When it comes to cosmic eye candy, planetary nebulae are at the top of the candy bowl. Like fingerprints—or maybe fireworks displays—each one is different. What factors are at work to make them so unique from one another?
Space News & Blog Articles
Tune into the SpaceZE News Network to stay updated on industry news from around the world.
Environmental groups sue FAA over SpaceX Starship rocket
A coalition of environmental groups is suing the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, claiming the agency didn't fully analyze the environmental damage that SpaceX's Starship could cause.
A lunar eclipse happens on May 5. Here's what you need to know
The moon will darken but not completely disappear as it slips into Earth's outer shadow on Friday (May 5), creating a penumbral lunar eclipse.
Aliens Could Map Earth From its Mobile Phone Towers
Mobile phones are so ubiquitous that we typically don’t think about how they work. They just do, much to our benefit, and sometimes annoyance. But the key to their function is a vast array of radio transmission towers. These cell towers span a large percentage of Earth’s land surface, particularly in heavily populated areas, and they transmit microwave signals all the time. With all those cell towers emitting all those radio signals, a fun question to ask is whether those signals could be detected by an alien civilization.
I watched the moon 'take a bite of the sun' in a rare hybrid solar eclipse last week. Here's what I saw from Australia.
From my viewpoint in the Exmouth Gulf of Western Australia, the solar eclipse's totality brought a colossal corona and a dramatic drifting diamond ring.
How do you create lunar gravity in a plane? A veteran zero-G pilot explains
Veteran parabolic flight pilot Eric Delesalle sits down with Space.com to talk about what it takes to create weightlessness and lunar gravity in a plane.
Moonquakes could 'smooth out' the surfaces of Jupiter and Saturn's icy moons
Something is shaking on the moons of Jupiter and Saturn as moonquakes are linked to landslides that smooth out icy surfaces of bodies like Europa and Enceladus.
SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy hits bullseye with ascent to near-geosynchronous orbit
SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket lifts off from pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. Credit: SpaceX
A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket thundered into the sky over Florida’s Space Coast Sunday night and deployed a sophisticated internet satellite for Viasat into a circular orbit more than 20,000 miles over the equator, delivering for a competitor to SpaceX’s own Starlink broadband network.
May: Leo is King in Late Spring
This month’s episode takes you on a guided tour of the key stars and planets that you’ll see on May evenings — a fun and informative way to introduce yourself to the nighttime sky!
Live coverage: SpaceX counting down to Sunday evening Falcon Heavy launch
Live coverage of the countdown and launch of a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket with the ViaSat 3 Americas broadband satellite. Text updates will appear automatically below; there is no need to reload the page. Follow us on Twitter.
SFN Live
Be Grateful the Sun Can’t Produce Flares Like This
Okay, so we all know that the Sun is heading into solar maximum. That means it’s quite a bit more active, with sunspots, coronal mass ejections, and flares aplenty. But, luckily for us, the Sun isn’t as active as the members of the binary star system V1355 Orionis. One of its stars periodically releases superflares. These are ten times more extensive than the largest solar flare ever recorded on the Sun.
Everything you need to know about Lego's May the 4th Star Wars event
It's almost Star Wars day, and that means Lego is planning an event filled with free gifts, new sets and discounts.
Bizarre Exoplanet Breaks All the Orbital Rules
In our solar system, the planetary orbits all have a similar orientation. Their orbital planes vary by a few degrees, but roughly the planets all orbit in the same direction. This invariable plane as it’s known also has an orientation within a few degrees of the Sun’s rotational plane. Most planetary systems have a similar arrangement, where planetary orbits and stellar rotation are roughly aligned, but a few exoplanets defy this trend, and we aren’t entirely sure why.
See Mercury's giant, comet-like tail in stunning new image as it passes close to the sun
Shortly after Mercury reached its closest point to the sun, its massive, comet-like tail became unusually visible in the night sky and was captured in a stunning new photo.
NASA satellite crash not source of mysterious flash of light above Ukraine capital, agency claims
A blinding flash of light set off air raid alerts across Ukraine’s capital city. Officials at first thought it was a falling NASA satellite, but the space agency has said it isn’t.
Acebeam X75 flashlight power bank review
We tried it, and yes, the Acebeam X75 flashlight power bank lives up to its self-given title of the most powerful flashlight in the world.
Funko Games unveils new cranium-busting 'Star Trek Cryptic' tabletop game
Funko Games releasing brainy new "Star Trek Cryptic" tabletop card game this June.
See asteroid Iris 7 make its close approach to Earth tonight
Skywatchers will get an excellent opportunity to spot the 124-mile-wide asteroid Iris 7 as it reaches opposition on April 30 as the main-belt object also makes its closest approach to Earth.
Zero-G announces plans for once-in-a-lifetime zero gravity musical concerts
Zero-G, the zero gravity space tourism company announced their intent to start offering private concerts aboard their specially outfitted aircraft.
Where to Look for Life: Homing in on the Habitable Zone
Scientists are refining the definition of the habitable zone in an effort to aid future efforts at finding life.
A Black Hole Tore a Star to Pieces. The Closest We’ve Ever Seen.
We all know that black holes are destructive monsters. Their tremendous gravitational pull sucks in anything that gets in the way. This is particularly true for supermassive black holes in the hearts of galaxies. They can tear apart stars. And, every so often—like once every, 10,000 years, that happens. The star passes too close and the black hole’s gravity shreds it.
