Sky and Solar

From spy satellite to space telescope: The unlikely origins of NASA's Roman Space Telescope
26 August 2026

At the heart of this next-gen space telescope lies the parts of old spy satellites.
Astronomers discover hot watery exoplanet destined to be swallowed by its star
26 August 2026

A newly discovered water dominated exoplanet is in hot-water literally and figuratively, it orbits so close to its parent star it is headed to a fatal collision that will see it devoured.
A black star in a false Spanish twilight: Here's the story of my 1st total solar eclipse
26 August 2026

I journeyed to the path of totality in Spain to watch the Aug. 12 total solar eclipse with a group of passionate citizen scientists. Here's my story.
Massive space mirrors could be 40 times brighter than the full moon, astronomers warn. 'It will be worse than big cities like London'
26 August 2026

Sun-reflecting space mirrors proposed by U.S. startup Reflect Orbital will have an even more devastating effect on the night sky around the world than previously thought, a study has found.
Chance gaze at old Hubble Telescope image leads to discovery that could reveal dark matter's secrets
26 August 2026

On a morning train commute, this former scientist found a stellar surprise in an old Hubble image.

JWST’s ‘impossible’ early galaxies may be even more massive than we thought
24 August 2026

Faint, low-mass stars could be hiding much of the mass in distant galaxies, making the surprisingly large galaxies discovered by JWST in the early Universe even harder to explain.
How to observe the 12 August 2026 solar eclipse
07 August 2026

On the evening of 12 August 2026, the Moon will pass between Earth and the Sun, producing a striking solar eclipse. Find out how, when and where to observe it safely.
Falcon 9 lunar impact: More than a new crater
05 August 2026

Today’s impact of a spent Falcon 9 rocket stage on the Moon may sound dramatic, but it is neither the first human-made object to strike our natural satellite nor the largest.
Euclid opens a new window on the first billion years of cosmic history
25 July 2026

One of the biggest mysteries in modern astronomy is how the Universe managed to grow enormous black holes so quickly.
Caught in the act: the wind that could kill a galaxy
10 June 2026

A powerful wind in the early Universe may explain why some massive galaxies lived fast and died young by stopping forming stars far sooner than expected.
Europe’s Mars rover may land in the remains of a vast ancient water system
04 June 2026

New orbital mapping suggests Rosalind Franklin’s Oxia Planum landing site is part of a clay-rich region hundreds of kilometres wide, raising the possibility that it records a much larger watery episode in Mars’s early history.