Sky and Solar

On this day in space! Oct. 20, 1970: The Soviet Union launches last-ever Zond moon mission
20 October 2026

On Oct. 20, 1970, the Soviet Union launched the Zond 8 spacecraft on a mission to the moon. Here's why it mattered.
Can’t make it to the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art for the 'Star Wars' display? This is the companion book set you’re looking for!
20 October 2026

Prepare for a lightspeed tour of Lucas's lifetime collection ofpaintings, posters, comics, concept art, and illustrations
Jeff Bezos is playing the long game with Blue Origin (op-ed)
20 October 2026

If Blue Origin goes public, it will have to meet the expectations of shareholders. Jeff Bezos may therefore want to establish a stronger business before committing to a listing.
A supercomputer is about to launch to the moon aboard a rover named FLIP
20 October 2026

And yes, it has AI.
Red light, white light: How to preserve your night vision while using stargazing apps
20 October 2026

The right apps can take a lot of the work out of stargazing, but they can also stop your eyes from adjusting to the dark. Here's how to use them without ruining your skywatching.

Happy New Year, Mars! The Red Planet is turning 39
29 September 2026

On 30 September the Red Planet officially begins Mars Year 39. Which is quite an achievement for a world that is actually more than 4.5 billion years old.
3I/ATLAS was born in the deep freeze
08 September 2026

Another piece of evidence suggests that this visitor formed in the bitterly cold outer reaches of a distant planetary system.
Roman Space Telescope launches on mission to survey the Universe
30 August 2026

NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope has begun its journey into space, starting a mission that will survey the Universe on an unprecedented scale in search of clues to dark energy, dark matter and worlds beyond our Solar System.
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.