Astronomy news

• James Webb Space Telescope discovers the secrets of cosmic 'factories' that filled the early universe with stardust

  21-07-2026 23:00 via space.com
  
  Using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), astronomers have discovered the secrets of early galaxies that pumped the infant cosmos full of dust, which would become vital for the birth of new stars and the growth of galaxies. However, while the JWST is powerful enough to see many of these early galaxies, it is still limited when it comes to delving into them in great detail. So, the team at the heart of this research worked around this by studying a much closer and more modern galaxy with many
  
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• Alien life likely can't survive on exoplanets smaller than Mars, scientists say

  21-07-2026 22:15 via space.com
  
  A rocky planet orbiting in the habitable zone of a sun-like star may look like a perfect place for life to thrive — but not if it's too small to hold onto its atmosphere.So, we may wonder: How much smaller Earth could be and still have its delightfully breathable atmosphere? How small could an exoplanet be to sustain life as we know it? With these questions in mind, University of California Riverside planetary scientist Michelle Hill and her colleagues recently simulated what happens to th
  
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• Space Force orders 36 more Golden Dome missile-tracking satellites, for $1.75 billion

  21-07-2026 21:00 via space.com
  
  The U.S. Space Force is adding three dozen spacecraft to its growing constellation designed to detect and track incoming missiles from orbit. The Space Development Agency (SDA) announced the agreements, worth a combined $1.75 billion, on July 14, naming L3Harris Technologies and Sierra Space as the recipients. Each company will provide 18 Accelerated Missile Defense Tranche 3 (AMDT3) spacecraft, for a total of 36 satellites that will grow the SDA Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture's Tran
  
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• SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket sends Starlink satellites to orbit a day after rare launch abort

  21-07-2026 20:30 via space.com
  
  Twenty-four Starlink satellites reached low Earth orbit on Tuesday (July 21), a day later than originally scheduled due to a last-second rocket engine abort.SpaceX at first tried to launch the broadband internet relay units on a Falcon 9 rocket on Monday morning (July 20), but an unexpected engine cutoff at the point of ignition scrubbed the day's attempt. The company did not provide a reason for the abort.By Tuesday, whatever the problem was had been addressed and the Falcon 9 was ready to fly.
  
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• Billions of miles and thousands of years in the making: This is the life of a Perseid shooting star

  21-07-2026 20:00 via space.com
  
  Picture it: A slash of vivid green light splits the starry sky. There for a moment and then gone, leaving nothing but a short-lived glowing trail and a moment of pure joy. You've finally caught it, your first Perseid shooting star of the season.What you saw was the final moment of a story billions of miles and thousands of years in the making. A story that began with that same shooting star locked inside the icy body of the wandering comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle.The 16-mile-wide (26 kilometer) giant
  
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• Artemis III astronauts will beam 4k video from Orion to Earth using SpaceX Starlink lasers

  21-07-2026 19:00 via space.com
  
  Orion is getting an upgrade on Artemis III, and the astronauts aboard are getting WiFi (sort of). NASA is partnering with SpaceX to equip the Orion spacecraft for Artemis III with a pair of Starlink mini laser terminals, designed to operate on SpaceX's existing Starlink network. The two panels will be installed on Orion's exterior, and will augment the spacecraft's existing communications systems. The added capability is expected to provide a greater data capacity from Orion to NASA's mission co
  
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• The 'Avengers Doomsday' trailer is cool, but it's missing something... where's all the space stuff?

  21-07-2026 18:00 via space.com
  
  The first trailer for "Avengers: Doomsday" dropped yesterday, and while it’s jammed full of superheroes, surprises, and our first extended look at Dr. Doom, it is missing one big thing that has been a constant in the MCU ever since "Avengers" was released and the Infinity Stone saga kicked off: outer space.Believe it or not, the MCU has been very sci-fi heavy for the past decade as the universe expanded into space with "Guardians of the Galaxy", "Captain Marvel", and the entire throughline
  
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• Scientists may have found the 1st twin star system where both stars exploded

  21-07-2026 17:01 via space.com
  
  For the first time, scientists may have discovered a binary system—like the twin suns of the fictional planet Tatooine in "Star Wars"—where both stars exploded as supernovas, a new study finds.Although Earth may orbit around a single star, more than half of all stars are in systems where two or more suns orbit each other. "When it comes to massive stars, the percentage in multiple systems are even higher," study lead author Miltiadis Michailidis, a postdoctoral fellow at Stanford Uni
  
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• James Webb Space Telescope looks back in time 4.4 billion years | Space photo of the day for July 21, 2026

  21-07-2026 16:00 via space.com
  
  The James Webb Space Telescope captured this image of a young galaxy cluster, MACS J0553.4-3342.(Image credit: ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, S. Fujimoto)A young cluster of galaxies sparkles under a cosmic glow that's 4.4 billion years old. This peek into the past shows the stellar spectacle of a galaxy cluster still forming. What is it?The James Webb Space Telescope snapped this image of the galaxy cluster MACS J0553.4-3342 on July 3 using its near-infrared camera (NIRCam). The glorious, glimmering
  
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• SpaceX will launch a satellite repair drone with robot arms to Earth orbit today: How to watch it live

  21-07-2026 15:00 via space.com
  
  SpaceX will launch a trailblazing satellite-servicing mission today (July 21), and you can watch the action live.A Falcon 9 rocket is scheduled to lift off from Florida's Cape Canaveral Space Force Station today during a nearly four-hour window that opens at 5:15 p.m. EDT (2115 GMT). You can watch it live via SpaceX beginning about 15 minutes before launch.SpaceX calls today's launch MRV-MEV because it will send up a Mission Robotic Vehicle and three Mission Extension Pods (MEPs). These spacecra
  
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• SpaceX launches satellite repair drone with 10-foot robotic arms to Earth orbit (video)

  21-07-2026 15:00 via space.com
  
  SpaceX launched a trailblazing satellite-servicing mission today (July 21).A Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Florida's Cape Canaveral Space Force Station today at 5:15 p.m. EDT (2115 GMT). SpaceX called today's launch MRV-MEV, because it's sending up a Mission Robotic Vehicle and three Mission Extension Pods (MEPs). These spacecraft will be operated by SpaceLogistics, a subsidiary of Virginia-based aerospace giant Northrop Grumman.Northrop Grumman integrated the robotics payload, developed
  
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• SpaceX launches satellite repair drone with 10-foot robotic arms to Earth orbit

  21-07-2026 15:00 via space.com
  
  SpaceX launched a trailblazing satellite-servicing mission today (July 21).A Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Florida's Cape Canaveral Space Force Station today at 5:15 p.m. EDT (2115 GMT). SpaceX called today's launch MRV-MEV, because it's sending up a Mission Robotic Vehicle and three Mission Extension Pods (MEPs). These spacecraft will be operated by SpaceLogistics, a subsidiary of Virginia-based aerospace giant Northrop Grumman.Northrop Grumman integrated the robotics payload, developed
  
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• A massive crater was spotted on Google Earth. It could be a scar from an ancient meteorite impact

  21-07-2026 14:00 via space.com
  
  An amateur astronomer's plans for a camping vacation two years ago transformed into a possible crater find in Canada's north.Amateur astronomer Joël Lapointe, using Google Maps to figure out his route for the 2024 vacation, saw some odd terrain in Quebec's Côte-Nord region centered on Lake Marsal.Lapointe suspected it was an impact crater from a meteorite, and made a report on Impact Earth — a crowdsourcing website for craters with Canada's Western University in London, Ontario
  
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• Galaxy cluster's magnetic field reconstructed for 1st time with record-breaking astronomy map

  21-07-2026 12:00 via space.com
  
  For the first time, astronomers have reconstructed the magnetic field of an entire cluster of galaxies, from its central nucleus to its outer limits. The record-breaking achievement is the product of the deepest-ever observations of the galaxy cluster Abell 2255, located around a billion light-years away — and those observations are thanks to the European radio telescope LOFAR (Low Frequency Array). Abell 2255 has long been known for its complexity in radio waves. Its vast, diffuse radio e
  
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