Astronomy news

• Russia aborts spacewalk after spacesuit problem

  17-08-2022 18:57 via space.com
  
  A Russian spacewalk outside the International Space Station ended early today (Aug. 17) after a cosmonaut suffered a problem with his suit.
  
  Read more

• 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
  
  Read more

• 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
  
  Read more

• 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
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• '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
  
  Read more

• 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
  
  Read more

• '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
  
  Read more

• 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
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• 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
  
  Read more

• 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,
  
  Read more

• 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
  
  Read more

• 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
  
  Read more

• '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
  
  Read more

• Why can you see the moon during the day? This week is the perfect time to find out

  16-10-2026 18:00 via space.com
  
  I know perfectly well that the moon comes out during the day. I have known this for decades. Yet whenever I spot it in a blue afternoon sky, some primitive part of my brain still thinks it has turned up early.I'm certainly not the only one. Many people don't understand how it could be visible in daylight. In their eyes, the moon is a nighttime object. Why? Because that's when they notice it — it appears brighter.We tend to think of the sun as belonging to the day and the moon to the night
  
  Read more

• 'Mission: 60s' event promises passport back to the Space Age

  16-10-2026 18:00 via space.com
  
  Your invitation to revisit the Space Age has arrived. Whether you miss the days when people got dressed up to fly or you wish your "other" ride was a rocket, Mission: 60s has a *space* reserved for you."This is a three-day celebration of Apollo, aviation, space exploration and 1960s culture," reads a promo for the Oct. 23 to 25 event in New York. "You will be fully immersed in the sights, sounds and spirit of the 1960s Space Age.""The weekend features astronauts, Apollo flight directors, Mission
  
  Read more

• 7 best places to see the northern lights, according to an aurora chaser

  16-10-2026 17:01 via space.com
  
  I've spent years chasing the northern lights across the Arctic, from the mountains of Swedish Lapland to the dramatic Norwegian fjords. If there's one thing I've learned, it's that choosing where to see the northern lights is about much more than simply heading as far north as possible. Whether you're on the hunt for somewhere that offers the best chance of clear skies, the most dramatic scenery or a plethora of winter activities to keep you warm, choosing the right destination can make a big di
  
  Read more

• Beyond pointing your phone at the night sky, this is how to use stargazing apps effectively

  16-10-2026 16:30 via space.com
  
  Whether you are a seasoned astronomer or a newcomer to the hobby, the best stargazing apps have the potential to seriously enhance your skywatching experience. But it's easy to overlook just how useful these portable programs can be.That's why we've put together this guide to getting the best use out of stargazing apps, from identifying stars and constellations through to seeking out dark sky sites and beyond. You will wonder how you ever managed without them.So read on and get ready to take you
  
  Read more

• Supermassive black hole blasts out a neon 'treble clef' | Space photo of the day for Oct. 16, 2026

  16-10-2026 16:00 via space.com
  
  The "treble clef" galaxy cluster is an unusual source of radio waves, the Chandra X-ray observatory has found.(Image credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/INAF-IRA/A. Botteon et al.; Infrared: UKIDSS-GPS ; Radio: ASTRON/LOFAR; Image processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/N. Wolk)What looks like a neon pink treble clef floating out in space is actually a bizarre source of radio waves spotted deep in the cosmos. What is it?Scientists using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory have peered far out into space to look at strange rad
  
  Read more

• 'We are getting a lot of pressure from the administrator himself': How NASA is racing to obey Trump's 'Super Intelligence' order

  16-10-2026 15:55 via space.com
  
  NASA has begun replacing references to artificial intelligence with "super intelligence" following an executive order from President Donald Trump, which directs government agencies not to acknowledge the terminology change in their external communications.An internal NASA document obtained by Space.com lays out plans to update the agency's websites, publications, organizational titles and digital infrastructure with a four-phase "super intelligence" implementation schedule extending into Decembe
  
  Read more

• Rocket Lab pushes 1st launch of next-gen Neutron rocket to 2027

  16-10-2026 14:00 via space.com
  
  We'll have to wait a bit longer to see Rocket Lab's next-gen launcher fly.The California-based company just announced that it's pushing the debut of its powerful, partially reusable Neutron rocket from late 2026 into 2027 due to a manufacturing issue. "We believe Neutron is going to be a game-changer, and taking the time now to solve these challenges means we're in a better position to deliver a rocket that's ready to meet the needs for the industry for years to come," Rocket Lab founder and CEO
  
  Read more

• It's time to reassess the size of our solar system, scientists say

  16-10-2026 12:00 via space.com
  
  Two leading space scientists say there is a need to redefine the edge of the solar system by presenting a theory which states that measurements of the Milky Way's gravitational field, including its dark matter, redraws the sun's frontier. That theory was put forward by Jim Green, former NASA chief scientist and past director of the space agency's Planetary Science Division, along with Ed Belbruno, a professor of mathematics at Yeshiva University and a senior research associate at Princeton Unive
  
  Read more

• 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
  
  Read more

• 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
  
  Read more

• 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
  
  Read more

• 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'
  
  Read more

• 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
  
  Read more

• 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
  
  Read more

• 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
  
  Read more

• 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,
  
  Read more

• 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
  
  Read more

Follow @UK_Astronomy on Twitter!