Curiosity Blog, Sols 4975-4981: Happy 14th Landing Anniversary
By Susanne P. Schwenzer, Professor of Planetary Mineralogy at The Open University, UK Earth planning date: Friday, Aug. 7, 2026 This week was very special for the Curiosity team h…
Hubble solves merger mystery from Milky Way's early years
Our home galaxy, the Milky Way, grew to its current size in part by consuming smaller galaxies. Now, new data from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope show definitive evidence of a dwar…
How an ancient collision with another galaxy transformed the Milky Way
The Milky Way has a secret history of galaxy mergers that we are only now starting to uncover.
NASA Selects Companies to Provide Payload Processing Services
NASA has selected four companies to provide payload processing facilities under the Spacecraft Processing Operations Contract on‑ramp provision. The provision enables qualified pr…
China bounces back from Long March rocket explosion with back-to-back launches (video)
China's space program has returned to flight after an Aug. 10 Long March 7A rocket explosion, launching both a Long March 12 and a Long March 2C rocket on Sunday (Aug. 16).
The best Ruko drone to date is half-price at Amazon but you'll have to hurry
Looking to take to the skies? This beginner-friendly Ruko F11 PRO 2 is a mind-blowing $280 off, but you'll have to hurry because this lightning deal ends soon.
NASA Mission Studies Air Pollution Over Ethiopia
A NASA-funded air pollution monitoring network has provided one of the most detailed long-term views yet of the role of black carbon, or soot produced by fires, diesel vehicles, a…
Scientists find dead star that predicts our sun's future: 'Broken apart and returned to the galaxy'
A composite image of data from the Hubble Space Telescope, the Kitt Peak four-meter telescope and MOTHRA reveal the Helix Nebula. We can see the bow shocks, particularly on the le…
How ancient trees are warning us about the next enormous solar storm
Our sun is capable of storms far bigger than we've ever recorded. Studying the world's oldest trees suggests we could soon be due one of these gargantuan events.
Next Generation of Planetary Scientists Learn Public Engagement Skills
FORCE is a world-class laboratory that uses high-pressure experimental equipment to recreate the extreme conditions found deep within Earth and other planetary bodies, enabling re…
Stellar explosions come into focus with new nuclear reaction measurements
In two separate papers published in Physical Review Letters, researchers investigated the nuclear reactions that take place inside supernovae and X-ray bursts—two of the universe'…
Mega-Earth GJ 523b is 23 times as massive as our planet—but only 2.5 times as wide
It's nearly 170 million years old. It's more than 2.5 times the size of Earth. And it's the first exoplanet discovered and cataloged by researchers with the Wisconsin Center for O…
Colorful Collage of Tarantula Nebula
Data from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, and NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope combine to reveal a vibrant view of 30 Doradus, or the Tarantula N…
The 1st 'Star Wars: Ahsoka' season 2 trailer finally gives us a release date (video)
Our first look at 'Star Wars: Ahsoka' season 2 promises huge space battles, Clone Wars flashbacks, and a lot more Anakin Skywalker.
First pair of feeding supermassive black holes found in a Green Pea galaxy
Astronomers have discovered the first confirmed dual active galactic nucleus in a Green Pea galaxy, revealing two supermassive black holes growing at the same time inside a compac…
NASA Challenge Tests Wheel Designs for Moon Base Mobility
As NASA prepares to establish the Moon Base, advancing surface mobility will be key to helping crews and robotic systems travel farther across the lunar surface. To help advance …
Hubble Solves Merger Mystery From Milky Way’s Early Years
New Hubble data shows definitive evidence of a dwarf galaxy merging with the young Milky Way in the earliest phases of its evolution.
Scientists find 3 supermassive black holes on the verge of collision inside a distant galaxy
A greedy galaxy that existed less than 1.3 billion years after the Big Bang is hoarding supermassive black holes.
On this day in space! Aug. 17, 1877: Asaph Hall Discovers the Martian moon Phobos
On this day in space, Aug. 17, 1877: American astronomer Asaph Hall discovered Mars's moon Phobos.
These eight Lego Star Wars Smart Play sets are out now and Marvel needs to be next.
From all-in-one to compatible sets, these are the eight Lego Star Wars Smart Play sets you won't want to miss.
Wildfire smoke blankets volcanoes across the Pacific Northwest | Space photo of the day for Aug. 17, 2026
The wildfires ripping across North America have created massive plumes of smoke.
A 'river' of cosmic gas 1 trillion miles long sent planets in the Orion constellation into tilted orbits
A river of gas over a trillion miles long is streaming onto a young planet-forming system and is tipping it over.
Dark matter may be gravitationally lensing a likely source of cosmic neutrinos
Astronomers have discovered that the jet of a distant blazar has been gravitationally lensed by an unseen source of dark matter. Led by Silke Britzen at the Max Planck Institute f…
The brightened night sky nobody actually wanted
A new paper has put hard numbers on a plan that's been rattling around the astronomy community for a while now—a California company called Reflect Orbital wants to put giant mirro…