Space blog

All articles (51)

• Can a black hole split? What the new study actually shows · 2026-11-01

  A theoretical opening is not an observed breakup. Use Solar System Live’s visual reading guide to separate the diagram, the conditions and the missing mechanism.

• Is LMC P3 a black hole? What the gas trail tells us · 2026-10-31

  A new gas observation supports microquasar activity. Follow Solar System Live’s evidence guide to see why identifying the engine is a separate question.

• Black hole picture: is it real or a simulation? · 2026-10-30

  Follow the evidence behind the M87 image, then use Solar System Live’s visual reading guide to distinguish an observation from a simulation.

• Moon bases and AI: from a planetary view to a landing site · 2026-10-29

  Follow a Solar System Live reading route from the Moon’s planetary setting to terrain data, and learn what an AI recommendation actually establishes.

• Noctilucent clouds: sunlight after your sunset · 2026-10-28

  Follow sunlight from the Solar System view to Earth's upper atmosphere, and learn why a summer photograph is not a forecast for tonight.

• Orion Nebula: where does M42 fit beyond our Solar System? · 2026-10-27

  Explore M42 through a Solar System reader’s guide: separate its location, its photographic colors and the stars revealed by different views.

• Dark matter simulation: what does the image show? · 2026-10-26

  NASA’s striking image is a computer simulation, not a photograph of invisible matter. Learn what its colors mean and why a Solar System simulator answers a different question.

• Rosetta selfie: who took the picture beside comet 67P? · 2026-10-25

  The camera was aboard Philae while it was still attached to Rosetta. Read the image by separating the spacecraft, the active comet and their place in the Solar System.

• White dwarf colors: could our Sun turn green? · 2026-10-24

  Some white dwarfs would appear green or pink up close, but most look white. Compare the new study with what we know about the Sun’s future.

• Ejected black holes: what the quasar survey shows · 2026-10-23

  A survey of about 100,000 quasars found a pattern consistent with black holes recoiling after mergers. Learn what was measured and what remains unproven.

• Black holes near the Solar System: what we know · 2026-10-22

  A search of nearby Gaia sources found no confirmed black hole within about 50 light-years. See what the candidates reveal and how that compares with Gaia BH1.

• Halley's Comet in 1066: why its dust matters tonight · 2026-10-21

  The comet embroidered at Bayeux is not returning tonight. Its debris produces the Orionid meteors, whose predicted 2026 peak falls on October 21–22.

• Terraforming Mars: what could we lose? · 2026-10-20

  Changing Mars could disturb clues to its climate and possible past life. See which records matter, what protection covers, and what remains uncertain.

• Pillars of Creation sound: how to hear the image · 2026-10-19

  The Eagle Nebula recording turns telescope images into sound. Follow the notes and sweeping tones, then connect this star-forming region with our Sun’s origins.

• Comet 67P 3D image: what Rosetta actually shows · 2026-10-18

  Rosetta’s stereo image reveals the shape and jets of comet 67P. Learn how to read it, where the comet travels, and what a solar-system view adds.

• ISS and rocket launch video: what are we seeing? · 2026-10-17

  A rocket plume and the space station cross the same predawn view. Identify each moving light, understand the sunlight, and see what the video cannot prove.

• Mars moons origin: what MMX can actually test · 2026-10-16

  Were Phobos and Deimos captured asteroids or born from an impact on Mars? Compare the clues we have with the evidence Japan's MMX mission plans to collect.

• ISS spacewalks 100 and 101: what will change? · 2026-10-15

  Two planned spacewalks will add the station’s final roll-out solar arrays. Compare each task, the expected power gain, and what the numbers 100 and 101 mean.

• Transporter-18 satellites: three NASA missions explained · 2026-10-14

  Three NASA-supported spacecraft shared a launch, but their jobs differ. Use a solar-system view to separate where they operate from what they study.

• Water on the Moon: How Would Liquid Move? · 2026-10-13

  A flight experiment reveals how liquids behave under near-lunar gravity. See what its images show, why lunar soil remains an open question, and what a solar-system view can put in context.

• Second-Generation Planet: Clues Around a White Dwarf · 2026-10-12

  A chemical fingerprint and a repeating signal point to a possible planet around HS 0209+0832. See what the evidence supports, and why astronomers still call it a candidate.

• Crew-12 Mission in Numbers: 237 Days in Orbit · 2026-10-11

  Crew-12 spent 237 days in orbit and completed more than 3,792 Earth orbits. See what NASA’s figures reveal about the scale of one station mission and the research behind its return.

• Stickney Crater: Why Phobos nearly broke apart · 2026-10-10

  Stickney spans more than 9 kilometers across Phobos, nearly half the moon’s diameter. Learn what the image shows, what the impact may have done, and which clues remain uncertain.

• Crew-12 Return to Earth: Reading the Splashdown · 2026-10-09

  Crew-12’s Pacific splashdown is a chance to trace the journey from the International Space Station back to Earth, and to read what a landing photo can—and cannot—tell us.

• Arctic Sea Ice Minimum: Reading the 2026 Record · 2026-10-08

  The 2026 summer minimum was among the ten lowest in the satellite record. Learn how to read that ranking alongside the winter maximum, ice age and the limits of a single year's measurement.

• Safest Place for Life in the Galaxy? The Milky Way Edge · 2026-10-07

  A Durham University simulation of the whole observable universe finds that our solar system's spot in the Milky Way, far from the crowded galactic centre, is about as safe from cosmic extinction as it gets.

• Pa 30 Supernova Remnant: What the Image Can Tell Us · 2026-10-07

  Pa 30 may preserve the aftermath of a supernova recorded in 1181. Separate the historical clue, the proposed explosion, and the still-unanswered questions in NASA’s image.

• Crew-12 Space Station Research: What Microgravity Reveals · 2026-10-03

  Crew-12's research ranged from crystals and cells to metal printing. See how the International Space Station's microgravity setting helps scientists investigate questions with potential benefits on Earth and for future crews.

• How Fast Does the ISS Orbit Earth? Crew-12 Explains · 2026-10-03

  NASA's Crew-12 just left the ISS after circling Earth every 90 minutes for months. Here's what that orbital speed actually means, and how it compares to a planet's own trip around the Sun.

• NASA Movie Night: Watch These Worlds Live Too · 2026-10-02

  NASA's new movie night picks feature Europa, Titan, the Moon and asteroid defense. See which of these worlds you can actually fly to right now in our live 3D solar system simulator.

• LHS 1140b Helium Signal: What It Would Mean · 2026-09-30

  A helium signal around a nearby rocky exoplanet raised hopes of a breathable-type atmosphere, but a second look didn't confirm it. Here's what LHS 1140b's data actually shows, and why our own planets already explain the key idea.

• Webb at L2: why the telescope orbits the Sun · 2026-09-29

  L2 is a useful region of space, not a physical object. Understand Webb's solar orbit, its halo path and why a cold telescope needs this geometry.

• Juice Earth Flyby 2026: The Gravity Assist Explained · 2026-09-28

  ESA planned a close Earth flyby for Juice on 28 September 2026. Learn how the gravity assist reshapes its route to Jupiter and what the spacecraft is expected to observe.

• Cosmic birefringence: what the Planck check really tests · 2026-09-26

  A new analysis checks detector calibration, not an independent discovery of cosmic rotation. Learn how to separate the measurement from the claim.

• What Is a Supernova Remnant? Five Ghosts in Auriga · 2026-09-24

  NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day for September 24, 2026 reveals five ancient supernova remnants scattered across the constellation Auriga, captured in a 200-hour mosaic covering an area of one thousand full moons.

• What Is the Cocoon Nebula? IC 5146 Explained · 2026-09-21

  NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day for September 21, 2026 shows IC 5146, the Cocoon Nebula, and the 100-light-year dusty tail that makes the whole complex look like a comet.

• What Is an Analemma? The Sun's Figure-8 Explained · 2026-09-20

  NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day for September 20, 2026 shows a year-long analemma photographed at noon over the ancient Callanish Stones in Scotland. Here's what causes that figure-eight shape.

• Zodiacal Light Explained: Why Mars May Be the Source · 2026-09-19

  NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day for September 19, 2026 captures the zodiacal light over Ladakh, India — and Juno data suggests the dust behind this glow may be coming from Mars itself.

• Quantum vs Classical: Why the Moon Is Always Somewhere · 2026-09-18

  A Quanta Magazine podcast on quantum decoherence explains why planets and moons never show quantum superposition — and how that connects to the always-exact positions you see in a real-time 3D solar system simulator.

• Carina Nebula Treasure Chest: JWST Finds 70 Baby Stars · 2026-09-17

  A new James Webb image reveals a dust pillar in the Carina Nebula shaped like an open treasure chest, hiding a cluster of about 70 stars barely 1.3 million years old. Here is why one star's mass decides its whole future — and how it compares to our own Sun.

• Moon Occults Venus: Why NASA Called It a Daytime Eclipse · 2026-09-16

  NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day for September 15, 2026 shows the Moon passing directly in front of Venus in broad daylight. Here is the real difference between an eclipse and an occultation, and why Venus is the one planet bright enough to vanish in front of your eyes at noon.

• Little Red Dots: Are They Black Holes or 'Black Hole Stars'? · 2026-09-15

  Astronomers are split over what the tiny, extremely red objects JWST keeps finding across the early universe actually are: ordinary black holes growing implausibly fast, or something stranger wrapped in a giant gas envelope.

• Moon Dust Could Hold Clues to Alien Civilizations · 2026-09-14

  A new SETI Institute study argues that microscopic industrial debris from distant civilizations could survive for hundreds of millions of years buried in lunar soil, without ever needing anyone to be listening for a radio signal at the right moment.

• Stars Near the Milky Way's Black Hole Lack Companions · 2026-09-13

  A survey of young stars circling Sagittarius A* finds far fewer binary pairs than expected anywhere else in the galaxy, and tidal forces near the black hole look like the reason why.

• Mars Gullies: Carved by Dry Ice, Not Water · 2026-09-12

  New observations point to carbon dioxide frost, not liquid water, as the force still actively carving gullies down the slopes of Mars today.

• Cloud-9: The Almost Starless Galaxy Backing Dark Matter · 2026-09-11

  New deep images from a telescope in the Canary Islands push the star content of a gas cloud called Cloud-9 down to almost nothing, backing an old prediction about dark matter.

• Halley's Comet Rendezvous: A 2061 Mission Explained · 2026-09-09

  A newly proposed spacecraft concept would chase Halley's Comet for over two decades to reach it a year before its 2061 return. Here is why that orbit is so hard to catch.

• Black Hole No-Hair Theorem: A New Way to Put It to the Test · 2026-09-08

  Black holes are supposed to be describable with just three numbers: mass, spin, and charge. A new approach reported by Phys.org aims to check whether that simplicity really holds up.

• Pulsar Glitches: When a Neutron Star Suddenly Speeds Up · 2026-09-07

  A pulsar that stayed quiet for nearly a decade suddenly showed three glitches in six years. What a glitch is, why it happens, and what the superfluid inside a neutron star reveals about matter at its most extreme.

• Solar Eclipse: How the Moon's Shadow Reaches Earth · 2026-09-06

  A total solar eclipse casts a shadow barely 200 km wide that races across Earth at over 1,000 km/h. Here is the geometry behind it — and why it does not happen every month.

• Progress 96 ISS Docking: Why Orbital Rendezvous Is Harder Than It Looks · 2026-09-04

  A Russian cargo spacecraft heading to the ISS is a reminder that reaching something just 400 km above Earth demands extraordinary orbital precision — here's how it actually works.