Astronomy news

• NASA fuels its next-gen Roman Space Telescope for August launch

  28-07-2026 23:00 via space.com
  
  NASA announced on Tuesday (July 28) that it has officially fueled-up the Roman Space Telescope — a magnificent new observatory expected to generate over 500 terabytes of cosmic data per year. By comparison, the Hubble Space Telescope, in its 35 years of service, has created over 400 terabytes in total.At present, the Roman Space Telescope's launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket is scheduled to occur on Aug. 30 at 7:26 a.m. EDT (1126 GMT). And considering the project is sort of the gol
  
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• DJI Lito 1 drone review

  29-07-2026 00:00 via space.com
  
  Key specsCamera: 48MP 1/2-inch CMOSVideo resolution: Up to 4KFrame rates: 4K 100 FPS / 2.7K vertical up to 60 FPS / FHD up to 100 FPSBattery: 2590 mAh up to 36 minutes flightCharger type: USB-C cable/battery charging hubModes: Cine, Normal, SportVideo transmission range: 9.3 miles (IC) / 4.97 miles (CE/SRRC/MIC)Dimensions: : Folded 5.67 x 3.70 x 2.44 in / 144 x 94 x 62 mm / Unfolded 7.20 x 9.88 x 3.11 in / 183 x 251 x 79 mmWeight: 8.78 oz/ 249 gThe drone market is hotter than ever, with newbie a
  
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• Our Milky Way galaxy appears to have flipped 90 degrees long ago. But why?

  28-07-2026 21:00 via space.com
  
  The Milky Way's spiral disk may have flipped over by 90 degrees, in turn altering the solar system's orbit around the center of the galaxy.Spiral galaxies such as the Milky Way have two main, visible, structural components: a disk that encapsulates most of its stars, gas and the central black hole, and a more diffuse halo of older stars that encapsulates the disk.However, the Milky Way's stellar halo has always been a bit of an oddity. The European Space Agency's Gaia mission measured the motion
  
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• 'Silo' season 3's Ashley Zuckerman and Jessica Henwick share the secret to their on-screen chemistry (interview)

  28-07-2026 19:00 via space.com
  
  In Apple TV’s "Silo" season 3, we lunge back 352 years to the Before Times to see how the greatest engineering project in the history of the world began… and would end. Center stage in this dark sci-fi drama are ambitious Congressman Daniel Keene (Ashley Zukerman) and journalist Helen Drew (Jessica Henwick), the pre-apocalypse duo we were first introduced to in Season 2's final episode.In that scene, the handsome couple met on a first date in a Washington, D.C. restaurant in the aft
  
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• SpaceX launches 24 Starlink satellites to orbit in wake of Starship test flight (video)

  28-07-2026 17:00 via space.com
  
  SpaceX launched 24 more satellites for its Starlink network on Saturday (July 25), a day after demonstrating it could do the same on its next-gen rocket.A Falcon 9 rocket carrying Starlink group 17-51 lifted off at 11:51 a.m. EDT (1521 GMT or 8:51 a.m. PDT local time) on Saturday from Space Launch Complex 4 East at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. About an hour later, the 24 broadband internet satellites were deployed into low Earth orbit (LEO), as planned.Previous Booster B1100 launch
  
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• On this day in space! July 28, 1851: The 1st photo of a total solar eclipse was taken by a Prussian daguerreotypist

  28-07-2026 16:00 via space.com
  
  On July 28, 1851, the first-ever photo of a total solar eclipse was recorded by a Prussian daguerreotypist named Johann Julius Friedrich Berkowski. Daguerreotypy is an old photographic process that uses silver-plated copper treated with chemical fumes that make it light-sensitive. Previous attempts to take photos of solar eclipses failed to show the contrast between the sun's corona and the dark disk of the moon. Using a small, 6-centimeter telescope, Berkowski captured an 84-second exposure sta
  
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• On this day in space! July 28, 1851: The 1st photo of a total solar eclipse was taken by a Prussian daguerreotypist

  28-07-2026 16:00 via space.com
  
  On July 28, 1851, the first-ever photo of a total solar eclipse was recorded by a Prussian daguerreotypist named Johann Julius Friedrich Berkowski. Daguerreotypy is an old photographic process that uses silver-plated copper treated with chemical fumes that make it light-sensitive. Previous attempts to take photos of solar eclipses failed to show the contrast between the sun's corona and the dark disk of the moon. Using a small, 6-centimeter telescope, Berkowski captured an 84-second exposure sta
  
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• ISS meets Venus in incredible daylight photo | Space photo of the day for July 28, 2026

  28-07-2026 16:00 via space.com
  
  Venus beside the International Space Station as captured by photographer A.J. Smadi from Edmonds, Washington on July 18, 2026. (Image credit: AJ Smadi)An astrophotographer captured a breathtaking scene as the International Space Station zoomed by Venus in the daytime sky.A post shared by AJ Smadi (@aj.smadi)A photo posted byon What is it?Photographer AJ Smadi set up the scene on July 18 in a park near Seattle, Washington. Smadi used a 9.25" (23.5 cm) Celestron Schmidt-Cassegrain Telescope and a
  
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• BALLS on the moon: China set to launch Africa's 1st lunar science mission in 2029

  28-07-2026 15:00 via space.com
  
  China's Chang'e-8 moon lander mission scheduled for 2029 could send Africa's first space exploration mission to the lunar south pole.Under the Africa2Moon venture, the Bounced African Low Lunar Sphere, or BALLS for short, is a technology demonstrator in which a trio of spherical probes on the lunar surface will form a radio astronomy array at the moon's south pole region. Each of the metal spheres contains low-frequency radio telescope antennas that will search for signals from some of the oldes
  
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• Betelgeuse, Betelgeuse! Astronomers capture clearest image yet of famous star's elusive companion

  28-07-2026 14:00 via space.com
  
  Astronomers have used the Very Large Telescope (VLT) in the Atacama Desert region of Northern Chile to discover the strongest evidence yet that the famous star Betelgeuse has a companion star. That means after a century of investigation, scientists are closer than ever before to conclusively identifying Betelgeuse as a binary system composed of two stars, Betelgeuse A and Betelgeuse B. Betelgeuse is a red colored star visible with the naked eye in the constellation of Orion and located around 65
  
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• 'Crazy idea' succeeds: Scientists monitor space junk with radio telescopes

  28-07-2026 12:00 via space.com
  
  Radio telescopes are designed to listen for signals from the stars and from distant galaxies, but scientists are also pointing out that these instruments can also track objects somewhat closer to home: junk in Earth's orbit.Engineers have used the famed radio telescope at Jodrell Bank in the U.K. as part of an international plan to watch high-altitude space debris. Normally, old satellites and bits of spacecraft stuck up in geostationary orbit are too high up for our normal ways of watching spac
  
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• The unique DJI Lito X1 drone is packed full of functionality and you can't buy it in the USA

  28-07-2026 11:00 via space.com
  
  Key specsCamera: 48MP 1/1.3-inch CMOSVideo resolution: Up to 4KFrame rates: 4K 100 FPS / 2.7K vertical up to 60 FPS / FHD up to 200 FPSBattery: 2788 mAh up to 36 minutes flightCharger type: USB-C cable/battery charging hubModes: Cine, Normal, SportVideo transmission range: 9.3 miles (IC) / 4.97 miles (CE/SRRC/MIC)Dimensions: : Folded 5.67 x 3.70 x 2.44 in / 144 x 94 x 62 mm / Unfolded 7.20 x 9.88 x 3.11 in / 183 x 251 x 79 mmWeight: 8.78 oz/ 249 gDrones are more accessible than ever before, and
  
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• Starship in space! See highlights of SpaceX megarocket's epic Flight 13 test launch (video)

  28-07-2026 00:00 via space.com
  
  The 13th test flight of SpaceX's Starship megarocket went pretty well — and provided some amazing visuals, too.Flight 13 launched on Friday (July 24), sending the 408-foot-tall (124 meters) Starship Version 3 (V3) vehicle aloft from SpaceX's Starbase site in South Texas.Starship's Super Heavy booster had some engine issues on its way back to Earth. But the Ship upper stage hit all of its marks, successfully deploying 20 next-gen Starlink satellites, re-igniting one of its Raptor engines in
  
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• Rocket Lab to start launching missile-defense missions from Alaska under $266 million Space Force deal

  27-07-2026 22:00 via space.com
  
  Rocket Lab is expanding its launch operations to the snowy north.The California-based company, which already flies from New Zealand and Virginia, just inked a $266 million deal with the U.S. Space Force to fly up to 18 missile-defense missions, most of them from Alaska."The size and scale of this contract reflects the Space Force's confidence in our ability to meet their urgent national security demands with speed, responsiveness and scale, and we're proud to provide the high-frequency launch ca
  
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• 25 years on, 2001's 'Planet of the Apes' has become a bit of a guilty pleasure

  27-07-2026 20:00 via space.com
  
  We didn't exactly go bananas for Tim Burton's odd take on "Planet of the Apes" back in 2001, but now, on the occasion of the sci-fi film’s 25th anniversary, we've had time to reflect on not only the summertime spectacle's notable missteps, but also its unsung merits.Invading the hallowed grounds of director Franklin Schaffner’s 1968 original "Planet of the Apes" was risky business at best, but 20th Century Fox rolled the dice with their long-gestating $100 million remake and a compet
  
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• On this day in space! July 27, 1962: The 1st zero-g cosmonaut training flight took off on a Soviet jetliner

  27-07-2026 19:20 via space.com
  
  On July 27, 1962, two Russian cosmonauts boarded a Soviet airliner and experienced weightlessness without going to space. This was the first time cosmonauts completed zero-G training on an airplane. The Tupolev Tu-104 was a type of jetliner originally designed to transport 50 passengers. It was modified to accommodate cosmonauts who needed to train in an environment that simulated weightlessness. By flying in a parabolic arc, passengers could experience 6 to 25 seconds of weightlessness on each
  
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• On this day in space! July 27, 1962: The 1st zero-g cosmonaut training flight takes off on a Soviet jetliner

  27-07-2026 19:20 via space.com
  
  On July 27, 1962, two Russian cosmonauts boarded a Soviet airliner and experienced weightlessness without going to space. This was the first time cosmonauts completed zero-G training on an airplane. The Tupolev Tu-104 was a type of jetliner originally designed to transport 50 passengers. It was modified to accommodate cosmonauts who needed to train in an environment that simulated weightlessness. By flying in a parabolic arc, passengers could experience 6 to 25 seconds of weightlessness on each
  
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• Are we overlooking signs of alien life that aren't technological or biological? 'Bread would be a signature of intelligence'

  27-07-2026 18:00 via space.com
  
  The search for alien life has tended to focus on looking for either signs of extraterrestrial technology or evidence of biological processes on other worlds. But new and ongoing research suggests that scientists should start considering signs of intelligence that are not necessarily technological, but which are sufficiently complex as to be evidence of a conscious mind at work. Biosignatures are possible signs of biology on other planets, whereas technosignatures are clues to the presence of adv
  
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• We've found huge discounts on a range of ZWO astronomy cameras, including three we love

  27-07-2026 16:25 via space.com
  
  ZWO is well known for its Seestar smart telescopes but they also make dedicated astronomy cameras for use with telescopes to get highly detailed astrophotography. We have reviewed three of these ZWO astrocams and they have delivered beautiful images of the different objects. The color cameras like the ZWO ASI183MC Pro and ZWO ASI533MC Pro have delivered beautiful colored detail in galaxies and nebulas, whereas the monochrome ZWO ASI175 mono delivered exceptional solar photography.Explore the ZWO
  
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• Curiosity Mars rover inspects cracked wheel | Space photo of the day for July 27, 2026

  27-07-2026 16:00 via space.com
  
  A photo of one of NASA's Curiosity Mars rover's wheels, taken by the rover using its Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) on July 23, 2026, or Sol 4963 of its mission. (Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS)NASA's Curiosity Mars rover has experienced some serious wear and tear during its nearly 14 years on the Red Planet.A new photo posted to Curiosity's raw image server offers a close-up of the damage one of the rover's wheels has experienced as it explores the Martian surface.What is it?Curiosity lande
  
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• Curiosity Mars rover inspects cracked wheel | Space photo of the day for July 24, 2026

  27-07-2026 16:00 via space.com
  
  A photo of one of NASA's Curiosity Mars rover's wheels, taken by the rover using its Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) on July 23, 2026, or Sol 4963 of its mission. (Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS)NASA's Curiosity Mars rover has experienced some serious wear and tear during its nearly 14 years on the Red Planet.A new photo posted to Curiosity's raw image server offers a close-up of the damage one of the rover's wheels has experienced as it explores the Martian surface.What is it?Curiosity lande
  
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• X-ray spacecraft finds supermassive black hole stirring up the 'red potato' galaxy: 'There may be a cook in this cosmic kitchen'

  27-07-2026 15:00 via space.com
  
  Using the Chandra X-ray spacecraft, astronomers have seen a supermassive black hole jet churning and "cooking" gas surrounding a galaxy nicknamed the "red potato." And this potato is seen as it was when the universe was around 2 billion years old. The galaxy in question is officially designated MQN01 J004131.9-493704 and is located about 11.7 billion light-years from Earth at the intersection of a vast cosmic web along which galaxies formed in the early universe. Originally discovered by the Jam
  
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• Private companies could ruin the night sky for the entire world, and international law can't stop them

  27-07-2026 14:00 via space.com
  
  The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) can single-handedly green-light massive spaceflight projects that could completely change the view of the night sky for the entire world. Despite the outcry these projects have caused, space law experts say there is very little other nations and the international community can do to thwart them if the FCC were to grant them licenses.On July 10, the FCC approved an application by California-based Reflect Orbital to launch a 59-by-59-foot (18-by-18
  
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• This is the best lunar eclipse until New Year's Eve 2028 — Here's how to spot the 'almost blood moon' on Aug. 27

  27-07-2026 12:00 via space.com
  
  One month from today, skywatchers across the Americas, Europe and Africa will have the chance to witness the best lunar eclipse until New Year's Eve 2028. On Aug. 28, Earth's shadow will cover up to 96% of the moon's disk in an exceptionally deep partial lunar eclipse. At maximum eclipse, only a thin sliver of the moon will remain outside Earth's darkest shadow, creating an "almost blood moon" with nearly the entire lunar surface glowing a deep reddish-orange. Unlike a solar eclipse, a lunar ecl
  
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• An 'almost blood moon' is coming on Aug. 27 and it'll be the best lunar eclipse until NYE 2028

  27-07-2026 12:00 via space.com
  
  One month from today, skywatchers across the Americas, Europe and Africa will have the chance to witness the best lunar eclipse until New Year's Eve 2028. On Aug. 28, Earth's shadow will cover up to 96% of the moon's disk in an exceptionally deep partial lunar eclipse. At maximum eclipse, only a thin sliver of the moon will remain outside Earth's darkest shadow, creating an "almost blood moon" with nearly the entire lunar surface glowing a deep reddish-orange. Unlike a solar eclipse, a lunar ecl
  
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• A seed that flew around the moon grew into this tree in NYC

  27-07-2026 12:00 via space.com
  
  NEW YORK — Madison Square Park in midtown Manhattan is home to some 44 tree species. And on a Thursday afternoon blanketed in wildfire smoke, a small crowd gathered to see one in particular. The slender American sweet gum looked unassuming, especially compared to the enormous English elm neighboring it. But this tree had a secret: it had traveled 1.3 million miles before landing in New York.The sapling was germinated from one of 1,000 seeds NASA sent aboard the uncrewed Artemis I mission,
  
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• What happened to space horror movies?

  26-07-2026 15:00 via space.com
  
  We all know the cliché: any horror franchise that goes on long enough inevitably goes to space. Critters, Hellraiser, Friday the 13th, Dracula… they've all taken a trip to the stars.The trope, fair or not, has often overshadowed the fact that science fiction and horror are absolutely perfect bedfellows, with outer space's total isolation, tiny quarters, and oppressive vastness perfectly suited for the horror genre. Horror movies set in space have delivered classics of both genres t
  
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• I'm not an astronaut, but I went to the International Space Station (sort of)

  26-07-2026 12:00 via space.com
  
  NEW YORK — I'm the kind of person who, every so often, falls into accidental daydreams about the concept of space. Usually because I'm listening to some sort of sad girl Spotify playlist, I start feeling infuriated that we may never learn the true meaning of the cosmos and become embarrassingly poetic about our isolation on Earth. I tend to ponder how strange microgravity is and begin Googling things like "what lies beyond the edge of the universe best evidence we have" and "when commercia
  
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• We talk with astronaut Michael Foale about the 1997 Space Station Mir crisis: 'He took all the blame of the collision on his shoulders'

  25-07-2026 18:00 via space.com
  
  All systems are go! PBS just launched the second episode of its "Once Upon a Time in Space" miniseries on Tuesday, titled "The Russian Thing," and we’ve got an exclusive clip from the harrowing chapter that focuses on near disasters aboard the Space Station Mir in 1997. In addition to the video, we’re also proud to share an exclusive interview with NASA's celebrated British-American astronaut Michael Foale, who is featured prominently in the new segment regarding the infamous cargo p
  
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• 'He took all the blame of the collision on his shoulders.' Astronaut Michael Foale explains how a 1997 spaceship crash at Space Station Mir unfolded

  25-07-2026 18:00 via space.com
  
  All systems are go! PBS just launched the second episode of its "Once Upon a Time in Space" miniseries on Tuesday, titled "The Russian Thing," and we’ve got an exclusive clip from the harrowing chapter that focuses on near disasters aboard the Space Station Mir in 1997. In addition to the video, we’re also proud to share an exclusive interview with NASA's celebrated British-American astronaut Michael Foale, who is featured prominently in the new segment regarding the infamous cargo p
  
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