Space News

And the Fat Bear Week winner is … Backpack! Congrats to Backpack, the winner of Fat Bear Week 2026! Take a look at the final brackets and see where your favorite fatties fell. The post And the… EarthSky · Sep 30, 20:50 UTC ↗

Starship reaches orbit on 14th test flight Mission Highlight: Starship Flight 14 After 13 previous suborbital test flights, Starship finally reached orbit on test flight 14. SpaceX’s launch… Astronomy.com · Sep 30, 14:37 UTC ↗

2026 Full Moon calendar: When to see the Full Moon and phases The phenomenon of a Full Moon arises when our planet, Earth, is precisely sandwiched between the Sun and the Moon. This alignment ensures the entire… Astronomy.com · Sep 30, 14:35 UTC ↗

Sept. 30, 1880: Henry and Anna Draper photograph M42 On Sept. 30, 1880, in a pioneering moment for astrophotography, amateur astronomer Henry Draper and his wife, Anna, captured the first image of the… Astronomy.com · Sep 30, 13:00 UTC ↗

Visible planets and night sky guide late September and October Visible planets and night sky guide. Join us for a livestream at noon CDT (17 UTC) on Wednesday, September 30. We are saying goodbye to evening… EarthSky · Sep 30, 11:49 UTC ↗

JUICE mission completes flyby of Earth: New pics! The JUICE mission made a successful flyby of Earth on September 28. See new images of Earth and the moon here. The spacecraft will reach Jupiter in… EarthSky · Sep 30, 10:00 UTC ↗

Water systems on early Mars were complex and hot NASA's Perseverance rover has found evidence of ancient complex water systems on early Mars, including hot hydrothermal activity. The post Water… EarthSky · Sep 30, 09:50 UTC ↗

Mars calendar year begins September 30: Happy New Year, Mars! Mars calendar year 39 begins on September 30, 2026. If you’re looking for a reason to celebrate, here’s to a Happy New Year ... on Mars. The post… EarthSky · Sep 30, 09:40 UTC ↗

Sun news: Near-M flare! Is the sun waking up? Sun news, September 30, 2026: Our star surprised us with an almost-M flare. It was a C8.6 flare from active region AR4535. Is the sun waking up? The… EarthSky · Sep 30, 09:00 UTC ↗

The Sky Today on Wednesday, September 30: Asteroid Nausikaa at opposition Looking for a sky event this week? Check out our full Sky This Week column. September 29: Ganymede transits Jupiter Asteroid 192 Nausikaa reaches… Astronomy.com · Sep 30, 08:00 UTC ↗

On the Way Radoslav Zboran, taken from Ejulve, Spain The center of the Milky Way rises as Perseid meteors streak through the frame above a quiet Spanish road.… Astronomy.com · Sep 30, 07:35 UTC ↗

Alpha Cephei, or Alderamin, is a fast-spinning star Meet Alpha Cephei, in the constellation Cepheus the King. It’s spinning so fast that it appears like a slightly flattened beach ball. The post Alpha… EarthSky · Sep 30, 07:00 UTC ↗

New astronomy products to fall for this month The Edge of Space-Time: Particles, Poetry, and the Cosmic Dream Boogie The Knopf Doubleday Publishing GroupNew York, New York In The Edge of… Astronomy.com · Sep 29, 15:23 UTC ↗

Sept. 29, 2022: Seeing the DART impact On Nov. 24, 2021, the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) launched. The spacecraft was on its way to Dimorphos, part of a binary system with the… Astronomy.com · Sep 29, 13:00 UTC ↗

Starship reaches Earth’s orbit for 1st time SpaceX's Starship spacecraft finally reached Earth's orbit in its 14th test flight on September 28. Though successful, the flight was not without its… EarthSky · Sep 29, 12:21 UTC ↗

Weather on exoplanets: Decoding the atmosphere of SIMP 0136 Researchers in Ireland have found a new way to decode the weather on exoplanets. They started with the planetary-mass object SIMP 0136. The post… EarthSky · Sep 29, 12:00 UTC ↗

Watch for the daytime moon after sunrise this week Watch for the beautiful daytime moon this week, a pale orb floating against a blue sky in the morning hours. Look west! You'll see it! The post Watch… EarthSky · Sep 29, 08:00 UTC ↗

The Sky Today on Tuesday, September 29: Ganymede transits Jupiter Looking for a sky event this week? Check out our full Sky This Week column. September 28: Open cluster M39 shines Jupiter’s largest moon, Ganymede… Astronomy.com · Sep 29, 08:00 UTC ↗

Equuleus the Little Horse on autumn nights Equuleus the Little Horse is a diminutive constellation that lies south of the Summer Triangle. Autumn nights are a great time to view the Little… EarthSky · Sep 29, 07:00 UTC ↗

Sept. 28, 1969: The Murchison Meteorite explodes over Australia At 10:58 AM on Sept. 28, 1969, residents of the small Australian farming community of Murchison, Victoria, heard a series of loud booms. The noise… Astronomy.com · Sep 28, 13:00 UTC ↗