MMX Launches for Phobos; Vaonis Atlas Priced at €3,990

Last week’s launch to watch went to plan: MMX is on its way to Mars and its moon Phobos. Vaonis has now put a price on its new Atlas smart telescope, which we promised to cover once it did. Euclid has found its first new comet, ministers have been pressed on the future of Jodrell Bank, and Exmoor’s tenth Dark Skies Festival runs until 1 November.

MMX is on its way to Phobos, and JAXA says it is healthy

The Martian Moons eXploration spacecraft lifted off on an H3 rocket from Tanegashima Space Center at 04:41:03 Japan time on 20 October, which was 20:41 BST on Monday 19 October, the time we gave last week. JAXA said the rocket flew as planned and the spacecraft separated about 71 minutes after lift-off, into its planned orbit. On 21 October JAXA confirmed that the critical first phase of operations was complete and the spacecraft was in good health; it now moves on to checking its instruments before the cruise to Mars.

MMX is led by JAXA with NASA, the French and German space agencies and ESA, which supplied the deep-space communications equipment and ground station support. It aims to be the first spacecraft to orbit Phobos, the first to collect samples from it and the first to return to Earth from the Mars system. ESA’s project scientist, Elliot Sefton-Nash, said the team is preparing for arrival at Mars next summer. You can rewatch the launch on JAXA’s YouTube channel.

Phobos is too close to Mars’s glare for most amateur telescopes, but Mars itself is climbing the morning sky ahead of its 2027 opposition. Our guide to Mars at opposition in 2027 explains what you will see, and how to see the planets covers the basics. Sources: JAXA launch result, JAXA, completion of initial critical operations and ESA, MMX lifts off to Mars’s moon Phobos.

Vaonis Atlas is priced: €3,990 early bird, deliveries from March 2027

Vaonis put its new Atlas on sale for pre-order after the 15 October reveal. On its own shop, checked this afternoon, the single 80mm configuration is €3,990 against a full price of €4,990, and the twin configuration, two 80mm imaging modules side by side on one mount, is €5,490 against €6,990. The early bird price runs until 15 November, and first deliveries are planned for March 2027. Vaonis lists prices only in euros; we found no sterling price. Pre-orders are described as fully refundable until shipping.

The specification has also been published. Each imaging module is an 80mm apochromatic quadruplet with a 360mm focal length (f/4.5, or the equivalent of f/3.2 with two modules) and a Sony IMX585 colour sensor giving 8.3-megapixel images, with mosaics up to 32 megapixels. The mount weighs 3.5kg and each module 3kg, the battery is rated at six hours, and it is sealed to IP64. A fisheye “Sky Guard” camera watches the sky, modules clip on and off, and an equatorial table is promised for the second half of 2027. Unlike Sky-Watcher’s prototype last week, there is no eyepiece: Vaonis says you observe on a screen in its Gaia app.

That makes Atlas a very different purchase from the smart telescopes most beginners buy, at several times the price, and nothing ships this winter. Our best smart telescopes in the UK covers what you can buy now, our Vaonis Vespera 2 review covers the company’s current model, and smart versus traditional telescopes helps if you are unsure a screen-only telescope suits you. Source: Vaonis, Atlas.

Euclid finds its first new comet, C/2026 S1 (Euclid)

ESA’s Euclid space telescope has discovered its first previously unknown comet, in images taken between 16 and 24 September, ESA announced on 19 October. Mikko Pöntinen, a PhD student at the University of Helsinki, spotted it with software he wrote to find moving objects in Euclid’s images: a streak across several frames, with a fuzzy cloud around it. The Minor Planet Center confirmed it as a comet on 8 October, and it is now named C/2026 S1 (Euclid).

The comet is about 1.3 billion kilometres from Earth, roughly between the orbits of Jupiter and Saturn, on a steep orbit that arches over the Solar System and takes thousands of years to complete. ESA gives no brightness, and a comet found this far out is a target for large professional telescopes rather than a garden scope for now. When a bright one does come, our guide on how to see a comet from the UK explains what to look for. Source: ESA, Euclid discovers new comet.

Jodrell Bank: the government says it is “exploring” long-term options

Jonathan Reynolds, Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, told the Commons on 15 October that Jodrell Bank has “a secure future”, answering a question from Hannah Spencer, Green MP for Gorton and Denton, about UK Research and Innovation withdrawing funding from 2028. He said the main radio astronomy work will move from the e-MERLIN network, of which Jodrell Bank’s Lovell Telescope is part, to the Square Kilometre Array Observatory in March 2028, calling that “a science-based decision”, and that the government is “exploring the long-term options for the sustainability of Jodrell Bank”. He said he had met the University of Manchester, which runs the site, a few days earlier.

That is a promise to look for a solution, not a funding settlement, so the question we flagged in September is still open. Source: Hansard, Jodrell Bank Observatory, 15 October 2026.

Exmoor’s tenth Dark Skies Festival runs to 1 November

The Exmoor Dark Skies Festival opened on 16 October and runs until 1 November, its tenth year, the BBC reported. There are about 80 events in towns and villages around the national park, from astronomy sessions and planetarium shows to moonlit swimming and walks. Exmoor became a Dark Sky Reserve in 2011, and the organisers say the festival began partly to help local businesses at the end of the tourist season.

Our guide to the best stargazing spots in England includes Exmoor, and UK stargazing events and star parties lists others through the winter. Report at the BBC.