Astronomy news

• A SpaceX rocket will crash into the moon this week. Why is it on a collision course?

  03-08-2026 23:00 via space.com
  
  This rocket wasn't supposed to die so dramatically.On Wednesday (Aug. 5) at about 2:35 a.m. EDT (0635 GMT), the upper stage of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will slam into the moon, blasting out a crater about 89 feet (27 meters) wide.The rocket body has been loitering lazily high above Earth for more than 18 months. What jolted it out of its unremarkable senescence and put it on a kamikaze course for the moon?It didn't take much, as the rocket regularly crossed into the moon's neck of the woods. The
  
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• Jack in for a cyberpunk jolt with this energized first trailer for Apple TV's 'Neuromancer'

  03-08-2026 22:00 via space.com
  
  Cyberpunk is back in a big way, baby! This summer, we've gotten two big doses of dystopian sci-fi: first with the recent San Diego Comic-Con trailer launch for Prime Video's upcoming "Blade Runner 2099" and now Apple TV's prestige series based on sci-fi guru William Gibson's 1984 cult novel, "Neuromancer."The futuristic plotline centers around a burned-out computer hacker living in the overcrowded dystopian underworld of Japan's Chiba City who takes on a dangerous cyberspace gig that just might
  
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• Jupiter's moon Europa may have signs of life in its buried ocean — but can we get to them?

  03-08-2026 20:12 via space.com
  
  NASA's Europa Clipper is currently on a 1.8-billion-mile journey to Jupiter, tasked with assessing whether the icy moon of its namesake, Europa, could support life.Based on data from the historic Voyager and Galileo missions, scientists know Europa hides a global ocean beneath its frozen crust, containing more than double the water of all Earth's oceans combined. During the Europa Clipper's planned 49 close flybys of the icy moon, planetary scientists hope the spacecraft detects giant water plum
  
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• 3 moons of Neptune may be remnants of ice worlds shattered in a catastrophic crash

  03-08-2026 18:17 via space.com
  
  Three of Neptune's moons might have been born from the remnants of ancient icy worlds shattered by Neptune's largest moon, Triton, a new study finds.These findings suggest further research of these moons might give researchers an unprecedented look at the innards of icy worlds."The interiors of large icy moons are normally permanently hidden from us, buried beneath thick shells of water ice," study lead author Ryleigh Davis, a planetary scientist currently at the University of California, San Di
  
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• The 1st 'three-headed' asteroid | Space photo of the day for Aug. 3, 2026

  03-08-2026 16:20 via space.com
  
  A collage of images of asteroid (44) Nysa, believed to be the first-known asteroid in our solar system to have a "trilobate" or three-headed shape. (Image credit: ESO/K. Minker et al.)New images reveal what astronomers believe is the first-known "trilobate" or three-headed asteroid in our solar system.What is it?These new images capture the asteroid known as (44) Nysa, or just Nysa, as it spins through the main asteroid belt located between Mars and Jupiter. The images were captured with the Ver
  
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• On this day in space! NASA launches MESSENGER spacecraft to orbit Mercury

  03-08-2026 16:05 via space.com
  
  On Aug. 3, 2004, NASA launched the MESSENGER spacecraft on a historic first mission to orbit the planet Mercury. The spacecraft's name stands for the MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry and Ranging mission. It blasted off on a Delta II rocket that launched from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida at 6:15 a.m. Eastern Time and spent the next six and a half years making its way to Mercury's orbit. Because Mercury is so close to the sun, a spacecraft travelling toward the pla
  
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• On this day in space! Aug. 3, 2004: NASA launches MESSENGER spacecraft to orbit Mercury

  03-08-2026 16:05 via space.com
  
  On Aug. 3, 2004, NASA launched the MESSENGER spacecraft on a historic first mission to orbit the planet Mercury. The spacecraft's name stands for the MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry and Ranging mission. It blasted off on a Delta II rocket that launched from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida at 6:15 a.m. Eastern Time and spent the next six and a half years making its way to Mercury's orbit. Because Mercury is so close to the sun, a spacecraft travelling toward the pla
  
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• 13 amazing things to see during the total solar eclipse on Aug. 12

  03-08-2026 15:00 via space.com
  
  Mention that a total solar eclipse is coming, and almost nobody will say, "Wow, we get to see the solar corona!" That's despite the sun's tenuous outer atmosphere being the number one sight during totality — a genuine jaw-dropper.Instead, the focus on social media is always on the darkness during the day, arguably the least interesting — but easiest to grasp — aspect of a total solar eclipse. It's no wonder that many people misunderstand and underestimate them, and think of ecl
  
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• Is the Nocs Provisions Lite View spotting scope a good alternative to a traditional telescope?

  03-08-2026 14:00 via space.com
  
  Spotting scopes are typically used by birders and for hunting, but under a dark sky, the Nocs Provisions Lite View reveals a different personality. With a 56mm objective lens and a versatile 9x-27x zoom range, this compact spotting scope is surprisingly capable when turned toward not just the moon, but bright star clusters, too.Key to its attraction is its small size, carry case and shoulder strap, which makes it possible to sling over a shoulder. Its rugged, wave-textured housing and bright col
  
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• Astronomers watch a black hole's feeding frenzy end with a bad case of cosmic indigestion

  03-08-2026 14:00 via space.com
  
  Astronomers have used the Very Large Telescope (VLT) to observe the violent outflow of material from a distant black hole. The observation once again shows that even the hungriest black holes are extremely messy eaters, while also revealing the "digestive processes" of these cosmic titans in unprecedented detail.The research focuses on the black hole system Swift J1727.8−1613, located around 8,800 light-years away, and a violent bout of cosmic indigestion and the bright eruptions the syste
  
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• AI is ready to run spacecraft. Is the space industry ready for it? (op-ed)

  03-08-2026 12:00 via space.com
  
  Martin Halliwell is a Partner at NewSpace Capital, one of the world's first private equity firms devoted exclusively to growth-stage companies working in the space technology sector. He formerly served as Chief Technology Officer of SES, where he led global technology and R&D from 2011 to 2019. Halliwell contributed this article to Space.com's Expert Voices section.There are now some 16,000 active satellites in orbit. Market intelligence firms like Novaspace say that up to 43,000 satellites
  
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