Space

A rare eruption of light from a dead star will likely be visible to people on Earth this summer in a fleeting but potentially stark celestial display that scientists are calling “a once-in-a-lifetime event.” The technical term for the impending cosmic explosion is nova, which happens when a white dwarf lights up suddenly and often strikingly in the night sky. …

Two pilots, a Turkish research astronaut and three private citizens rocketed to space and back Saturday aboard Virgin Galactic‘s Unity spaceplane, enjoying spectacular views of Earth and about three minutes of weightlessness before gliding back to touchdown in New Mexico. It was the company’s 12th piloted up-and-down sub-orbital flight, its seventh with paying customers aboard and the final flight of …

Working around multiple helium leaks and thruster problems, the crew of Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft wrapped up a challenging rendezvous and a delayed-but-successful docking with the International Space Station Thursday in a major milestone for the new ship’s first piloted test flight. With commander Barry “Butch” Wilmore and co-pilot Sunita Williams monitoring the Starliner’s automated approach, the Starliner’s docking mechanism engaged …

Radar images of the surface of Venus appear to show fresh lava flows, suggesting active volcanoes on the planet. Scientists from Italy’s International Research School of Planetary Sciences wrote in anarticle published Mondaythat they spotted evidence of changes to the planet’s surface. They compared images of the area taken from 1990 to 1992 taken by the Magellan spacecraft, the first …

After nearly three weeks of exhaustive tests and data analysis, NASA managers said Friday they are confident Boeing’s oft-delayed Starliner crew capsule can safely launch “as is” on June 1, saying a small helium leak in the ship’s propulsion system does not pose a flight safety concern. Steve Stich, manager of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, said even if a suspect …

This year has already amazed skygazers with arare solar eclipseand ageomagnetic stormthat causedstunning Northern Lights displaysaround the world, but there are still more incredible cosmic displays to come. Six planets are expected to align next month, creating what theWeather Channel refers to asa “planetary parade.” The stunning alignment will occur just before sunrise on June 3, 2024. During the solar …

A mind-boggling number of shining galaxies, a purple and orange star nursery and a spiral galaxy similar to our Milky Way: new images were revealed from Europe’s Euclid space telescope on Thursday. It is the second set of images released by the European Space Agency since Euclid launched last year on the first-ever mission to investigate the mysteries of dark …

Astronomy fans can look up and see the Flower Moon this month as May’s full moon rises. May’s full moon will reach peak illumination on Thursday at 9:53 a.m. EDT, but it already appears full, according to NASA. The Old Farmer’s Almanac details specific moonrise times for different ZIP codes across the U.S. The moon will be below the horizon …

New research indicates the sun’s magnetic field originates much closer to the surface than previously thought, a finding that could help predict periods of extreme solar storms like the ones that slammed Earth earlier this month. The magnetic field appears to generate 20,000 miles beneath the sun’s surface. Previous calculations put the roots of this process more than 130,000 miles …

The launch of Boeing’s star-crossed Starliner spacecraft on its first piloted test flight is slipping to at least June 1 to give engineers more time to assess a small-but-persistent helium leak in the capsule’s propulsion system, and its potential impact across all phases of flight, NASA announced Wednesday. Already years behind schedule and more than $1 billion over budget, the …