Astronomy & Space News

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.

Moon rocks are seen during a March 24, 2026, event where NASA is outlining how the agency is executing the National Space Policy and accelerating preparations for America’s return to the surface of the Moon by 2028.

This new image from the Hubble Space Telescope and the James Webb Space Telescope takes a closer look at the core of Messier 101, also known as the Pinwheel Galaxy.

NASA astronaut and Expedition 74 crew member Chris Williams smiles for the camera during a spacesuit fit verification inside the International Space Station’s Quest airlock.

An American bald eagles flies away from its nest and tree at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Friday, March 13, 2026.

At any given moment, about 20 volcanoes on Earth are actively erupting. Often among them is Mayon—the most active volcano in the Philippines.

These X-ray computed tomography (XCT) scans of particles from asteroid Bennu show the most common types of crack networks observed in Bennu samples.

Dr. Robert H. Goddard and a liquid oxygen-gasoline rocket in the frame from which it was fired on March 16, 1926, at Auburn, Mass.

Early morning sunlight illuminates the western wall of this unnamed crater, leaving deep shadows on the ground and in the interior. The image was taken on August 30, 2023, by LROC (Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera).

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.

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.

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.

Astronomers disagree on whether they’ve found evidence that stars don’t make certain sizes of black hole.

The post Have We Found the Black Hole Desert? appeared first on Sky & Telescope.

Striking images from Hubble, Webb, and the Very Large Telescope dive into Saturn's atmosphere, capture the Crab Nebula's expansion, and reveal a newborn planet.

The post New Astro Images: Saturn, the Crab Nebula, and a Newborn Planet appeared first on Sky & Telescope.

This month’s episode showcases the stars and planets visible on April evenings. We’ll explore full-Moon quirks; spot Venus and Jupiter after sunset; learn about Gemini, the celestial twins; and hunt for meteors toward month’s end. So grab your curiosity, and come along on this month’s Sky Tour.

The post April Podcast: Spotlight on Gemini appeared first on Sky & Telescope.

Powerful X-rays from the nearby naked-eye star Gamma Cas mystified astronomers for decades. Now, a new observatory reveals that they come from its white dwarf companion.

The post White Dwarf Discovered Gobbling Material from Gamma Cassiopeiae appeared first on Sky & Telescope.

Winter's gone, but the Winter Hexagon remains (for now). Trace out this gigantic asterism right after dark before it sinks. Jupiter glares inside its top.

The post This Week's Sky at a Glance, March 27 – April 5 appeared first on Sky & Telescope.

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.

A new era of lunar exploration has begun as NASA launches four astronauts on Artemis II—the first crewed mission to fly around the Moon in over 50 years. Riding aboard the powerful SLS rocket, the Orion spacecraft is now on a 10-day journey that will test critical systems, push human spaceflight farther than it’s gone in decades, and set the stage for future Moon landings and eventual missions to Mars.

Scientists studying Bennu samples have discovered that its chemistry is far from uniform. Organic compounds and minerals cluster into three distinct types of regions, each shaped differently by past water activity. This uneven pattern shows that water altered the asteroid in a complex, localized way. The survival of delicate organic molecules adds an important clue to how life’s building blocks may persist in space.

Scientists at the University of Waterloo have uncovered a bold new way to explain how the universe began—one that could reshape our understanding of the Big Bang. Instead of relying on patched-together theories, their approach shows that the universe’s explosive early growth may arise naturally from a deeper framework called quantum gravity.

Astronomers have spotted a bizarre cosmic explosion that refuses to play by the rules—and it’s leaving scientists scrambling for answers. GRB 250702B, detected by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope and a global network of observatories, lasted an astonishing seven hours—far longer than typical gamma-ray bursts, which usually fade in under a minute.

A blazing supermassive black hole can influence far more than its own galaxy. Scientists found that quasars emit radiation strong enough to shut down star formation in nearby galaxies millions of light-years away. This could explain why some galaxies near early quasars appear faint or missing. The finding suggests galaxies grow and evolve together, not in isolation.

Making babies in space may be more complicated than expected, as new research shows sperm struggle to navigate in microgravity. Scientists found that while sperm can still swim normally, they lose their sense of direction without gravity, making it harder to reach and fertilize an egg. In lab experiments simulating space conditions, far fewer sperm successfully made it through a maze designed to mimic the reproductive tract, and fertilization rates in mice dropped by about 30%.

For decades, astronomers have been puzzled by strange “zebra stripe” patterns in radio waves from the Crab Pulsar — bright bands separated by complete darkness. Now, new research suggests the answer lies in a cosmic tug-of-war between gravity and plasma. The pulsar’s plasma spreads light apart, while gravity bends it back together, creating interference patterns that form the striking stripes.

Mars may look like a frozen desert today, but new evidence suggests its watery past didn’t simply fade away quietly—it may have been blasted into space by powerful dust storms. Scientists have discovered that even relatively small, localized storms can hurl water vapor high into the atmosphere, where it breaks apart and escapes.

Scientists have uncovered a surprising way to study the harsh space weather around young M dwarf stars. Mysterious dips in starlight turned out to be massive rings of plasma swirling in the stars’ magnetic fields. These structures act like built-in space weather monitors, revealing how energetic particles affect nearby planets. The findings could reshape how we think about whether planets around these common stars can survive—or even host life.

A star you can see with the naked eye has kept astronomers guessing for decades with its unusually powerful X-rays. Now, thanks to highly precise observations from Japan’s XRISM space telescope, scientists have finally uncovered the source: a hidden white dwarf companion pulling in material and generating extreme heat. This discovery not only solves a 50-year-old mystery surrounding Gamma Cassiopeiae, but also confirms the existence of a long-predicted type of binary star system.

Astronomers have narrowed down the cosmic search for life, identifying fewer than 50 rocky planets among thousands of known exoplanets that may have the right conditions to support life. Using new data from ESA’s Gaia mission and NASA archives, researchers pinpointed worlds in the “habitable zone,” where temperatures could allow liquid water to exist. Some of the most intriguing targets include nearby systems like TRAPPIST-1 and Proxima Centauri, offering tantalizing possibilities just dozens of light-years away.

Astronomers have finally cracked a decades-old mystery about red giant stars—how material from their deep interiors makes its way to the surface. Using cutting-edge supercomputer simulations, researchers discovered that stellar rotation plays a powerful role in mixing elements across a previously unexplained barrier inside the star.

For the first time, scientists have reconstructed the full history of a galaxy outside the Milky Way using chemical clues. By analyzing oxygen across NGC 1365 and comparing it with simulations, they traced its growth over 12 billion years. The findings show how its core formed early while its outer regions were built through repeated mergers. This new approach could transform how astronomers study galaxy evolution.

Astronomers have uncovered surprising evidence of a thick atmosphere surrounding TOI-561 b, a scorching, fast-orbiting rocky planet once thought too extreme to hold onto any gas. Using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, researchers found the planet is far cooler than expected for a bare rock, hinting at a heat-distributing atmosphere above a churning magma ocean. This strange world—where a year lasts just over 10 hours and one side is locked in eternal daylight—may even be rich in volatile materials, behaving like a “wet lava ball.”