China is preparing to make history with its upcoming Mars Sample Return mission, Tianwen-3, scheduled to launch in 2028. This ambitious project aims to collect Martian soil and rock samples and bring them back to Earth for detailed analysis, potentially answering one of humanity's most profound questions; has life ever existed on Mars?
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A Few Bright Buildings Light Up the Entire Night Sky
When millions of people turn off their lights for Earth Hour each year, something remarkable happens in the night sky above cities. A new piece of research from Hong Kong shows that just a small number of decorative buildings and advertising boards can dramatically brighten the entire urban night sky and when they go dark, the sky becomes up to 50% darker. The scientists studied 14 years of Earth Hour data from 2011 to 2024 in Hong Kong, using specialised light sensors to measure exactly how much the night sky changed when the city participated in the global lights out event.
Gravitational waves reveal most massive black hole merger ever detected — one 'forbidden' by current models
Gravitational wave detectors have "heard" the ripples in space caused by the most massive black hole merger yet. One "forbidden" by current theoretical models.
You can’t judge a star by its protoplanetary disc
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This image tells the story of redemption for one lonely star. The young star MP Mus (PDS 66) was thought to be all alone in the Universe, surrounded by nothing but a featureless band of gas and dust called a protoplanetary disc. In most cases, the material inside a protoplanetary disc condenses to form new planets around the star, leaving large gaps where the gas and dust used to be. These features are seen in almost every disc – but not in MP Mus’s.
Private Ax-4 astronauts heading back to Earth early July 14: Watch it live
The private Ax-4 astronaut mission will undock from the International Space Station on Monday morning (July 14), and you can watch the action live.
'Pebble' beaches around young stars join together to form planets
Planetary construction sites around other stars are filled with pebbles, and for the first time radio telescopes have detected these tiny chunks of rock that stick together to form planets.
Experts ask where the center of the universe is
With the universe constantly expanding, scientists have a hard time finding where its center is.
Feast your eyes on the shortlisted pics for the 2025 ZWO Astronomy Photographer of the Year Awards (photos)
The winners will be announced during a ceremony in September.
Earth may have at least 6 'minimoons' at any given time. Where do they come from?
"It is incredible that modern telescopic surveys have the ability to detect such small objects up to millions of kilometers away."
SpaceX launches mystery satellite to geostationary transfer orbit
SpaceX launched a mystery satellite to geostationary transfer orbit from Florida's Space Coast early Sunday morning (July 13).
SpaceX launches Israeli satellite on a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts of from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station to begin the Commercial GTO-1 mission, a flight for Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI). Image: Adam Bernstein/Spaceflight Now
SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket early Sunday carrying the Israeli Dror 1 satellite. The mission was initially shrouded in secrecy as the satellite’s manufacturer, Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), shunned any pre-launch publicity.
These are the Most Concerning Pieces of Space Debris
Tens of thousands of pieces of space debris are hurtling around Earth right now. These defunct satellites, spent rocket stages, collision fragments and even a toolbox threaten active spacecraft and could trigger cascading disasters that make space unusable for generations. Since removing just a single piece of debris can cost tens of millions of dollars, the critical question becomes which ones should we prioritise?
Hubble Images Used to Create a Beautiful Portrait of the Abell 209 Galaxy Cluster
The Hubble Space Telescope continues to observe the cosmos and deliver some of the most breathtaking views of astronomical objects ever taken. The telescope recently imaged Abell 209, a galaxy cluster located 2.8 billion light years away in the constellation Cetus. The picture was selected as the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope Picture of the Week, as it beautifully illustrates the galaxies that constitute it and the lensing effect it has surrounding space. The galaxies appear as brightly shining points in the image, emitting light that appears to take an oval shape, crowded around a particularly massive one.
Magnets Could Become the Next Generation of Gravitational Wave Detectors
Gravitational waves are tiny distortions in spacetime itself, created when massive objects like black holes or neutron stars collide. These waves stretch and compress space as they pass through, but the effect is incredibly subtle, far smaller than the width of a proton. When Einstein predicted gravitational waves over a century ago, he likely never imagined that magnets could one day detect these gravitational ripples. Yet new research led by Valerie Domcke from CERN reveals that magnetic systems can function as exceptionally sensitive gravitational wave detectors, offering a fresh approach to studying some of the universe's most violent events.
'Mycopunk' is what happens when 'Borderlands' gets a nasty fungal infection (Interview)
Robots take on a dangerous and world-consuming fungus in Mycopunk, a new co-op shooter set in outer space. We chatted to the developers about how the fungal menace was created.
This Week In Space podcast: Episode 168 — "Survivor: NASA"
On Episode 168 of This Week In Space, Rod Pyle and Tariq Malik jump into the headlines. including Sean Duffy being named interim NASA Administrator.
Who is Metamorpho, the shape-shifting miracle in James Gunn's 'Superman'?
This B-List DC Comics character is about to shine in the limelight of James Gunn's new superhero epic.
Inside New Brunswick's ambituous plan for the world's densest dark-sky corridor
Astrotourism is coming to Canada, thanks to an ambitious plan for a chain of six dark-sky sites along 100 miles of the spectacular Bay of Fundy coastline.
We've tested loads of space tech and these are the best Amazon Prime Day deals still available — star projectors, model rockets, drones and more
Amazon Prime Day 2025 is now over, but there are still plenty of space tech deals still available with discounts on model rockets, star projectors and drones.
Don't miss the stars of the Summer Triangle twinkling in the eastern sky this weekend
The Summer Triangle is a formation of stellar bodies called an asterism, made up of the bright stars Vega, Deneb and Altair.
Could asteroid mining actually work? Maybe if we start with impact sites on the moon
"Can humanity enjoy the benefits of both asteroid and lunar mining without compromise, or do we have to choose one at the expense of the other?"
