Houston Texans Celebrate Upcoming Artemis 2 Mission | Space Photo of the Day for Jan. 23, 2025
On Jan. 4, 2026 the Houston Texans hosted a Space City Day celebration at NRG Stadium, featuring NASA‑dressed Johnson Space Center staff in bright orange Orion Crew Survival System suits. The event highlighted Artemis 2, NASA’s upcoming 10‑day crewed lunar flyby slated for February‑April 2026, with astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen aboard Orion. Halftime promotions introduced the “Send Your Name with Artemis 2” campaign, letting the public embed their names on a mission‑bound chip. The Texans won the game 38‑30 over the Indianapolis Colts.
Vaonis Hestia Smartphone-Powered Telescope Review
The Vaonis Hestia is a lightweight, smartphone‑powered lens that turns any phone into a low‑cost imaging tool for the Moon, Sun and bright stars. It lacks a built‑in computer or motors, relying on the free Gravity app for exposure control,...
Rocket Lab Launches Its 1st Mission of 2026, Sending 2 Satellites to Orbit
Rocket Lab successfully launched its 80th mission, an Electron rocket carrying two Open Cosmos satellites, from its New Zealand site on Jan. 22, 2026. The payloads were placed into a 1,050 km circular orbit using the vehicle’s kick stage, marking Open Cosmos’s first...
Wobbling Exoplanet Hints at a Hidden Exomoon so Massive It Could Redefine the Word 'Moon' Altogether
Astronomers using the VLT's GRAVITY instrument detected a nine‑month wobble in the gas‑giant exoplanet HD 206893 B, indicating a massive companion. The candidate exomoon could weigh about 0.4 Jupiter masses—roughly nine Neptune masses—making it thousands of times heavier than any Solar System moon....
US Space Force Awards 1st-of-Its-Kind $52 Million Contract to Deorbit Its Satellites
Starfish Space secured a $52.5 million contract from the U.S. Space Force to provide end‑of‑life deorbit services for its upcoming PWSA low‑Earth‑orbit constellation. The deal marks the first ever procurement for commercial satellite disposal at constellation scale. Starfish’s Otter vehicle, still...
Earth Was Just Hit by the Strongest Solar Radiation Storm in over 20 Years — Here's What It Means
Earth was struck by an S4‑level solar radiation storm on Jan. 19, the most severe event since the October 2003 Halloween storms. The storm, driven by a fast coronal mass ejection, sent high‑energy protons toward the planet, but the particles lacked the...
Mars Orbiter Sees Odd Etchings in the Sand | Space Photo of the Day for Jan. 20, 2025
The European Space Agency’s Mars Express orbiter captured a high‑resolution view of extensive yardangs near the Eumenides Dorsum mountains, an area roughly the size of Belgium. These wind‑blasted ridges, recorded by the High Resolution Stereo Camera, reveal that Mars is...
James Webb Space Telescope Discovers Young Galaxies Age Rapidly: 'It's Like Seeing 2-Year-Old Children Act Like Teenagers'
Using JWST, Hubble and ALMA, astronomers studied 18 galaxies about 12.5 billion light‑years away, dating to less than a billion years after the Big Bang. The galaxies exhibit surprisingly high metal content, rotating disks, and rapidly feeding supermassive black holes, indicating...
Comet Wierzchos Buzzes the Sun Later Today: But Can You See It?
Comet C/2024 E1 (Wierzchos) reaches perihelion today, Jan 20, passing 52.6 million miles (84.6 million km) from the Sun. The increased solar heating should boost its brightness to about +8.1 magnitude, making it observable only with a modest telescope in the southern sky’s Microscopium...
China Previews How Powerful Its New Xuntian Space Telescope Will Be Ahead of 2027 Launch (Video)
China’s 2‑meter Chinese Space Station Telescope, dubbed Xuntian, is slated for launch as early as 2027 and will operate in low‑Earth orbit alongside the Tiangong station. The observatory carries a 2.5‑billion‑pixel camera with a field of view roughly 300 times...
What Is Below Earth, Since Space Is Present in Every Direction?
The article explores how “down” is a relative concept, varying with a person’s position on Earth and the larger cosmic reference frames. It explains that the ecliptic, galactic, and supergalactic planes are tilted relative to each other—by roughly 60° and...
Astronomers Searching for Alien Life Are Sharpening Our Cosmic Clocks. Here's Why
Astronomers at the SETI Institute have quantified how interstellar gas subtly delays pulsar signals by tens of nanoseconds, a phenomenon known as scintillation. An extensive ten‑month campaign using the Allen Telescope Array observed the bright pulsar PSR J0332+5434, revealing timing shifts...
Northern Lights May Be Visible in 15 States Tonight
An incoming high‑speed solar‑wind stream from a large coronal hole is set to disturb Earth’s magnetosphere, prompting minor to moderate (G1‑G2) geomagnetic storms. NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center forecasts that the aurora may be visible across 15 U.S. states, from...
Say Goodbye to Comet 3I/ATLAS! Watch It Head for Interstellar Space in Real-Time with This Free Livestream Today
Interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS, discovered on July 1 2025, is making its final public appearance via a Virtual Telescope Project livestream on Jan 16 2026. After a bright perihelion on Oct 29 2025 and a close Earth flyby on Dec 19 2025, the comet will swing past Jupiter in March 2026...
Beneath the Ice: Satellites Help Map Antarctica's Subglacial Surface Like Never Before
Researchers led by Helen Ockenden used Ice Flow Perturbation Analysis (IFPA) to produce the most detailed satellite‑derived map of Antarctica’s subglacial topography. The model infers bedrock shapes from ice‑surface observations, resolving features between 2 and 30 km and revealing previously unknown...
Cyberthieves Hit European Space Agency, Stealing Hundreds of Gigabytes of Data
European Space Agency (ESA) disclosed that it has been hit by successive cyber‑attacks, resulting in the theft of over 700 GB of data, including proprietary software, credentials, and mission documentation. The first leak, attributed to hacker “888,” exposed more than 200 GB,...
Satellites Spy Raging Bushfires in Australia | Space Photo of the Day for Jan. 15, 2026
On Jan 9, 2026, a European Copernicus Sentinel‑2 satellite captured a stark image of raging bushfires in Victoria, Australia. The high‑resolution multispectral data reveals extensive burn scars, smoke plumes, and displaced communities, providing precise boundaries for emergency responders. Sentinel‑2’s infrared capabilities enable...
What Are 'Dark' Stars? Scientists Think They Could Explain 3 Big Mysteries in the Universe
Scientists propose that "dark stars"—hypothetical early‑universe objects powered by dark‑matter annihilation—could illuminate three puzzling JWST discoveries. These luminous bodies would form before ordinary stars, later collapsing into massive black‑hole seeds that explain the unexpected abundance of supermassive black holes within...
'Death by a Thousand Cuts': James Webb Space Telescope Figures Out How Black Hole Murdered Pablo's Galaxy
Using JWST and ALMA, astronomers determined that the supermassive black hole in galaxy GS‑10578, known as Pablo’s Galaxy, starved it of cold gas, causing rapid quenching. The galaxy, seen as it was three billion years after the Big Bang, formed...
'Backward and Upward and Tilted': Spaceflight Causes Astronauts' Brains to Shift Inside Their Skulls
A MIT study using MRI scans of 26 astronauts and 24 controls found that prolonged exposure to microgravity causes the brain to move backward, upward, and rotate within the skull. The positional shifts, measured up to 2.5 mm, were observed across...
Blast From the Past: A Rocket History Quiz
Space.com released a rocket‑history quiz that walks readers from ancient gunpowder experiments to today’s reusable launchers. The interactive format highlights milestones such as Tsiolkovsky’s liquid‑propellant theory, Goddard’s 1926 flight, the V‑2 missile, and the Saturn V moon rocket. It also spotlights...
Superheavy-Lift Rockets Like SpaceX's Starship Could Transform Astronomy by Making Space Telescopes Cheaper
SpaceX’s Starship achieved a successful test flight in October 2025, positioning it to deliver payloads far larger than current rockets. The super‑heavy‑lift vehicle can transport roughly ten times more mass to orbit, enabling space telescopes with unfurled mirrors and reducing...
Satellite Sees 40-Year-Old Iceberg Melt, Turn Blue | Space Photo of the Day for January 12, 2025
A‑23A, a massive tabular iceberg that calved from Antarctica’s Filchner Ice Shelf in 1986, is now showing extensive blue melt‑water ponds as it drifts in the South Atlantic. NASA’s Terra satellite captured the striking image on 26 December 2025, and an ISS...
Astronomers Baffled by 'Mysterious Disruptor' With a Mass of 1 Million Suns and a Black Hole for a Heart
Astronomers have identified a completely dark object with a mass equivalent to one million suns, anchored by a black‑hole‑like core, in the gravitational‑lens system JVAS B1938+666. The object lies about 11 billion light‑years away, making it the most distant mass‑only detection ever...
'A Completely New Manufacturing Frontier': Space Forge Fires up 1st Commercial Semiconductor Factory in Space
Space Forge announced the first plasma generation aboard its ForgeStar‑1 satellite, marking the inaugural commercial in‑orbit semiconductor factory. The miniature furnace produced plasma at 1,000 °C, proving that gas‑phase crystal growth can be achieved in low‑Earth orbit. The company plans to...
Watch India Launch Advanced Military Satellite on Rocket's 1st Flight Since May 2025 Failure
India’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) is set to lift off tonight, marking its first flight since a May 2025 failure that lost the EOS‑09 Earth‑observing satellite. The rocket will carry the EOS‑N1 (Anvesha) military hyperspectral imaging satellite along with 15...
Moon Fever Hits DC as Artemis 2 Rocket 'Candle' Lights up Washington Monument Just 1 Month Before Launch (Photos)
NASA projected a Saturn V image onto the Washington Monument from Dec. 31 2025 to Jan. 5 2026, celebrating the nation’s 250th anniversary and the upcoming Artemis 2 launch. The crewed round‑the‑moon mission is slated for Feb. 6 2026, marking the first human lunar flight since Apollo 17. Artemis 2...
Comet 24P/Schaumasse Makes Its Closest Approach to the Sun Today: But Will You Be Able to See It?
Comet 24P/Schaumasse will reach perihelion on Jan 8, 2026, passing 109.7 million miles from the Sun. At that point its apparent magnitude is roughly +10.8, far too faint for naked‑eye viewing. Observers will need a telescope of at least a 6‑inch aperture and should...
Space Telescopes Capture Breathtaking Galactic Hug | Space Photo of the Day for Jan. 8, 2026
NASA’s James Webb and Chandra observatories have released a striking composite image of the interacting galaxies IC 2163 and NGC 2207, located about 120 million light‑years away in Canis Major. The infrared view from Webb highlights dust lanes and active star‑forming regions, while Chandra’s X‑ray...
'Super Star' Being Shredded by Black Hole Releases as Much Energy as 400 Billion Suns
Astronomers observed a tidal disruption event dubbed “the Whippet,” where a super‑massive star was torn apart by a black hole, releasing energy comparable to 400 billion suns. The flare, first spotted by the Zwicky Transient Facility and confirmed with NASA’s Swift...
Astronomers Discover the Earliest, Hottest Galaxy Cluster in the Universe, and It Breaks All the Rules
Astronomers using ALMA have identified galaxy cluster SPT2349‑56, a compact assembly of more than 30 galaxies within a 500,000‑light‑year volume, existing just 1.4 billion years after the Big Bang. The cluster’s intracluster medium is measured at temperatures at least five times...
NASA Postpones Jan. 8 Spacewalk Due to 'Medical Concern' With an Astronaut
NASA postponed the Jan. 8 extravehicular activity on the International Space Station after a medical concern arose with an unnamed crew member. The EVA, slated for astronauts Mike Fincke and Zena Cardman, would have prepared a power channel for the new...
NASA Perseverance Rover Sees Megaripples on Mars | Space Photo of the Day for Jan. 7, 2026.
NASA’s Perseverance rover has obtained its most detailed view yet of an aeolian megaripple, dubbed “Hazyview,” in the Honeyguide field near Jezero Crater. The 2‑meter‑tall sand structure appears largely inactive, with a salty dust crust that preserves ancient wind and...
Winning the Red Planet Race: Returning Mars Samples Before China Should Be a Top US Priority, Experts Say
The United States faces a critical decision on its Mars Sample Return (MSR) program as costs have ballooned to about $11 billion and the target launch has slipped to 2040, while China’s Tianwen‑3 mission plans to bring back at least 500 g...
Hubble Telescope Spies 'Wake' Of Supergiant Beutelgeuse's Hidden Companion Star
Astronomers using the Hubble Space Telescope, together with ground‑based observatories, have detected a dense gas wake trailing Betelgeuse’s hidden companion star, Siwarha. The wake, likened to a boat’s ripple, confirms the companion’s existence after its initial indirect detection in July...
NASA's Curiosity Rover Sends Stunning New Panorama From High on Mars' Mount Sharp
NASA’s Curiosity rover transmitted a striking composite panorama from high on Mount Sharp, captured over sols 4,722 and 4,723 using its navigation cameras. The view showcases the boxwork formation, a network of mineral‑rich ridges that record ancient groundwater flow. While...
Hubble Telescope Discovers a New Type of Cosmic Object and Astronomers Are on 'Cloud 9'
Astronomers using the Hubble Space Telescope have identified a new dark‑matter‑dominated object, dubbed “Cloud 9,” on the outskirts of galaxy Messier 94. The cloud, classified as a Reionization‑Limited Hydrogen I Cloud (RELHIC), contains roughly one million solar masses of neutral hydrogen but no stars,...
NASA May Be 1 Month Away From Historic Artemis 2 Astronaut Launch Around the Moon
NASA’s Artemis 2 crewed lunar flyby is slated for a February 6, 2026 launch, just a month away. The four‑person crew—Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and CSA astronaut Jeremy Hansen—will ride the Space Launch System and Orion capsule on a free‑return trajectory...
Congress Rejects President Trump's Deep NASA Budget Cuts, Proposes $24.4 Billion for the Agency
Congress has rejected President Trump's request to slash NASA's budget, instead proposing a $24.4 billion allocation for fiscal year 2026. The administration had sought $18.8 billion, a 24 % reduction, with science funding slashed by roughly 75 % to $3.9 billion. The Senate bill restores...
This Canadian Crater Looks Like Marbled Meat | Space Photo of the Day for Jan. 6, 2026
A new false‑color image from the EU’s Copernicus Sentinel‑2 mission showcases the Manicouagan impact crater in Quebec, often called the “eye of Quebec.” The 72‑km‑wide structure formed 214 million years ago when a 5‑km asteroid struck the region. Sentinel‑2’s 13 spectral...
Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS Isn't an Alien Spacecraft, Astronomers Confirm. 'In the End, There Were No Surprises.'
Astronomers using the Green Bank Telescope as part of the Breakthrough Listen project searched interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS for technosignatures and found none. The radio observations were sensitive enough to detect transmitters as weak as 0.1 watts, far below typical human devices....
'It Would Be a Fundamental Breakthrough': Mysterious Dark Matter May Interact with Cosmic 'Ghost Particles'
A new study published in Nature Astronomy suggests dark matter may interact with cosmic neutrinos, offering a possible explanation for the observed shortfall in large‑scale structure clumpiness. The team combined data from the Dark Energy Camera, Sloan Digital Sky Survey,...
The Universe May Be Lopsided, New Research Says
A new study led by Subir Sarkar argues that the universe may be asymmetric, challenging the long‑held assumption of isotropy that underpins the ΛCDM model. The research focuses on the cosmic dipole anomaly—a temperature gradient in the cosmic microwave background...
The 2026 'Super Bowl of Astronomy' Starts Today — Here's What's Happening
The 247th meeting of the American Astronomical Society (AAS 247) began Jan 4‑8 in Phoenix, drawing thousands of astronomers, students and educators. The agenda emphasizes exoplanet research, particularly the upcoming Habitable Worlds Observatory, and showcases fresh results from JWST, Hubble and ALMA...
Moon Rush: These Private Spacecraft Will Attempt Lunar Landings in 2026
2026 will see a surge of private lunar landers as Blue Origin, Firefly, Intuitive Machines, and Astrobotic each schedule missions to the Moon. Blue Origin’s Blue Moon Mark 1 pathfinder will demonstrate a 3‑ton cargo capability and test exhaust‑interaction science. Firefly’s...
The Next Frontier in Space Is Closer than You Think – Welcome to the World of Very Low Earth Orbit...
Very low Earth orbit (VLEO), ranging from 60 to 250 miles above Earth, is emerging as a solution to LEO congestion. Satellites operating in VLEO can deliver sharper images, lower communication latency, and enhanced weather data, but face severe atmospheric...
2026 Begins a Golden Age of Solar Eclipses: How to See 3 Total Solar Eclipses and 3 'Ring of Fire'...
From August 2026 through July 2028 the world will witness three total solar eclipses and three annular “ring‑of‑fire” eclipses, a pattern last seen a decade ago. The 2026 eclipse will be visible across Greenland, Iceland and northern Spain, the 2027 event promises...