Skywatching

A deep space scene is pictured featuring glowing red nebula clouds that form the outline of a bat's body and wings, threaded with dark filaments of interstellar gas against a teeming starfield.

Astronomers capture vast cosmic bat spreading its wings in time for Halloween (photo)

By Anthony Wood published

The European Southern Observatory captured a nebula bat during a survey of the Milky Way's galactic plane.

Astrophotography
A bright comet is pictured against a black starry sky with its bright central coma visible to the lower left of the image from which a bright tail extends to the upper left.

Trick or treat: Here's where to find comets Lemmon, SWAN and 3I/ATLAS in the Halloween sky

By Anthony Wood published

Read on to discover where comets Lemmon, SWAN and 3I/ATLAS are in the Halloween night sky on Oct. 21 and find out if they're a stargazing trick, or a telescopic treat.

Stargazing
Man uses one of the best telescopes and binoculars to look at the night sky as the sun sets and telescopes are on tripods around him

Best telescopes ahead of Black Friday 2025: Observe stars, galaxies and nebulas

By Gemma Lavender last updated

Buying Guide These are the best telescopes for stargazing and astronomy. Stay tuned for Black Friday on Nov. 28

Buying Guide
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Spaceflight

A rocket engine flame is seen peaking through some fog, but only barely.

SpaceX launches 100th Starlink mission of 2025 (video)

By Mike Wall last updated

SpaceX launched its 100th Starlink mission of the year on Friday (Oct. 31), from a foggy Vandenberg Space Force Base, in California.

Launches & Spacecraft
Screenshots showing a rocket blasting off from a launch pad

China launches Shenzhou 21 astronauts to Tiangong space station for a 6-month stay (video)

By Andrew Jones published

Shenzhou 21, China's latest astronaut mission, made it to the Tiangong space station after a Friday (Oct. 31) launch from the Gobi Desert.

Launches & Spacecraft
a triple-core rocket blasts off under a sunny, partly cloudy blue sky. smoke expands below next to an obscured launch tower, near a long white hanger with SPACEX written on the side. To the left, a bird flies away.

Rocket launch today: Is there a rocket launch and what time?

By Josh Dinner, Tariq Malik last updated

Follow Space.com's rocket launch blog for the latest on when the next rocket launch will be and how to follow it live.

Launches & Spacecraft
Graphic illustration with 'space calendar' in large blue neon letters and 2025 below it in smaller white letters. Below the title are four neon images depicting a meteor or comet, a telescope, a rocket launch and an astronaut's helmet. There is a starry background to the entire image.

Space calendar 2025: Rocket launches, skywatching events, missions & more!

By Space.com last updated

Reference Keep up with all the rocket launches, astronomical events and mission milestones for 2025 with our space calendar.

Reference
The Shenzhou 20 crew launch at 5:17 a.m. EDT on Thurs (April 24)

Watch China launch 3 astronauts toward its Tiangong space station today

By Mike Wall published

China will launch three astronauts toward its Tiangong space station today (Oct. 31), and you can watch the action live.

Launches & Spacecraft
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Science & Astronomy

Expedition 1 crewmates Bill Shepherd, Yuri Gidzenko and Sergei Krikalev pose with a model of the space station.

On this day in space! Nov. 2, 2000: Expedition 1 arrives at the International Space Station

By Hanneke Weitering last updated

On Nov. 2, 2000, the International Space Station welcomed its first long-term residents: NASA astronaut Bill Shepherd and two Russian cosmonauts, Yuri Gidzenko and Sergei Krikalev.

Asteroids
(Main) An image of the asteroid Ryugu as seen by the Japanese mission Hayabusa2 (Top right) a sample of Ryugu provided to NASA scientists (bottom right) an illustration of bacteria

A Flash, a Boom, a New Microbe Habitat

By Katherine Kornei published

After an asteroid struck Finland long ago, microscopic life colonized the impact site within a few million years, new research reveals.

Asteroids
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Space Photo of the Day

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Entertainment

Best space horror movies: Extra-terrestrial scares to give you nightmares

By Richard Edwards last updated

It's cold, it's dark, and there are monsters... get ready for the best space horror movies to watch right now.

Space Movies & Shows

Best sci-fi horror books: Top sci-fi horror reads to haunt your Halloween

By Kenna Hughes-Castleberry published

From Orwell's dystopian paranoia to Jeff VanderMeer's ecological nightmares, these science-fiction horror novels explore fear on every scale.

Space Books
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What's Up In Space Today

Search For Life

A white orange sphere representing the sun spews red and blue gas toward a gray small exoplanet

Powerful solar storms may help life get going on alien planets. Here's how

By Keith Cooper published

New observations of a volatile young star have shown how infant suns could unleash enough energy to trigger biologically relevant chemical reactions in an orbiting planet's atmosphere.

Search for Life
images of stars on a black background, with what appear to be other stars among them circled by dotted lines

Could these mysterious flashes of light in 1950s photos be UFOs? Some researchers think so

By Keith Cooper published

Researchers claim flashes of light seen in sky surveys could have been UFOs drawn to Earth by nuclear tests, but more mundane explanations should be explored first.

Search for Life
Catching a ride on a drone, OrganiCam could swoop into lava-tube caves on Mars to search for organic molecules marked by the tell-tale signature of life.

The search for life: A space science quiz

By Kenna Hughes-Castleberry published

This quiz dives into the historic and scientific journey behind the search for life in the universe—testing your knowledge of the thinkers, missions, and discoveries that shaped our cosmic curiosity.

Search for Life
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Technology

A white rocket is hoisted by yellow cranes

Europe is working to develop reusable rockets by the early 2030s

By Andrew Jones published

ArianeGroup's methane-fueled Prometheus engine and Themis demonstrator mark key steps toward a European reusable rocket program.

Technology
an elongated blue-and-white jet in flight

NASA's X-59 'quiet' supersonic jet makes historic 1st flight (photos)

By Brett Tingley published

NASA's X-59 "quiet" supersonic jet took off on its first-ever flight on Oct. 28, flying from Palmdale, California to its new home at Edwards Air Force Base.

Aerospace
A satellite image showing a large white hurricane headed toward green land in the left side of the image contrasted with the dark blue ocean

Satellites watch Category 5 Hurricane Melissa ahead of record-breaking landfall in Jamaica

By Meredith Garofalo published

Hurricane Melissa made a record-breaking landfall in Jamaica, and satellites are monitoring the situation.

Technology
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