Cosmic rays, or astroparticles, are a means through which astronomers can explore the Universe. These charged particles, which are mostly protons and the nuclei of atoms stripped of their electrons, travel through space at close to the speed of light. By tracing them back to their sources, scientists can learn more about the forces that have shaped the Solar System and the Milky Way galaxy at large. When cosmic rays reach Earth, most are deflected by Earth's magnetosphere, but some manage to penetrate our atmosphere and reach the surface.
Space News & Blog Articles
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A mystery object is dimming a distant star. Could it be a massive exoplanet, or a 'failed star'?
A mysterious object has caused a long-lasting and extreme dimming of a distant star, but is this object a 'failed star' brown dwarf, or an exceptionally massive super-Jupiter exoplanet?
Has 'Star Trek: Starfleet Academy' just unleashed its very own Khan?
After an inauspicious debut, Paul Giamatti's space pirate has emerged as a villain to be reckoned with on 'Star Trek: Starfleet Academy.'
Excited for The Mandalorian and Grogu later this year? Walmart is offering an Exclusive preorder price for the Lego New Republic X-Wing Starfighter set
If you're a fan of Lego Star Wars and are excited for The Mandalorian and Grogu, you'll want to build Walmart's exclusive New Republic X-Wing Starfighter set.
Markiplier's 'Iron Lung' is a welcome return to grindhouse sci-fi films of the '90s
YouTube's superstar serves up a disturbing indie thriller bathed in blood for his directorial debut
Artemis 2 rocket photobombs SpaceX Crew-12 | Space photo of the day for Feb. 13, 2026
One to orbit, one to the moon.
If the Winter Olympics went interplanetary, where else could you ski in the solar system?
We take a look at the best (and worst) places to ski in the solar system, logistics aside.
No Sign of Gravitational Waves From Single Supermassive Black Hole Binaries Yet
The universe is a big place, and tracking down some of the more interesting parts of it is tricky. Some of the most interesting parts of it, at least from a physics perspective, are merging black holes, so scientists spend a lot of time trying to track those down. One of the most recent attempts to do so was published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters by the North American Nanohertz Observatory for Gravitational Waves (NANOGrav) collaboration. While they didn’t find any clear-cut evidence of continuous gravitational waves from merging black hole systems, they did manage to point out plenty of false alarms, and even disprove some myths about ones we thought actually existed.
The First Solar Eclipse of 2026 Sweeps Across the Antarctic Tuesday
An annular eclipse crosses windswept remote Antarctica, heralding the first eclipse season of 2026.
Why solar and lunar eclipses come in pairs — and what an eclipse season really is
Eclipses don't happen at random — they arrive in pairs, on schedule, and 2026 brings two spectacular seasons to prove it.
Highlights of Sophie Adenot’s launch to the ISS
Video: 00:02:15
Watch the highlights of the launch of ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot to the International Space Station (ISS) on Crew-12. A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Space Launch Complex 40 at NASA’s Kennedy Space Centre in Florida, USA, on Friday 13 February 2026 at 10:15 GMT/11:15 CET (5:15 local time).
SpaceX launches Crew-12 astronauts to short-staffed International Space Station. 'We have left the Earth, but the Earth has not left us.'
SpaceX launched NASA's Crew-12 mission with a quartet of astronauts aboard Crew Dragon Freedom today (Feb. 13), bound for an eight-month stint on the International Space Station.
Satellite megaconstellations continue to grow. Could their debris fall on us?
As more satellite megaconstellations continue to be launched, researchers are exploring the odds people could be struck by falling debris from reentering spacecraft.
Launch of Crew-12 to the ISS
Video: 00:02:36
Watch the liftoff of ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot to the International Space Station (ISS), aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at NASA’s Kennedy Space Centre. Sophie flies as mission specialist. The other Crew-12 members are NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, respectively commander and pilot of the mission, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrei Fedyaev, mission specialist.
This Week's Sky at a Glance, February 13 – 22
Three planets await in the western twilight, though low Venus is a toughie. The crescent Moon passes them and, for the lucky, occults Mercury. After dark, Dog and Hare accompany Orion. And try for Kemble's Cascade.
How Wood Records the Sun’s Most Violent Outbursts
Somewhere around the year 774 CE, the Sun erupted with extraordinary violence. High energy particles slammed into Earth’s atmosphere, triggering nuclear reactions that produced radioactive carbon-14. Trees across the planet absorbed this carbon and locked it into their wood, preserving a record of that ancient solar storm that scientists can still read today.
Earth from Space: Sending love from above
Image: For Valentine’s Day, the Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission sends love from space, capturing the heart-shaped oasis of Faiyum, just south of Cairo, Egypt.
Watch the Young Moon Greet Mercury at Sunset
On February 18th, the willowy crescent has a close shave with Mercury, so close that it occults the planet from some U.S. cities.
Sediment Cores Track Timing Hiccups in Earth's Magnetic Field Flips
Every so often (in geologic time) Earth's magnetic field does a flip. The north and south magnetic poles gradually trade places in a phenomenon called a geomagnetic reversal. Scientists long thought this happened every ten thousand years or so. However, new evidence from deep ocean cores show that at least two ancient reversals didn't follow that script. One took about 18,000 years to flip and the other took 70,000 years. Such lengthy time lapses could have seriously affected Earth's atmospheric chemistry, climate, and evolution of life forms during the Eocene period of geologic history.
Astronomers Discover Second Failed Supernova Candidate
Astronomers might have spotted a star in the Andromeda Galaxy collapsing directly into a black hole, without the accompanying fanfare of a supernova.
