Interesting. The joint NASA/ESA Solar Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) caught a doom’d sungrazer comet crossing the LASCO C2/C3 field of view on November 8th. And while that’s nothing exceptional these days, (the mission has spotted and amazing 5,204 comets thus far), the hook on the comet’s path suggests (at least to my eye) that it might be a rare non-Kreutz comet, maybe a member of the Meyer (?) group.

https://soho.nascom.nasa.gov/data/LATEST/current_c2.gif

Kreutz comets make up 85.6% of sungrazers, though there are lesser known groups, and their paths evolve throughout the year:
https://sungrazer.nrl.navy.mil/C2_C3_Comet_Tracks

There's big difference out there, between what consumers want and what's available in terms of cars: https://theconversation.com/americans-want-electric-cars-they-just-cant-find-them-293901 via @ConversationUS

Tonight is the peak for the Northern Taurid meteors. This shower is one of several Taurid streams active in late October and early November. And although the Taurids have a weak Zenithal Hourly rate of 5, barely approaching the background sporadic rate, they’re also notorious for producing a relatively large number of fireballs.

The source of the Taurids is ultra-short period Comet 2P/Encke. 2026 also has the advantage of a Moon just 3 days past New during the peak of the Northern Taurids. Eliot Herman caught a fine example of an early Taurid on November 8th:

Scientists make the tough choice, to leave the U.S. - https://www.nytimes.com/2026/11/07/science/space/holley-bockelmann-astrophysicist-space-trump.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&utm_source=The+19th&utm_campaign=f73131b9f8-19th-newsletters-daily-1109&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-be3d85c373-458599944

According to a Norwegian aviation notice, Isar Aerospace could launch its third Spectrum rocket as early as 26 November.
https://europeanspaceflight.com/isar-aerospace-could-launch-third-spectrum-rocket-as-early-as-26-november/

A new space telescope will fill a gap in the observation spectrum, and will bear witness cosmic cataclysms in an effort to understand the evolution of the early universe. NASA announced that the Ultraviolet Explorer (UVEX) mission has passed Key Decision Point C (Final Design and Fabrication) on October 27th. UVEX is a Medium Class Explorer (MIDEX) mission and is part of the agency’s Explorers Program. Storied alumni from the program include Swift, NEOWISE and TESS.

Here’s our post on UVEX for Sky & Telescope: https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-news/nasa-moves-ahead-with-ultraviolet-space-telescope/

Looks like fun: https://petapixel.com/2026/11/08/how-i-shot-and-edited-a-documentary-about-bicycle-jousting-in-under-a-day/ Via Peta Pixel.

They’re on their way. NASA’s two spacecraft for the Escape and Plasma Acceleration Dynamics Explorers (ESCAPADE) mission performed powered ‘Oberth maneuver’ flybys past Earth on November 7th & 9th respectively, en route for arrival at Mars in early September of next year. https://science.nasa.gov/blogs/escapade/2026/11/02/nasas-twin-escapade-spacecraft-to-slingshot-past-earth-on-way-to-mars/

ESCAPADE joins JAXA’s Mars Moons Explorer MMX as the only two missions headed Marsward in the current biannual launch window: https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-news/japan-launches-the-martian-moons-exploration-mission/ & https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-news/escapade-mission-launches-for-a-long-trip-to-mars/

No word if anyone caught sight of either ESCAPADE missions on Earth approach, though we’ll note if any images turn up. You can spot Mars in the dawn sky, brightening as it heads towards opposition on February 19, 2027:

Reaching the coldest temperature ever by a factor of four - https://www.science.org/content/article/china-space-experiment-creates-coldest-temperature-ever - Via Science.Org

Got a solar telescope, or just plain eclipse glasses? Be sure to check out massive sunspot group AR 4566, currently turned Earthward and growing. This group barely existed a few days ago, and now spans a stretches over a 10 degree swath of the solar surface, about 75,000 miles across or about a 1/3 of the Earth-Moon distance.

Sunspot AR 4566 is in a ‘beta-gamma-delta’ configuration, meaning there’s a chance of M- or even X-class flares. The Kp index spiked towards a storm level value of 5, and there could well be more spaceweather shenanigans in store. Robbin Gälliner caught aurorae overnight from Sweden:

One sweaty suit, post-run: https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/three-piece-suit-marathon-record

1977. Jimmy Carter was U.S. president, Star Wars was a box office hit, and the two Voyager spacecraft departed on an historic Grand Tour of the solar system. Now, teams at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory are working to keep the missions active, as they push the boundaries of interstellar space beyond the solar system.

The ‘Big Bang’ swap has kept both Voyagers in the game, as Voyager 1 pushes the ‘one-light-day mark next week. Here’s our post on the fix, the milestone and the mission for @universetoday - https://www.universetoday.com/articles/big-bang-fix-puts-voyager-across-the-one-light-day-mark

Yup. Guessed right. Interesting backstory, though -
https://www.twz.com/why-vertical-smoke-trails-are-seen-during-nuclear-explosions

Tomorrow: the thin, -3% illuminated waning crescent Moon occults (passes in front of) the planet Venus centered on 11:33 Universal Time(UT)/6:33 AM Eastern Standard Time. And although the event is only visible across a stretch of the southwestern coast of South America, North Americans will also see a distinctive pairing of the two rising at dawn.

Venus is also a 7% illuminated crescent 56” across, though it’s now turning more of its daytime side Earthward as it enters the dawn sky. Fresh off of inferior conjunction with the Sun two weeks ago, Venus shines at magnitude -4.5.

Here's a great Moon capture with El Cap, courtesy of Jeff Sullivan: https://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreysullivan/55623242113/

Yes. Mercury is in retrograde this week. And while the apparent wanderings of the innermost (or any) planet won’t impact our Earthly woes, you can see the fleeting world cross the field of view of SOHO’s LASCO C3/C2 imager as it transits from the dusk into the dawn sky: https://soho.nascom.nasa.gov/data/LATEST/current_c3.gif

Mercury passed inferior conjunction between the Earth and the Sun on November 4th at 14UT/9AM EST. the hunt is now on, to recover Mercury low in the dawn sky. The planet reaches greatest elongation one last time for 2026 on November 21st, at 20 degrees west of the Sun.

Space war heats up in Low Earth Orbit -
https://www.twz.com/space/u-s-intel-warns-chinas-space-based-directed-energy-weapons-could-soon-threaten-satellites

NASA lost a major tool in its astronomical arsenal this week. The Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory finally succumbed to atmospheric drag early today burning up harmlessly in the Earth’s atmosphere.

Space-Track confirms that Swift reentered early on November 4th at 12:39 Universal Time (UT)+/-1 minute, centered over southeast Asia under nighttime skies. There's no word yet if anyone witnessed the reentry from the ground.

Here’s our post on the mission’s end and its legacy for Sky & Telescope: https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-news/swift-observatory-ends-reenters-the-earths-atmosphere/

Hey, Serbia elected and astrophysicist -
https://science.nasa.gov/image-article/apod-2026-october-30-haunting-the-cepheus-flare/ Science.Org

The https://aerospace.org/reentries/28485 prediction for the reentry of #Swift has closed in to 4 Nov 2026 10:19 UTC ± 2 hours.