Astronomy

Latest about Astronomy

A white lunar lander with the Earth in the background

Moon rush: These private spacecraft will attempt lunar landings in 2026

By Andrew Jones published

Lunar landers from Blue Origin, Firefly Aerospace, Intuitive Machines and Astrobotic are gearing up for moon landing attempts in 2026 as the commercial exploration of deep space expands.

The moon

What is the moon phase today? Lunar phases 2026

By Tariq Malik, Daisy Dobrijevic last updated

Reference See what moon phase it is tonight and find out when you can see the rest of the moon phases for 2026.

Reference
A black and white crossword puzzle sits underneath a blue and white coffee cup with the Space.com black and white logo in the bottom left corner.

Space.com headlines crossword quiz for week of Dec. 29, 2025: Which meteor shower peaks in early January?

By Kenna Hughes-Castleberry published

Test your space smarts with our weekly crossword challenge, crafted from Space.com's biggest headlines.

Astronomy
an illustration of a brown-and-red-striped planet on a starry background

Astronomers detect rare 'free floating' exoplanet 10,000 light-years from Earth

By Charles Q. Choi published

Astronomers have detected a "free floating" rogue planet the size of Saturn drifting through the Milky Way some 10,000 light-years from Earth.

Exoplanets
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.

Reference
A green ball of light showing comet Lemmon streaks across an orange and black night sky full of stars.

Will Comet C/2025 R3 (PanSTARRS) be the 'great comet' of 2026?

By Jamie Carter published

In late April 2026, a long-period comet will swing through the inner solar system. It will likely be visible with binoculars, and there's a small chance it could be seen with the naked eye.

Comets
A trapezoidal building with slanted straight sides is covered in snow amidst a snowy landscape.

Space Force shows off snowy new Alaska radar post | Space photo of the day for Jan. 1, 2026

By Kenna Hughes-Castleberry published

"I am the watcher on the walls."

Earth
moon

The race to mine the moon is on – and it urgently needs some clear international rules

By Jessie Osborne, Adam Urwick published

There are billions of dollars in it for companies able to kickstart mining operations, even if such returns are still years away.

The moon
A glowing swirl of lights surrounds denser areas of pink color with stars surrounding the galaxy in a deep space image.

Big Bear glows with big stars | Space photo of the day for Dec. 31, 2025

By Kenna Hughes-Castleberry published

Bears, stars, Battlestar Galactica

Galaxies
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