhood cats seemed surprised to see me. Then I'd spend an increasingly resentful 45 minutes staring upward, occasionally see one meteor and wonder whether I was somehow doing it all wrong. As I've grown into stargazing, I've become much mor
  
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• Scientists find 'gemstones' in atmosphere of bizarre, scorching-hot 'marshmallow' exoplanet

  16-10-2026 20:00 via space.com
  
  Using data from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), astronomers have unraveled some of the atmospheric secrets of a bizarre, blisteringly hot world that has the consistency of marshmallow.The extrasolar planet, or exoplanet, under the watchful infrared eye of the JWST, is WASP-17b, located around 1,300 light-years away. The exoplanet has a mass around 0.8 times that of Jupiter, but it is around twice as wide as the solar system's largest planet, giving it a "super-puff" consistency comparable
  
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• How to see the Orionid meteor shower 2026 peak this week — and when to look

  16-10-2026 20:00 via space.com
  
  If you love watching meteors, 2026 has given you plenty to enjoy. This summer, the annual Perseid meteor shower peaked on the day of a new moon — and a solar eclipse — so moonlight stayed out of the way. And there's more to look forward to: in December, the Geminids, the year's most prolific shower, will peak after a waxing crescent moon sets early in the evening, opening the door to excellent viewing.Right between those two headline showers, the dependable Orionids take their turn,
  
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• SpaceX thrusters just made a Tesla Roadster 'fly' (and Elon Musk's car is still out there in space)

  16-10-2026 19:38 via space.com
  
  Well, that was a memorable debut.Tesla unveiled its highly anticipated new Roadster last night (Oct. 16) with a spectacular stunt, using SpaceX thrusters to make the vehicle "fly.""This is not necessarily a safety-optimized car, OK?" Elon Musk, who runs both companies, said during the livestreamed reveal, which was held at SpaceX's rocket-testing facility in McGregor, Texas. "But it takes the the fun meter to 11 out of 10."Tesla first announced the next-gen Roadster in 2017, saying at the time t
  
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• On this day in space! Oct. 16, 1975: NASA launches the 1st-ever GOES weather satellite to watch Earth from space

  16-10-2026 19:19 via space.com
  
  On Oct. 16, 1975, NASA launched the first operational GOES satellite! GOES-A was the first in a series of weather satellites that NASA jointly operated with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The name is short for Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite. GOES-A launched on a Delta rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida. GOES satellites all have a geostationary orbit, which means they always face the same part of Earth — in this case, the Indian Ocean. Once G
  
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• 'Dark Matter's' Joel Edgerton and Jennifer Connelly talk S2's marital disintegration and the humility of hanging on wires (interview)

  16-10-2026 19:00 via space.com
  
  The eighth episode of Apple TV's "Dark Matter" season 2 has just dropped, and we're all on the edge of our seats trying to guess how the strange saga of Jason (Joel Edgerton) and Daniela (Jennifer Connelly) Dessen is going to finish up. Not even fans of the books know, as this superb adaptation of NYT bestselling author Blake Crouch's 2016 novel broke out of its source material for season 2.For Edgerton and Connelly, "Dark Matter" has been a whirlwind project as their characters search for a saf
  
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