May's Full Flower Moon rises tonight after a lunar eclipse.

May's full moon rises tonight (May 5), offering skywatchers the chance to experience the colorfully named "Flower Moon" of 2023.  During the full moon, the lunar face will be fully illuminated by the sun with the Flower Moon visible for most of the night across…

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Scientists catch glimpse of star swallowing planet in one big gulp.

For the first time, scientists have caught a star in the act of swallowing a planet — not just a nibble or bite, but one big gulp. Astronomers on Wednesday reported their observations of what appeared to be a gas giant around the size of Jupiter or bigger being eaten by its …

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Russian cosmonauts relocate airlock on International Space Station spacewalk.

Two Russian cosmonauts reentered an airlock after successfully relocating a different airlock during a spacewalk outside of the International Space Station. Expedition 69 commander Sergey Prokopyev and flight engineer Dmitry Petelin, both with the Russian federal space corpo…

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Guts of the universe's 1st stars found in distant gas clouds.

Astronomers have found the chemical remains left behind by the universe's first stars after they died in massive cosmic explosions called supernovas.  The stellar remains were discovered for the first time in distant gas clouds by astronomers using the Very Large Telesco…

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SpaceX launches 56 Starlink satellites, lands rocket at sea.

SpaceX launched another big batch of its Starlink internet satellites and landed the returning rocket at sea early Thursday morning (May 4). A Falcon 9 rocket carrying 56 Starlink spacecraft lifted off from Florida's Cape Canaveral Space Force Station Thursday at 3:31 a.…

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Scientists catch real-life Death Star devouring a planet in 1st-of-its-kind discovery.

Astronomers may have for the first time witnessed a sun-like star devouring a planet, shedding light on the fate that will befall Earth in about four billion years when our dying sun swells to engulf our world, a new study finds. By analyzing countless stars during various s…

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SpaceX launches 6th-ever Falcon Heavy mission.

SpaceX launched its powerful Falcon Heavy rocket for the sixth time ever on Sunday (April 30), sending three satellites to distant geostationary orbit. The Falcon Heavy lifted off from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida Sunday at 8:26 p.m. EDT (0026 GMT on Monday, Ma…

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Astronomers have captured the first direct image of a black hole as it blasts out a powerful jet.

The new photo features the monstrous supermassive black hole at the heart of the galaxy Messier 87 (M87), the first black hole ever directly imaged by humanity. The image shows precisely for the first time how the base of such an astrophysical jet moving at speeds approachin…

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SpaceX launches world's 1st 5G satellite.

SpaceX has launched what is reportedly the first satellite in low Earth orbit (LEO) to operate on the 5G cellular standard. Known as "The GroundBreaker," the relatively small, 22-pound (10-kilogram) orbital data relay, designated Sateliot_0, is the first of a const…

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James Webb Space Telescope keeps finding galaxies that shouldn’t exist.

The James Webb Space Telescope keeps finding galaxies that shouldn’t exist, a scientist has warned. Six of the earliest and most massive galaxies that Nasa’s breakthrough telescope has seen so far appear to be bigger and more mature than they should be given where they are i…

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SpaceX’s uncrewed giant rocket explodes minutes after launch from Texas.

SpaceX’s giant new rocket exploded minutes after blasting off on its first test flight Thursday and crashed into the Gulf of Mexico. Elon Musk’s company was aiming to send the biggest and most powerful rocket ever built on a round-the-world trip from the southern tip of Texa…

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Rare hybrid solar eclipse 2023 delights South Pacific skywatchers.

The first hybrid solar eclipse in a decade did not disappoint! At 9:36 p.m. EDT on April 19 (0136 GMT on April 20) the rare hybrid solar eclipse swept over the South Pacific, with the moon's shadow passing over western Australia, East Timor and Indonesia. A hybrid solar e…

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SpaceX launches 21 Starlink V2 satellites, lands rocket at sea.

SpaceX carried another batch of Starlink satellites on Wednesday (April 19).  A Falcon 9 rocket carrying 21 of SpaceX's new Starlink "V2 mini" satellites took off at 10:31 a.m. ET (1431 GMT) from Space Launch Complex 40 at Florida's Cape Canaveral Space For…

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Europe's JUICE Jupiter explorer probe takes 1st space 'selfies' on its way to gas giant.

The Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) spacecraft has taken its first "selfies" from space, catching stunning images with Earth as a backdrop. The images were taken in the hours following the European Space Agency (ESA) spacecraft's departure from the European …

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Europe's Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer is unlikely to find life.

Even after Europe's Jupiter Icy Moon Explorer (JUICE) concludes its mission more than ten years from now, we are unlikely to know for sure whether life might be thriving in the vicinity of the solar system's largest planet. Liquid water, a source of energy and nutrie…

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The 62,000-mile-high 'Plasma Waterfall' that erupted from the sun.

A stunning solar "waterfall" has been spotted on the surface of the sun. The picture, taken by astrophotographer Eduardo Schaberger Poupeau on March 9, shows a wall of plasma being shot "some 100,000 kilometers" – or about 62,000 miles – up towards space,…

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Europe successfully launches JUICE mission to study Jupiter's icy moons.

Europe's first-ever Jupiter mission is officially underway. The European Space Agency's (ESA) JUICE spacecraft launched atop an Ariane 5 rocket from Europe's Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana on Friday (April 14) at 8:14 a.m. EDT (1214 GMT), after a one-day dela…

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SpaceX eyeing 3rd week of April for Starship orbital launch.

SpaceX's huge Starship vehicle could launch on its first-ever orbital test flight by the end of next week, if all goes according to plan. SpaceX has been gearing up for the pioneering flight for months, and the prep work has accelerated recently. Last week, for example, …

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James Webb Space Telescope discovers oldest black hole in the universe.

The James Webb Space Telescope has spotted the earliest known black hole in the universe, and astronomers think even earlier ones could have swarmed the young cosmos. The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), whose powerful cameras allow it to peer back in time to the earliest …

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Perseverance Mars rover collects 1st sample of new science campaign.

NASA's Perseverance Mars rover has drilled its 16th sample from an intriguing rock, inaugurating its latest assignment that has it exploring the top of an ancient river delta.  The newly collected sample, the size of a piece of classroom chalk, is safely tucked in Persev…

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