Astronomy news

• Watch SpaceX launch 53 Starlink satellites, land a rocket at sea today

  19-08-2022 12:00 via space.com
  
  SpaceX will launch 53 more of its Starlink internet satellites and land a rocket at sea today (Aug. 19), and you can watch the action live.
  
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• 09 Jul 2026 (3 days away): Asteroid 8 Flora at opposition

  06-07-2026 19:50 via in-the-sky.org
  
  Asteroid 8 Flora makes closest approach to the Earth.
  
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• 07 Jul 2026 (22 hours away): Close approach of the Moon and Saturn

  06-07-2026 19:50 via in-the-sky.org
  
  The Moon and Saturn pass close to each other.
  
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• 07 Jul 2026 (17 hours away): Neptune enters retrograde motion

  06-07-2026 19:50 via in-the-sky.org
  
  Neptune reverses its direction of motion across the sky.
  
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• 06 Jul 2026 (19 minutes ago): The Earth at aphelion

  06-07-2026 19:30 via in-the-sky.org
  
  The Earth reaches its furthest point from the Sun.
  
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• 07 Jul 2026 (23 hours away): Close approach of the Moon and Saturn

  06-07-2026 18:33 via in-the-sky.org
  
  The Moon and Saturn pass close to each other.
  
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• 07 Jul 2026 (19 hours away): Neptune enters retrograde motion

  06-07-2026 18:33 via in-the-sky.org
  
  Neptune reverses its direction of motion across the sky.
  
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• 06 Jul 2026 (57 minutes away): The Earth at aphelion

  06-07-2026 18:33 via in-the-sky.org
  
  The Earth reaches its furthest point from the Sun.
  
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• Unidentified metal spheres found on Australian beach are 'debris from a foreign rocket body', space agency says

  06-07-2026 18:30 via space.com
  
  Mysterious metallic-looking spheres have appeared on a northeastern Australian beach, prompting the Australian Space Agency to warn residents to be on the lookout for what they state is likely space debris.Australia is investigating the possible space debris incident in conjunction with authorities in Queensland as well as the National Emergency Management Agency, the country's space agency wrote on X late on Sunday (July 5)."The recovered objects appear to be pressure vessels from a space launc
  
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• 'Acceleration without fuel:' Revolutionary superconducting thruster harnesses Earth's magnetic field in 1st orbital test

  06-07-2026 18:00 via space.com
  
  New Zealand company Zenno Astronautics has tested the first of its kind thruster based on superconducting magnets to maintain the position of a satellite in space.Superconducting magnets can convert solar energy directly into momentum in space and provide a source of acceleration that needs no fuel, but until recently, the technology was too large and complex to fit on a satellite. That's no longer the case. Zenno Astronautics, a spin-off from the University of Auckland, has flown its new "Super
  
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• 07 Jul 2026 (20 hours away): Neptune enters retrograde motion

  06-07-2026 17:28 via in-the-sky.org
  
  Neptune reverses its direction of motion across the sky.
  
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• 06 Jul 2026 (2 hours away): The Earth at aphelion

  06-07-2026 17:28 via in-the-sky.org
  
  The Earth reaches its furthest point from the Sun.
  
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• Japan's Hayabusa2 probe captures remarkable photo of a two-headed asteroid 62 million miles away

  06-07-2026 16:20 via space.com
  
  A Japanese spacecraft has gotten up close and personal with yet another asteroid, beaming home stunning new imagery of the distant space rock.On Sunday (July 5), the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)'s Hayabusa2 probe performed a close flyby of asteroid Torifune, a 1,475-foot (450-meter) space rock currently traveling through space some 62 million miles (100 million kilometers) from Earth. It was expected to be one of the closest-ever high-speed passes a spacecraft has had with an astero
  
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• 07 Jul 2026 (21 hours away): Neptune enters retrograde motion

  06-07-2026 16:12 via in-the-sky.org
  
  Neptune reverses its direction of motion across the sky.
  
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• 06 Jul 2026 (3 hours away): The Earth at aphelion

  06-07-2026 16:12 via in-the-sky.org
  
  The Earth reaches its furthest point from the Sun.
  
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• Artemis moon astronauts visit Capitol Hill | Space photo of the day for July 6, 2026

  06-07-2026 16:00 via space.com
  
  The Artemis 2 astronauts look up at footage from their flight during a visit to Capitol Hill.(Image credit: NASA/Joel Kowsky)As we reflect on this past July 4 weekend, and America's 250th birthday, we look to NASA's Artemis II astronauts, who recently reflected on their historic mission during a visit to Capitol Hill.What is it? Following their return to Earth from a 10-day journey around the moonin April, NASA's Artemis II astronauts headed to Capitol Hill. This photograph, captured on May 12,s
  
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• 07 Jul 2026 (22 hours away): Neptune enters retrograde motion

  06-07-2026 15:09 via in-the-sky.org
  
  Neptune reverses its direction of motion across the sky.
  
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• 06 Jul 2026 (4 hours away): The Earth at aphelion

  06-07-2026 15:09 via in-the-sky.org
  
  The Earth reaches its furthest point from the Sun.
  
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• NASA will have to find a way to service its new alien-hunting space telescope

  06-07-2026 15:00 via space.com
  
  Pasadena, California — NASA's new alien-hunting telescope, the Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO), will be serviceable out in space (and it will have gamma-ray detectors, to boot).Do you remember seeing NASA's Space Shuttle astronauts working on the Hubble Space Telescope out in space? Well, it will likely be robots this time around, but NASA is planning for HWO to be serviceable, which means that they will need to figure out a way to work on, repair, and maintain the observatory while it
  
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• 07 Jul 2026 (23 hours away): Neptune enters retrograde motion

  06-07-2026 14:14 via in-the-sky.org
  
  Neptune reverses its direction of motion across the sky.
  
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• 06 Jul 2026 (5 hours away): The Earth at aphelion

  06-07-2026 14:14 via in-the-sky.org
  
  The Earth reaches its furthest point from the Sun.
  
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• Astronomers discover radio signals coming from rare 'Blue Eye Pulsar' after decades of silence

  06-07-2026 14:00 via space.com
  
  Silent neutron stars at the center of supernova blast sites may actually be whispering softly, following the detection of faint radio emissions coming from one such object for the first time. The discovery raises the prospect that there could be many more pulsars in our galaxy than we thought.When a massive star explodes as a supernova, the devastation leads to the star's core collapsing under its own gravity to form either a neutron star or a black hole. When a neutron star is formed, it is bor
  
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• 06 Jul 2026 (6 hours away): The Earth at aphelion

  06-07-2026 12:33 via in-the-sky.org
  
  The Earth reaches its furthest point from the Sun.
  
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• 'Once-in-a-millennium' asteroid flyby will be visible to much of the world in 2029

  06-07-2026 12:00 via space.com
  
  Three years before the skyscraper-size asteroid Apophis makes its very close (but safe) flyby of Earth, scientists have already begun charting exactly when and where billions of people can watch it sweep across the sky.Speaking at an "Apophis T-3 Years" workshop held earlier this month at the University of Padua in Italy, retired cartographer Michael Zeiler and astronomer Rick Fienberg shared detailed visibility maps charting the asteroid's passage across Earth's skies. According to their calcul
  
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• 06 Jul 2026 (7 hours away): The Earth at aphelion

  06-07-2026 11:48 via in-the-sky.org
  
  The Earth reaches its furthest point from the Sun.
  
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• 06 Jul 2026 (8 hours away): The Earth at aphelion

  06-07-2026 11:03 via in-the-sky.org
  
  The Earth reaches its furthest point from the Sun.
  
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• 06 Jul 2026 (9 hours away): The Earth at aphelion

  06-07-2026 10:06 via in-the-sky.org
  
  The Earth reaches its furthest point from the Sun.
  
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• 06 Jul 2026 (10 hours away): The Earth at aphelion

  06-07-2026 09:18 via in-the-sky.org
  
  The Earth reaches its furthest point from the Sun.
  
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• 06 Jul 2026 (11 hours away): The Earth at aphelion

  06-07-2026 08:13 via in-the-sky.org
  
  The Earth reaches its furthest point from the Sun.
  
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• 06 Jul 2026 (12 hours away): The Earth at aphelion

  06-07-2026 07:23 via in-the-sky.org
  
  The Earth reaches its furthest point from the Sun.
  
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