Skywatching

graphic with night sky in large font and silhouettes of people below looking up at the night sky.

Night sky tonight (March 17): A zodiacal crab guards a star cluster in the southeastern sky

By Jamie Carter last updated

Find out what you can see in the night sky for tonight, from planets and stars to dazzling meteor showers.

Stargazing

Aurora forecast March 17 — Northern lights fairly quiet tonight but could surge March 19 as solar storm arrives

By Daisy Dobrijevic last updated

The latest aurora forecast for tonight helps you make sure you're in the right place at the right time to see the northern lights.

Auroras
a bright red cloud of dust on a starry background

Astrophotographer spends nearly 70 hours capturing a delicate blue nebula in Orion (photo)

By Anthony Wood published

Astrophotographer Emil Andronic captured a gorgeous blue reflection nebula glowing inside the red clouds of Orion's Head in the constellation Orion.

Stargazing
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Spaceflight

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
a man in a suit poses in front of a long, slender metal tube beside a wood-paneled building

100 years after Robert Goddard's 1st liquid-fueled rocket launch, NASA is using the technology to send astronauts back to the moon

By Josh Dinner published

100 years after Robert Goddard launched the first liquid-fueled rocket, NASA is preparing a return to the moon with the Artemis program to extend humanity's reach into deep space.

Space Exploration
montage of two photos showing white and black rockets launching to blue skies

Two days, two coasts, two more SpaceX Starlink batches launched

By Robert Z. Pearlman published

Two SpaceX Falcon 9 rockets carrying Starlink satellites were launched from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California and Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on March 13 and 14, 2026.

Launches & Spacecraft
illustration of a silvery metallic rotorcraft flying over orangish dunes

NASA begins building nuclear-powered Dragonfly drone for 2028 launch to Saturn moon Titan

By Elizabeth Howell published

Dragonfly will explore the giant Saturn moon Titan by air, helping scientists learn about the proto-ingredients of life on the satellite's hazy surface.

Missions
An orange rocket with white side booster stands next to the launch tower during a colorful sunrise.

How risky is the Artemis 2 astronaut launch to the moon? NASA would rather not say

By Mike Wall published

NASA's Artemis 2 mission, which will launch astronauts to the moon for the first time in more than 50 years, comes with undeniable risk. But quantifying that risk is a tall order.

Artemis
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Science & Astronomy

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 massive underground chamber lined wall-to-wall with golden orbs

Deep underground, a telescope may soon detect ghosts of stars that died before Earth existed

By Pablo Martinez Mirave published

With the help of an extremely powerful telescope deep underground in Japan, astronomers may be able to catch a glimpse of ghost particles from long-dead stars.

Stars
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Space Photo of the Day

SpaceX's Ship 39 looks cool as it undergoes cryosystem checks on Sunday March 8

SpaceX's Ship 39 is so cool in Starship V3 test | Space photo of the day for March 9, 2026

By Robert Lea published

SpaceX engineers tested Ship 39's propellant system, leading to some stunning images.

Space Exploration
An image of RCW 36 in which the Milky Way nebula appears like a vast cosmic bird of prey

Cosmic Hawk spreads its wings| Space photo of the day for March 6, 2026

By Robert Lea published

The Milky Way nebula RCW 36 resembles a stunning cosmic bird of prey in an incredible Very Large Telescope image.

Galaxies
an impressive red spiral structure with a bright point of light at the very center.

Spectacular spiral galaxy revealed by James Webb Space Telescope | Space photo of the day for March 4, 2026

By Daisy Dobrijevic published

The James Webb Space Telescope captured a stunning spiral galaxy 65 million light-years away, revealing glowing dust clouds and stellar nurseries.

James Webb Space Telescope
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Entertainment

a bearded space pirate on a sci-fi spaceship

'Villains are the heroes of their own movie': We chat to 'Star Trek: Starfleet Academy' showrunners about building an iconic Trek villain

By Jeff Spry published

'It promises that this is just the beginning of the story for these characters. There's so much more to tell.'

Space Movies & Shows
A man with cranial electrodes and a mouthguard

The new 'Disclosure Day trailer just dropped, and now we think it's a secret sequel to 'Close Encounters of the Third Kind'

By Jeff Spry published

'That truth will upend all established order across the entire world.'

Space Movies & Shows
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What's Up In Space Today

Search For Life

Artist's illustration of a free-floating "rogue" planet and its Earth-like moon.

No sun, no problem? How life could thrive on moons of starless 'rogue' planets

By Sharmila Kuthunur published

Exomoons orbiting rogue planets could host liquid water for billions of years, offering potential habitats for life deep in interstellar space.

Search for Life
The SETI Institute's Allen Telescope Array in Northern California searches for radio signals that could have been generated by intelligent alien life.

Where are all the aliens? Maybe space weather is scrambling their transmissions

By Keith Cooper published

We may be missing alien radio signals because they have become smeared beyond the narrowband detectors that SETI utilizes, a new study suggests.

Search for Life
The average distance between Earth and Marsthe two planets is 140 million miles (225 million km). The distance between the two planets affects how long it would take to travel between the two.

Did Earth life actually begin on Mars? Asteroid impacts could let microbes planet-hop, study suggests

By Sharmila Kuthunur published

"Life might actually survive being ejected from one planet and moving to another."

Search for Life
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Technology

A YACHANCE Night Light Star Projector, with box and remote.

Yachance Night Light star projector review

By Kim Snaith published

The Yachance Night Light star projector is a geared firmly towards children.

Technology

Get the best sub-250g drone, the DJI Mini 5 Pro and save $500

By Chris McMullen published

Deals The DJI Mini 5 Pro is the best sub-250g drone ever made and now $500 off at Amazon; this Fly More Combo bundle packs in extra batteries, an LCD remote and more!

Deals
Artist's illustration of a white inflatable habitat on the moon.

Could NASA use expandable habitats for its Artemis moon bases? These two companies are betting millions

By Josh Dinner published

Voyager Technologies is backing lunar habitat developer Max Space with a new multi-million-dollar investment aimed at accelerating development of expandable modules for future missions to the moon.

Technology
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