Skywatching

A Sony A7 III on an orange planet background with a Space.com Prime Day badge in the top left corner.

Anti-Prime Day camera deal from Walmart — be ready to capture the crescent moon crossing the Pleiades on July 20

By Harry Bennett published

Deals The Sony A7 III is $1380 from Walmart on this anti-Prime deal and is a huge $118 cheaper than Amazon!

Deals

Northern lights forecasts, alerts, and geomagnetic storm warnings - live updates

By Daisy Dobrijevic last updated

The latest aurora forecast for tonight help you make sure you're in the right place at the right time to see the northern lights.

Auroras
A picture of Earth's surface at night captured from the International Space Station. An electrical phenomenon known as a sprite, featuring a tree-like column and red, branch-like tendrils can be seen reaching into the upper atmosphere above lightning-illuminated clouds.

ISS astronaut captures a rare phenomenon from orbit — a giant 'sprite' above a thunderstorm

By Anthony Wood published

Sprites have been known to form above intense thunderstorms.

Stargazing
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Spaceflight

On this day in space! July 7, 1961: U.S. Air Force Launches Discoverer 26 Spy Satellite

By Hanneke Weitering last updated

On July 7 1961, the U.S. Air Force launched a satellite called Discoverer 26 into orbit with a classified payload.

Launches & Spacecraft
A series of different spacecraft parts over a blue background

ChatGPT could pilot a spacecraft unexpectedly well, early tests find

By Paul Sutter published

In a recent contest, teams of researchers competed to see who could train an AI model to best pilot a spaceship. The results suggest that an era of autonomous space exploration may be closer than we think.

Launches & Spacecraft
Two people swim in a metal cage in a pool

Want to bulk up and build muscle? Don't go to space

By Jessica Rendall published

Tissue samples sent to the International Space Station reveal what can happen to astronauts on long-term missions.

Space Exploration
A woman with dark hair and a dark shirt floats in space.

Space auction: Sally Ride memorabilia collection sells for $145,000

By Mike Wall published

A collection of more than 50 pieces of memorabilia previously owned by Sally Ride, the first American woman to reach space, sold at auction last week for more than $145,000.

Human Spaceflight
Two space stations side by side for comparison

Satellite spies both ISS and China's Tiangong space station | Space photo of the day for July 4, 2025

By Kenna Hughes-Castleberry published

Both stations are hubs of scientific research.

Launches & Spacecraft
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Science & Astronomy

A white rock in front of a dark background

See asteroid Donaldjohanson up close thanks to NASA's Lucy mission | Space photo of the day for July 7, 2025

By Kenna Hughes-Castleberry published

On April 20th, NASA's Lucy was in the sky, not with diamonds, but with an asteroid.

Asteroids
A white building sits on top of a rocky cliff

The Vera C. Rubin Observatory will help astronomers investigate dark matter, continuing the legacy of its pioneering namesake

By Samantha Thompson published

Dark matter makes up 85% of the universe, but researchers, including Vera Rubin herself, historically have had a hard time finding it.

Astronomy
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Space Photo of the Day

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Entertainment

Natasha Henstridge in Species (1995)

30 years ago, 'Species' showed where the Venn diagram of exploitation, B-movie nonsense, and serious sci-fi drama meets

By Richard Edwards published

How Species' lofty science-fiction ideas were consumed by its monster instincts.

Space Movies & Shows
Hulu, Max, Disney Plus and Paramount Plus logos surrounded in a white glow on an orange planet background with a space.com deals logo in the top left corner.

The best Amazon Prime Day streaming deals 2025: watch great sci-fi content for less

By Alexander Cox last updated

DEALS We've rounded up the best streaming deals all in one place, so you can save big and stay glued to the couch.

DEALS
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What's Up In Space Today

Search For Life

Grey blobs next to each other

Is the bar higher for scientific claims of alien life?

By Oliver Swainston, Chris Carter published

The skepticism and debate around the question of "are we alone in the universe" makes the field of astrobiology more cautious

Search for Life
(Main) an illustration of an Earth-like planet (inset) Clavascidium lacinulatum a desrt lichen

Alien life could survive deadly stellar radiation, Earth's desert lichen reveal

By Robert Lea published

A walk in the desert and a curious discovery could have revealed that the secrets of alien life grow in the harshest conditions on Earth in the form of lichen.

Search for Life

The 'Black Knight' satellite: A 120-year-old conspiracy theory

By David Crookes, Daisy Dobrijevic last updated

According to conspiracy theorists, the Black Knight satellite is an alien spacecraft orbiting Earth. Here's what's really going on.

Search for Life
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Technology

Best star projectors under $100 Amazon Prime Day 2025

By Chris McMullen last updated

The best star projectors under $100 this Amazon Prime Day, which is a four-day event for the first time, means you can have quality without breaking the bank.

Technology
A blue, red and yellow rocket is placed between a telescope with a moon printed on it and a projector sitting on a stand, all on a blue planet background with the space.com logo in the top left corner.

The best Fourth of July and early Amazon Prime Day space tech deals on the market

By Alexander Cox published

These are our picks of the best space tech deals you can get ahead of Fourth of July and Amazon Prime Day with offers on telescopes, star projectors and more.

Technology
A series of red and purple clouds over a white building sitting on a cliffside

Cosmic images from the world's largest digital camera are so big they require a 'data butler'

By Keith Cooper published

The amount of data generated by the Rubin Observatory is going to blow all previous cosmic datasets out of the water, but handling that much information poses a severe challenge.

Technology
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