In this week’s edition of News from the Press Site, Spaceflight Now’s Will Robinson-Smith is joined by Jeff Foust, senior writer at Space News, and Bill Harwood, space consultant for CBS News.
Space News & Blog Articles
Watch monster flare-spewing sunspot grow to be 15 times wider than Earth (video)
A beastly sunspot that's 15 times the diameter of Earth remains highly active — and you might be able to spot it with your eclipse glasses!
Lighting Up the Moon’s Permanently Shadowed Craters
The Moon’s polar regions are home to permanently shadowed craters. In those craters is ancient ice, and establishing a presence on the Moon means those water ice deposits are a valuable resource. Astronauts will likely use solar energy to work in these craters and harvest water, but the Sun never shines there.
Cracking! Some binary black holes may roll around each other in egg-shaped orbits
Some black hole pairs roll around each other in wobbly, egg-shaped orbits that could hold clues about their origins, gravitational wave measurements suggest.
NASA's Roman Space Telescope will hunt for the universe's 1st stars — or their shredded corpses, anyway
NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Telescope will hunt for the universe's first stars — or rather, what's left of them after they've been ripped apart by black holes.
How to watch new 'Doctor Who': Stream Ncuti Gatwa episodes from anywhere
How to watch new 'Doctor Who' on Disney Plus and BBC iPlayer, as 15th Doctor Ncuti Gatwa takes control of the TARDIS.
Here’s Where China’s Sample Return Mission is Headed
Humanity got its first look at the other side of the Moon in 1959 when the USSR’s Luna 3 probe captured our first images of the Lunar far side. The pictures were shocking, pointing out a pronounced difference between the Moon’s different sides. Now China is sending another lander to the far side.
Severe Geogmagnetic Storm Has Arrived! Auroral Blast Expected Friday Night
A severe geomagnetic storm has just hit Earth — which means we could see auroras tonight! Here's what you'll need to know.
'God of Destruction' asteroid Apophis will come to Earth in 2029 — and it could meet some tiny spacecraft
Asteroid Apophis is heading to Earth, and scientists have revealed three tiny spacecraft concepts that could race to meet the space rock in April 2029.
Asteroid that exploded over Berlin was fastest-spinning space rock ever recorded
Scientists have calculated the rotational speed of asteroid 2024 BX1, which exploded over Berlin earlier this year, by letting it trail in images of the sky. It turns out, 2024 BX1 was spinning faster than any other near-Earth object ever seen.
FAA to conduct new environmental review for SpaceX's Starship operations in Florida
The FAA announced May 10 that it will prepare an environmental impact statement for SpaceX's planned work with Starship at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Why Hot Jupiters Spiral into Their Stars
Exoplanets are a fascinating astronomy topic, especially the so-called “Hot Jupiters”. They’re overheated massive worlds often found orbiting very close to their stars—hence the name. Extreme gravitational interactions can tug them right into their stars over millions of years. However, some hot Jupiters appear to be spiraling in faster than gravity can explain.
Does the Milky Way Have Too Many Satellite Galaxies?
The Large and Small Magellanic Clouds are well known satellite galaxies of the Milky Way but there are more. It is surrounded by at least 61 within 1.4 million light years (for context the Andromeda Galaxy is 2.5 million light years away) but there are likely to be more. A team of astronomers have been hunting for more companions using the Subaru telescope and so far, have searched just 3% of the sky. To everyone’s surprise they have found nine previously undiscovered satellite galaxies, far more than expected.
Science and music festival Starmus VII is about to rock Bratislava with a stellar lineup
The Starmus music and science festival heads to Bratislava, Slovakia for a multi-day event from May 12 to May 17. Here's what to expect.
Lego Star Wars Tantive IV review
Escape from the Empire in style with the Lego Star Wars Tantive IV.
This Week's Sky at a Glance, May 10 – 19
The waxing Moon this week travels eastward from the horns of Taurus past the heads of Gemini, the Beehive in Cancer, then the forefoot of Leo on its way to occulting Beta Virginis.
Earth from Space: Bolivian salt lakes
Image: This Copernicus Sentinel-2 image features salt flats and lakes in southwest Bolivia, near the crest of the Andes Mountains.
4 large incoming solar bursts could supercharge the auroras this weekend
The NOAA has bumped up its geomagnetic storm watch for May 11 to a "rare" level as solar activity continues at high levels and at least four coronal mass ejections propel toward Earth.
Astronomers are on the Hunt for Dyson Spheres
There’s something poetic about humanity’s attempt to detect other civilizations somewhere in the Milky Way’s expanse. There’s also something futile about it. But we’re not going to stop. There’s little doubt about that.
Video: Plunge into a Black Hole
A new visualization from NASA takes the viewer on a one-way journey into a black hole.