Space

A rare crimson aurora glowing over northern Japan may be a sign that some solar storms are more powerful than scientists once believed. Researchers studying faint red auroras observed above Japan in June 2024 found that the displays stretched far higher into Earth’s atmosphere than expected, reaching altitudes between roughly 310 and 500 miles (500 to 800 kilometers) — which is unusually high…

NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray spacecraft has observed a super-bright, supercharged supernova explosion that may have been powered up by a highly magnetic dead star, a type of neutron star called a magnetar. This magnetar would have actually been born in the supernova itself, forced into existence when the core of a star that was much more massive than the sun underwent gravitational collapse at the end…

When SpaceX attempted to launch its newest (and tallest) megarocket yet on Thursday (May 21), all eyes were on the shiny Starship Version 3 atop its South Texas pad. Especially NASA’s, since the agency wants to use the towering rocketship to land Artemis astronauts on the moon in two years. So it was a bit of a surprise when SpaceX, with less than 15 minutes remaining before liftoff, announced…

Update for 7:51 p.m. ET: SCRUB! SpaceX has called off the attempted launch of its first Starship V3 megarocket due to a technical issue in the last minute before liftoff. The next launch attempt of Starship Flight 12 could occur on Friday, May 22, at 6:30 p.m. EDT (2230 GMT), SpaceX says. See our latest Starship V3 launch updates There’s a lot riding on the debut flight of SpaceX’s Starship…