compiled by Arlene & David Kaplan

A Big Rover Aims to Be Like ‘U.P.S. for the Moon’ A rover the size of a Jeep Wrangler is heading to the moon, and it’s going to need a big ride to get there. Astrolab Inc., the tiny start-up that is building the rover, chose the biggest ride possible: Starship, the new giant spacecraft under development by Elon Musk’s SpaceX rocket company…more

April Space Events: Artemis Astronauts, a Journey to Jupiter and More If you’re looking for space news in April, you won’t have to wait long. On Monday, NASA will introduce the four astronauts who will travel on the Artemis II mission. The Artemis program — a successor to the Apollo missions of the 1960s and ’70s — aims to return Americans to the moon…more

Space scientists reveal brightest gamma explosion ever Scientists have revealed how Nasa satellites detected the brightest gamma ray explosion in space. The gamma-ray burst (GRB) occurred two billion light-years from Earth and illuminated much of the galaxy. Images of the rare and powerful cosmic phenomenon show a halo and “bullseye” like shapes…more

A Paler Uranus Emerges in the Latest Hubble Telescope Image With the passage of the vernal equinox a few days ago, we in the Northern Hemisphere can look forward to the warmer days of spring while those in the Southern Hemisphere will begin to feel the chill of autumn. The seasons change on other planets too, none more so than Uranus…more

‘Ultramassive’ black hole discovered by Durham astronomers Astronomers say they have found one of the universe’s largest black holes to date using a new technique. Scientists at Durham University discovered the “ultramassive” black hole by observing its pull on passing light, called gravitational lensing. Dr James Nightingale who led the study said…more

Massive asteroid passes between Earth and Moon The object, named 2023 DZ2, was discovered a month ago. As predicted by scientists, it passed within 175,000km of the Earth on Saturday after flying past the Moon. It is rare for such a huge asteroid – estimated to be between 40 and 90m in diameter – to come so close to the planet…more

Photographers’ joy over northern lights in south of England An aurora is formed by a solar flare erupting on the Sun, sending charged particles towards the Earth that interact with our atmosphere, but it is seldom seen in southern England.The BBC spoke to some of the people who captured the phenomenon on camera to find out how they did it…more

Uracil in the carbonaceous asteroid (162173) Ryugu The pristine sample from the near-Earth carbonaceous asteroid (162173) Ryugu collected by the Hayabusa2 spacecraft enabled us to analyze the pristine extraterrestrial material without uncontrolled exposure to the Earth’s atmosphere and biosphere…more

Centuries of Stargazing Leave Jesuit Names Written in the Heavens Centuries after the Holy See muzzled Roman Catholic stargazers for questioning the centrality of the Earth in the cosmos, Jesuit astronomers from the Vatican’s in-house observatory are increasingly writing their names in the heavens. The Vatican, run by Pope Francis, the first Jesuit pope in history…more

NASA’s Webb Spots Swirling, Gritty Clouds on Remote Planet Researchers observing with NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope have pinpointed silicate cloud features in a distant planet’s atmosphere. The atmosphere is constantly rising, mixing, and moving during its 22-hour day, bringing hotter material up and pushing colder material down. The resulting brightness changes are so dramatic…more