A flight-illuminated path and the Milky Way are appearing in the night sky during the Eta Aquarids meteor shower, which is peaking in Ratnapura, Sri Lanka, on May 5, 2024. The Eta Aquarids Meteor Shower is an annual event caused by Earth passing through debris left behind by Halley's Comet. Named after the constellation Aquarius, these meteors are streaking across the sky at high speeds, creating a dazzling display of shooting stars. Best observed in the predawn hours away from city lights, it is a mesmerizing celestial event cherished by skywatchers worldwide. (Photo by Thilina Kaluthotage/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
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The Eta Aquariid meteor shower is about to peak. Here’s how to see it
Early mornings before dawn will provide the best views of the Eta Aquariid meteor shower on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday.

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A rupture in the crust of a highly magnetized neutron star, shown here in an artist’s rendering, can trigger high-energy eruptions.
S. Wiessinger/NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
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iss072e097446 (Oct. 24, 2024) -- As the International Space Station soared 257 miles above Lake Michigan, NASA astronaut and Expedition 72 Flight Engineer Don Pettit captured this long-exposure photograph of city lights streaking across Earth while a green and red aurora moved through the atmosphere.
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Gianluca Masi/Virtual Telescope Project.
A new comet appeared in the sky, then likely disintegrated. But it can still be seen
An illustration shows a hycean world – an exoplanet with a liquid water ocean beneath a hydrogen-rich atmosphere - orbiting a red dwarf star. Based on observations by the James Webb Space Telescope, the exoplanet K2-18 b might fit in this category. This illustration was obtained by Reuters on April 16, 2025. A. Smith, N. Madhusudhan/University of Cambridge/Handout via REUTERS NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES. THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY.
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WHITLEY BAY, ENGLAND - MAY 10: People visit St Mary's lighthouse in Whitley Bay to see the aurora borealis, commonly known as the northern lights, on May 10, 2024 in Whitley Bay, England. The UK met office said a strong solar storm may allow northern parts of the UK the chance to see displays of aurora. (Photo by Ian Forsyth/Getty Images)
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Why scientists say we need to send clocks to the moon — soon
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In this photo provided by NASA, Boeing Crew Flight Test astronauts Butch Wilmore, left, and Suni Williams pose for a portrait inside the vestibule between the forward port on the International Space Station's Harmony module and Boeing's Starliner spacecraft on June 13, 2024. (NASA via AP)
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This composite image shows the galaxy cluster 1E 0657-56, also known as the "bullet cluster." This cluster was formed after the collision of two large clusters of galaxies, the most energetic event known in the universe since the Big Bang. Hot gas detected by Chandra in X-rays is seen as two pink clumps in the image and contains most of the "normal," or baryonic, matter in the two clusters. The bullet-shaped clump on the right is the hot gas from one cluster, which passed through the hot gas from the other larger cluster during the collision. An optical image from Magellan and the Hubble Space Telescope shows the galaxies in orange and white. The blue areas in this image show where astronomers find most of the mass in the clusters. The concentration of mass is determined using the effect of so-called gravitational lensing, where light from the distant objects is distorted by intervening matter. Most of the matter in the clusters (blue) is clearly separate from the normal matter (pink), giving direct evidence that nearly all of the matter in the clusters is dark.
NASA/CXC/CfA/M.Markevitch et al.
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The all-woman crew for Blue Origin's upcoming flight into space includes, clockwise from top left: Katy Perry, Gayle King, Aisha Bowe, Kerianne Flynn, Lauren S√°nchez and Amanda Nguyen, on the bridge of Blue Origin's Launch Site One outside of Van Horn, Texas on April 11, 2025. S√°nchez teamed up with Monse to redesign the Blue Origin flight suits with its all-female launch in mind. (Justin Hamel/The New York Times)
Justin Hamel/The New York Times
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HOLCOMBE, UNITED KINGDOM - FEBRUARY 05: The full Snow Moon rises behind leafless trees on February 5, 2023 in Somerset, England. Tonight's full Snow Moon will be the smallest full moon of the year, making this Snow Moon a micromoon, which is the opposite of a supermoon. (Photo by Matt Cardy/Getty Images)
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This handout photo provided by SpaceX and Polaris on September 15, 2024 shows Jared Isaacman, Mission Commander, stepping out of the manned Polaris Dawn mission's "Dragon" capsule after it splashed down off the coast of Dry Tortugas, Florida, after completing the first human spaceflight mission by non-government astronauts of the Polaris Program. The SpaceX Polaris Dawn mission, which made history when its crew conducted the first spacewalk by non-government astronauts, splashed down off the coast of Florida early on September 15, 2024. The Dragon spacecraft landed in the ocean at 3:37 am (0737 GMT), a webcast of the splashdown showed, with a recovery team deploying in the pre-dawn darkness to retrieve the capsule and crew. The capsule was lifted from the water and onto the recovery vessel half a hour later. (Photo by Polaris Program / AFP) / XGTY / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / SpaceX / Polaris" - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS (Photo by -/Polaris Program/AFP via Getty Images)
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TOPSHOT - In this picture taken in the country-side near Dalby-Viggeby, south of Uppsala, Sweden just after 21:00 CET on March 24, 2025 shows a blue and white spiral in the night sky reportedly created by frozen fuel tumbling from a SpaceX rocket. A stunning blue and white spiral spotted in skies across Europe was created by frozen fuel tumbling from a SpaceX rocket, according to weather forecasters and scientists. The UK's Met Office said on X it had received many reports of an "illuminated swirl" in the sky on Monday evening likely caused by a rocket that had earlier blasted off from Cape Canaveral in Florida. (Photo by Bertrand ILHE / AFP) / TO GO WITH AFP STORY "Blue spiral in sky above France, UK likely from SpaceX rocket" (Photo by BERTRAND ILHE/AFP via Getty Images)
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An eerie spiral lit up the European skies. Here’s why such light shows are becoming more common
In this screenshot from video, the Fram2 mission capsule splashes down off the coast of California on April 4.
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These whirling lines in the sky are the trails of stars after an hour-long exposure above Kitt Peak National Observatory (KPNO), a Program of NSF NOIRLab. The trails are shortest around the North Star, Polaris, a star that happens to coincide almost directly with the celestial north pole. The different colors in the trails reflect the different temperatures of the stars, with blue being the hottest stars and yellow/red the coolest. The telescope visible above the horizon is the Nicholas U. Mayall 4-meter Telescope, and the red glow on the mountain is caused by red lights used to ensure the eyes of visitors and staff remain dark adapted at night. The yellow glow on the horizon comes from Tucson, AZ, about 89 kilometers (55 miles) to the northeast. Over the past decade, light pollution like this has increased by 2% a year from many medium-sized and larger cities. To help monitor light pollution in your city, you can participate in the citizen science campaign, Globe at Night.
KPNO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/B. Tafresh
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A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the Fram2 mission astronauts aboard lifts off from launch pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida on March 31, 2025. Launching aboard SpaceX's Crew Dragon capsule Resilience, the Fram2 mission will be the first human spaceflight ever to cruise over Earth's polar regions. The flight is being funded privately by Chinese-born entrepreneur Chun Wang, who will serve as mission commander. The rest of the international crew are vehicle commander Jannicke Mikkelsen of Norway, pilot Rabea Rogge of Germany and mission specialist and medical officer Eric Philips of Australia. Their flight also marks the sixth private astronaut mission by SpaceX. (Photo by Gregg Newton / AFP) (Photo by GREGG NEWTON/AFP via Getty Images)
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Astronauts Nick Hague, Suni Williams, and Butch Wilmore talk to reporters during a press conference at Johnson Space Center on Monday, March 31, 2025, in Houston. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
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SpaceX’s Falcon 9 and Dragon sit on the launch pad in Florida, ahead of the Fram2 mission.
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This graphic shows the long-chain organic molecules decane, undecane, and dodecane. These are the largest organic molecules discovered on Mars to date. They were detected in a drilled rock sample called “Cumberland” that was analyzed by the Sample Analysis at Mars lab inside the belly of NASA’s Curiosity rover. The rover, whose selfie is on the right side of the image, has been exploring Gale Crater since 2012. An image of the Cumberland drill hole is faintly visible in the background of the molecule chains.
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A partial solar eclipse is seen as the Sun rises behind the Delaware Breakwater Lighthouse on June 10, 2021, at Lewes Beach in Delaware.
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The NASA logo is seen at its headquarters in Washington, DC, on June 7, 2022. (Photo by Stefani Reynolds / AFP) (Photo by STEFANI REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)
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In this image provided by NASA, a SpaceX capsule splashes down in the Gulf of Mexico, Tuesday, March 18, 2025, as it lands off the coast of Florida with NASA astronauts Suni Williams, Butch Wilmore and Nick Hague, and Russian cosmonaut Alexander Gorbunov. (Keegan Barber/NASA via AP)
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