Week in images: 19-23 January 2026
We all know people that seem to defy aging and appear much younger than they actually are. This same phenomenon happens in astronomy, too. Some stars just don't seem to age the same way other stars do.
Space News & Blog Articles
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Earth from Space: Pantanal
Image: The Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission takes us at the Brazilian-Bolivian border over part of the Pantanal region, a unique ecosystem, home to an impressive variety of plants and wildlife.
Eastern Range ready for same day fueling of Space Launch System, Vulcan rockets
NASA’s Space Launch System rocket at Launch Complex 39B (left) and United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan rocket inside its Vertical Integration Facility (right): Image: NASA/Keegan Barber (left), United Launch Alliance (right)
February 2026 is shaping up to be a blockbuster month for launches from Florida’s Space Coast. In addition to a now regular cadence of Falcon 9 launches from SpaceX, Cape Canaveral is poised to see launches from Blue Origin, United Launch Alliance and potentially NASA via its Space Launch System rocket.
A black hole 'feeding frenzy' could help explain a cosmic mystery uncovered by the James Webb Space Telescope
"It is exciting to think that Little Red Dots may represent the first direct observational evidence of the birth of the most massive black holes in the universe."
Gazing Into The Eye Of Sauron With The JWST
We know what will happen to the Sun and our Solar System because we can look outward into the galaxy and examine older Sun-like stars in their evolutionary end states. Nothing lasts forever, including a star's hydrogen. Eventually, stars deplete their hydrogen fuel and leave the main sequence behind. Stars with masses similar to the Sun will first swell and turn red, then shed their outer layers. That's what we see when we gaze at older Sun-like stars.
'Vitus Reflux' may be the lowest stakes episode of 'Star Trek' ever. Luckily, it's also a lot of fun
Starfleet Academy's third mission is remarkably light on peril, but that isn't necessarily a problem
Cult sci-fi series 'Blake's 7' reboot in the works, helmed by 'The Last of Us' director Peter Hoar
‘Blake’s 7’ is heading back to deep space as Emmy-nominated director Peter Hoar launches a new indie studio and plans a reboot of the cult British sci-fi drama.
Vaonis Hestia smartphone-powered telescope review
The Vaonis Hestia, through clever means, turns your smartphone into a smart telescope.
Probing the Mysteries of the Solar Corona with ESA’s Proba-3
ESA’s flagship Proba-3 mission shows its stuff as an on-demand, eclipse producing machine.
Blue Origin launches 6 space tourists to the final frontier after last-minute crew swap (video)
Blue Origin launched six people to suborbital space today (Jan. 22). It was the 17th human spaceflight for the company, which was founded by Amazon's Jeff Bezos.
SpaceX launches 25 Starlink satellites into orbit from California (video)
SpaceX lit up the night sky over Vandenberg Space Force Base today (Jan. 22) with the launch of 25 more satellites for its Starlink broadband internet service.
James Webb Space Telescope discovers what remains after two stars collide and explode as a red nova
"Until now, it was unknown what type of star would remain after the merger."
Rocket Lab launches its 1st mission of 2026, sending 2 satellites to orbit
Rocket Lab launched its first mission of 2026 this morning (Jan. 22), sending two satellites aloft for the European company Open Cosmos.
Watch comet 3I/ATLAS race toward interstellar space in free livestream tonight
3I/ATLAS is the third interstellar visitor ever to visit the solar system having been formed around a distant star.
ISS astronaut spots Artemis 2 moon rocket on the launch pad from space (photo)
A NASA astronaut on the ISS captured the Space Launch System rocket for Artemis 2, a mission that aims to bring four astronauts around the moon as soon as Feb. 6.
Searching for newborn stars with CAFFEINE | Space photo of the day for Jan. 22, 2026
The Core And Filament Formation/Evolution In Natal Environments (CAFFEINE) survey is an "astronomer's best friend," according to the European Southern Observatory.
See a slender crescent moon shine with Saturn in the western sky tonight
The lunar crescent will disappear below the horizon before midnight on Jan. 22.
Watch Stellar Explosions Near and Far (Videos)
New videos from the Solar Orbiter and the Chandra X-ray Observatory capture magnetic avalanches on the Sun and the exploding remnants of a star 17,000 light-years away.
Mutations from Space Might Solve an Antibiotic Crisis
If humans are ever going to expand into space itself, it will have to be for a reason. Optimists think that reason is simply due to our love of exploration itself. But in history, it is more often a profit motive that has led humans to seek out new lands. So, it stands to reason that, in order for us to truly begin space colonization, we will have to have a business-related reason to do so. A new paper from the lab of Srivatsan Raman at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and recently published in PLOS Biology, describes one potential such business case - genetically modifying bacteriophages to attack antibiotic resistant bacteria.
iOptron 80mm White Light Solar Scope review
The iOptron 80mm scope is easy to use and suited to both white-light solar viewing and nighttime observations.
