Saturday, July 18, 2026

NASA’s Artemis III Lander Test Will be a "Dress Rehearsal" for Returning to the Moon!

Artist's impression of the Starship and Blue Moon Human Landing System (HLS) concepts on the lunar surface. Credit: SpaceX/Blue Origin

Before Artemis astronauts land on the Moon’s surface in 2028, NASA will conduct the Artemis III demonstration mission in 2027, allowing teams on Earth and in orbit to practice rendezvous and docking operations between commercial human landing systems and the Orion spacecraft. Data from that mission, along with future uncrewed demonstration missions at the Moon,



Submillimeter Array Catches a Gamma-Ray Burst Thanks to new Fast-Response System

An artist's impression of a superluminous supernova and an associated gamma-ray burst being driven by a rapidly spinning neutron star. Credit: CfA

The Submillimeter Array's (SMA) new semi-automated alert system demonstrates how the radio interferometer quickly responds to discoveries from space-based telescopes.



On The Hunt For Earth’s First Complex Life

Bear Island in the Barents Sea which is a paleontological hotbead known for preserving ancient microfossils.  Credit:  Wikipedia

Finding microfossils of Earth’s oldest complex life is a bit like chasing an astrobiological rainbow. The eukaryotic pot of gold at rainbow’s end always seems just a bit out of reach.



Friday, July 17, 2026

The Dark Energy Camera's New Image is Reminiscent of van Gogh

The 570 megapixel Dark Energy Camera captured this image of the Corona Australis Molecular Cloud. It's one of the nearest star forming regions to Earth. R Coronae Australis, a variable binary system, lights up the orange cloud on the left. Dust lanes, newborn stars, and nebulae fill the frame. The globular cluster NGC 6723 is prominent in the upper right, though it's much farther away than Corona Australis. Image Credit: Dark Energy Survey/DOE/FNAL/DECam/CTIO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA.  Image processing: R. Colombari & M. Zamani (NSF NOIRLab)

The Dark Energy Camera (DECam) has a massive 570 megapixel camera, and its new image is of the Corona Australis Molecular Cloud. Corona Australis is one of the closest star-forming regions to Earth. It's not as well-studied as the Orion Molecular Cloud or Ophiuchus, but as DECam's new iage of Corona Australis shows, it's just as fascinating.



What's It Like to Travel Near the Speed of Light? Part 4: The Hot View

A Saturn V rocket accelerates off the pad. Sustained acceleration is exactly what conjures the faint quantum glow of Unruh radiation. Credit: NASA (public domain).

An accelerating observer finds their empty vacuum glowing with real particles, a bizarre effect called Unruh radiation. It's a cousin to Hawking radiation, but with no black hole required, just a rocket and its throttle.



X-Ray Eyes Reveal the Magnetic Secrets of the Lighthouse Pulsar's Cosmic Wake

False color image of the Lighthouse Pulsar. Credit : X-ray: Chandra: NASA/CXC/Stanford Univ./J.T. Dinsmore et al.; IXPE: NASA/MSFC/J.T. Dinsmore et al., Radio: CSIRO/ATNF/ATCA; Optical: 2MASS/UMass/IPAC-Caltech/NASA/NSF; Image processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/L. Frattare

Space Telescope Maps Magnetic Fields of "Lighthouse" Pulsar kerryhensley45577 Mon, 07/13/2026 - 10:49 Space Telescope Maps Magnetic Fields of "Lighthouse" Pulsar https://science.nasa.gov/missions/ixpe/nasa-space-telescope-maps-magnetic-fields-of-lighthouse-pulsar/



FCC Approves First Launch for Space Reflector Constellation

An artist's conception of Eärendil-1 in orbit. Credit: Reflect Orbital.

The United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC) recently approved the first test launch of Reflect Orbital’s Eärendil-1 satellite. Sporting an 18 by 18 meter-wide reflector once unfurled, the satellite will test the ability to reflect sunlight back to Earth, on demand. The company envisions more than 50,000 reflectors girding the Earth in low Earth orbit by 2035, while many in the astronomical community have raised concerns on the project's impact.