NASA ends Swift space telescope mission after failed rescue attempt
NASA has officially ended the mission of its Swift Observatory, after a private satellite failed to meet up with the aging spacecraft in orbit.
'Donnie Darko' at 25: How a giant rabbit, time loops, and teen angst became a sci-fi cult classic
"28 days, 6 hours, 42 minutes, 12 seconds. That is when the world will end."
Stuck for a Halloween outfit? Set phasers to stunning with the best Star Trek costumes
Halloween is just round the corner, but if you hurry, you can beam down these superb Star Trek outfits, from old-school Star Trek through to The Next Generation and Discovery.
Clouds on a lava planet challenge what astronomers expected
A rocky lava planet once thought to be too extreme to have an atmosphere appears to be wrapped in one with a reflective layer of vaporized silicate mineral clouds, the same family…
NASA Invites Media to Moon Landing Simulation Experience in California
Members of the media are invited to tour a new lunar landing simulator at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California's Silicon Valley on Thursday, Oct. 29, and Friday, Oct. 30.
Laser-blasted plasma shows how instabilities could heat the sun's corona
From its visible surface, the sun radiates heat at a relatively cool temperature of 5,800 Kelvin. Yet within the thin outer layer of the sun's atmosphere known as the corona, elec…
Record breaker! Astronomers spot powerful cosmic explosion that lasted 27 days
Astronomers have spotted a remarkable gamma-ray burst that's a real Incredible Hulk compared to other cosmic explosions of the same type.
SpaceX ignites giant Super Heavy booster engines ahead of daring Starship launch (video)
SpaceX conducted a static-fire test with its Super Heavy boosters B22 on Sunday (Oct. 25), beginning a test campaign to ready the giant rocket for Starship's Flight Test 15.
NASA’s X-59 Aircraft and Test Pilot
NASA test pilot Mike Lippert poses for a photo ahead of his first time flying the agency’s X-59 quiet supersonic research aircraft on Oct. 21, 2026. The X-59 has flown numerous ti…
Stellar collisions may have been common when the universe was young
In our solar system's corner of the galaxy, stars rarely collide. It makes sense: Space is vast, and stars have room to roam. Even in most of the present-day universe, stellar col…
Glowing 'cauldron' of new stars | Space photo of the day for Oct. 26, 2026
The James Webb Space Telescope captured a spectacular star-forming region glowing 161,000 light-years from Earth in a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way.
NASA, USDA Sign Agreement Advancing Earth Science, Agriculture
NASA and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding expanding cooperation in Earth observation, geospatial analytics, and advanced data te…
JWST and ALMA reveal a dusty, rapidly growing black hole in the early universe
A new study reveals a dust-reddened quasar from a time when the universe was less than a billion years old. Located at a redshift of 6.5488, the object J1440+0019 contains a rapid…
Rubin telescope should find more of Earth's mysterious 'mini-moons' — including some we can study up close
Earth’s tiny, temporary moons could become some of the easiest asteroid targets for future missions. And we'll likely find more of them soon, thanks to the Rubin telescope.
October full 'Hunter's Moon' dazzles in spectacular photos from around the world
Feast your eyes on the best photos of October's full 'Hunter's Moon'.
FAST and Arecibo point to possible dark galaxy with vast hydrogen reservoir
Astronomers have found a vast reservoir of hydrogen with something conspicuously missing: detectable starlight. The object, called AGC 322753, contains roughly 2 billion times the…
'More missions, more often': NASA is overhauling how it selects science missions
NASA is overhauling how it selects and develops science missions, with changes intended to reduce costs, streamline competition and get missions into space faster.
2026 October 26 – M42: The Great Nebula in Orion
APOD Science APOD 2026 October 26 – M42: The… Today’s APOD Archive Submissions Index Search Calendar RSS Education About Discuss APOD Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the c…
2026 October 26 – M42: The Great Nebula in Orion
APOD Science APOD 2026 October 26 – M42: The… Today’s APOD Archive Submissions Index Search Calendar RSS Education About Discuss APOD Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the c…
Hunting Red Leaves with Satellites
A modern satellite makes it possible to pursue the ancient tradition of leaf-peeping in a whole new way.
Lumina simulation brings the early universe to life on a record-breaking scale
The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) and Nancy Roman Space Telescope are revealing the universe's earliest chapters in detail. To help astronomers understand what they are seeing…
Milky Way's disk grew 'upside down,' with younger stars forming in ever-thinner layers
The Milky Way is home to hundreds of billions of stars arranged in a glorious spiral pattern. But beyond the obvious spiral, our galaxy has other physical characteristics. It's di…
On this day in space! Oct. 25, 1671: Astronomer Giovanni Cassini discovers Iapetus, Saturn's 'yin-yang' moon
On Oct. 25, 1671, the Italian astronomer Giovanni Cassini discovered a new moon at Saturn! Here's why it mattered.
October's 'Hunter's Moon' stalks into the autumn sky tonight: Here's what you need to know
The October full moon rises on Oct. 25. Here's how to see it, why it's called the "Hunter's Moon" and everything else you need to know about the lunar milestone.