Sky and Solar

Partial lunar eclipse live: Latest news, viewing tips and live updates from Aug. 27-28 eclipse
20 August 2026

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
20 August 2026

Earth's curved inner shadow will darken the moon's disk during the Aug. 27-28 partial lunar eclipse.
Watch Rocket Lab launch a private Japanese Earth-observing satellite to orbit today
20 August 2026

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.
Scientists just found the fastest known star in the Milky Way. It zooms around our black hole at 15,500 miles per second
19 August 2026

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.
Private mission to save NASA's Swift space telescope fails
19 August 2026

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.

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.
Moon dust preserves record of life’s building blocks
14 April 2026

The Moon may preserve a record of the raw ingredients that helped life begin on Earth. New analysis of lunar samples returned by China’s Chang’e missions has revealed a diverse suite of organic compounds embedded within the soil.