They are known as "Hot Jupiters," massive gas giants that orbit very close to their stars. As a result, they have very short orbital periods (less than a day in some cases) and experience extreme temperatures of up to 1,650 °C (3,000 °F). In fact, these planets are superheated to the point that minerals become vaporized and form clouds in their atmospheres. While this class of planet is rare, accounting for about 500 of the more than 5,900 exoplanets confirmed to date, the existence of these planets has raised questions about our planetary formation models.
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Live coverage: ULA to launch Kuiper 2 mission on Atlas 5 rocket from Cape Canaveral
United Launch Alliance’s Atlas 5 rocket stands at Space Launch Complex 41 ahead of the planned launch of the Kuiper 2 mission for Amazon on Sunday, June 15, 2025. Image: Adam Bernstein/Spaceflight Now
It’s round two for both United Launch Alliance and its customer, Amazon. Monday, June 23, will be ULA’s second Atlas 5 launch of the year and the second batch of Amazon’s Project Kuiper satellites launched to date.
How to capture drone imagery at night
Learn how to capture drone photos and videos at night with our comprehensive guide.
Elon Musk promises more risky launches after sixth Starship failure
Is this setting a new precedent for the future of spaceflight?
May 2024 solar storm cost $500 million in damages to farmers, new study reveals
GPS positions were off by up to 230 feet during the Gannon Solar Storm in May 2024 in a disruption that lasted for up to two days, a new study has revealed.
Royal Observatory Greenwich: The birthplace of modern astronomy turns 350
That's a lot of standard candles.
SpaceX’s Transporter 14 launch today will carry more than 150 capsules of DNA, human remains
Houston-based Celestis and The Exploration Company are teaming up to fly a memorial payload on SpaceX's Transporter 14 rideshare mission on Sunday (June 22).
The 2025 Bootid meteor shower peaks June 27: Here's what to expect
You'll need luck on your side to spot these shooting stars.
Live coverage: SpaceX to launch Falcon 9 rocket on Transporter-14 smallsat rideshare mission
A collection of 70 payloads manifested onto SpaceX’s Transporter-14 mission. Image: SpaceX
SpaceX is preparing for its fourth launch of the year as part of its dedicated smallsat rideshare program, which is set to liftoff from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Sunday.
There's a Link Between the Earth's Atmosphere and its Magnetic Field
Within Earth's interior, the molten material that makes up the outer core flows around the inner core in the opposite direction of the Earth's rotation. This "dynamo" is believed to be responsible for generating Earth's magnetosphere, the intrinsic magnetic field that shields life on the surface from harmful radiation. But since the flow of molten material in Earth's core isn't perfectly stable, the magnetosphere ebbs and flows over time. Scientists also theorize that this field prevents Earth's atmosphere from being slowly stripped away by charged solar particles (solar wind), which is believed to have been the case with Mars.
Live coverage: SpaceX to launch 27 Starlink satellites on Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral
File: A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket stands at Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Image: Adam Bernstein/Spaceflight Now
SpaceX is preparing to launch its 260th orbital flight from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in the predawn hours of Sunday.
Hommkiety Galaxy Projector review
This no-name galaxy projector has blown us away with its projection quality and interchangeable disks.
'Cocoon' at 40: Ron Howard's sci-fi smash is proof they don't make them like they used to
The beloved 'oldies and aliens' blockbuster is a movie out of sync with Hollywood norms.
World's 1st multimedia performance in microgravity will bring together Cirque du Soleil, National Geographic and NASA
Miami-based multimedia superstar Natasha Tsakos discusses this historic fall flight aboard Zero-G's 'G-Force One' aircraft.
This Week In Space podcast: Episode 166 — Live From the Swamps, ISDC 2025
On Episode 166 of This Week In Space, Rod Pyle and Tariq Malik broadcast live from the National Space Society's International Space Development Conference in Orlando.
Honda - Yes, Honda - Tests a Reusable Rocket
In what seemed to be a development that came from nowhere, there’s a new entrant into the reusable launch systems competition - Honda. The giant Japanese industrial conglomerate recently launched a prototype reusable rocket up to 300m and landed it safely back on Earth. So what does that mean for the reusable launch vehicle (RLV) industry and the future of inexpensive flights to orbit?
Nobel laureate concerned about AI-generated image of black hole at the center of our galaxy
Researchers used an AI model to create a new image of the black hole at the center of the Milky Way, with some concern from experts.
A spinning universe could crack the mysteries of dark energy and our place in the multiverse
The universe seems to be spinning, and that could explain what dark energy is and why it's weakening while revealing our place within the multiverse.
See the moon, Venus and the Pleiades make a celestial triangle in the predawn sky on June 22
The Pleiades, a crescent moon and Venus — what more could an astrophotographer want?
Superdense Star Factories Tell a Tale of Starbirth in the Early Universe
The early Universe was a busy place some 13 billion years ago. That's when countless young galaxies began to evolve and birthed stars at a prodigious rate. The hearts of those very distant galaxies show turbulent, lumpy disks studded with even thicker clumps of dust and gas that spawned their huge batches of stars. Astronomers want to understand what's driving the clumping, so they've turned to recent surveys of closer galaxies in the "local Universe" that contain similar lumpy regions.
NASA moon orbiter spies grave of crashed Japanese lunar lander (image)
NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) has imaged the crash site of Resilience, a moon lander built and operated by the Tokyo-based company ispace.
