Astronomy & Space News

The Moon and Venus, center, are seen in conjunction above the Washington Monument, Monday, May 18, 2026, as viewed from the Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters Building in Washington.

This latest Picture of the Month from the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope features Messier 77 (M77), a barred spiral galaxy famous and appreciated among astronomers for its combination of relative proximity and spectacular features to study. It is located 45 million light-years away in the constellation Cetus (The Whale).

NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover used its Mast Camera, or Mastcam, to capture this view of a rock nicknamed “Atacama” on May 6, 2026, the 4,877th Martian day, or sol, of the mission. The rock had gotten stuck to the drill on the end of Curiosity’s robotic arm on April 25.

You're allowed to play with your food when you're on the International Space Station! To celebrate a delivery of fresh food, NASA astronauts Jack Hathaway (bottom left), Jessica Meir (middle left), and Chris Williams (bottom right), and ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Sophie Adenot (top right) pose for a group photo.

“Rise,” the Artemis II zero gravity indicator, is seen sitting on the dais as the Artemis II astronauts speak with congressional staff, Tuesday, May 12, 2026, in Washington.

NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover recently took a self-portrait against a sweeping backdrop of ancient Martian terrain at a location the science team calls “Lac de Charmes.”

NASA astronaut Jessica Meir poses with an Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) spacesuit during an official portrait session at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston.

This celestial image captured from a window on a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft docked to the International Space Station highlights the Milky Way rising above Earth's atmospheric glow.

A sliver of the edge of Earth is brightly illuminated against the vast darkness of space.

A newly discovered object may be a key to unlocking the true nature of a mysterious class of sources that astronomers have found in the early universe in recent years.

America’s first human spaceflight begins as the Mercury-Redstone 3 (MR-3) space vehicle, with astronaut Alan B. Shepard Jr. aboard, launches from Cape Canaveral, Florida on May 5, 1961.

This NASA Hubble Space Telescope image features the glittering spiral galaxy NGC 3137, located 53 million light-years away in the constellation Antlia (the Air Pump).

Nasdaq Chair and Chief Executive Officer Adena T. Friedman, left, and NASA’s Artemis II crew ring the closing bell of the Nasdaq market session, Thursday, April 30, 2026.

NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) core stage for the Artemis III mission moves into the Vehicle Assembly Building at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Tuesday, April 28, 2026.

The barred spiral galaxy IC 486 glows with a soft, ethereal light in this NASA Hubble Space Telescope image.

The phenomenon of a Full Moon arises when our planet, Earth, is precisely sandwiched between the Sun and the Moon. This alignment ensures the entire side of the Moon that faces us gleams under sunlight. Thanks to the Moon’s orbit around Earth, the angle of sunlight hitting the lunar surface and being reflected back toContinue reading "2026 Full Moon calendar: When to see the Full Moon and phases"

The post 2026 Full Moon calendar: When to see the Full Moon and phases appeared first on Astronomy Magazine.

Arnaud Malleval M82, also known as the Cigar Galaxy, lies about 12 million light-years away in Ursa Major. It is a classic example of a starburst galaxy — one producing newborn stars at a prodigious rate. Their explosive deaths drive filaments of hydrogen gas above and below its disk, forming the reddish filaments in HαContinue reading "Bursting with stars"

The post Bursting with stars appeared first on Astronomy Magazine.

On May 19, 1939, Francis “Dick” Scobee was born in Washington State. Scobee joined the Air Force at age 18, taking night courses to earn a bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering and getting an officer’s commission and his pilot’s wings. After a combat tour in Vietnam and training at the Aerospace Research Pilot School atContinue reading "May 19, 1939: The birth of Dick Scobee"

The post May 19, 1939: The birth of Dick Scobee appeared first on Astronomy Magazine.

Looking for a sky event this week? Check out our full Sky This Week column.  May 18: The Moon hangs with Venus Venus has now entered Gemini and the Twins host two planets: brighter Venus near their feet, and mighty Jupiter near their heads. The Moon has also moved, outpacing Venus so that our satellite now hangsContinue reading "The Sky Today on Tuesday, May 19: Three in a row"

The post The Sky Today on Tuesday, May 19: Three in a row appeared first on Astronomy Magazine.

Mission Highlight: SMILE The European Space Agency (ESA) and the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) are targeting tonight, Monday, May 18, at 11:52 p.m. EST for the launch of the Solar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer (SMILE) on a Vega-C rocket from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. The mission was originally set to flyContinue reading "SMILE to give Earth’s magnetosphere its first X-ray"

The post SMILE to give Earth’s magnetosphere its first X-ray appeared first on Astronomy Magazine.

When deep-sky observers contemplate the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), the Milky Way’s largest satellite galaxy, they immediately think of the Tarantula Nebula (NGC 2070). And no wonder — this emission nebula is the largest star-forming region in the local universe. But the LMC offers much more. Just 0.7° south of the Tarantula lies another impressiveContinue reading "N159: A star-forming nebula in the spider’s shadow"

The post N159: A star-forming nebula in the spider’s shadow appeared first on Astronomy Magazine.

This week, Astronomy magazine Editor Emeritus Dave Eicher invites you to look to the western sky on the evening of May 21 and see a crescent Moon near the open star cluster M44, also known as the Beehive. Nearby will be two dazzling planets — Jupiter and Venus — as well as the bright starsContinue reading "The Moon, the Beehive, and friends"

The post The Moon, the Beehive, and friends appeared first on Astronomy Magazine.

On May 18, 1976, the visitors center at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, opened to the public. Intended to fulfill NASA’s mission of sharing its work to inspire and educate, the facility was a renovated Bureau of Standards radio station turned NASA maintenance storage building. It opened with great pageantry, including breakingContinue reading "May 18, 1976: The Goddard Visitors Center opens"

The post May 18, 1976: The Goddard Visitors Center opens appeared first on Astronomy Magazine.

Looking for a sky event this week? Check out our full Sky This Week column.  May 17: Glimpse the zodiacal light The Moon is now just over two days old, a sliver of its eastern limb lit by the Sun as sunrise slowly crawls across the nearside. Catch the delicate crescent this evening, when it stands justContinue reading "The Sky Today on Monday, May 18: The Moon hangs with Venus"

The post The Sky Today on Monday, May 18: The Moon hangs with Venus appeared first on Astronomy Magazine.

On May 17, 1882, an eclipse trekked across Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. Many scientists gathered in Egypt to witness it even though it was a fairly short-duration event, with maximum totality at only 1 minute 50 seconds and totality in Egypt at only 70 seconds. J. Norman Lockyer, one of two astronomers whoContinue reading "May 17, 1882: Comet Tewfik is spotted during an eclipse"

The post May 17, 1882: Comet Tewfik is spotted during an eclipse appeared first on Astronomy Magazine.

An innovative new mission will probe the mystery of how the Earth’s magnetosphere interacts with the solar wind.

The post SMILE: European Space Weather Mission Launches appeared first on Sky & Telescope.

A new model explains how Ganymede got its molten core — which in turn has given Jupiter's largest moon its magnetic field.

The post How Jupiter’s Moon Ganymede Melted Its Core appeared first on Sky & Telescope.

Astronomers have identified the likely source of gas that flows into the maw of the Milky Way’s central black hole, Sagittarius A*.

The post What's Feeding Our Supermassive Black Hole? appeared first on Sky & Telescope.

The Moon, Venus, and Jupiter — the three brightest celestial objects after the Sun — will form up beautifully in twilight this Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.

The post This Week's Sky at a Glance, May 15 – 24 appeared first on Sky & Telescope.

A planetary odd couple — a mini-Neptune and a hot Jupiter — probably formed much farther away from their star before migrating closer in.

The post How Did This Peculiar Planet Pair Form? appeared first on Sky & Telescope.

Two objects that appeared to be galaxies residing in a universe about 150 million years old turn out to be brown dwarfs in the Milky Way.

The post Webb Telescope Reveals Brown Dwarfs Masquerading as Early Galaxies appeared first on Sky & Telescope.

Watch the crescent Moon dance with the planets when it returns next week.

The post Moon and Planets to Gather in Twilight Spectacle on May 18–20 appeared first on Sky & Telescope.

In 2019, a supermassive black hole in a galaxy 300 million light-years away woke up. Now, it’s puzzling astronomers with an unexpected slowdown in its X-ray bursts.

The post A Black Hole’s Puzzling X-Ray Bursts appeared first on Sky & Telescope.

Jupiter, shining high the western dusk, inches down day toward brighter Venus. Venus, meanwhile, creeps toward the horntip stars of Taurus and stands between them on May 13th.

The post This Week's Sky at a Glance, May 8 – 17 appeared first on Sky & Telescope.

The imminent lunar impact of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket booster highlights the growing amount of space debris near the Moon.

The post SpaceX Booster Will Hit the Moon This August appeared first on Sky & Telescope.

Black holes crashing together may be revealing clues about dark matter hidden across the universe. Physicists created a new model predicting how dark matter could subtly distort gravitational waves produced during black hole mergers. When they tested the method on real LIGO data, one signal stood out as potentially carrying a dark matter imprint.

NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is now aiming for an earlier launch in September 2026. Designed to explore dark matter, dark energy, and distant exoplanets, the telescope will capture massive, ultra-detailed surveys of the cosmos using infrared vision. Scientists expect Roman to uncover hundreds of millions of galaxies and possibly even entirely new cosmic phenomena. Its enormous data archive could reshape astronomy for decades.

Astronomers have revealed the sharpest image ever captured of a filament in the cosmic web — the enormous hidden structure connecting galaxies across the Universe. The glowing strand stretches 3 million light-years and links two galaxies from nearly 12 billion years ago. By observing this faint intergalactic gas directly for the first time in such detail, scientists gained new insight into how galaxies are fueled and formed.

NASA is testing a next-generation space computer chip that could give spacecraft the ability to operate far more independently in deep space. The radiation-hardened processor is showing performance levels hundreds of times beyond current spaceflight computers while surviving punishing tests designed to mimic the harsh conditions of space. The technology could enable AI-powered spacecraft, faster scientific discoveries, and smarter missions to the Moon and Mars.

A colossal valley near Mars’s equator is revealing dramatic clues about the Red Planet’s watery and volcanic past. Stretching roughly 1,300 kilometers, Shalbatana Vallis was carved billions of years ago when enormous floods of groundwater burst onto the surface, gouging deep winding channels across the landscape. Today, the region is a striking mix of ancient flood scars, collapsed “chaotic terrain,” lava-smoothed plains, volcanic ash, and battered impact craters — all hinting at a Mars that may once have been far warmer and wetter than it is now.

NASA’s Roman Space Telescope could expose a vast hidden population of neutron stars lurking unseen across the Milky Way. By detecting subtle shifts in starlight caused by gravity, the mission may identify and even weigh isolated neutron stars that are otherwise impossible to see. Scientists hope the discoveries will reveal how these extreme objects are born and why they are blasted through space at incredible speeds.

Scientists studying mysterious ultra-powerful cosmic rays have uncovered a surprising hidden pattern that could finally help explain where these particles come from. Using the DAMPE space telescope, researchers found that cosmic ray particles—from tiny protons to heavy iron nuclei—all begin fading away more sharply at the exact same point, hinting at a universal rule governing their behavior across the galaxy.

Researchers in Japan traced a hidden medieval solar storm using ancient tree rings and centuries-old sky observations. The team linked reports of eerie red auroras with spikes of carbon-14 trapped in buried wood, revealing a powerful solar radiation event around 1200 CE. The findings suggest the Sun was far more active at the time, with unusually short solar cycles.

Earth is quietly collecting radioactive debris from an ancient stellar explosion as our Solar System drifts through a giant cloud of gas and dust between the stars. Scientists analyzing Antarctic ice up to 80,000 years old discovered traces of iron-60 — a rare isotope forged in supernova explosions — and found evidence that this “cosmic ash” has been lingering inside the Local Interstellar Cloud for ages. The discovery suggests the cloud surrounding our Solar System was shaped by a long-ago exploding star, offering researchers a new way to study our galactic neighborhood.

A newly discovered meteor stream may be the smoking gun of an asteroid slowly disintegrating under the Sun’s intense heat. Scientists say these fiery streaks across the night sky could reveal hidden near-Earth asteroids that telescopes struggle to detect.

A medieval monk may have beaten Edmond Halley to one of astronomy’s greatest discoveries by nearly 700 years. Researchers say Eilmer of Malmesbury recognized that the blazing comet seen in 1066 was the same one he had witnessed in 989. At the time, comets were viewed as terrifying omens tied to war and royal deaths, adding even more drama to the famous celestial event shown in the Bayeux Tapestry. The discovery is sparking debate over whether Halley’s Comet deserves a different name.

Hubble has revealed a giant planet-forming disk unlike anything astronomers have seen before. Nicknamed “Dracula’s Chivito,” the enormous structure appears turbulent and oddly lopsided, with towering filaments visible on only one side. The disk contains enough material to potentially create multiple giant planets, making it a fascinating new laboratory for studying how planetary systems are born.

Astronomers using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope have created the clearest map yet of the universe’s “cosmic web” — the enormous hidden structure that connects galaxies across space. By analyzing more than 164,000 galaxies through the massive COSMOS-Web survey, researchers were able to trace this vast network back to when the universe was just a billion years old.

NASA’s Psyche spacecraft is about to pull off a dramatic close flyby of Mars, skimming just 2,800 miles above the planet to get a powerful gravitational boost on its journey to the mysterious metal-rich asteroid Psyche. The maneuver will save propellant while giving mission scientists a rare chance to test and calibrate the spacecraft’s instruments using Mars as a target. As Psyche approaches from the planet’s dark side, it’s expected to capture striking crescent views of Mars, search for faint dust rings around the planet, and even gather magnetic and cosmic ray data during the encounter.

NASA’s Curiosity rover had an unexpectedly stubborn Mars souvenir after drilling into a rock nicknamed “Atacama” — the entire chunk ripped loose from the ground and stayed stuck to the rover’s drill. Engineers watched as Curiosity shook, vibrated, tilted, and spun the drill over several days in an effort to free the rock, while cameras captured the strange scene on the Red Planet.