Try not to be hypnotized by the 'Eye of Africa' | Space photo of the day for Aug. 20, 2026
This geologic feature has been mesmerizing astronauts since 1965.
ALMA uncovers sulfur for the first time around a rare class of supergiant star
Astronomers have discovered a chemically rich collection of sulfur-bearing molecules surrounding the rare massive star HD 87643. The observations include the first detection of su…
James Webb Space Telescope finds 'hidden stars' making the universe's 1st galaxies much bigger than we knew
James Webb Space Telescope is finding that between the brightest stars, the cosmic skyscrapers, there are much fainter stars, meaning early galaxies are more massive than we belie…
Partial lunar eclipse Aug. 27-28 live updates: 2 days to go, what time is the eclipse?
Follow our live coverage as we count down to the best lunar eclipse until December 2028, with the latest news, viewing tips and live updates.
Partial lunar eclipse Aug. 27-28 live updates: 3 days to go, here's what you need to know
Follow our live coverage as we count down to the best lunar eclipse until December 2028, with the latest news, viewing tips and live updates.
Partial lunar eclipse live: Latest news, viewing tips and live updates from Aug. 27-28 eclipse
Follow our live coverage as we count down to the deepest partial lunar eclipse until December 2028, with the latest news, viewing tips and live updates.
Partial lunar eclipse live: Latest news, viewing tips and live updates from Aug. 27-28 eclipse
Follow our live coverage as we count down to the deepest partial lunar eclipse until December 2028, with the latest news, viewing tips and live updates.
Partial lunar eclipse live: Latest news, viewing tips and live updates from Aug. 27-28 eclipse
Follow our live coverage as we count down to the deepest partial lunar eclipse until December 2028, with the latest news, viewing tips and live updates.
Partial lunar eclipse live: Latest news, viewing tips and live updates from Aug. 27-28 eclipse
Follow our live coverage as we count down to the deepest partial lunar eclipse until December 2028, with the latest news, viewing tips and live updates.
A 96% partial lunar eclipse is just 1 week away: Here's what you need to know
Earth's inner shadow will cover 96% of the moon's disk during the Aug. 27-28 partial lunar eclipse.
Rescue mission is called off for NASA's aging Swift space telescope
The mission to save NASA's sinking Swift Observatory was called off Wednesday, dooming the telescope to a fiery reentry later this year.
What beats seeing eclipses from space? Try the northern and southern lights
Eclipses may be wondrous, but nothing beats seeing the northern and southern lights from space.
APOD: 2026 August 20 – The Elephant’s Trunk in Cepheus
APOD Science APOD APOD: 2026 August 20 – The… Today’s APOD Archive Submissions Index Search Calendar RSS Education About Discuss APOD Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the c…
Watch Rocket Lab launch a private Japanese Earth-observing satellite to orbit today
Rocket Lab will launch its ninth mission for the Japanese Earth-imaging company iQPS this morning (Aug. 20), and you can watch the action live.
An Uncommon Drifter in the Denmark Strait
A large iceberg, observed in summer 2026, had drifted more than 1,000 kilometers south from the northeastern Greenland bay where it likely originated.
Racing to build a radio telescope on the moon
Remember the "Wow!" signal? That high-energy radio signature occurred in 1977, when Earth was much "quieter" in the radio band. If it happened today, it probably wouldn't even mov…
Scientists just found the fastest known star in the Milky Way. It zooms around our black hole at 15,500 miles per second
Astronomers have found the fastest known star in the Milky Way, a faint object racing around Sagittarius A*, the supermassive black hole at the heart of our galaxy.
Dark Stars may have left gravitational-wave echoes across the universe
A mysterious background of extremely low-frequency gravitational waves detected by networks of pulsars may carry information about events that began more than 13 billion years ago…
Human-related microbes may survive moon's South Pole
Some of Earth's microbes likely to hitch a ride to space with human explorers could survive in the shaded nooks and crannies of the moon's South Pole region, NASA scientists say.
Interworld Slingshot: Exploring a new way to find resources in space
Before people can mine resources on the moon, asteroids or Mars, they need to answer a few key questions: What is there? How much is there? And where can it be found? A team led b…
Private mission to save NASA's Swift space telescope fails
A private spacecraft tasked with boosting the orbit of NASA's Swift Observatory has failed in its mission, meaning the telescope will crash back to Earth later this year.
Scientists create 'laundry gun' for astronauts to clean their clothes by shooting out plasma
A pen-sized apparatus called a "laundry gun" could sterilize astronauts' clothes in space.
NASA TechLeap Prize: Orbital Clarity Challenge
The Orbital Clarity Challenge — the sixth in the NASA TechLeap Prize series — is a collaborative effort between NASA’s Heliophysics Division, Flight Opportunities program, and Cen…
'The Mandalorian and Grogu' finally blasts onto Disney+ next month
Will this underwhelming spinoff of "The Mandalorian" find new life in the streaming world?