Astronomy news

• Did Venus eat its own moon?

  08-09-2026 23:00 via space.com
  
  Scientists may finally know why Venus, Earth's twin, lacks a moon, finding that the hottest planet in the solar system may have consumed its own natural satellite. Venus is often referred to as Earth's twin due to its size, mass, rocky composition, and distance from the sun, but there are some glaring differences between the two planets. Aside from Venus' blisteringly hot temperature, which could melt lead, incredible surface pressure, violent high-speed winds, and clouds of sulfuric acid, one o
  
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• Stoke Space raises $1 billion for fully reusable rockets, targets 'early 2027' for 1st-ever launch

  08-09-2026 21:23 via space.com
  
  Stoke Space has amassed a substantial sum during its latest round of financing and is revealing exactly where it plans to invest its new stack of cash. The Kent, Washington-based company just raised$1 billion via its"Series E" capital campaign, bringing Stoke’s total investor haul to $2.3 billion. The Sept. 8 announcement provided a development update for Stoke’s fully reusable Nova Pathfinder launch vehicle and included plans for its never-before-seen Nova Block 2 rocket, a more pow
  
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• 'Star Trek' imagined strange new worlds 60 years ago, but real exoplanets are even stranger

  08-09-2026 21:00 via space.com
  
  September 8th, 1966 was a Thursday. Not a fresh-start-Monday or an exciting Saturday. A regular old Thursday; except that this one catalysed a cultural phenomenon. This was the Thursday that "Star Trek" was first broadcast, drawing viewers across the United States into a space-age world that revolutionised television. The thing is, in 1966 no exoplanets (planets beyond our Solar System) had actually been discovered. Yet the franchise gave audiences a galaxy brimming with desert planets, ocean wo
  
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• 'Star Trek' imagined strange new worlds 60 years ago, but are real exoplanets even stranger?

  08-09-2026 21:00 via space.com
  
  September 8th, 1966 was a Thursday. Not a fresh-start-Monday or an exciting Saturday. A regular old Thursday; except that this one catalysed a cultural phenomenon. This was the Thursday that "Star Trek" was first broadcast, drawing viewers across the United States into a space-age world that revolutionised television. The thing is, in 1966 no exoplanets (planets beyond our Solar System) had actually been discovered. Yet the franchise gave audiences a galaxy brimming with desert planets, ocean wo
  
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• Astrophotographer captures jaw-dropping view of the Crescent Nebula

  08-09-2026 20:00 via space.com
  
  The Crescent Nebula shines in the constellation Cygnus. (Image credit: Kevin Boardman)Astrophotographer Kevin Boardman captured this spectacular view of the Crescent Nebula, revealing intricate filaments of gas surrounding a massive star nearing the end of its life some 4,700 light-years from Earth in the constellation Cygnus.Boardman's image represents a turbulent chapter in the life of the colossal Wolf-Rayet star WR 136 (HD 192163), which, visible as a blue point of light at the center of the
  
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• On this day in space! Sept. 8, 2004: NASA's Genesis spacecraft crashed in the Utah desert, shattering its samples of solar wind particles from the sun

  08-09-2026 19:17 via space.com
  
  On Sept. 8, 2004, NASA's Genesis spacecraft crash-landed in Utah after its parachutes failed to deploy. Genesis was NASA's first sample-return mission since the Apollo program, and the first attempt ever to bring back samples from someplace farther than the moon. The spacecraft picked up solar wind particles while orbiting the L1 Lagrange point, which is about 1 million miles from Earth. L1 is a "sweet spot" between the Earth and the sun, where the gravitational pull from both objects balances o
  
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• An unmissable $450 off, we rank this vintage-style Nikon as the best camera under $2000, but it is going fast

  08-09-2026 19:00 via space.com
  
  Looking for a quality camera that marries style and performance? Look no further than the Nikon Zf. Despite its vintage looks, it's one of the best Nikon cameras you can buy and with its excellent low-light performance, we also rank it as one of the best astrophotography cameras. Now, thanks to this deal, it's the cheapest it's been since last year's Black Friday. Save $453 and get the Nikon Zf camera, on sale for $1,747 at Amazon.In our Nikon Zf review, our expert called it "A great buy that of
  
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• 2 satellites just burned up in Earth's atmosphere — and scientists were watching from a private jet. Here's why

  08-09-2026 18:00 via space.com
  
  A team of researchers just chased a pair of reentering satellites in a private jet to learn about the pollution caused by space debris burning up in Earth's atmosphere.The satellites in question were the European Space Agency's (ESA) Tango and Samba spacecraft, which once formed the Cluster constellation, together with the already de-orbited Rumba and Salsa. The quartet used to study the interaction of Earth's magnetic field with the solar wind. After 25 years of service, ESA took advantage of t
  
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• As 'Star Trek' turns 60, we take the iconic sci-fi franchise to sickbay for a full health report

  08-09-2026 17:00 via space.com
  
  The date of 'Star Wars Day' is based on a "May the fourth be with you" pun. The date of 'Alien Day' (April 26), meanwhile, is inspired by an extremely tenuous link to LV-426, a moon pivotal to the first two movies. 'Star Trek Day', however, is based on an actual date; September 8 is the anniversary of the Original Series' very first broadcast in 1966. This year's birthday is more important than most, as the "Star Trek" franchise reaches the ripe old age of 60 — Kirk and Spock's diamond jub
  
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• SpaceX rocket taxi returns after Roman Telescope launch | Space photo of the day for Sept. 8, 2026

  08-09-2026 16:00 via space.com
  
  This might look like a rocket launching off Earth, but it's actually a rocket booster perfectly landing on our planet after fulfilling its duty. (Image credit: Chelsea Gohd)On Aug. 30, the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope launched into space aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket — then, after completing its job, the rocket's boosters safely landed back on Earth. Watching the events unfold, Space.com's Chelsea Gohd caught one of these beautiful landings on camera as onlookers at NASA's Kenne
  
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• The rise of 'quantum gravity?' Einstein's theory seen in the quantum realm for 1st time

  08-09-2026 15:00 via space.com
  
  Scientists have spotted the first hints that Albert Einstein's formulation of gravity operates in the quantum realm. The hints have to do with observations of a falling quantum object, and though this may not seem like a huge deal (literally, we are talking about atoms here), it could be an important step on the road to a theory of ... everything.To start, we have to go back to the early years of the 20th century. Consider Einstein's iconic theory of gravity, general relativity, and the elusive
  
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• The Vela Incident: Did an American satellite detect a secret nuclear test in 1979?

  08-09-2026 12:00 via space.com
  
  It began with an unusual flash detected off the coast of South Africa by an aging American satellite — and to this day, debate continues over whether this odd Cold War event involved an illicit atmospheric nuclear test.The strange story of the "South Atlantic Flash," better known as the Vela Incident, began on Sept. 22, 1979. At that time, Vela 6911, a satellite in a constellation developed by the United States for the specific purpose of detecting nuclear detonations, observed something t
  
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