The great Halley's Comet disappointment of 1986 — and the discoveries that changed astronomy forever
What disappointed skywatchers in 1986 became a scientific triumph, as an international fleet of spacecraft revealed the secrets of the world's most famous comet.
Vera Rubin Observatory spots the largest ultra-fast spinning asteroid yet
The speed of an asteroid's spin can tell astronomers a surprising amount about what it is made of. However, existing approaches to measuring spin based on telescope observations c…
NASA Science, Cargo Launch on 35th SpaceX Resupply Mission to Station
NASA’s SpaceX 35th commercial resupply mission lifted off at 6:33 a.m. EDT Tuesday aboard a Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in F…
A faint glow from the early universe could help solve the mystery of dark energy
Hydrogen may be the most common element in the cosmos, but scientists could use it to do something unique: uncover the nature of dark energy.
APOD: 2026 October 13 – Desert Stairway to Heaven
APOD Science APOD APOD: 2026 October 13 –… Today’s APOD Archive Submissions Index Search Calendar RSS Education About Discuss APOD Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosm…
An Impact Structure With Legs
If the thought of extraterrestrial objects crashing into Earth weren’t creepy enough, behold Australia’s Spider Crater.
SpaceX launches Falcon 9 Starlink mission for 1st time in more than 3 weeks (photo)
SpaceX launched 27 of its Starlink broadband satellites to orbit today (Oct. 12), the first such mission for a Falcon 9 rocket since Sept. 19.
SpaceX launching 6,300 pounds of cargo to the ISS on Oct. 13: Watch it live
SpaceX will launch more than 3 tons of cargo toward the International Space Station on Tuesday morning (Oct. 13), and you can watch the action live.
Astronomers witness supermassive black hole gorge on a cosmic meal before 'burping' radio jets 300 days later
Using the NASA spacecraft Swift, astronomers observed a supermassive black hole burping radio jets 300 days after a heavy cosmic meal.
Primordial helium further confirms our understanding of the Big Bang
In the early moments of the big bang, two elements were forged: hydrogen and helium. Technically, the tiniest traces of light elements such as lithium were produced as well, but n…
NASA demonstrates next-generation heat shield technologies
NASA is taking an unusual approach to testing heat shields that can keep astronauts safe as they return from missions to the moon and Mars: taking out the trash.
The moon could turn astronauts into 'walking, high voltage capacitors' that accidentally zap spacecraft
NASA is asking for ideas to stop static electricity from zapping astronauts or critical hardware during moon missions.
NASA’s SpaceX CRS-35 Mission to Launch Health Research
NASA experiments focused on human and plant health and drug-resistant organisms will travel to the International Space Station aboard SpaceX’s 35th Commercial Resupply Services mi…
Alternative gravity theory offers possible explanation for dark energy changing over time
For many years, the simplest view of dark energy has been that it remains unchanged. Throughout cosmic history, the mysterious ingredient believed to drive the universe's accelera…
The dying sun could tear the solar system apart sooner than thought
The fate of our solar system is written in the stars—well, one star to be precise: the sun. Estimates of what the end will look like once the sun sheds much of its mass and ultima…
Physics Nobel highlights Antarctica's role in exploring the cosmos
When Belgian American particle physicist Francis Halzen was awarded the 2026 Nobel Prize in physics "for decisive contributions to the IceCube Neutrino Observatory and the discove…
The 'Halloween Fireballs' are coming. Here's what to expect from the Taurids this year
The Southern and Northern Taurid meteor showers will produce occasional bright, slow-moving meteors worldwide during October and November, with moon-free peaks in 2026.
ALMA catches a dying star mid-transformation, with a ring from its last outburst
Astronomers have used radio observations from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) to catch a dying star in the middle of a dramatic transformation, and the dat…
On this day in space! Oct. 12, 1964: The Soviet Union launches Voskhod 1, the 1st multi-person cosmonaut crew, into space
On Oct. 12, 1964, the Soviet Union launched Voskhod 1, a 24-hour crewed mission that achieved several "firsts" for human spaceflight. Here's why it mattered.
The Preliminary Lunar Science Report for Artemis II is out
On April 1, 2026, the crew of the Artemis II mission launched into space atop NASA's Space Launch System (SLS). Roughly 3 1/2 hours after launch, the rocket's upper stage separate…
How the impossible geometry of 'Tomb Raider III''s UFO level was made
Bigger on the inside? Where have we heard that before?
Namibian salt flats look like an alien planet | Space photo of the day for Oct. 12, 2026
The Etosha Pan in northern Namibia, the largest salt flat in the country, looks otherworldly in this satellite photo.
What caused a mysterious atmospheric explosion in Siberia in 1908?
Fire erupted in the morning skies over Siberia on June 30, 1908, as an atmospheric explosion occurred that remains unmatched by any similar event in modern history.
UAE unveils lander for bold 7-asteroid mission set to launch in 2028 (photos)
In March 2028, the UAE is set to launch an ambitious mission to the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter that will culminate with a landing attempt on a mysteriously reddish spa…