Northern lights could reach New York and Idaho this weekend as speedy solar wind races toward Earth

space.com Nov 7, 2026

Northern lights could reach New York and Idaho this weekend as speedy solar wind races toward Earth

Curated by Shubham · TechCapsules · Nov 7, 2026

AI-summarised brief · reviewed before publication

A massive coronal hole on the Sun is sending a high‑speed solar wind toward Earth, creating a minor (G1) geomagnetic storm from Nov. 6‑8 and a possible moderate (G2) storm on Nov. 7‑8, NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center reports. The wind, traveling 342‑404 mph, could trigger auroras visible as far south as New York and Idaho if G2 conditions materialize. The U.K. Met Office forecasts speeds up to 650 km/h, and the event offers a rare opportunity for widespread aurora viewing across the U.S.

💡 Why It Matters

· The potential reach of the auroras into populous regions could spark widespread public interest in space weather and highlight the need for accurate forecasting tools.

Capsules Space

Read full article on space.com

SpaceX launches mystery mission for US Space Force in gorgeous sunset liftoff…

SpaceX launched a classified U.S. Space Force mission, USSF‑432, from Vandenberg Space Force Base on Nov. 6 at 7:48 p.m. EST. A Falcon 9 lifted off as the sun set, and its first stage returned to land on the droneship “Of Course I Still Love You,” marking the booster’s eighth flight (serial 1095). The webcast was cut ten minutes after liftoff, and the upper stage continued toward a likely low‑Earth‑orbit payload. Analysts suspect the payload consists of secret Starshield satellites supporting the Space Based Sensing and Targeting portfolio, given the launch’s trajectory and similarity to prior Starlink Group 15 missions. USSF‑432 is the 119th Falcon 9 launch of 2026 and the 14th national‑security flight this year, underscoring SpaceX’s growing role in U.S. defense space operations.

💡 By fielding covert Starshield satellites, SpaceX is cementing its position as the primary launch provider for U.S. military space assets, accelerating the Pentagon’s shift toward responsive, low‑orbit sensing capabilities.

space.com · Nov 7

Giant exoplanet emerges from the dark when the James Webb Space Telescope…

A team of astronomers used a new image‑processing technique called FLIP to remove residual starlight from James Webb Space Telescope data, revealing the previously hidden exoplanet 51 Eridani b. The method creates a digital twin of the telescope to model and subtract minute mirror vibrations that scatter starlight. Applying FLIP to JWST observations of 51 Eridani and HIP 65426 improved planet detection by up to fifteen times, allowing the planet to emerge from data collected two years earlier. The study demonstrates a powerful tool for uncovering faint exoplanets in existing datasets.

💡 By unlocking data that was previously unusable, FLIP expands the reach of JWST and future missions, enabling the discovery of planets that could reshape our understanding of planetary system diversity.

space.com · Nov 7

What’s that bright ‘star’ in the early morning sky? It’s not a…

Early morning commuters have spotted a bright, star‑like object in the east‑southeast sky, which is actually Venus. After its inferior conjunction on Oct. 24, Venus moved from the evening to the morning sky, now rising more than 90 minutes before sunrise. It will rise three minutes earlier each day, peaking on Nov. 29 at magnitude –4.9, 12 times brighter than Jupiter and 25 times brighter than Sirius. By mid‑December it will rise nearly four hours before sunrise, then gradually descend and disappear by July.

💡 Venus’s unprecedented early‑morning appearance offers a rare, easily visible celestial event that can spark public interest in astronomy and highlight planetary motion’s predictable beauty.

space.com · Nov 6

AST SpaceMobile announces new ‘Blacklift’ rocket, targets 2028 launch debut

AST SpaceMobile announced the development of its reusable Blacklift rocket, slated for its first launch in 2028. The vehicle will carry up to 20 tons to low Earth orbit, enabling the deployment of five BlueBird broadband satellites per flight. The company secured a $500 million supply agreement with Firefly Aerospace for engines and services, and an $800 million licensing deal to build its own Miranda and Vira engines after initial flights. Blacklift aims to give AST SpaceMobile regular, cost‑effective access to orbit and expand its global connectivity mission.

💡 By creating a dedicated launch platform, AST SpaceMobile reduces reliance on third‑party providers, potentially accelerating satellite deployment and lowering long‑term launch costs. This vertical integration could shift competitive dynamics in the burgeoning LEO launch market.

space.com · Nov 6

On this day in space! Nov. 6, 1572: A German astronomer discovers…

On 6 November 1572 German astronomer Wolfgang Schulër sighted a brilliant new object in Cassiopeia with the naked eye, describing it as bright as Venus and visible in daylight. Within days Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe began systematic observations, publishing the treatise De Stella Nova and cementing his reputation as the discoverer. The transient, later named “Tycho’s Star,” remained visible to the naked eye for 16 months. At the time, the prevailing Aristotelian view held that the heavens were immutable, so the appearance of a “new star” challenged entrenched cosmology. Modern analysis re‑classifies the event as SN 1572, a Type Ia supernova resulting from a white dwarf accreting matter in a binary system, located about 13 000 light‑years away. Its remnants continue to be studied X‑ray telescopes.

💡 The observation shattered the belief in an unchanging sky, providing the first concrete evidence that stellar phenomena could evolve and laying groundwork for modern astrophysics.

space.com · Nov 6

4-billion-year-old ‘Rosetta Stone’ found in Sahara Desert could unlock the secret history…

A rose‑colored rock named Teghaza 001, recovered from Mali’s Sahara in 2022, has been identified as one of the three oldest Martian meteorites, dating back more than 4.1 billion years. Weighing about 800 grams, the meteorite was blasted from Mars by an impact and later fell to Earth. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory analyzed its unique blend of igneous minerals and textures, which mirror materials seen in Mars’ southern highlands. Zircon crystals within the rock were dated using a novel rubidium‑strontium technique, revealing water alteration around 4.1 billion years ago and suggesting the rock formed even earlier. The findings, published in Science, pinpoint 13 possible Martian source regions and offer a rare glimpse into early crust formation, water‑rock interactions, and atmospheric loss on ancient Mars.

💡 Teghaza 001 provides the first direct sample of a previously unsampled Martian crustal region, allowing scientists to reconstruct the planet’s earliest water cycle and atmospheric evolution.