Sky and Solar

James Webb Space Telescope observes 72 stars and finds planet formation is a race against time
27 August 2026

Using the James Webb Space Telescope, astronomers have studied 72 young sun-like stars to discover that forming planets is a real race against time.
Astronaut Jonny Kim leaves NASA, will return to active military duty
27 August 2026

NASA astronaut Jonny Kim is leaving the space agency to continue his military career. Kim, who's also a medical doctor, completed one spaceflight during his NASA career.
After failure of private rescue mission, NASA's Swift space telescope will crash back to Earth. But when and where?
27 August 2026

A private spacecraft failed to rescue NASA's Swift space telescope, meaning the big observatory will come crashing back to Earth in the near future. But details are sparse at the moment.
Starship is coming home! SpaceX loads floating spacecraft onto huge ship in the Indian Ocean (photos)
27 August 2026

SpaceX has loaded Flight 13's Starship upper stage onto a ship in the Indian Ocean, more than a month after the vehicle splashed down. It is now headed home to Texas.
Trump tried to scrap NASA's Roman Space Telescope last year. Now it's ready to launch
27 August 2026

NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is about to launch, but the observatory almost had a very different fate. President Trump's leaked budget proposal last year marked it for cancellation.

JWST’s ‘impossible’ early galaxies may be even more massive than we thought
24 August 2026

Faint, low-mass stars could be hiding much of the mass in distant galaxies, making the surprisingly large galaxies discovered by JWST in the early Universe even harder to explain.
How to observe the 12 August 2026 solar eclipse
07 August 2026

On the evening of 12 August 2026, the Moon will pass between Earth and the Sun, producing a striking solar eclipse. Find out how, when and where to observe it safely.
Falcon 9 lunar impact: More than a new crater
05 August 2026

Today’s impact of a spent Falcon 9 rocket stage on the Moon may sound dramatic, but it is neither the first human-made object to strike our natural satellite nor the largest.
Euclid opens a new window on the first billion years of cosmic history
25 July 2026

One of the biggest mysteries in modern astronomy is how the Universe managed to grow enormous black holes so quickly.
Caught in the act: the wind that could kill a galaxy
10 June 2026

A powerful wind in the early Universe may explain why some massive galaxies lived fast and died young by stopping forming stars far sooner than expected.
Europe’s Mars rover may land in the remains of a vast ancient water system
04 June 2026

New orbital mapping suggests Rosalind Franklin’s Oxia Planum landing site is part of a clay-rich region hundreds of kilometres wide, raising the possibility that it records a much larger watery episode in Mars’s early history.