4+ day, 17+ hour ago   (566+ words) A small asteroid detected shortly before reaching Earth disintegrated safely over the Indian Ocean near northwestern Australia on Sept. 6, giving scientists another successful test of planetary defense systems. The object, designated 2026 RW1, measured approximately 0.8 meters (about 2.6 feet) across and posed no…...

1+ week, 2+ day ago   (291+ words) The BepiColombo Mercury mission is entering its long-awaited arrival phase after an eight-year journey that began in October 2018. On September 3, 2026, the ESA and JAXA spacecraft will separate the Mercury Transfer Module from its two science orbiters, marking the first major…...

2+ week, 2+ day ago   (331+ words) The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will advance exoplanet imaging by targeting worlds much fainter than previous instruments could detect. Its Coronagraph Instrument will block intense starlight, helping reveal planets that reflect only small amounts of light from their host…...

2+ week, 4+ day ago   (362+ words) A proposed NASA starshade mission could help astronomers directly observe nearby rocky exoplanets that resemble Earth. The concept would use a large starshade to block a host star's light, allowing faint planetary light to reach a powerful ground-based telescope. This…...

2+ week, 5+ day ago   (620+ words) The question of how astronauts poop in space has a practical answer: they use a space toilet that relies on airflow instead of gravity. Restraints, suction, and collection bags keep human waste contained while preventing floating particles and odors. A…...

3+ week, 1+ day ago   (421+ words) The Sun produced a powerful M8.1-class solar flare on August 20, 2026, peaking at 11:42 UTC from active region AR 4513, a rapidly developing sunspot region emerging along the Sun's eastern limb. The event was the strongest of several M-class flares recorded within a…...

3+ week, 4+ day ago   (349+ words) The Hubble Space Telescope has found evidence that the young Milky Way absorbed a dwarf galaxy about 11.8 billion years ago. This ancient galaxy collision, linked to LKH, occurred roughly 1.8 billion years before the better-known Gaia-Sausage-Enceladus merger. Astronomers identified the event…...

3+ week, 4+ day ago   (367+ words) A short-warning asteroid threat could leave scientists with limited options. If a large near-Earth object were discovered weeks or months before impact, conventional deflection missions might not be ready. Researchers are studying whether nuclear weapons could provide a last-resort form…...

4+ week, 2+ day ago   (427+ words) Astronomers using the new MOTHRA telescope have identified 22 shock-wave structures around the Helix Nebula that show debris from a dying star being stripped apart and mixed into interstellar space. The findings were published Aug. 12 in the journal Nature by an…...

4+ week, 2+ day ago   (368+ words) Starlink satellites could give scientists a new way to study Earth's upper atmosphere, a difficult-to-observe region that can still affect spacecraft in low Earth orbit. Researchers analyzed orbital data from about 1,200 Starlink spacecraft to estimate changes in atmospheric density around…...