Astronomy news

• SpaceX Starship Flight 13 launch updates: SpaceX sets target date for next Starship rocket launch

  13-07-2026 23:10 via space.com
  
  SpaceX's massive Starship, the world's largest and most powerful rocket, is scheduled to launch its critical test flight no earlier than Thursday, July 16, at 6:45 p.m. EDT (2245 GMT) from Starbase, Texas. Our live webcast will begin about 30 minutes prior to liftoff. You can see our latest updates on the Starship V3 (short for Version 3) rocket, including its test flight goals, system upgrades and more. Flight 13 is the 13th test launch of the Starship vehicle since 2023.Launch livestream | Sta
  
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• 'Full steam ahead': NASA ramps up prep for Artemis III astronaut launch in 2027

  16-07-2026 00:00 via space.com
  
  NASA is picking up the pace on its Artemis III mission preparations, pressing forward on multiple fronts to assemble launch vehicle hardware and beginning routine simulations inside Artemis mission control. The agency is "full steam ahead," according to a July 13 NASA update. Across Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida, components of Artemis III's Space Launch System (SLS) rocket are coming together, undergoing tests and awaiting transportation for final integration ahead of next year's launch.
  
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• Watch Archimedes burn! Rocket Lab fires up engine for its powerful next-gen Neutron launcher (video)

  15-07-2026 22:00 via space.com
  
  Rocket Lab has completed a major qualification test for its formidable Archimedes engine, which will power the company's next-gen Neutron launch vehicle. As Rocket Lab continues with regular launches of its workhorse small-lift Electron rocket, development of Neutron has carried on in the background, progressing toward a possible debut later this year. The company recently completed a full-duration burn of a second-stage Archimedes, paving the way for integration with Neutron in the coming month
  
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• The 10 best British sci-fi shows of all time

  15-07-2026 21:00 via space.com
  
  America and Hollywood might feel like the natural home of sci-fi, but Britain has quite the science fiction pedigree of its own.Doctor Who is obviously our great nation's most famous sci-fi export, standing tall amongst the other giants of the genre, but it's far from our only contribution. From television to literature, there is a history of some truly great and groundbreaking science fiction coming from this loose collection of islands. So, make yourself a nice cup of tea and have a seat while
  
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• Meteorite that crashed through New Jersey house could hold the clues to life's origins

  15-07-2026 20:05 via space.com
  
  A space rock exploded through a bedroom ceiling in New Jersey, and scientists have now traced its origins to a strange, briny asteroid once visited by a NASA mission. Two years ago on July 16, 2024 in the middle of the afternoon, a sonic boom shook New York City as a fireball streaked through the sky. The culprit? A rock the size of a heavy airline bag weighing roughly 110 pounds (50 kilograms). The meteorite hurtled over the east coast before crash-landing in a house in Hillsborough, New Jersey
  
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• Raspberry sugar spotted in interstellar space, a sweet discovery that could reveal clues about life's origins

  15-07-2026 19:09 via space.com
  
  Is space … sweet? As it turns out, interstellar space has sugar — and it's the same type of sugar that's found in raspberries (and self-tanners, surprisingly). A sugar compound called erythrulose has been found near the center of our galaxy, swirling amongst the gas and dust like grains of sugar in a cotton candy machine. More specifically, this sugar was detected in a molecular cloud in the interstellar medium, or the space between star systems in a galaxy. And while we may not be
  
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• The 10 best places in the UK to see the partial solar eclipse on Aug. 12

  15-07-2026 18:00 via space.com
  
  On Aug. 12, 2026, skywatchers across the U.K. will experience a rare astronomical double-header: a deep partial solar eclipse before sunset followed, hours later, by the peak of the annual Perseid meteor shower. Although the path of totality will sweep from Greenland and Iceland to Spain, it will miss Britain entirely. However, the solar eclipse will still be dramatic, with up to 96% of the sun obscured for viewers in the far southwest.This will be the U.K.'s deepest partial solar eclipse since
  
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• Glaciers spotted flowing across the Himalayas from space | Space photo of the day for July 15, 2026

  15-07-2026 16:00 via space.com
  
  Glaciers flow across the Himalaya, as seen from the International Space Station.(Image credit: NASA/Jessica Meir)Towering glaciers flow down the Himalayas' northern slopes like icy giants cascading onto China's Tibetan Plateau. What is it?Back in May, from aboard the International Space Station 259 miles (417 kilometers) above Earth, NASA astronaut Jessica Meir peered out the station's windows with her camera and captured a breathtaking sight. In that fleeting moment from space, she captured the
  
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• 'Found you!' Astronomers spot faintest exoplanet ever seen from Earth after a decade of hide-and-seek

  15-07-2026 15:00 via space.com
  
  It has taken over ten years, but astronomers have finally won a prolonged game of cosmic hide-and-seek with a planet hiding around the star Beta Pictoris. The extrasolar planet, or exoplanet, is known as Beta Pictoris d. It is found 63 light-years away and has two planetary siblings, which were caught some time ago. This new exoplanet is 100 times fainter than its sibling Beta Pictoris b, which was the first planet discovered in the system. That makes Beta Pictoris d the faintest exoplanet ever
  
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• Every SpaceX Starlink satellite has to dodge a collision almost weekly, and experts fear the worst

  15-07-2026 14:00 via space.com
  
  SpaceX's Starlink satellites made over 355,000 collision avoidance maneuvers throughout the past year, with each satellite now dodging debris and other spacecraft on an almost weekly basis. The numbers are based on disclosures made by SpaceX in its latest semiannual report to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). According to the latest report, Starlink satellites performed an overall 207,152 avoidance maneuvers between December 2025 and May 2026, up nearly 60,000 from the 148,696 reporte
  
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• What time is SpaceX's Starship Flight 13 launch on July 16? (Full mission timeline)

  15-07-2026 12:00 via space.com
  
  SpaceX is just a day away from its first Starship test flight of the summer, and if you're hoping to watch the world's largest rocket lift off, you'll need to know where and when to tune in. But don't worry — we've got you covered. The next Starship test flight, called Flight 13 (SpaceX doesn't appear to be superstitious), is scheduled to launch from the company's test site in Starbase, Texas near Boca Chica Beach on Thursday, July 16. Liftoff is set for 6:45 p.m. EDT (2245 GMT). As its na
  
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• SpaceX launches flight-proven rocket for 600th time, sending Starlink satellites to orbit (video)

  15-07-2026 00:00 via space.com
  
  SpaceX reached a milestone with its latest Starlink launch, sending the satellites into orbit on its 600th flight of a flight-proven booster.The sexacentennial launch came on the second of two Falcon 9 missions that lifted off less than eight hours apart overnight from Monday to Tuesday (July 13 to July 14). The first flight, with Starlink batch 15-14, launched at 9:28 p.m. EDT (0128 GMT or 6:28 p.m. PDT local time) from Space Launch Complex 4 East at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.Th
  
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• SpaceX launches flight-proven rocket for 600th time, sending Starlink satellites to orbit

  15-07-2026 00:00 via space.com
  
  SpaceX reached a milestone with its latest Starlink launch, sending the satellites into orbit on its 600th flight of a flight-proven booster.The sexacentennial launch came on the second of two Falcon 9 missions that lifted off less than eight hours apart overnight from Monday to Tuesday (July 13 to July 14). The first flight, with Starlink batch 15-14, launched at 9:28 p.m. EDT (0128 GMT or 6:28 p.m. PDT local time) from Space Launch Complex 4 East at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.Th
  
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• Scientists spot 4 superdense stellar corpses hiding behind their red dwarf companions

  14-07-2026 23:00 via space.com
  
  Astronomers have spotted four dead star white dwarf stars playing a game of cosmic hide-and-seek, all four of which were hiding in the glares of red dwarf companion stars. This marks the first detection of white dwarfs existing in double star systems in our cosmic backyard. The white dwarfs are all located within around 65 light-years of Earth, and one of them is number nine in the top 10 closest white dwarfs to the solar system.
  White dwarfs are the type of stellar remnants left behind when sta
  
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• The 1st of 10,000 'missing' black holes in the Omega Centauri star cluster has been found by the Hubble and James Webb space telescopes

  14-07-2026 22:00 via space.com
  
  The first of 10,000 missing black holes in the Omega Centauri globular cluster has been found thanks to teamwork by the Hubble and James Webb space telescopes.The two observatories discovered the black hole after watching a star orbiting around something massive but dark, and which therefore could not be seen. The Hubble data ran from 2003 to 2023, and the James Webb Space Telescope picked up after that to help refine the measurements. Astronomers used the space telescopes to focus on a particul
  
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• 'Once Upon a Time in Space': How to watch PBS's out-of-this-world astronaut documentary

  14-07-2026 21:00 via space.com
  
  As our planet revels in the recent achievements of this spring’s Artemis 2 mission and its four astronaut crew members, a new four-part PBS documentary series takes a scrutinizing look at space exploration and its inherent perils and promises. "Once Upon a Time in Space" will be available to watch on PBS (and the PBS app) starting on July 14, 2026 (9pm ET).Directed by James Bluemel and his filmmaking team — the crew behind the award-winning "Once Upon a Time in Northern Ireland" and
  
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• 1st-ever X-rays in space offer hope for possible patients headed to the moon

  14-07-2026 20:00 via space.com
  
  A miniature X-ray machine is set to transform astronauts' health prospects following a successful test in orbit. As a bonus, as well as checking for broken bones on the moon, the technology could also be distributed to small towns and villages in rural areas to provide enhanced medical care far from major hospitals.For much of the Space Age, astronauts have only had access to ultrasound machines as tools to diagnose injuries. Unlike ultrasound, which requires a medium through which sound waves c
  
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• This cosmic 'lighthouse' is blazing a magnetic trail through the Milky Way

  14-07-2026 18:00 via space.com
  
  Astronomers have, for the first time, directly mapped the magnetic field surrounding an unusual "lighthouse" pulsar, revealing an invisible cosmic highway that channels particles blasted from the rapidly spinning stellar remnant.Using NASA's Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) mission, researchers measured the magnetic field around the pulsar PSR J1101−6101 — nicknamed the "Lighthouse"— and confirmed a long-standing prediction that its high-energy particles stream along m
  
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• Honeycomb structures spotted on Mars | Space photo of the day for July 14, 2026

  14-07-2026 16:00 via space.com
  
  NASA's Mars rover Curiosity spotted these "honeycomb" structures on Mars.(Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS)NASA's Curiosity rover has spotted a strange honeycomb texture on the surface of Mars. But what is it? What is it? Almost 14 years since landing on the Red Planet, Curiosity is still hard at work exploring. And in new observations, Curiosity has revealed an image that is certainly ... peculiar. Curiosity went to get a closer look at an area first observed from Mars orbit, and found what
  
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• The biggest skywatching day of 2026 is coming. Here's what you'll see in North America and Europe

  14-07-2026 14:00 via space.com
  
  Sometimes weeks go by without anything notable happening in the sky. Then along comes something spectacular, like a total solar eclipse, the peak of a major meteor shower or a bright planet reaching a landmark moment in the evening sky. On Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2026, all three occur almost simultaneously. As a bonus, if you are under a dark sky for the Perseids, the Milky Way's bright central regions will stretch across the southern sky by around midnight.Exactly what you'll see of the eclipse dep
  
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• How to watch SpaceX launch Starship Flight 13 on July 16

  14-07-2026 14:00 via space.com
  
  SpaceX's next Starship test flight aims to achieve a major milestone by deploying 20 upgraded Starlink satellites, marking the first Starlink Version 3s to deploy in space..Liftoff for the spacecraft’s upcoming 13th test flight is scheduled for Wednesday, July 16, at 6:45 p.m. EDT (2245 GMT) from the company's Starbase facility in South Texas. You can watch the launch live on Space.com, courtesy of SpaceX, beginning 30 minutes before liftoff. Follow our Starship live blog for more mission
  
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• Moon landings could destroy evidence of life's origins

  14-07-2026 12:00 via space.com
  
  Landing spacecraft on the moon could contaminate ancient clues about how life may have originated on Earth, a new study finds. As NASA continues on with its plan of sending astronauts back to the moon with the Artemis program, researchers are exploring what possible unintended consequences may arise from humans visiting the lunar surface. For instance, Artemis IV will land astronauts near the moon's south pole and the agency has future plans for building a longer-term moon base on the lunar surf
  
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• SpaceX Starship Flight 13 launch updates: Super Heavy booster rolled back for final checkouts

  13-07-2026 23:10 via space.com
  
  SpaceX's massive Starship, the world's largest and most powerful rocket, is scheduled to launch its critical test flight no earlier than Thursday, July 16, at 6:45 p.m. EDT (2245 GMT) from Starbase, Texas. Our live webcast will begin about 30 minutes prior to liftoff. You can see our latest updates on the Starship V3 (short for Version 3) rocket, including its test flight goals, system upgrades and more. Flight 13 is the 13th test launch of the Starship vehicle since 2023.Launch livestream | Sta
  
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• SpaceX Starship Flight 13 launch updates: Starship undergoing preparations to launch tomorrow

  13-07-2026 23:10 via space.com
  
  SpaceX's massive Starship, the world's largest and most powerful rocket, is scheduled to launch its critical test flight no earlier than Thursday, July 16, at 6:45 p.m. EDT (2245 GMT) from Starbase, Texas. Our live webcast will begin about 30 minutes prior to liftoff. You can see our latest updates on the Starship V3 (short for Version 3) rocket, including its test flight goals, system upgrades and more. Flight 13 is the 13th test launch of the Starship vehicle since 2023.Launch livestream | Sta
  
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• These mysterious exoplanets may have clouds of vaporized rock and grounds of scorching magma oceans

  13-07-2026 23:00 via space.com
  
  Clouds formed from vaporized rock could create the ultimate thermal insulation on one of the most common types of exoplanets discovered so far — the sub-Neptunes — raising temperatures so high that these worlds' solid surfaces melt and turn into oceans of magma."This work takes us one step closer to answering the question of what these mysterious worlds are made from," said astronomer Luis Welbanks, of Arizona State University, in a statement.Sub-Neptunes are planets larger than Eart
  
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• Russia's launching a NASA astronaut and 2 cosmonauts to the International Space Station on July 14: Watch it live

  13-07-2026 23:00 via space.com
  
  Three people will launch toward the International Space Station on Tuesday (July 14), and you can watch the action live.NASA's Anil Menon and cosmonauts Pyotr Dubrov and Anna Kikina are scheduled to lift off atop a Russian Soyuz rocket from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Tuesday at 10:47 a.m. EDT (1347 GMT; 7:47 p.m. local time in Baikonur).You can watch it live here at Space.com, courtesy of NASA, or directly via the space agency's YouTube channel. Coverage will begin at 9:45 a.m. EDT (12
  
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• Russia's launches a NASA astronaut and 2 cosmonauts to the International Space Station

  13-07-2026 23:00 via space.com
  
  Three people just launched to space aboard a Russian rocket today (July 14), and are now in orbit speeding toward the International Space Station.NASA's Anil Menon and cosmonauts Pyotr Dubrov and Anna Kikina lifted off atop a Russian Soyuz rocket from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 10:47 a.m. EDT (1347 GMT; 7:47 p.m. local time in Baikonur).Their Soyuz rocket executed nominal side booster separation about two minutes after launch, followed by second stage separation about 2.5 minutes later
  
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• Russia launches NASA astronaut Anil Menon and 2 cosmonauts to the International Space Station (video)

  13-07-2026 23:00 via space.com
  
  The International Space Station has three new residents.NASA's Anil Menon and cosmonauts Pyotr Dubrov and Anna Kikina lifted off atop a Russian Soyuz rocket from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 10:47 a.m. EDT (1447 GMT; 7:47 p.m. local time in Baikonur), heading toward the orbiting lab.Their Soyuz executed nominal side booster separation about two minutes after launch, followed by second stage separation about 2.5 minutes later, as the rocket flew at 105 miles (169 kilometers) in altitude.
  
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• Russia launches NASA astronaut Anil Menon and 2 cosmonauts to the International Space Station

  13-07-2026 23:00 via space.com
  
  The International Space Station has three new residents.NASA's Anil Menon and cosmonauts Pyotr Dubrov and Anna Kikina lifted off atop a Russian Soyuz rocket from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 10:47 a.m. EDT (1447 GMT; 7:47 p.m. local time in Baikonur), heading toward the orbiting lab.Their Soyuz executed nominal side booster separation about two minutes after launch, followed by second stage separation about 2.5 minutes later, as the rocket flew at 105 miles (169 kilometers) in altitude.
  
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• Russia launches a NASA astronaut and 2 cosmonauts to the International Space Station

  13-07-2026 23:00 via space.com
  
  Three people just launched to space aboard a Russian rocket today (July 14), and are now in orbit speeding toward the International Space Station.NASA's Anil Menon and cosmonauts Pyotr Dubrov and Anna Kikina lifted off atop a Russian Soyuz rocket from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 10:47 a.m. EDT (1447 GMT; 7:47 p.m. local time in Baikonur).Their Soyuz rocket executed nominal side booster separation about two minutes after launch, followed by second stage separation about 2.5 minutes later
  
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