Europe’s next planet-hunting spacecraft just spread its “wings” in preparation for launch.
PLATO’s twin solar panels, which will power the Planetary Transits and Oscillations of Stars spacecraft’s search for Earth-like exoplanets, spread out successfully during engineering tests last month in a European Space Agency (ESA) clean lab.
That’s a big deal, as…
New space debris shield? Satellites and astronauts could suit up in novel 'Space Armor'
October 17, 2025
Humanity has a new tool in the fight against space junk — “Space Armor™,” a multi-functional composite that could protect both spacecraft and astronauts.
Space Armor is made via a proprietary fiber-to-resin manufacturing method courtesy of the company…
Northern lights may be visible in 15 US states tonight
October 17, 2025
Heads up aurora chasers! The northern lights may receive a boost tonight as Earth is forecast to be hit by the first of a series of coronal mass ejections (CMEs) launched from the sun earlier this week.
NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center has issued a G2 (moderate)…
A new private moon lander could take flight just a few years from now.
Impulse Space — a commercial space company founded by Tom Mueller, the first employee the billionaire Elon Musk ever hired at SpaceX — announced on Tuesday (Oct. 14) that it plans to build a robotic moon lander to help open the lunar frontier.
“To echo President John F. Kennedy, going to the moon is hard. But we know…
A giant weak spot in Earth's magnetic field is getting bigger — and it could be bad news for satellites
October 16, 2025
A weak region in Earth’s magnetic field has grown by an area roughly half the size of continental Europe in the last 10 years.
That’s according to data collected by the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Swarm satellite constellation over the last 11 years.
Did a NASA exoplanet-hunting balloon really 'crash' in Texas? Not according to the scientist behind the flight
October 16, 2025
A special exemption allowed a NASA-funded weather balloon to launch as planned Oct. 1, despite the ongoing government shutdown that began that day. But news about the balloon, and an exoplanet-hunting experiment on board, got a little confused after touchdown.
When the…
Autumn has draped itself across the northern hemisphere, heralding the onset of longer, darker nights that serve as the perfect backdrop for amateur astronomers looking to explore the wonders of the night sky.
Our sky is constantly changing as the relentless passing of the seasons and movement of the planets, moon, comets and Earth itself bring an ever-shifting array of astronomical targets into…
If you think you’ve met the wildest exoplanet yet, you haven’t learned about TOI-4507 b.
This strange world, which sits about 578 light-years from the solar system, breaks almost every known rule for how planets should behave. First off, it orbits a very young…
Citizen scientists just discovered the most powerful 'odd radio circle' twins in space we've ever seen
October 15, 2025
Citizen scientists have found several new “odd radio circles<” or ORCs, in distant, enormous galaxy clusters — and through their discoveries, scientists are learning more about how these huge ring-like structures form.
ORCs were first identified only six…
Astronomers have long called Uranus and Neptune the “ice giants” because models suggested that these outer planets’ interiors are largely made of mixtures of water, ammonia and other ices — compounds that freeze easily in deep space. But new research reveals that we actually know very little about what’s going on inside these planets, causing researchers to propose that…
