Skywatching

graphic with night sky in large font and silhouettes of people below looking up at the night sky.

Night sky Jan. 2-4: See the full "Wolf Moon" dominate the winter sky

By Jamie Carter last updated

Find out what you can see in the night sky for tonight, from planets and stars to dazzling meteor showers.

Stargazing
a telescope points upward at a starry night sky

Only 2 planets shine in January's night sky to the naked eye — here's where to look

By Joe Rao last updated

Reference Where are the bright naked-eye planets in January 2026 and when are the best times to view them?

Reference

Night sky, January 2026: What you can see tonight [maps]

By Chris Vaughan last updated

Reference Find out what's up in your night sky during January 2026 and how to see it in this Space.com stargazing guide.

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Spaceflight

An illustration of the Stardust spacecraft as it chases the comet Wild 2

On this day in space: Jan. 2, 2004: Stardust encounters comet Wild 2

By Hanneke Weitering last updated

On Jan. 2, 2004, NASA's Stardust spacecraft flew by comet Wild 2 to collect some comet dust and bring it back to Earth.

Space Exploration
Orion spacecraft with Earth in background

Moon landings, asteroid missions and new telescopes: Here are the top spaceflight moments to look forward to in 2026

By Samantha Mathewson published

From astronauts looping around the moon to spacecraft reaching Mercury and asteroids near Earth, 2026 is shaping up to be a landmark year for space exploration.

Space Exploration
Artistic depiction of NASA astronauts at the lunar south pole carrying out early work to establish an Artemis Base Camp.

Scientists are getting our robotic explorers ready to help send humans to Mars

By Sharmila Kuthunur published

"It's really not a question of robotic exploration or human exploration," Ehlmann said. "It is an 'and' — it's robotic and human exploration and how we do these best together."

Human Spaceflight
a winged back and white orbiter standing on its landing gear is seen on museum display

NASA chief Jared Isaacman says Texas may get a moonship, not space shuttle Discovery

By Tariq Malik published

An Artemis Orion capsule could take space shuttle Discovery's place in Houston, NASA's new chief says.

Space Exploration
Tory Bruno, president and CEO of United Launch Alliance, is seen during a press conference after the first launch attempt of NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test was scrubbed for the day, Monday, May 6, 2024, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Former United Launch Alliance CEO Tory Bruno joins competitor Blue Origin for national security projects

By Tariq Malik published

Tory Bruno, the longtime chief of the launch provider United Launch Alliance (ULA) has joined the competition at Blue Origin.

Space Exploration
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Science & Astronomy

A photo of Earth from space where four snowy circles are seen against the labeled coastline of Russia with a dark blue ocean on the right of the image

Nature carves colossal snowman in Siberia | Space photo of the day for Jan. 2, 2026

By Kenna Hughes-Castleberry published

Do you want to build a snowman?

Earth
Large fully illuminated moon with large craters against a black background.

Full moon names 2026 (and how they came to be)

By Joe Rao last updated

Reference The full moon names for each month, why they're named so and what we can expect from these lunar events.

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Space Photo of the Day

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Entertainment

Playmobil versus Lego: Which is the best USS Enterprise set?

By Alexander Cox published

Lego has recently released their first-ever Star Trek set, the 3600-piece U.S.S Enterprise, but is it better than Playmobil's model?

Space Toys & Lego
A series of books stacked horizontally so we only see the bottom of their pages with a bright yellow background behind.

Nebula nights: Award-winning sci-fi literature through the ages

By Kenna Hughes-Castleberry published

Think you know your Le Guin from your Liu? Let’s find out

Space Books
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What's Up In Space Today

Search For Life

A man looks at the camera sitting in the audience with other people wearing formal attire while a projector screen in the back is lit up with a grid-like image

We didn't find answers in 2025, but UFO researchers say the search continues

By Leonard David published

"Science doesn't always go as planned. In any case, there's a lot of work to be done."

Search for Life
Saturn's moon Titan looks a bit like Earth, but is, in fact, very different.

Surprise! Saturn's huge moon Titan may not have a buried ocean after all

By Charles Q. Choi published

"We're not certain if having widespread liquid pockets instead of a global ocean makes Titan more or less habitable."

Search for Life
A silhouette of a planet is in front of a giant sun with a small planet to the right of the image

Which exoplanet in the TRAPPIST-1 system could be habitable? Scientists are modeling the star to find out

By Samantha Mathewson published

Frequent flares from the nearby star TRAPPIST-1 could offer new clues in the search for habitable planets beyond Earth.

Search for Life
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Technology

A woman is watching television in a living room, the television is placed above a fire place and she is eating popcorn.

The best streaming device out there: Which one comes out on top — Amazon Fire TV Stick, Roku Ultra, Apple TV and Google TV Streamer?

By Alexander Cox published

Which is the best streaming device out there? We've pitted four of the best models on the market against each other to determine the top option.

Technology
A dark room light up by blue light showing a series of servers and wires

Google's proposed data center in orbit will face issues with space debris in an already crowded orbit

By Mojtaba Akhavan-Tafti published

As a space scientist, I predict that the company will soon have to reckon with a growing problem: space debris.

Technology
An illustration of a space station made of two large circular stacked rings connected by metal spires in between floating above Earth

Russia patents space station designed to generate artificial gravity

By Andrew Jones published

According to the patent, habitable modules would rotate around a central axis to simulate gravity for crew by producing an outward-pushing centrifugal force.

Technology
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