“...all the past is but a beginning of a beginning, and that all that is and has been is but the twilight of dawn.”

— H.G. Wells
1902

Astronomy

SpaceX launching NASA's TRACERS mission to protect Earth from space weather July 23 after delay: How to watch live

Space.com - Tue, 07/22/2025 - 10:16am
The mission will blast off on a Falcon 9 rocket with three other small satellites that will act as technology demonstrators.
Categories: Astronomy

Europe tests largest-ever Mars parachute in the stratosphere above the Arctic (video)

Space.com - Tue, 07/22/2025 - 10:00am
A giant parachute built for the beleaguered European ExoMars mission has aced a drop test in the Arctic stratosphere.
Categories: Astronomy

Why I’m Suing OpenAI, the Creator of ChatGPT

Scientific American.com - Tue, 07/22/2025 - 9:00am

My lawsuit in Hawaii lays out the safety issues in OpenAI’s products and how they could irreparably harm both Hawaii and the rest of the U.S.

Categories: Astronomy

Crypto billionaire Justin Sun will fly on Blue Origin's next space tourism launch

Space.com - Tue, 07/22/2025 - 9:00am
Justin Sun, the billionaire founder of the blockchain platform Tron, is one of the six people who will fly to suborbital space on Blue Origin's next tourist mission.
Categories: Astronomy

Night sky glows purple above Vera Rubin Observatory | Space photo of the day for July 22, 2025

Space.com - Tue, 07/22/2025 - 8:30am
The Vera Rubin Observatory in the Atacama Desert recalibrated under a purple night sky.
Categories: Astronomy

Small, stocky dinosaur related to Velociraptor named as new species

New Scientist Space - Cosmology - Tue, 07/22/2025 - 8:00am
Shri rapax, known from a fossil found in Mongolia, had strong hands and teeth which may have helped it tackle much larger dinosaurs
Categories: Astronomy

Small, stocky dinosaur related to Velociraptor named as new species

New Scientist Space - Space Headlines - Tue, 07/22/2025 - 8:00am
Shri rapax, known from a fossil found in Mongolia, had strong hands and teeth which may have helped it tackle much larger dinosaurs
Categories: Astronomy

NASA Employees Warn Science and Safety Are at Risk from White House Budget Cuts

Scientific American.com - Tue, 07/22/2025 - 8:00am

A declaration of dissent from past and present NASA employees warns that science and safety are at risk and joins similar documents from staff at other federal science agencies

Categories: Astronomy

This Ancient Pristine Galaxy Validates the Big Bang

Universe Today - Tue, 07/22/2025 - 7:29am

If astronomers can find ancient, pristine galaxies with no metals, they will confirm our understanding of the Big Bang. Those galaxies have proven elusive, but a team of astronomers think they've found one. It may be the first Population 3 galaxy.

Categories: Astronomy

Gemini North Sees Brightening Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS in Detail

Universe Today - Tue, 07/22/2025 - 7:29am

We’re getting better views of interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS, as it makes its speedy passage through the inner solar system. This week, astronomers at the Gemini North observatory located on Mauna Kea in Hawai’i turned the facility’s enormous 8.1-meter telescope on the object, with amazing results.

Categories: Astronomy

A Rare Object Found Deep in the Kuiper Belt

Universe Today - Tue, 07/22/2025 - 7:29am

Astronomers using the Subaru Telescope have discovered a new object in the Kuiper Belt, beyond the orbit of Pluto. Designated 2023 KQ14, it's categorized as a "sednoid," with an extremely eccentric orbit - only the 4th ever discovered. Its orbit is much different from other sednoids, which challenges the hypothesis that Planet Nine could be aligning their orbits. It was found at 72 AU, but its path takes it all the way out to 438 AU, taking almost 4,000 years to complete one orbit.

Categories: Astronomy

Watch the Moon Occult the Pleiades for North America on the Morning of July 20th

Universe Today - Tue, 07/22/2025 - 7:29am

There’s a good reason for sky watchers to set their alarms this coming Sunday morning. If skies are clear, viewers across most of North America will have a rare chance to see the waning crescent Moon occult (pass in front of) the Pleiades open star cluster.

Categories: Astronomy

Student Led Mission Designs Highlight The Challenges Of Engineering In Space

Universe Today - Tue, 07/22/2025 - 7:29am

There are plenty of engineering challenges facing space exploration missions, most of which are specific to their missions objectives. However, there are some that are more universal, especially regarding electronics. A new paper primarily written by a group of American students temporarily studying at Escuela Tecnica Superior de Ingenieria in Madrid, attempts to lay out plans to tackle several of those challenges for a variety of mission architectures.

Categories: Astronomy

A Star is Dissolving its Baby Planet

Universe Today - Tue, 07/22/2025 - 7:29am

Astronomers have found a young star bathing a planet in intense X-ray radiation, wearing it away at a rapid rate. The planet is Jupiter-sized and orbits its red dwarf star at a fifth the distance from Mercury to the Sun. It's only 8 million years old, and researchers estimate that within a billion years, it will lose its entire atmosphere, going from 17 Earth masses down to just 2 Earth masses. They estimate that it's losing an Earth's atmosphere worth of mass every 200 years.

Categories: Astronomy

Hubble spots interstellar invader Comet 3I/ATLAS for the first time

Space.com - Tue, 07/22/2025 - 6:00am
The long-serving space telescope saw the third interloper to enter the solar system from beyond its limits late on Monday morning (July 21).
Categories: Astronomy

Male Birth Control Pill YCT-529 Passes Human Safety Test

Scientific American.com - Tue, 07/22/2025 - 5:00am

A hormone-free pill, called YCT-529, that temporarily stops sperm production by blocking a vitamin A metabolite has just concluded its first safety trial in humans, getting a step closer to increasing male contraceptive options

Categories: Astronomy

Gluten may not actually trigger many irritable bowel syndrome cases

New Scientist Space - Space Headlines - Mon, 07/21/2025 - 7:30pm
People who follow a gluten-free diet in the hope of it calming their irritable bowel syndrome may actually be able to tolerate the common dietary protein
Categories: Astronomy

Gluten may not actually trigger many irritable bowel syndrome cases

New Scientist Space - Cosmology - Mon, 07/21/2025 - 7:30pm
People who follow a gluten-free diet in the hope of it calming their irritable bowel syndrome may actually be able to tolerate the common dietary protein
Categories: Astronomy

SpaceX aborts satellite launch 11 seconds before liftoff (video)

Space.com - Mon, 07/21/2025 - 7:21pm
SpaceX aborted the planned launch of two of SES' O3b mPOWER communications satellites just before liftoff on Monday evening (July 21). The company will try again tomorrow (July 22).
Categories: Astronomy

'Chaos' reigns beneath the ice of Jupiter moon Europa, James Webb Space Telescope reveals

Space.com - Mon, 07/21/2025 - 6:00pm
New observations from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) are painting a new picture of Jupiter's moon Europa and revealing the hidden chemistry of the icy moon's interior.
Categories: Astronomy