![Aurora borealis in the sky over a field and home in Maine, United States](jpg/gettyimages-2152089809_webc72e.jpg)
The Great Solar Storm of 2024 May Have Made the Strongest Auroras in Centuries
Northern and southern lights produced by a recent bout of severe space weather may rival the most intense auroras of the past 500 years
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The Great Solar Storm of 2024 May Have Made the Strongest Auroras in Centuries
Northern and southern lights produced by a recent bout of severe space weather may rival the most intense auroras of the past 500 years
Ed Dwight, America’s First Black Astronaut Candidate, Flies to Space on Blue Origin Rocket
The 90-year-old finally realized his dreams of spaceflight aboard Blue Origin’s New Shepard vehicle, which also carried five other crew members on a short suborbital voyage
Boeing’s Starliner Is Set for Its First Crewed Spaceflight
Starliner’s first crewed launch will mark just the sixth time ever that NASA astronauts have flown in a brand-new spacecraft
Sorry, Little Green Men: Alien Life Might Actually Be Purple
Purple may be a likely color for extraterrestrial organisms, research suggests
Astronomers Discover Milky Way's 'Sleeping Giant' Black Hole Shockingly Close to Earth
A black hole weighing as much as 33 suns lurks a mere 2,000 light-years away from our solar system
Donate Your Eclipse Glasses to Help Others Safely Enjoy the Awe
The nonprofit Astronomers Without Borders is collecting gently used eclipse glasses through Warby Parker and other sites to enable people to see future eclipses
This Hellish Alien World’s Skies May Create an Eerie Rainbow ‘Glory’ Effect
The atmosphere of exoplanet WASP-76b may rain iron and form a strange, rainbow-like phenomenon called a “glory” never yet seen outside the solar system
First-Ever Magnetic Map of Milky Way’s Black Hole Reveals a Mystery
Polarized light from Sagittarius A*, our galaxy’s supermassive black hole, shows swirling magnetic fields that may hint at the presence of an unseen jet
SpaceX’s Starship Rocket Reached Record Heights before It Was Lost
SpaceX lost both the booster and vehicle in a test launch of its massive Starship rocket. But the third try was the charm for Starship, which smoothly separated in its most successful flight to date
The Brightest Quasar Ever Seen Eats a ‘Sun’ Every Day
The quasar, as bright as 500 trillion suns, has evaded astronomers for over 40 years because of its incredible luminosity
Newly Discovered Asteroid Fragments Are As Old as the Solar System
Fragments from Asteroid 2024 BX1 have proven to be a rare meteorite type that helps reveal the early solar system's building blocks
Second Private U.S. Lander Launches to the Moon
Odysseus, a lunar lander built by the aerospace company Intuitive Machines, launched atop a SpaceX rocket on a mission to the moon's south pole
NASA’s Asteroid Samples May Come from a Long-Lost Ocean World
A first look at materials from asteroid Bennu sparks speculation that the space rock was once part of an ancient, watery protoplanet
Mars Mission’s Budget Problems Force NASA Layoffs
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory is eliminating nearly 600 workers due to funding shortfalls for the space agency's Mars Sample Return mission
NASA Restores Contact with Mars Helicopter Ingenuity
After an unexpected communications dropout, NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter is back in business on Mars
Ailing Peregrine Moon Lander Is on Course to Crash into Earth
Peregrine will likely burn up in Earth’s atmosphere, the moon lander’s builder has said
Uranus and Neptune Have Similar Hues, New Study Shows
A new analysis finds that images from Voyager 2's close encounter with Neptune show the planet as being far too blue
The Rings of Uranus Glow in Epic JWST Photo
The James Webb Space Telescope caught its second glimpse of the year of Uranus and its bright-shining rings
Sun Unleashes Most Powerful Solar Flare Since 2017
The flare may have been accompanied by a plasma eruption now headed toward Earth
‘Cannibal’ Solar Eruption Headed to Earth May Trigger Auroras
A strong geomagnetic storm is expected to hit Earth after several outbursts from the sun merged into one large blob of plasma
Six-Planet System in Perfect Harmony Shocks Scientists
Six “sub-Neptune” worlds locked in a delicate dance around a nearby star offer fresh insights for the orbital evolution of planetary systems
SpaceX Starship’s Second Flight Was an Explosive Milestone
SpaceX’s Starship—the most powerful rocket ever built—experienced a “rapid unscheduled disassembly” in its otherwise successful second full-scale launch, triggering a federal investigation into what went wrong
This Record-Breaking Black Hole Could Help Solve a Cosmic Mystery
The earliest active supermassive black hole ever seen offers clues on how these enigmatic objects first formed
‘Dinky’ Asteroid Is Three Space Rocks, Not Two, NASA Flyby Finds
The Lucy spacecraft’s encounter with asteroid Dinkinesh has revealed a bizarre “contact binary” double-moon companion