Scientists have discovered one of the oldest planetary graveyards in the Milky Way: a cool white dwarf "polluted" with rocky debris.
Space News & Blog Articles
Earth will warm beyond 'safe' threshold, but we may have time to cool it down
The world will warm beyond the 1.5 degrees Celsius threshold set out to avoid the worst consequences of climate change but can cool back down if timely action is taken, scientists say.
Tropical Storm Nicole batters Florida as NASA's Artemis 1 moon rocket rides out storm
Tropical Storm Nicole continues to batter Florida where NASA's Artemis 1 moon rocket waits on the launch pad.
NASA's inflatable flying saucer aces Mars heat shield reentry test
LOFTID soared into space and back again Thursday (Nov. 10), safely splashing down in the Pacific Ocean on a crucial test of aeroshell technology for eventual human Mars missions.
Woohoo! JWST's Mid-Infrared Instrument is Fully Operational Again
Engineers with the James Webb Space Telescope have figured out a way to work around a friction issue that arose with the telescopes’ Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI). The team is now planning to resume observations with the instrument’s medium resolution spectrometry (MRS) mode, which has not been used since August.
Euclid completes thermal vacuum testing
Video: 00:05:17
At the Thales Alenia Space test facility in Cannes, France, the massive door of the thermal vacuum chamber was opened after a month of rigorous testing of ESA’s Euclid mission to explore the dark Universe. In Cannes the fully integrated spacecraft was subjected to the conditions of space and its subsystems were fully tested for the first time. With the Euclid space telescope, scientists hope to learn more about dark matter and dark energy which could make up more than 95% of our Universe.
'Andor' composer Nicholas Britell conjures up 'Star Wars' magic with soundtrack (exclusive)
An exclusive interview with "Andor's" acclaimed composer Nicholas Britell
NASA laser reflector for ESA satnav on Lunar Pathfinder
NASA has delivered a retroreflector array to ESA that will allow the Lunar Pathfinder mission to be pinpointed by laser ranging stations back on Earth as it orbits the Moon. Such centimetre level laser measurements will serve as an independent check on the spacecraft as it fixes its position using Galleo and GPS signals from an unprecedented 400 000 km away from Earth – proving the concept of lunar satnav while also relaying telecommunications ahead of ESA’s dedicated Moonlight initiative.
Tianzhou 4 cargo spacecraft undocks from China's Tiangong space station (video)
The Tianzhou 4 cargo spacecraft undocked from China’s Tiangong space station on Nov. 9 and will soon burn up in Earth's atmosphere after completing its mission.
Black hole announces itself to astronomers by violently ripping apart a star
A distant intermediate black hole has signaled its presence to researchers by blasting out intense radiation as it ripped apart an unfortunate star that wandered too close to it.
Rocket Lab will launch its 1st mission from US soil on Dec. 7
Rocket Lab is targeting Dec. 7 for its first-ever liftoff from U.S. soil, a mission that will inaugurate the company's Launch Complex 2 in Virginia.
Powerful JPSS-2 weather satellite launches on final Atlas V mission from West Coast
An Atlas V lifted off early Thursday morning (Nov. 10) carrying the JPSS-2 weather satellite and an inflatable heat shield demonstrator to orbit.
Live coverage: Countdown begins for final Atlas launch from California
Live coverage of the countdown and launch of an Atlas 5 rocket with the JPSS 2 weather satellite for NOAA, and the Low-Earth Orbit Flight Test of an Inflatable Decelerator, or LOFTID, re-entry tech demo experiment for NASA and United Launch Alliance. Text updates will appear automatically below. Follow us on Twitter.
NASA TV's launch broadcast
Clean feed of Atlas 5 launch countdown
Watch live: NASA’s moon rocket riding out Hurricane Nicole on the launch pad
Live coverage of pre-launch preparations for NASA’s Artemis 1 mission. Text updates will appear automatically below; there is no need to reload the page. Follow us on Twitter.
SFN Live
The Case of the “Missing Exoplanets”
Today, the number of confirmed exoplanets stands at 5,197 in 3,888 planetary systems, with another 8,992 candidates awaiting confirmation. The majority have been particularly massive planets, ranging from Jupiter and Neptune-sized gas giants, which have radii about 2.5 times that of Earth. Another statistically significant population has been rocky planets that measure about 1.4 Earth radii (aka. “Super-Earths”). This presents a mystery to astronomers, especially where the exoplanets discovered by the venerable Kepler Space Telescope are concerned.
Fly around a home on Mars in this exclusive clip from the sci-fi series 'Circuit Breakers' on Apple TV+
In this exclusive clip from the new Apple TV+ anthology series "Circuit Breakers," a girl and her family face an oncoming storm at their home on Mars.
Watch Atlas V rocket launch powerful JPSS-2 weather satellite early Thursday
The JPSS-2 weather satellite and LOFTID landing-tech demonstrator are scheduled to lift off early Thursday morning (Nov. 10), and you can watch the action live.
NASA's Artemis 1 moon rocket boosters could expire in December, launch or not
As the launch date for NASA's Artemis 1 moon mission continues to get pushed back due to glitches and storms, a deadline for its solid rocket boosters is quickly approaching.
Sea levels might rise much faster than thought, data from Greenland suggest
Greenland's largest ice sheet is thawing at a much higher rate than expected, a new study has revealed, suggesting it will add six times more water to rising sea levels than previously thought.
Chipping Away at the Great Attractor Mystery. Another Galaxy Cluster Found Behind the Milky Way’s Disk
Something huge lurks in the shadows of the Universe. Known as the Great Attractor, it is causing the Milky Way and all the surrounding galaxies to rush towards it. We would normally have a better understanding of this situation, except for the fact that the Great Attractor happens to lie in the direction behind the galactic bulge, which makes it difficult for us to observe. A team of astronomers have performed a new infrared survey of the region behind the bulge, and they have found yet another large galaxy cluster. Their work is helping to paint a more complete portrait of the environment of the Great Attractor.