With the evening moon appearing as a crescent phase for much of this upcoming week, we now have an opportunity to view some of the fainter sky objects that now occupy our spring evening sky. Looking high overhead and toward the south just after nightfall, there is a broad star pattern formed by four stars. The near-third magnitude star, Cor Caroli (in the constellation of Canes Venatici the…
The most mysterious and yet ubiquitous stuff in the cosmos, dark matter is effectively invisible. This is simply because it doesn’t interact with light. But what if instead of trying to see dark matter, scientists attempted to hear it instead?
New research suggests…
“What’s that bright light in the sky?” a friend messaged me the other evening. “Venus,” I replied, without thinking about it. There was a pause, then: “How can you tell? And why is it suddenly so bright?”
People always notice Venus…
That bright light after sunset? Venus is starting a summer show that's impossible to miss
May 15, 2026
“What’s that bright light in the sky?” a friend messaged me the other evening. “Venus,” I replied, without thinking about it. There was a pause, then: “How can you tell? And why is it suddenly so bright?”
People always notice Venus by accident. When it’s low on the horizon after dark, but just high enough and bright enough, it suddenly becomes…
We just learned a little more about NASA’s next Artemis mission.
The agency dropped a few details on Wednesday (May 13) about Artemis 3, a crewed mission that will test rendezvous and docking operations with one or more lunar landers close to home.
“While this…
Scientists propose new way to find aliens — and we may already have a spacecraft that can help
May 15, 2026
Researchers may have just revealed a new way of looking for alien life — it’s based on the idea that it isn’t just the type of biosignatures that are important, but also how they are organized.
“Our approach could help make the search for life more…
30-mile-high clouds of acid on Venus are made by the largest 'hydraulic jump' in the solar system
May 14, 2026
A monstrous bank of cloud 3,700 miles (6,000 kilometers) long that sweeps around Venus every few days is being generated by rising sulfuric acid vapor pushed high into the atmosphere by what is essentially the same phenomenon that describes how water from a running tap spreads out in the basin of your kitchen sink.
In 2016, the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)’s Akatsuki mission…
The world’s first space-based neutrino detector launched to space last week to study elusive neutrino particles that constantly bombard Earth. The mission will test technology that could help researchers in the future to unravel hidden processes taking place deep…
President Trump’s Golden Dome may end up being quite a bit more expensive than originally thought.
A new report by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates it will cost about $1.2 trillion to deploy the Golden Dome missile defense system and operate…
Star Catcher just raised $65 million to build the world's first power grid in space — with lasers
May 13, 2026
Star Catcher Industries now has a big war chest to help bankroll its big dream — building a power grid in space.
The Florida-based space company announced today (May 12) that it has raised $65 million in an oversubscribed “Series A” funding round, bringing its total investment haul to date to $88 million.
Star Catcher will put the money toward the development of the world’s…
