Astronomers may have discovered the smallest and heaviest white dwarf star ever seen, a smoldering ember about the size of our moon but 450,000 times more massive than Earth, a new study finds.
Space News & Blog Articles
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OneWeb on the verge of commercial service after another successful launch
A Soyuz booster takes off from the Vostochny Cosmodrome Thursday with 36 OneWeb satellites. Credit: Roscosmos
A Russian Soyuz rocket and Fregat upper stage deployed 36 more OneWeb internet satellites into orbit Thursday, bringing the company’s fleet to 254 spacecraft, enough to start commercial service above 50 degrees latitude.
NASA preparing to switch glitchy Hubble Space Telescope to backup hardware if needed
As NASA continues to diagnose a computer glitch on the Hubble Space Telescope, engineers are preparing to turn on backup hardware.
Noctilucent Cloud Show, a Mercurial Nova, and More
Summer only lasts so long. Like everything, it's transient. That will be our theme as we explore wispy noctilucent clouds, a nova that can't sit still, and a supernova in NGC 5427 in Virgo.
The Cygnus spacecraft: Northrop Grumman's cargo ship
Information about Northrop Grumman's uncrewed Cygnus cargo vehicle.
To Take the Best Direct Images of Exoplanets With Space Telescopes, we’re Going to Want Starshades
Between 2021 and 2024, the James Webb (JWST) and Nancy Grace Roman (RST) space telescopes will be launched to space. As the successors to multiple observatories (like Hubble, Kepler, Spitzer, and others), these missions will carry out some of the most ambitious astronomical surveys ever mounted. This will range from the discovery and characterization of extrasolar planets to investigating the mysteries of Dark Matter and Dark Energy.
Astronomers Detected a Black Hole-Neutron Star Merger, and Then Another Just 10 Days Later
The interior of a neutron star is perhaps the strangest state of matter in the universe. The material is squeezed so tightly that atoms collapse into a sea of nuclear material. We still aren’t sure whether nucleons maintain their integrity in this state, or whether they dissolve into quark matter. To really understand neutron star matter we need to pull it apart to see how it works and to do that takes a black hole. This is why astronomers are excited about the recent discovery of not one, but two mergers between a neutron star and a black hole.
Canada–US heatwave
Image: The heatwave now hitting parts of western Canada and the US has been particularly devastating. This Copernicus Sentinel-3 image shows land surface temperature.
Blue Origin will fly female aviator Wally Funk, one of the Mercury 13, on 1st crewed launch
Aviator Wally Funk wanted to be an astronaut in the earliest days of spaceflight. Sixty years later, she'll finally go to space with Blue Origin on July 20.
UAE's Hope Mars orbiter spots elusive aurora on Red Planet
The United Arab Emirates' (UAE) Hope Mars mission made its first major finding just a couple months after arriving at the Red Planet when it snagged unprecedented observations of a tricky aurora.
Return of the Star Parties
As many states roll back COVID restrictions, stargazers across the continent are excited to meet up with old and new friends at their favorite observing sites.
Webb passes key launch clearance review
The international James Webb Space Telescope has passed the final mission analysis review for its launch on an Ariane 5 rocket from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana.
Many nearby Earth-size exoplanets could be hiding in plain sight
The universe is populated with stars that live in pairs, and these systems could mean double trouble for scientists wanting to find Earth-like planets.
On its first try, China's Zhurong rover hit a Mars milestone that took NASA decades
China's Zhurong rover landed safely on Mars on May 15, making China only the third country to successfully land a rover on the red planet.
Mars methane mystery may be starting to clear up
Scientists now seem to understand why the gas has been detected at ground level on Mars but not higher up in the air.
Arianespace Soyuz rocket will launch 36 OneWeb internet satellites today. Watch it live!
Arianespace will launch 36 OneWeb broadband satellites into orbit today (July 1), and you can watch it live.
Live coverage: Soyuz poised to launch 36 more OneWeb internet satellites
Live coverage of the countdown and launch of a Russian Soyuz rocket from the Vostochny Cosmodrome with 36 OneWeb broadband satellites. Text updates will appear automatically below. Follow us on Twitter.
July: Inner Planets Rule!
True darkness is fleeting in July, especially at higher latitudes. So make the most of the darkness you have, by downloading our narrated Sky Tour podcast to "what's up" in the night sky.
Night sky, July 2021: What you can see this month [maps]
Find out what's up in your night sky during July 2021 and how to see it in this Space.com stargazing guide.
Best night sky events of July 2021 (stargazing maps)
See what's up in the night sky for July 2021, including stargazing events and the moon's phases, in this Space.com gallery courtesy of Starry Night Software.
Satellites launched to boost connectivity and create jobs
Three more nano-satellites have been launched as part of ESA’s efforts to boost the European space industry, fostering innovation and creating jobs.
