Astronomy / Space

Data from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, James Webb Space Telescope, and Hubble Space Telescope are combined to produce an eye-catching view of a young neighbor, Westerlund 1. The image could help astronomers understand more about star formation in the region.

Scientists have just solved the mystery surrounding satellites that suddenly stopped working. And their work could help improve these devices in the years to come.

Faced with the threat posed by asteroid 2024 YR4, NASA wants to blow it up with nuclear charges. But this is a colossal challenge, and space agencies must embark on a race against time.

ESA’s Euclid mission has released the Flagship 2 simulation, a virtual universe of 3.4 billion galaxies, enabling researchers to test tools, study cosmic structures, and explore dark matter and energy.

While the universe holds many surprises, Venus could well be hiding a major threat to Earth. And many scenarios are already being considered in order to avoid any catastrophe.

SpaceX is now trying to extract an additional stream of income from one and the same customer by offering a free Starlink Mini dish that means signing up for the Roam plan. The deal goes to those Australian subscribers who have been with the Residential plan service for more than a year.

ESCAPADE is preparing for launch. The mission will use two identical spacecraft to study Mars’ magnetosphere. The data from this study will help protect astronauts and equipment during future missions to the Red Planet.

Although the United States is the main actor in space exploration, China is catching up. And it could even become the first country to establish a base on the Moon by 2035.

Hubble observes galaxy NGC 2775, and the image is featured as its picture of the week. The galaxy’s appearance leaves a puzzling question for scientists. Is it a spiral galaxy, an elliptical galaxy, or neither?

Saturn also has an equinox, and recently the natural satellite Titan made its transit around this planet, offering a breathtaking spectacle that is only repeated every fifteen years.

With the Starlink subscriber count increasing exponentially, there have already been two major satellite Internet service outages. Now Starlink wants to log all the disruptions and local network events to help troubleshoot video call or gaming session hiccups.

The Moon is often seen as a dry, airless world where rust shouldn’t exist. Yet scientists have found the opposite – and surprisingly, Earth seems to be the reason behind it.

NASA’s VIPER (Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover) set to land on the Moon aboard a private-owned robotic lander in late 2027. VIPER will support future human Moon missions by searching for volatile resources, like ice, on the Moon.

Chinese researchers have decided to study Trappist-1 with the Fast Radio Telescope in order to discover potential traces of life. And other studies are planned using other methods.

Data from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory has revealed a supermassive black hole with tremendous growth, like nothing ever seen before. This discovery is not only epic, but it could pave the way for scientists to gain insight into how black holes are born.

During October 2025, the night sky could hold some wonderful surprises with two comets that will be visible. But beware, as specific conditions will be required to observe them.

SpaceX has revealed how it plans to build the biggest 5G network in space that can beam data to any cell phone on Earth, wherever it may roam. Starlink is also working with mobile chipset makers to integrate a dedicated satellite Internet modem fit for the purpose.

NASA’s Deep Space Optical Communications (DSOC) recently sent and received laser-encoded data from a location 218 million miles away from Earth. This technology demonstration project has opened up a future where deep space missions can send data to and from Earth faster and with high quality.

Many cosmic events occur every year. And recently, an asteroid measuring several hundred meters passed close to the Earth, enabling scientists to study its composition.

Not one. Not two. But 26 ultra-sensitive cameras. ESA’s Plato is equipped with 26 ultra-sensitive cameras to carry out a search for other habitable worlds like Earth.

The space is full of mysteries, and many discoveries are made every year, much to the delight of enthusiasts. And soon, according to scientists, a supernova could be visible in the sky.

Phones like the Google Pixel 10 can already get direct signal from Starlink's D2C satellite constellation. For the upcoming Starlink 5G network service, however, SpaceX is developing a dedicated chip for all phones.

For the latest NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope Picture of the Week, we are treated to details of the very active star-cluster-filled center of the Messier 82 galaxy. Researchers could use this image to understand how massive star clusters form and evolve.

Starlink announced its second global outage in the span of a few weeks, bringing service down from the Midwest to the frontline in Ukraine. Last time, Starlink was down due to a feature upgrade of its terrestrial network of distribution gateways.

Starlink has massively discounted the Standard dish and Residential plans for new users in select US states. The new promo allows Residential users to save up to $992 a year.

A new satellite — Sentinel-6B — will provide information that will help ships avoid these dangers. The satellite will track sea levels, wind speeds, and more. The new satellite is the result of a collaboration between NASA and three other organizations.

There is a 90% chance humanity could detect an explosion of a primordial black hole within the next decade, possibly shedding light on particle physics and confirming early universe theories.

A butterfly-shaped coronal hole on the Sun is sending fast solar wind expected to reach Earth by September 14. It can potentially cause G1-G2 geomagnetic storms and auroras at high latitudes during the equinox boost.

The astronomy world is buzzing about NASA's strongest hint of ancient life on Mars. But amid the excitement, two senior officials made glaring errors so big they defy the known age and size of the cosmos. Here is what everyone missed.

NASA’s Perseverance rover picked up samples from a location in Jezero crater last year. Scientists now believe this sample could provide evidence that Mars once had life on it.

NASA’s Perseverance rover just began a systematic exploration of rocks at Scotiafjellet. These rocks are expected to be the oldest rocks the rover will ever get to study. They could serve as a time capsule into Mars’ early history.

SpaceX rolled out new firmware to the existing Starlink satellite Internet ground bases to prepare them for its gigabit network arrival. The update glitched and sent caused a major Starlink connectivity outage, but users started noticing increased download speeds afterward that may now become the new normal.

Starlink is preparing to become the preeminent direct-to-cell satellite connectivity provider, with more than 100x the current capacity of the data that reaches T-Mobile and other phones. The new V3 satellites will take advantage of a multi-billion spectrum purchase from Echostar.

The Large Magellanic Cloud is a dwarf galaxy located 160,000 light-years away in the constellations Dorado and Mensa. It is the largest of the dwarf galaxies that orbit the Milky Way. Within it is N11 — the galaxy’s second-largest star-forming region.

The James Webb Space Telescope has zoomed in on a sparkling scene about 5,500 light-years away from us in the constellation Scorpius. In this scene are thousands of young, extremely hot stars — some almost 8 times hotter than the Sun.

NASA and its partners are preparing to launch a resupply mission that will carry over 11,000 pounds (about 5 metric tons) of supplies. Among these supplies are materials for research that could revolutionize several aspects of science, including cancer treatment.

NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission collected samples from the small asteroid Bennu. Scientists traced the samples to the pre-solar system era to discover how and from what the sample matter was formed.

Amazon’s Project Kuiper has shown it can reach gigabit speeds in real-world testing, hitting 1,289 Mbps through its enterprise-grade terminal. With more than 100 satellites already in orbit and plans for thousands more, Amazon is racing to meet regulatory deadlines and close the gap with SpaceX’s Starlink.

JetBlue has partnered with Amazon’s Project Kuiper, Starlink’s rival, to bring satellite-powered Wi-Fi to its flights. The airline will be Kuiper’s first customer in aviation, with service beginning in 2027 and full deployment by 2028.

Thanks to Axiom Space and Red Hat, edge computing is now making its way to space. Known as AxDCU-1, the first orbital data center prototype is now being tested on the International Space Station. Instead of transmitting data to Earth for analysis, it crunches numbers locally and only sends down the results.

A team of Chinese researchers has proposed a solution to dirty laundry in space — a compact washing machine that uses an ultra-fine mist and ozone to clean clothes. This new device could reduce the weight of clothing needed for missions by over 60%.

Hubble’s image of NGC 7456 is the latest Hubble Picture of the Week. The galaxy has a lot going on in and around it, and Hubble has captured these activities in detail.

Starlink is carrying over some of the multiple promos it introduced earlier in the quarter, such as the 50% dish price reduction, into the month of September. It is also currently enticing former subscribers to come back to the satellite Internet service with free subscription offer.

The SpaceX undertaking of Elon Musk is winning the federal government's Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) program allocation with its offer of free Starlink Standard Kit. A recent change in broadband service definitions for rural areas paved the way for Starlink's federal subsidy success.

Using data from NASA’s InSight lander, researchers have discovered structures deep inside Mars’ interior. These giant lumps are serving as a time capsule to show us what happened to the planet 4.5 billion years ago.

Asteroid Apophis is projected to fly past Earth at close range in 2029. ESA, in collaboration with JAXA, is making preparations to observe Apophis’ reaction to Earth’s gravity and tidal forces as it passes by.

The James Webb Space Telescope has zoomed in on IRAS 04302+2247’s protoplanetary disk, about 525 light-years away from Earth. Scientists are using this observation to study the dust grains within the disk and how they can eventually give rise to planets.

NGC 6302 — also known as the Butterfly Nebula or Caldwell 69 — is known for having an elusive core, thanks to the warm dust cloud blocking it. Webb’s latest look at the nebula’s structure has helped scientists pierce into that cloud.

Google's Pixel 10 series and the 2025 crop of Samsung foldables have become the first phones to officially use the X app for sending messages without cellular coverage. Besides Google's Pixel phones, the first Starlink-powered tweeting is also available on the Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Z Flip 7.

NASA is calling for ground station operators to help track the crewed Artemis II Moon mission, a voluntary collaboration designed to test and understand commercial tracking capabilities for future deep space exploration.