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Tech

A gray steel structure that simulates one of the massive 16.5-ton Giant Magellan Telescope primary mirror segments is installed onto a test cell. The GMT test cell and mirror simulator will be used to test the support structure and actuators that hold the massive telescope in place, including the software that controls the precise movements of the mirrors.

Giant Magellan Telescope snags $17.5 million grant to test advanced optics

By Mike Wall

The Giant Magellan Telescope just got a nice chunk of change to help develop and test the advanced technologies that will give the future observatory such sharp vision.

Arecibo Observatory’s main collecting dish, which is among the world’s largest single-dish radio telescopes, was badly damaged when a cable snapped on Monday, Aug. 10.

Alien-hunting telescope suffered 'no damage to electronics' during mysterious midnight disaster

By Brandon Specktor

Mysterious midnight disaster spared critical electronics in iconic alien-hunting telescope called the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico.

Spaceflight

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches 58 Starlink satellites and three Planet SkySats into orbit from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida on Aug. 18, 2020.

SpaceX to launch 60 Starlink internet satellites today. Here's how to watch live.

By Amy Thompson

SpaceX will launch another big batch of Starlink satellites into orbit for the company's burgeoning megaconstellation today (Sept. 17), and you can watch the action live online.

Watch live Friday: SpaceX launching 60 new Starlink satellites after delay

By Space.com Staff

SpaceX will launch 60 new Starlink internet satellites Friday (Sept. 18) and you can watch the launch live at 1:57 p.m. EDT (1757 GMT).

Science & Astronomy

The stellar wind produced by the star R Aquilae forms a rose-like pattern.

Stars paint stunning nebulas with stellar winds thanks to cosmic companions

By Meghan Bartels

Each star system is a unique paintbrush in the cosmos, and astronomers are finally beginning to understand why.

Artist's illustration of WD 1856 b, a potential Jupiter-size planet, orbiting its much smaller host star, a dim white dwarf.

Big find! Scientists spot giant alien planet orbiting close to dead star's corpse

By Mike Wall

Astronomers have spotted signs of an intact giant planet circling a superdense stellar corpse known as a white dwarf, a new study reports.

Search For Life

An image of Venus' thick atmosphere captured by NASA's Mariner 10 mission.

Rocket Lab's plan to search for life on Venus in 2023 just got more exciting

By Mike Wall

Rocket Lab's life-hunting Venus mission in 2023 will be just the beginning, if all goes according to the company's plan.

An artist's concept showing a super-Venus on the left and Earth on the right.

Venus, once billed as Earth's twin, is a hothouse (and a tantalizing target in the search for life)

By Nola Taylor Redd

As Earth's twin, Venus offers much in the search for life and habitable worlds.

Japan's Akatsuki spacecraft captured this false-color image of Venus' dayside on March 30, 2018.

Life on Venus? Breakthrough Initiatives funds study of possible biosignature detection

By Mike Wall

The main goals involve investigating the case for life on Venus and figuring out the best ways to hunt it down, if it is indeed there.

Skywatching

This illustration (made using real images and data) shows the moon in shadow during the "new moon" lunar phase.

September new moon 2020: Spot the 'elusive' planet Mercury with the young moon

By Jesse Emspak

The new moon occurs Thursday, Sept. 17, at 7 a.m. EDT (1200 GMT), a day before Mercury reaches its highest point in the evening sky for the rest of the year.