Astronomy & Space News

NASA’s Orion spacecraft with Artemis II crewmembers NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, commander; Victor Glover, pilot; Christina Koch, mission specialist; and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen, mission specialist aboard is seen under parachutes as it lands in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California, Friday, April 10, 2026. NASA’s Artemis II mission took Wiseman, Glover, Koch, and Hansen on a 10-day journey around the Moon and back to Earth. Following a splashdown at 7:07 p.m. EDT, NASA, U.S. Navy, and U.S. Air Force teams are working to bring the crewmembers and Orion spacecraft aboard USS John P. Murtha.

Seen during the Artemis II mission, the Moon and Earth align in the same frame, each partially illuminated by the Sun.

A stunning snapshot in time. The Artemis II crew captured this breathtaking photo of our galaxy, the Milky Way.

The Moon, seen here backlit by the Sun during a solar eclipse on April 6, 2026, is photographed by one of the cameras on the Orion spacecraft’s solar array wings. Orion is visible in the foreground on the left.

Earthset captured through the Orion spacecraft window at 6:41 p.m. EDT, April 6, 2026, during the Artemis II crew’s flyby of the Moon.

A view of the near side of the Moon, the side we always see from Earth, as seen from the Orion spacecraft.

NASA astronaut and Artemis II Commander Reid Wiseman peers out of one of the Orion spacecraft's main cabin windows on April 4, 2026, looking back at Earth, as the crew travels towards the Moon.

NASA astronaut Christina Koch is illuminated by a screen inside the darkened Orion spacecraft on the third day of the agency's Artemis II mission. To the right of the image's center, CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen is seen in profile peering out of one of Orion's windows. Lights are turned off to avoid glare on the windows.

NASA astronaut and Artemis II Commander Reid Wiseman took this picture of Earth from the Orion spacecraft's window on April 2, 2026, after completing the translunar injection burn.

NASA’s Space Launch System rocket carrying the Orion spacecraft with NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, commander; Victor Glover, pilot; Christina Koch, mission specialist; and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen, mission specialist onboard launches on the Artemis II mission, Wednesday, April 1, 2026, from Launch Complex 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

NASA astronaut Jessica Meir shared this photo of an Artemis program patch floating in the International Space Station's cupola on X.

From left to right, NASA astronauts Andre Douglas, Victor Glover, and Christina Koch, CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronauts Jenni Gibbons, NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman, and CSA astronaut Jeremy Hansen pose for a photo before the Artemis II crew proceed to a media event on March 27, 2026.

The Orion Crew Survival System suits that Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, and Mission Specialist Christina Koch from NASA, and Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen from the CSA (Canadian Space Agency) will wear on the Artemis II test flight are seen in the suit-up room of the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building, Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

NASA’s IXPE observed the outer rim of the supernova remnant highlighted in purple in the inset. Data from IXPE is combined with data from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and ESA’s XMM-Newton.

Captured Nov. 29, 2024 by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, this infrared view of Saturn shows its glowing icy rings and layered atmosphere. Several moons are visible, including Janus, Dione, and Enceladus.

Looking for a sky event this week? Check out our full Sky This Week column.  April 11: Comet Tempel 2 in Scutum While Comets Wierzchoś and Tempel 2 are faint, there’s a breakout star in the early-morning sky that’s cracked naked-eye visibility: Comet C/2025 R3 (PanSTARRS). Recently recorded at mid-5th magnitude, although this interplanetary fuzzball is technicallyContinue reading "The Sky Today on Sunday, April 12: Comet C/2025 R3 (PanSTARRS) grows bright"

The post The Sky Today on Sunday, April 12: Comet C/2025 R3 (PanSTARRS) grows bright appeared first on Astronomy Magazine.

On April 11, 1970, the Apollo 13 mission launched. Intended to be the third lunar landing, it was crewed by Commander Jim Lovell, who had flown previously on Apollo 8, and Fred Haise and Jack Swigert, both on their first spaceflights. Despite a last-minute crew change – Swigert was an eleventh-hour replacement for Ken Mattingly,Continue reading "April 11, 1970: Apollo 13 blasts off for the Moon"

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Looking for a sky event this week? Check out our full Sky This Week column.  April 10: Ganymede shadow crossing Even as Comet Wierzchoś is quickly fading, Comet 10P/Tempel, also known as Tempel 2, is making its way into our skies to become a summertime comet. Rising around 1 A.M. local daylight time, it’s a great optionContinue reading "The Sky Today on Saturday, April 11: Comet Tempel 2 in Scutum"

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The Artemis 2 mission that flew astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen around the Moon for the first time in more than 50 years is returning to Earth today. Following its historic trip around the Moon, Artemis 2 has been headed back toward home. The mission is scheduled to culminate withContinue reading "As it happened: Artemis 2 splashes down, ‘a perfect mission’"

The post As it happened: Artemis 2 splashes down, ‘a perfect mission’ appeared first on Astronomy Magazine.

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.

On April 10, 2019, astronomers revealed the first image ever taken of a black hole, bringing a dramatic conclusion to a decades-long effort. The iconic image offered humanity its first glimpse at the gas and debris that swirl around its event horizon, the point beyond which material disappears forever. A favorite object of science fictionContinue reading "April 10, 2019: First look at a black hole"

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Looking for a sky event this week? Check out our full Sky This Week column.  April 9: Structured spiral M96 If you’re up after midnight on the 9th in the Central time zone (early-morning hours of April 10), you can catch the start of another shadow transit this week at Jupiter. The giant planet remains in centralContinue reading "The Sky Today on Friday, April 10: Ganymede shadow crossing"

The post The Sky Today on Friday, April 10: Ganymede shadow crossing appeared first on Astronomy Magazine.

Sky This Week is brought to you in part by Celestron. Friday, April 10Last Quarter Moon occurs today at 12:52 A.M. EDT. A few hours after sunset, Hercules the Strongman is rising above the eastern horizon. As this constellation returns to the evening sky, it carries with it one of the best globular clusters visibleContinue reading "The Sky This Week from April 10 to 17: Catch Comet PanSTARRS"

The post The Sky This Week from April 10 to 17: Catch Comet PanSTARRS appeared first on Astronomy Magazine.

After slingshotting around the Moon and traveling farther from Earth than any human has ever ventured, the four astronauts commanding NASA’s Artemis 2 mission are hours from splashing down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of San Diego. The mission’s final phase is also one of its most perilous. As of Thursday evening, NASAContinue reading "Artemis 2’s heat shield faces critical test on mission’s final day"

The post Artemis 2’s heat shield faces critical test on mission’s final day appeared first on Astronomy Magazine.

For the first time in over half a century, humans journeyed to the Moon — and Friday, they’re coming home. Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, Mission Specialist Christina Koch, and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen lifted off April 1 from Kennedy Space Center aboard NASA’s Orion spacecraft, nicknamed Integrity, on a steppingstone missionContinue reading "How to watch the Artemis 2 splashdown"

The post How to watch the Artemis 2 splashdown appeared first on Astronomy Magazine.

The Vera C. Rubin Observatory will discover up to 500,000 solar system objects every year. It’s already starting to deliver on that promise.

The post Rubin Observatory Announces 11,000 New Asteroids appeared first on Sky & Telescope.

A thin crescent Moon points the way to super-difficult Mercury and Mars low in the dawn, then the opposite crescent plays with bold Venus and the Pleiades in evening twilight.

The post This Week's Sky at a Glance, April 10 – 19 appeared first on Sky & Telescope.

The weekend of April 11–12 marks the return of the world’s largest astronomy and space expo with telescopes, cameras, and activities for the entire family.  

The post Join Us at the 35th Annual Northeast Astronomy Forum appeared first on Sky & Telescope.

Scientists have unveiled a new dynamic view of our world at night, showing for the first time a night-by-night view of changes in light pollution.

The post Light Pollution Is Increasingly Variable Around the World appeared first on Sky & Telescope.

The Artemis 2 crew set records and provided amazing views — with more to come — as they journeyed around the Moon.

The post Amazing Views From Artemis 2’s Historic Lunar Flyby appeared first on Sky & Telescope.

Arcturus, the Spring Star, is on its way up in the east. Vega, the Summer Star, rises later in the evening. Jupiter shines high toward the southwest.

The post This Week's Sky at a Glance, April 3 – 12 appeared first on Sky & Telescope.

New observations reveal that permanently shadowed regions at the lunar poles might contain less water ice than astronauts were hoping for.

The post Do the Moon’s Poles Hold Less Water Than We Thought? appeared first on Sky & Telescope.

If we're lucky, we'll soon have bright comets at both dawn and dusk.

The post Dawn Comet C/2025 R3 (PanSTARRS) May Hold a Surprise appeared first on Sky & Telescope.

NASA’s Artemis 2 mission has departed Earth, as humans return to cis-lunar space after more than 50 years.

The post Artemis 2 Mission Launches for Trip Around the Moon appeared first on Sky & Telescope.

From pizza "flavor zones" around stars to therapy sessions for black holes, astronomers are in fine form on this April 1st.

The post Astronomers Play April Fool’s appeared first on Sky & Telescope.

Mars may be hostile, but it might not be entirely unlivable. In lab experiments, yeast cells survived simulated Martian shock waves and toxic perchlorate salts—two major environmental threats on the Red Planet. Their secret weapon was forming protective molecular clusters that shield critical cellular functions under stress. Without these defenses, survival plummeted, pointing to a potential universal strategy life could use beyond Earth.

A major international effort has produced an ultra-precise measurement of the Universe’s expansion rate, confirming it’s faster than early-Universe models predict. By linking multiple distance-measuring techniques, scientists ruled out simple errors as the cause of the discrepancy. The persistent “Hubble tension” now looks more real than ever. It could mean our current model of the cosmos is incomplete.

A mysterious glow of gamma rays at the center of the Milky Way has long hinted at dark matter, but the lack of similar signals in smaller dwarf galaxies has cast doubt on that idea. Now, researchers propose a bold twist: dark matter might not be a single particle at all, but a mix of two different types that must interact with each other to produce detectable signals.

Earth’s nights are steadily getting brighter overall, but the changes vary dramatically by region. Rapid urban growth is lighting up countries like China and India, while parts of Europe are dimming due to energy-saving efforts and new lighting technologies. The most detailed satellite analysis yet shows these shifts happening faster and more unevenly than expected. Even global trends can mask sharp local contrasts, from war-related blackouts to deliberate reductions in light pollution.

For all its ancient, familiar features, the Moon is still changing—and sometimes in dramatic ways. Scientists recently identified a fresh 22-meter-wide crater by comparing orbital images taken years apart, revealing a relatively recent impact that no one actually saw happen. The collision blasted bright material outward in striking rays, making the new crater stand out sharply against the darker lunar surface.

A bizarre, record-breaking neutrino detected in 2023 may have originated from an exploding primordial black hole—a relic from the early universe. Scientists suggest these black holes could carry a mysterious “dark charge,” causing rare but powerful bursts of energy that current detectors might occasionally catch. This could explain why only one experiment saw the event. The theory also opens the door to discovering entirely new particles and possibly uncovering the nature of dark matter.

Planetary exploration may be about to get a major speed boost. Researchers tested a semi-autonomous robot that can move from rock to rock, analyzing each without waiting for human instructions. The system completed missions up to three times faster than traditional methods while still accurately identifying important geological targets. This could allow future missions to cover far more ground in the search for resources and signs of life.

Earth may have won a cosmic chemistry lottery. Researchers found that during the planet’s earliest formation, oxygen had to be in an extremely narrow “Goldilocks zone” for two life-essential elements, phosphorus and nitrogen, to stay where life could use them. Too much or too little oxygen, and those ingredients could be lost or trapped deep inside the planet. This could reshape the search for life by showing that water alone is not enough.

A strange “forbidden” planet spotted by the James Webb Space Telescope is turning planetary science on its head. TOI-5205 b, a Jupiter-sized world orbiting a small, cool star, has an atmosphere surprisingly poor in heavy elements—even less enriched than its own star, which defies current theories of how giant planets form.

Mars may look like a quiet, dusty world, but it’s actually buzzing with hidden electrical activity. Powerful dust storms and swirling dust devils generate static electricity strong enough to spark faint glowing discharges across the planet, triggering chemical reactions that reshape its surface and atmosphere. Scientists have now shown that these tiny lightning-like events can create a surprising mix of chemicals—including chlorine compounds and carbonates—and even leave behind distinct isotopic “fingerprints.”

Dying stars may be wiping out nearby giant planets as they expand into red giants. Astronomers found that these close-in planets become increasingly rare around more evolved stars, suggesting many have already been swallowed. The likely cause is a gravitational tug that drags planets inward until they break apart or fall into the star. It’s a dramatic glimpse into the chaotic final stages of planetary systems.

A group of undergraduate students stumbled into a cosmic time capsule—one of the oldest stars ever discovered—while combing through massive astronomy datasets. What began as a class project quickly turned into a breakthrough when they spotted an extraordinarily “pristine” star made almost entirely of hydrogen and helium, hinting it formed near the dawn of the universe.

Asteroid impacts may have helped kick-start life on Earth by creating hot, chemical-rich environments ideal for early biology. These impact-generated hydrothermal systems could have lasted thousands of years—long enough for life’s building blocks to form. Scientists now think these environments may have been common on early Earth, making them a strong candidate for where life began. The idea could also guide the search for life on other worlds.

Saturn’s magnetic field isn’t the smooth, symmetrical shield scientists see around Earth. Instead, it’s noticeably skewed, and researchers now think they understand why. By analyzing years of data from the Cassini spacecraft, scientists found that a key region where solar particles enter Saturn’s atmosphere is consistently shifted to one side. This distortion appears to be driven by the planet’s rapid spin combined with a thick cloud of charged particles coming from its moon Enceladus.

A new concept suggests SpaceX’s Starship could revolutionize a future mission to Uranus, one of the solar system’s most overlooked planets. By refueling in orbit and helping slow the spacecraft on arrival, it could cut travel time nearly in half. That’s a big deal for a mission that would otherwise take over a decade just to arrive. If it works, it could finally open the door to studying this strange, tilted world up close.