The Aurora Borealis and Australis have dazzled and inspired all those who have beheld them since time immemorial. Much like the Moon, stars, constellations, and planets, they are considered a permanent part of our shared cultural heritage. These awe-inspiring displays of light are the result of charged particles from our Sun interacting with Earth's magnetic field. However, there remain unanswered questions about the mechanisms that power aurorae that scientists have been hoping to resolve for decades. For example, there's the question of what powers the electrical fields that accelerate these particles.
Space News & Blog Articles
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The 10 best space and sci-fi Super Bowl commercials of all time
Ready for Super Sunday? Huddle up for our out-of-this-world roundup of Big Game ads for the ages
The stars of Orion's belt are 200,000 times brighter than our sun, and winter is the perfect time to see them
The Orion constellation is home to some of the most luminous stars in our Milky Way galaxy.
What Americans lose if their National Center for Atmospheric Research is dismantled
Five ways dismantling NCAR will cost the American people, and two ways to save it.
'The Black Hole' was Disney's original response to 'Star Wars'. What the hell were they thinking?
Trapped somewhere between the big ideas of "2001" and the fun of a galaxy far, far away, this 1979 movie is a true space oddity.
As China and the US vie for the moon, private companies are locked in their own space race
Falling launch costs and private innovation are fueling a new space race, transforming Earth orbit into a fast-growing global marketplace.
SpaceX test fires its Falcon 9 rocket ahead of midweek launch of Crew-12 to the space station
The nine Merlin 1D engines at the base of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket briefly ignited during a static fire test of the vehicle on Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026. This test was a precursor to the launch of Crew-12 to the International Space Station. Image: Adam Bernstein/Spaceflight Now
An early morning rocket engine test at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station brings NASA and SpaceX one step closer to flying the next long duration mission to the International Space Station.
SpaceX resumes Falcon 9 flights with Starlink satellite launch from California
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying 25 Starlink satellites launched from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Feb. 7, 2025. The mission returned the Falcon to flight after an upper stage issue.
SpaceX Crew-12 will Study How Microgravity Affects the Human Body
With the astronauts of the SpaceX Crew-12 mission safely home, NASA is moving ahead with preparations for the launch of the Crew-12 mission. The crew will launch for the International Space Station (ISS) no sooner than Wednesday, Feb. 11th. It will consist of NASA astronauts Jessica Meir (commander) and Jack Hathaway (pilot), ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot (mission specialist), and Russian cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev (mission specialist). Once they reach the ISS, select crew members will participate in human health studies designed to assess how astronauts' bodies adapt to long periods spent in space.
Are there Hidden Dimensions to the Universe? Part 1: Kaluza and Klein
This is Part 1 of a series on large extra dimensions.
Space.com headlines crossword quiz for week of Feb. 2, 2026: What type of object is C/2026 A1 (MAPS)?
Test your space smarts with our weekly crossword challenge, crafted from Space.com's biggest headlines.
The way Earth's surface moves has a bigger impact on shifting the climate than we knew
New research reveals the source of this carbon – and the driving forces behind it – are far more complex than previously thought.
This Week In Space podcast: Episode 196 — Becoming Martian!
On Episode 196 of This Week In Space, Rod Pyle and Tariq Malik talk with Scott Solomon, Rice Univeristy professor and researcher, about humanity's need to expand its presence into the solar system.
Silo vs Fallout: getting under the surface of TV's bunker-based hits
We're going deeper underground; there's too much panic in this town.
Will astronauts aboard the ISS get to watch Super Bowl LX?
There are only three astronauts currently aboard the ISS, and two are Russian. Even so, NASA has plans to make sure the big game will be beamed up to orbit.
Peak Design 7L sling bag review
Pare back what gear you take out with the Peak Design 7L sling bag
Live coverage: SpaceX to launch return to flight Falcon 9 mission following brief stand down
File: A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket stands ready to launch the Starlink 7-14 mission from Vandenberg Space Force Base. Image: SpaceX
SpaceX is set to launch its Falcon 9 rocket on a return to flight mission following a brief stand down period lasting less than a week.
Looking For Advanced Aliens? Search For Exoplanets With Large Coal Deposits
The combustible sedimentary rock, better known as coal, was not only crucial to the onset of advanced technology here on earth, but it should also be key to the development of advanced E.T.s residing on any given exoearth. Or so say the authors of a new paper just published in the International Journal of Astrobiology.
SpaceX's next astronaut launch for NASA is officially on for Feb. 11 as FAA clears Falcon 9 rocket to fly again
The FAA has cleared the Falcon 9 rocket to return to flight, freeing NASA and SpaceX to target Feb. 11 for the launch of the Crew-12 astronaut mission to the International Space Station.
Canadian Researchers Map the Milky Way's Magnetic Field
According to Einstein's Theory of General Relativity and the Standard Model of Cosmology, galaxies like the Milky Way are bound together by gravity and the mysterious mass known as Dark Matter. However, magnetic fields are also vital for maintaining galactic balance through a process known as Faraday rotation. This phenomenon, discovered by Michael Faraday in 1845, describes the magneto-optical effect in which polarized light rotates as it passes through a medium subjected to magnetic fields parallel to its path.
James Webb Space Telescope finds precursors to 'building blocks of life' in nearby galaxy
"We found an unexpected chemical complexity, with abundances far higher than predicted by current theoretical models."
