Rocks in the asteroid belt rotating at ultra-fast speeds suggest our understanding of asteroid structure might be wrong

Large language models have unleashed a torrent of text – dealing with it won't be easy Joan Cros/NurPhoto via Getty Images Gatekeeping is a dirty word. For decades, the internet has steadily eroded the power of gatekeepers and democratised access to information. Attempts to resist that are seen as censorship or elitism, neither of which anyone wants to be accused of. But our new AI era may flip th

The Roman telescope is NASA’s newest space observatory. Every 10 months, it will get the equivalent of about 1000 years' worth of Hubble observations. Will it find the answers to our questions about dark matter and dark energy?

Near the centre of the Milky Way, a swarm of stars hurtles around a supermassive black hole at extraordinary speeds. Studying them could be the key to understanding our galaxy

SpaceX’s changing priorities, the war in Ukraine and a lack of competitors are all causing a launch crisis that might last years

The next space race is not about making rockets faster, bigger or more capacious, but about reusing them reliably and cheaply. The US is well ahead, but can China catch up?

Philosophers have pondered whether we live in a simulation for centuries. Now, Astronomer Royal for Scotland Catherine Heymans suggests a compelling rationale for why our reality might actually be synthetic

Starship's next test flight will be its first orbital mission. The craft will also release working Starlink V3 satellites for the first time, making the flight the first commercially useful Starship mission

Stunning pictures of nebulae, stars, the moon and more took top prizes in this year's astrophotography competition, organised by the Royal Observatory in London The Quiet Predator The Quiet Predator © Ali Alobaidly (Kuwait) The astonishing diversity of the cosmos is on display in the 2026 Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition, organised by the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, London. From

Researchers have watched a huge crater form on the lunar surface, and its widespread effects could help inform future exploration of the moon and other similar places The crater site, before and after impact NASA/Mark S. Robinson et al. 2026 A newly formed crater on the moon is teaching us about our nearest neighbour’s complex geology. The crater, formed by an asteroid impact in 2024, is the large