Space Physics News Explained for Pupils
Recent astronomy, cosmology, telescope and exoplanet stories explained using GCSE, AS and A Level Physics ideas.
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Week beginning 12 October 2026
When Do the Clocks Go Back in 2026? Why UK Evenings Get Darker
At 2am on Sunday 25 October, UK clocks return to 1am. Here is what changes, what happens to sunset times, and why turning a clock back cannot change the amount of daylight.
ESA Hera Mission 2026: Can We Deflect an Asteroid?
NASA hit an asteroid with DART in 2022. ESA's Hera will examine the result up close. The useful physics starts with a collision, a change in momentum and the debris thrown out afterwards.
Week beginning 5 October 2026
Why Do Black Holes Ring? Damped Oscillations and Quantum Cores
A black hole can send out a fading gravitational-wave signal after a merger. A new study asks how that signal might change if the black hole has a quantum-inspired core. To understand the idea, start with a damped oscillator.
Nobel Prize in Physics 2026 Explained: What Are Neutrinos and How Does IceCube Detect Them?
A neutrino is a tiny particle with no electric charge that rarely interacts with matter. Francis Halzen won the 2026 Physics Nobel for helping turn these elusive particles into a way of studying space. Here is how the detector works.
Week beginning 28 September 2026
Draconid Meteor Shower 2026 UK: Peak Date, Time and Where to Look
The Draconids peak on 9 October 2026 and are best watched after nightfall. You do not need a telescope, but you do need realistic expectations: this is usually a quiet shower.
Northern Lights UK: What Causes Them and How to Check the Forecast
A good aurora forecast is only part of the story. You also need darkness, clear skies and the right view. Here is how to read UK alerts and understand the light you are looking for.
Week beginning 21 September 2026
Saturn Opposition 2026 UK: When and How to See Saturn's Rings
Saturn reaches opposition on Sunday 4 October. You can spot the planet without a telescope, but seeing its rings is a different challenge. Here is what to expect and the physics behind the view.
Orionid Meteor Shower 2026 UK: Peak Dates, Best Time and What to Expect
You do not need a telescope to watch the Orionids. You need a clear sky, patience and realistic expectations about the Moon. The shower also answers a good physics question: how can a tiny grain make such a bright streak?
NASA PRIMA Space Telescope: How It Differs from James Webb
NASA announced the next development step for PRIMA on 23 September. It is not a replacement for James Webb: it is designed to measure longer-wavelength infrared light and answer different questions.
Week beginning 7 September 2026
Has Dark Matter Been Detected? What the LUX-ZEPLIN Result Really Means
One unusual event in an underground detector has put dark matter back in the headlines. Here is what was measured, what remains uncertain, and how school physics helps us judge the evidence.
NASA Finds 84 Mysterious X-Ray Sources: What Are Hypersoft X-Ray Objects?
These objects stand out in one X-ray image and almost disappear in another. Their unusual light may help astronomers understand exploding stars and the gas between them.
BepiColombo Mercury Arrival 2026: Date, Mission and Why Reaching Mercury Is So Hard
Getting to Mercury is not simply a matter of pointing a rocket towards the Sun. BepiColombo has spent years reshaping its orbit so that it can stay beside a fast-moving planet instead of rushing past.
Week beginning 31 August 2026
Harvest Moon 2026 UK: When to See It and Why the Moon Looks Orange
Look east on the evening of Saturday 26 September. September's full Moon is a chance to see familiar physics at work: reflected sunlight, atmospheric scattering and an illusion you can test with a camera.
Roman Space Telescope Turns On Its Planet Imager: How a Coronagraph Works
A planet can be bright enough to detect and still disappear in its star's glare. Roman's newly activated coronagraph tackles that problem by controlling light, not simply by making a bigger picture.
Week beginning 24 August 2026
Autumn Equinox 2026 UK: Exact Time, When Autumn Starts and Why Days Get Shorter
The 2026 autumn equinox occurs at 1:06am BST on Wednesday 23 September. It is the exact instant when neither hemisphere is tilted towards the Sun. It marks the start of astronomical autumn for many people in the UK, but day and night will not be exactly 12 hours each.
Roman Space Telescope Launch 2026: UK Time, How to Watch and What It Will Discover
NASA is targeting Sunday 30 August for the launch of the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. Here is the UK launch time, where to watch, how Roman differs from Hubble and Webb, and how it will use infrared light, gravitational microlensing and a coronagraph to investigate exoplanets, dark matter and dark energy.
Week beginning 10 August 2026
UK Partial Lunar Eclipse 2026: Time, Where to See It and Why the Moon Turns Red
Before dawn on Friday 28 August, Earth's shadow will cover most of the full Moon. The partial lunar eclipse is visible across the UK, reaching maximum at 05:12 BST while the Moon is low in the west-south-west.
UK solar eclipse 2026: what pupils will see and why it happens
On Wednesday 12 August, the Moon will cover around 90-96% of the Sun across the UK and Ireland. Here is when to look, why the eclipse happens, what the umbra and penumbra mean, and how to watch or photograph the low evening Sun without risking your eyesight.
Week beginning 20 July 2026
Euclid discovers the most ancient quasars: how redshift lets us see the early Universe
ESA's Euclid telescope has found 31 extremely early quasars, including the record-holder at redshift 7.77. Their stretched light shows how spectra and infrared observations let physicists study the young Universe.
CERN sees a wake in quark-gluon plasma
CMS scientists at CERN have observed a diffusion wake left by fast quarks and gluons in quark-gluon plasma, giving physicists a new way to study matter that filled the Universe shortly after the Big Bang.
Week beginning 6 July 2026
TESS discovers its first planet using gravitational microlensing
NASA's TESS telescope has found its first gravitational microlensing planet: a super-Jupiter nearly 40,000 light-years away whose gravity briefly magnified a more distant star.
Optical-fibre experiment reveals Hawking radiation backreaction
A fibre-optic analogue of a black-hole horizon has revealed a direct process for stimulated Hawking-like radiation and measured how that radiation changes the light field that produced it.
Week beginning 22 June 2026
European XFEL test shows electrons behave differently in warm dense matter
An experiment at the European XFEL found that a widely used model overestimated electron oscillation energies in hot, compressed aluminium by up to 25%, improving how physicists study planets, materials and fusion fuel.
Hubble sees an early galaxy clearing the Universe's hydrogen fog
Hubble observations of the early galaxy MXDFz4.4 show young stars letting ultraviolet light escape, helping explain how the early Universe became transparent.
Week beginning 15 June 2026
Quantum atom sensor clears a path to dark matter and gravitational wave searches
A prototype atom interferometer has shown how laser noise can be cancelled, making future quantum sensors more useful for fundamental physics.
Webb watches an exoplanet heat up during a close pass by its star
The James Webb Space Telescope has observed a giant planet on a stretched orbit as it is heated strongly by its star.
Week beginning 25 May 2026
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