Astronomy news

• Did the Soviet Union really fire a cannon from a space station?

  09-10-2026 17:00 via space.com
  
  Military officials in the U.S. and other nations have increasingly warned about the potential for conflict in space in the coming years. While many would perceive the current push to militarize space as a concern primarily for modern military thinkers, there is a far deeper — and at times, a surprising — history of warfare technologies developed for use in outer space.At the height of the Cold War, one particularly unusual early application for space warfare was pursued by the Soviet
  
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• SpaceX launching 6,300 pounds of cargo to the ISS on Oct. 13: Watch it live

  12-10-2026 23:00 via space.com
  
  SpaceX will launch its latest cargo mission to the International Space Station on Tuesday morning (Oct. 13), and you can watch the action live.A Falcon 9 rocket is scheduled to launch a robotic Dragon capsule tothe orbiting lab from Florida's Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Tuesday at 6:33 a.m. EDT (1033 GMT).You can watch the action live here at Space.com, courtesy of NASA, starting at 6:15 a.m. EDT (1015 GMT).A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches the company's Dragon spacecraft on the CRS-34
  
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• Astronomers witness supermassive black hole gorge on a cosmic meal before 'burping' radio jets 300 days later

  12-10-2026 22:00 via space.com
  
  Using the NASA X-ray spacecraft Swift combined with radio observations, astronomers have observed a supermassive black hole burping radio jets 300 days after a heavy cosmic meal. The team was also able to roughly estimate the mass of this feeding cosmic titan, which sits at the heart of the Perseus Cluster, a massive collection of thousands of galaxies.The black hole sits at the center of the galaxy NGC 1275, located around 225 light-years away, and is the brightest galaxy of the Perseus Cluster
  
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• The moon could turn astronauts into 'walking, high voltage capacitors' that accidentally zap spacecraft

  12-10-2026 20:00 via space.com
  
  NASA is asking for ideas to stop static electricity from zapping astronauts or critical hardware during moon missions.The agency opened a "Lunar Grounding Challenge" to avoid situations where an astronaut on the moon could become "a walking, high voltage capacitor." Submissions for the $150,000 competition are due Jan. 15 and you can see the requirements here.NASA is hoping to put astronaut boots at the lunar south pole in 2028 during the Artemis 4 or 5 missions, on the first landing mission sin
  
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• The 'Halloween Fireballs' are coming. Here's what to expect from the Taurids this year

  12-10-2026 18:00 via space.com
  
  They don't produce anything like the torrent of "shooting stars" associated with August's Perseids or December's Geminids, but the Taurid meteor showers have something else going for them — fireballs.The Taurids are famous for occasionally producing exceptionally bright, slow-moving meteors that can streak dramatically across the night sky from September to December. As a bonus, they're visible from both the Northern and Southern hemispheres. That's because they appear to emanate from the
  
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• On this day in space! Oct. 12, 1964: The Soviet Union launches Voskhod 1, the 1st multi-person cosmonaut crew, into space

  12-10-2026 16:29 via space.com
  
  On Oct. 12, 1964, the Soviet Union launched Voskhod 1, a 24-hour crewed mission that achieved several "firsts" for human spaceflight. This was the first time that a spacecraft carried more than one person into orbit, with three cosmonauts packed inside the spacecraft. Only two cosmonauts were originally supposed to fly on this mission, but Soviet politicians pressured the Russian space program to add one more. This left no room for spacesuits on board, so this also became the first spaceflight w
  
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• On this day in space! Oct. 12, 1964: The Soviet Union launches 1st multi-person cosmonaut crew into space

  12-10-2026 16:29 via space.com
  
  On Oct. 12, 1964, the Soviet Union launched Voskhod 1, a 24-hour crewed mission that achieved several "firsts" for human spaceflight. This was the first time that a spacecraft carried more than one person into orbit, with three cosmonauts packed inside the spacecraft. Only two cosmonauts were originally supposed to fly on this mission, but Soviet politicians pressured the Russian space program to add one more. This left no room for spacesuits on board, so this also became the first spaceflight w
  
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• Namibian salt flats look like an alien planet | Space photo of the day for Oct. 12, 2026

  12-10-2026 16:00 via space.com
  
  The Etosha Pan, Namibia's largest salt pan, seen from space.(Image credit: Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data (2026), processed by ESA)A neon blue pool swirls amongst what look like clouds, all surrounded by a bright red stretch of land. This might look like the surface of an alien planet, but it's actually a salt flat right here on Earth, seen from space. What is it?Etosha National Park in northern Namibia hosts the largest salt pan, or piece of land covered with salt and other minerals
  
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• How the impossible geometry of 'Tomb Raider III''s UFO level was made

  12-10-2026 16:00 via space.com
  
  "Tomb Raider" celebrates its 30th anniversary this month. While many remember the iconic T-Rex or locking Winston the Butler in the freezer, many forget about the UFO in 1998’s "Tomb Raider III"; a mysterious alien craft that worked a lot like Doctor Who’s TARDIS.Coming off the back of the hugely successful "Tomb Raider 2", developer Core Design had big plans for the third entry, including kayaking, those iconic London levels, and, of course, a level featuring a UFO in Area 51. Altho
  
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• What caused a mysterious atmospheric explosion in Siberia in 1908?

  12-10-2026 14:00 via space.com
  
  Fire erupted in the morning skies over Siberia on June 30, 1908, as an atmospheric explosion occurred that remains unmatched by any similar event in modern history.That day, at approximately 7:15 a.m. local time, observers in Siberia's remote Tunguska region became witnesses to the entry of a brilliant fireball into Earth's atmosphere, trailing smoke across the dawn sky and culminating in a flash brighter than the sun itself. Within seconds, the explosion and resulting shock waves that followed
  
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• UAE unveils lander for bold 7-asteroid mission set to launch in 2028 (photos)

  12-10-2026 12:00 via space.com
  
  The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has moved a step closer to launching its second-ever interplanetary mission — an ambitious, eight-year exploration of seven asteroids between Mars and Jupiter that will culminate with a landing on the mysteriously red asteroid 269 Justitia.The mission team unveiled a half-scale model of the homegrown probe that will make that landing during an Oct. 1 press conference in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the UAE. The autonomous craft will ride attached to the main spa
  
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• On this day in space! Oct. 11, 1968: Apollo 7 launches into space, NASA's 1st Apollo astronaut crew in orbit

  11-10-2026 16:21 via space.com
  
  On. Oct. 11, 1968, Apollo 7 launched into space with NASA astronauts Wally Schirra, Donn Eisele and Walter Cunningham. This was the first mission of the Apollo program that carried a crew into space.Apollo 7 rebooted the Apollo program after a fire killed three astronauts during a launch rehearsal 20 months earlier.NASA needed to prove that their Apollo spacecraft worked with this mission, which was really more of a test flight. Though the spacecraft seemed to work alright, the crew got a little
  
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• Alien: Isolation 2: This highly anticipated sequel has no release date yet, but here's everything else we know

  11-10-2026 16:00 via space.com
  
  We’ve had a lot of good Alien video games in recent years, but nothing has quite matched the highs and authenticity of 2014’s Alien: Isolation. It took a decade of players clamouring for a sequel, but in late 2024, our prayers were answered when developer Creative Assembly dropped a trailer announcing Alien: Isolation 2.Now, we’re slowly learning about what developer Creative Assembly has in store for us. Scary teasers and comments from creative director Al Hope suggest we're l
  
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• Astrophotographer captures 110 galaxies, star clusters and nebulas in stunning 352-hour mosaic (photo)

  11-10-2026 12:00 via space.com
  
  Behold! Amateur astrophotographer ing. Cornelis van Zuilen has created a stunning cosmic mosaic of all 110 galaxies, star clusters and nebulas of the Messier catalog — a leviathan effort that took hundreds of hours and many nights of sleeping in his car to complete."One of the first Messier objects I photographed was Messier 45 (the Pleiades) back in 2024, when I had just purchased my cooled deep-sky camera and was beginning my deep-sky astrophotography journey," van Zuilen told Space.com
  
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• 10 times 'Red Dwarf' beat other TV shows and movies to brilliant sci-fi ideas

  10-10-2026 16:00 via space.com
  
  For a show with no aliens or faster-than-light travel, "Red Dwarf" has crammed an awful lot of sci-fi concepts into its 13 seasons. Frequently as smart as "Star Trek" — albeit on a much smaller budget — Rob Grant and Doug Naylor's BBC sitcom always punched above its weight when it came to big genre ideas. In fact, many of its stories were truly ahead of their time, built around concepts that have since turned up in hit American shows (including the recent "Strange New Worlds" season
  
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• This Week In Space podcast: Episode 231 — Sailing the Stellar Seas

  10-10-2026 14:32 via space.com
  
  On Episode 231 of This Week In Space, Rod Pyle and Tariq Malik take a dive deep into their favorite space si-fi across the ages. From the earliest works of Jules Verne and H.G. Wells to the best of contemporary space science fiction, Rod and Tariq also challenge you with some of the most obscure titles they know. Download or subscribe to this show at: https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-space.Get episodes ad-free with Club TWiT at https://twit.tv/clubtwit Space news of the weekThe Integral TreesT
  
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• On this day in space! Oct. 10, 1967: The Outer Space Treaty is ratified to lay out how countries can use outer space

  10-10-2026 13:43 via space.com
  
  On Oct. 10, 1967, the international Outer Space Treaty was ratified. This treaty established a set of rules regulating how different countries can explore and use outer space. Specifically, it says "the exploration and use of outer space shall be carried out for the benefit and in the interests of all countries and shall be the province of all mankind." The treaty dictates that no one can claim territory in outer space and that other celestial bodies must be used "exclusively for peaceful purpos
  
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• 10 incredible places to see the 2027 'eclipse of the century' — beyond Luxor

  10-10-2026 12:00 via space.com
  
  Ancient Egyptian temples will inevitably dominate the story of the total solar eclipse on Aug. 2, 2027. Luxor, home to Karnak, the Valley of the Kings and some of the most famous monuments of the ancient world, will experience more than six minutes of totality and will attract eclipse chasers from around the world. Southern Spain, particularly the coast around Tarifa and Málaga, is also expected to be busy.But the path of totality is vast. It will stretch 9,462 miles (15,227 km) across Ea
  
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• SpaceX launches 21 satellites to orbit for the US military after 5-day delay (video)

  10-10-2026 10:03 via space.com
  
  SpaceX just sent another batch of satellites to orbit for the U.S. military.A Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from California's Vandenberg Space Force Base today (Oct. 10) at 3:39 a.m. EDT (0739 GMT; 12:39 a.m. local time), hauling 21 "data transport" satellites to orbit for the U.S. Space Force's Space Development Agency (SDA). That was five days later than originally planned. SpaceX tried to launch the mission on Monday (Oct. 5), but the Falcon 9 aborted that attempt in the countdown's final minute
  
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• Mysterious 10-minute X-ray burst from a distant galaxy may have come from 2 dead stars colliding

  10-10-2026 00:00 via space.com
  
  Astronomers investigating mysterious flashes of X-rays believe that these blasts could stem from collisions between neutron stars, the events that forge elements like gold, silver, and platinum.The event designated EP250704a, was first seen on July 4, 2025, as a blast of gamma rays lasting half a second followed by a bright X-ray emission lasting 10 minutes. Afterreceiving an alert from the joint European-Chinese Einstein probe that witnessed the blast, a team of astronomers started to hunt for
  
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• 'Dark Matter' showrunner and author Blake Crouch talks the 'daunting' task of moving beyond the original book for season 2 (interview)

  09-10-2026 22:00 via space.com
  
  Apple TV's addictive multiverse thriller, "Dark Matter," has quietly joined their roster of fantastic sci-fi series alongside hits like "Pluribus," "Severance," "Foundation," "Silo," "For All Mankind," and "Star City."Adapted from New York Times bestselling author Blake Crouch's ("Recursion," "Upgrade") novel of the same name from 2016, "Dark Matter" is a mesmerizing amalgam of time-travel, existential crises, alternate dimensions, and romantic love that transcends the multiverse. We're entering
  
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• Why is Orion lying down? How The Hunter taught me how the sky moves

  09-10-2026 20:00 via space.com
  
  I thought I knew Orion. Three stars in a row for the Belt, Betelgeuse above, Rigel below: it's one of the constellations I have long been able to identify with the least thought, along with Cassiopeia and the Plough/the Big Dipper.But one fall evening long ago, when I was learning the night sky, I was looking at three bright stars rising in the east and spent an embarrassingly long time wondering whether they really were Orion's Belt. They were at the wrong angle. The rest of Orion followed them
  
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• On this day in space! Oct. 9, 1992: Peekskill meteorite hits car in New York after streaking through the atmosphere

  09-10-2026 18:21 via space.com
  
  On Oct. 9, 1992, a space rock the size of a bowling ball fell out of space and crash landed on a woman's Chevy Malibu in Peekskill, New York. Thousands of people along the U.S. East Coast witnessed the Peekskill meteorite blazing through the skies over Kentucky, West Virginia and Pennsylvania before it hit the parked car. Eighteen-year-old Michelle Knapp was sitting at home when she thought she heard a car crash outside. When Knapp went to look, she found a hole in the trunk of her car and a smo
  
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• Scientists engineer microbe to help humanity settle Mars

  09-10-2026 18:00 via space.com
  
  A new genetically engineered microbe may one day help humanity settle Mars, a nonprofit biotechnology research startup suggests.Our species has launched nearly 50 missions to Mars since 1960, all of them robotic. If everything goes according to plan, they've all been building toward crewed Red Planet flight, which remains a high priority for national space agencies and private companies alike.Ideally, human crews there will not rely on shipment after shipment from Earth, but can instead make use
  
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• Best space and sci-fi themed Halloween costumes for 2026

  09-10-2026 17:00 via space.com
  
  Are you stuck for an outfit this spooky season? We've got you covered with our round-up of the best space themed Halloween costumes. Let's face it, even if there aren't any haunted spaceships out there, the vastness of the void is enough to give us the chills. From Aliens to Star Wars, these costumes are sure to make you stand out, get the conversation flowing and maybe even raise a chuckle or two. And if you're a regular convention-goer, many of these costumes can double as cosplay outfits. If
  
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• The Milky Way glows over telescopes in the Atacama Desert | Space photo of the day for Oct. 9, 2026

  09-10-2026 16:00 via space.com
  
  The Milky Way over the La Silla Observatory. (Image credit: J. Rodrigues/ESO)Dark clouds swirl across a sky speckled with stars as the Milky Way stretches above the European Space Observatory's La Silla Observatory in Chile's Atacama Desert. What is it?In this photograph snapped by astronomer José Rodrigues, the Milky Way splashes across the night sky above two telescopes at ESO's La Silla Observatory. Between the two telescopes, the blue and red Trifid Nebula glows to the left of the lar
  
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• Trump awards SpaceX founder Elon Musk National Medal of Science

  09-10-2026 15:00 via space.com
  
  The world's richest man just got some more hardware for his trophy room.During a ceremony at the White House on Thursday (Oct. 8), President Donald Trump gave SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk the National Medal of Science, the highest honor the U.S. can bestow on a scientist or engineer. Musk was recognized "for engineering achievements of extraordinary ambition and scale that have pushed the frontiers of space exploration, intelligence systems, communications and beyond, renewing American techn
  
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• Private Cygnus XL cargo spacecraft departs the International Space Station after 6-month stay (video)

  09-10-2026 14:00 via space.com
  
  Northrop Grumman's robotic Cygnus XL spacecraft departed the International Space Station today (Oct. 9) after a six-month stay.Northrop Grumman's uncrewed Cygnus XL freighter was released by the station's huge Canadarm2 robotic arm today at 12:44 p.m. EDT (1644 GMT), while the duo flew 260 miles (418 kilometers) above the Pacific Ocean.The departing vehicle is the second of Northrop Grumman's "Cygnus XL" line of freighters but the 24th Cygnus of any type to fly cargo to the orbiting lab. The com
  
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• Private astronaut Kellie Gerardi gets real about motherhood as she prepares to fly to space again

  09-10-2026 12:00 via space.com
  
  Kellie Gerardi is preparing for her second spaceflight. And the secret tool up her sleeve? Motherhood. Nearly three years ago, space researcher, online STEM creator and author Kellie Gerardi flew to suborbital space on a Virgin Galactic tourist flight. With this flight, she not only became a private astronaut, but one of the first 100 women to fly to space. Today, she's preparing to leave Earth once again with her second flight. And as Gerardi prepares to fly and conduct new research in microgra
  
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• How to watch 'Disclosure Day' online — stream Steven Spielberg's sci-fi movie from anywhere

  09-10-2026 03:00 via space.com
  
  Contrary to many people's initial suspicions, "Disclosure Day" is not a story of a weather forecast gone wrong. Meteorologist Margaret Fairchild's (Emily Blunt) creepy report does, however, light the fuse on Steven Spielberg's UFO epic. Margaret teams up with security expert Daniel Kellner (Josh O’Connor) – and a few woodland creatures – to unravel the biggest cover-up in history. Are aliens here? What do they want? And can humankind handle the truth?Below, we explain the cheap
  
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