Astronomy news

• Watch Archimedes burn! Rocket Lab fires up engine for its powerful next-gen Neutron launcher (video)

  15-07-2026 22:00 via space.com
  
  Rocket Lab has completed a major qualification test for its formidable Archimedes engine, which will power the company's next-gen Neutron launch vehicle. As Rocket Lab continues with regular launches of its workhorse small-lift Electron rocket, development of Neutron has carried on in the background, progressing toward a possible debut later this year. The company recently completed a full-duration burn of a second-stage Archimedes, paving the way for integration with Neutron in the coming month
  
  Read more

• The 10 best British sci-fi shows of all time

  15-07-2026 21:00 via space.com
  
  America and Hollywood might feel like the natural home of sci-fi, but Britain has quite the science fiction pedigree of its own.Doctor Who is obviously our great nation's most famous sci-fi export, standing tall amongst the other giants of the genre, but it's far from our only contribution. From television to literature, there is a history of some truly great and groundbreaking science fiction coming from this loose collection of islands. So, make yourself a nice cup of tea and have a seat while
  
  Read more

• Meteorite that crashed through New Jersey house could hold the clues to life's origins

  15-07-2026 20:05 via space.com
  
  A space rock exploded through a bedroom ceiling in New Jersey, and scientists have now traced its origins to a strange, briny asteroid once visited by a NASA mission. Two years ago on July 16, 2024 in the middle of the afternoon, a sonic boom shook New York City as a fireball streaked through the sky. The culprit? A rock the size of a heavy airline bag weighing roughly 110 pounds (50 kilograms). The meteorite hurtled over the east coast before crash-landing in a house in Hillsborough, New Jersey
  
  Read more

• Raspberry sugar spotted in interstellar space, a sweet discovery that could reveal clues about life's origins

  15-07-2026 19:09 via space.com
  
  Is space … sweet? As it turns out, interstellar space has sugar — and it's the same type of sugar that's found in raspberries (and self-tanners, surprisingly). A sugar compound called erythrulose has been found near the center of our galaxy, swirling amongst the gas and dust like grains of sugar in a cotton candy machine. More specifically, this sugar was detected in a molecular cloud in the interstellar medium, or the space between star systems in a galaxy. And while we may not be
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• The 10 best places in the UK to see the partial solar eclipse on Aug. 12

  15-07-2026 18:00 via space.com
  
  On Aug. 12, 2026, skywatchers across the U.K. will experience a rare astronomical double-header: a deep partial solar eclipse before sunset followed, hours later, by the peak of the annual Perseid meteor shower. Although the path of totality will sweep from Greenland and Iceland to Spain, it will miss Britain entirely. However, the solar eclipse will still be dramatic, with up to 96% of the sun obscured for viewers in the far southwest.This will be the U.K.'s deepest partial solar eclipse since
  
  Read more

• Glaciers spotted flowing across the Himalayas from space | Space photo of the day for July 15, 2026

  15-07-2026 16:00 via space.com
  
  Glaciers flow across the Himalaya, as seen from the International Space Station.(Image credit: NASA/Jessica Meir)Towering glaciers flow down the Himalayas' northern slopes like icy giants cascading onto China's Tibetan Plateau. What is it?Back in May, from aboard the International Space Station 259 miles (417 kilometers) above Earth, NASA astronaut Jessica Meir peered out the station's windows with her camera and captured a breathtaking sight. In that fleeting moment from space, she captured the
  
  Read more

• 'Found you!' Astronomers spot faintest exoplanet ever seen from Earth after a decade of hide-and-seek

  15-07-2026 15:00 via space.com
  
  It has taken over ten years, but astronomers have finally won a prolonged game of cosmic hide-and-seek with a planet hiding around the star Beta Pictoris. The extrasolar planet, or exoplanet, is known as Beta Pictoris d. It is found 63 light-years away and has two planetary siblings, which were caught some time ago. This new exoplanet is 100 times fainter than its sibling Beta Pictoris b, which was the first planet discovered in the system. That makes Beta Pictoris d the faintest exoplanet ever
  
  Read more

• Every SpaceX Starlink satellite has to dodge a collision almost weekly, and experts fear the worst

  15-07-2026 14:00 via space.com
  
  SpaceX's Starlink satellites made over 355,000 collision avoidance maneuvers throughout the past year, with each satellite now dodging debris and other spacecraft on an almost weekly basis. The numbers are based on disclosures made by SpaceX in its latest semiannual report to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). According to the latest report, Starlink satellites performed an overall 207,152 avoidance maneuvers between December 2025 and May 2026, up nearly 60,000 from the 148,696 reporte
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• What time is SpaceX's Starship Flight 13 launch on July 16? (Full mission timeline)

  15-07-2026 12:00 via space.com
  
  SpaceX is just a day away from its first Starship test flight of the summer, and if you're hoping to watch the world's largest rocket lift off, you'll need to know where and when to tune in. But don't worry — we've got you covered. The next Starship test flight, called Flight 13 (SpaceX doesn't appear to be superstitious), is scheduled to launch from the company's test site in Starbase, Texas near Boca Chica Beach on Thursday, July 16. Liftoff is set for 6:45 p.m. EDT (2245 GMT). As its na
  
  Read more

• SpaceX launches flight-proven rocket for 600th time, sending Starlink satellites to orbit (video)

  15-07-2026 00:00 via space.com
  
  SpaceX reached a milestone with its latest Starlink launch, sending the satellites into orbit on its 600th flight of a flight-proven booster.The sexacentennial launch came on the second of two Falcon 9 missions that lifted off less than eight hours apart overnight from Monday to Tuesday (July 13 to July 14). The first flight, with Starlink batch 15-14, launched at 9:28 p.m. EDT (0128 GMT or 6:28 p.m. PDT local time) from Space Launch Complex 4 East at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.Th
  
  Read more

• SpaceX launches flight-proven rocket for 600th time, sending Starlink satellites to orbit

  15-07-2026 00:00 via space.com
  
  SpaceX reached a milestone with its latest Starlink launch, sending the satellites into orbit on its 600th flight of a flight-proven booster.The sexacentennial launch came on the second of two Falcon 9 missions that lifted off less than eight hours apart overnight from Monday to Tuesday (July 13 to July 14). The first flight, with Starlink batch 15-14, launched at 9:28 p.m. EDT (0128 GMT or 6:28 p.m. PDT local time) from Space Launch Complex 4 East at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.Th
  
  Read more

Follow @newsl_astronomy on Twitter!