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Key specsType: Full-frame prime lensFocal length: 35 mmMaximum aperture: f/1.8Lens mount: Sony FE & Nikon ZWeight: 12.52 oz / 355 gDimensions: 3.33 x 4.37 in / 69 x 76 mmFilter thread: 58 mmRelease date: April 2026Budget primes can be, surprisingly, excellent choices for photographers shooting all subjects. It’s all too easy to get carried away with the best specs, such as a large maximum aperture and impressive optical design often seen in more expensive options. But affordable lenses like

Using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), scientists have found that the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS was built from tiny grains of ice mixed with dust that are quite different from the solar system’s comets. These ice grains do, however, bear striking similarities to some icy bodies located at the edge of the solar system, beyond the orbit of Neptune, so-called trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs).3I/ATLAS was discovered entering the solar system in the summer of 2025. It was only the third object

On Nov. 2, 2000, the International Space Station welcomed its first long-term residents: NASA astronaut Bill Shepherd and two Russian cosmonauts, Yuri Gidzenko and Sergei Krikalev. The mission was called Expedition 1.Before this expedition, NASA had launched five, one-week-long Space Shuttle missions to help build the space station and bring up supplies. But this time, the crew would be staying for four and a half months, and they weren't taking the shuttle. Instead, they took a Russian Soyuz sp

In this image, we can see a colorful view of an ancient, rocky Martian hill. (Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UArizona)This rainbow-hued rocky plain looks like the landscape of an alien world. And, it turns out, it is. What is it?In this image, we can see an ancient, rocky hill on Mars. In the Red Planet's Southern Highlands, this alien terrain is chock-full of minerals, which we can see clearly defined in this color-enhanced view of the region.This image was snapped by the HiRISE camera aboard N

Marvel Studios' existential superhero series "VisionQuest" has arrived on Disney+, and we've already been treated to four intriguing episodes that delve into the complex life of Vision, Paul Bettany's intelligent android and former card-carrying member of The Avengers.The staggered storyline leading up to this show began with 2021's "WandaVision" and the 2024 follow-up, "Agatha All Along," with Marvel Studios proclaiming "VisionQuest" to be "the final vision of the groundbreaking trilogy." So, f

SpaceX is building and operating two satellite networks at the moment, Starlink and Starshield. What’s the difference between the two, and who uses them?For more than a week in October 2026, Ukrainian drone operators found their high-speed satellite links shut off. Officials in Kyiv said that terminals for SpaceX’s Starshield network stopped working at speeds of above 160 kilometers per hour (100 miles per hour) from Oct. 14, hampering efforts to conduct defensive operations and intercept Russia

Rocket Lab launched its 99th mission to date today (Nov. 2), sending a private Japanese Earth-observing satellite toward orbit.An Electron rocket lifted off from Rocket Lab's New Zealand site today at 11:41 a.m. EST (1641 GMT; 5:41 a.m. on Nov. 3 local New Zealand time).The mission, which Rocket Lab calls "The Sea God Surveys," is carrying an Earth-observing radar satellite to low Earth orbit (LEO) for the Japanese company iQPS. All went according to plan: The spacecraft was deployed at an altit

Metroid Prime 4: Beyond was, unfortunately, not the return many were hoping for when it finally arrived on Nintendo Switch consoles in 2025. After five years in development at Retro Studios, the original makers of the Metroid Prime series, fans were greeted with annoying side characters, a bike for Samus to roam the barren landscape on, and a deeply unsatisfying ending.It’s a shame, considering how beloved the Metroid Prime series has been since the first title’s 2002 debut for the Nintendo Game

It came from outer space, exploding high above the South Atlantic off the coast of Argentina. That April 1 event — an incoming meteor, also termed a bolide — was observed by both U.S. space-based military and civil sensors.Hush-hush U.S. government satellite sensors detected the speedy fireball cutting through our atmosphere. The object's brightness peaked at an altitude of nearly 60 miles (90.5 kilometers) over the South Atlantic.That dazzling spectacle was also caught by the National Atmospher

On Nov. 1, 1962, the Soviet Union launched the Mars 1 spacecraft on a mission to fly by the Red Planet. While it did end up flying by Mars, the mission was not exactly a success. After it separated from the rocket, it deployed its solar panels and started cruising toward Mars. When mission controllers were checking out the telemetry it transmitted back to Earth, they found out that Mars 1 had sprung a leak in one of the gas valves that controls the spacecraft's orientation. And without a working

NASA's Swift space telescope is expected to crash back to Earth in the next few days. The Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory will reenter Earth's atmosphere in an uncontrolled fashion, after a robotic rescue mission failed to boost the scope to a higher orbit. Swift launched to Earth orbit back in November 2004. Over the next two decades, it studied gamma-ray bursts — the most powerful explosions in the universe — and other cosmic objects and events using a trio of telescopes: a Burst Alert Telescop

This is a great month for planet watching, either in the evenings or mornings. During convenient evening hours, the planet of choice is Saturn, visible well up in the southern sky during mid-to-late evening hours. Telescopically, the southern side of its famous ring system is currently tilted about 6½ degrees to our line of sight. Around the middle of the night, Mars and Jupiter come into view above the east-northeast horizon and just before the break of dawn are in excellent position, soaring h

Abandoned, possessed, or infested spaceships in sci-fi films, books, and video games are usually not a welcoming place to hang your helmet and kick back inside. Many are distinctly marked as DO NOT APPROACH zones and equipped with clearly articulated warning messages to keep your distance, but that doesn't ever seem to stop scavengers, space pirates, or evil industrial mega corporations from waving off these dangerous signs to board anyway. Other creaky craft are apt to contain nasty alien hitch

On Episode 234 of This Week In Space, Tariq Malik and Mike Wall are joined by Than Putzig of the Planetary Science Institute about a NASA-backed payload bound for the Marius Hills Pit on the moon.In our ongoing quest to develop a moon base, could we possibly utilize the area beneath the surface of the moon in order to make the moon habitable? Could Marius Hills Pit, a roughly 50-meter-wide opening that may lead into a lunar lava tube, become the Moon's first living habitat for humans? Putzig exp

On October 31, 2015, an asteroid shaped like a human skull flew by Earth. It arrived with excellent timing on Halloween, which made the already-creepy asteroid even creepier. During its closest approach, the creepy asteroid was about 300,000 miles from Earth, or 1.3 times the average distance between Earth and the moon. So, it didn't pose a threat to our planet. It was discovered by astronomers at Hawaii's Pan-STARRS observatory only three weeks before the flyby, and it was given the official de

The moon dives towards the glowing heart of the constellation Leo for a spectacular rendezvous with Mars and Jupiter overnight on Nov. 1-2, as the glittering stars of the Beehive Cluster shine nearby. Here's what you need to know.Look to the eastern horizon an hour after midnight to see the 45%-lit waning moon shining less than 5 degrees from the red light of Mars — roughly the width of your three middle fingers held at arm's length to the night sky.Jupiter's bright light will gleam just below t

Something spooky is stirring in the shadows of the infamous star Betelgeuse, a cosmic poltergeist that is disrupting the atmosphere of the red supergiant.New radio observations have shown Betelgeuse's smaller stellar companion, Siwarha (not Betelguese Betelguese, unfortunately), cutting through the supergiant's extended atmosphere and leaving a wake in its path, like a jet boat slicing through a lake. Because the name of this red supergiant star located about 650 light-years away from Earth, mar

There could be more than just ghosts and ghouls lurking in the skies this Halloween! From Saturn's spectacular rings to shooting stars and even a space station flyover, the night sky has a few treats of its own in store for U.S. skywatchers on Oct. 31. Based on the latest national forecast, skies will be mainly clear on Saturday evening over most of New York State, northeast Pennsylvania, northern New Jersey and New England as well as a swath of the southern and central Great Plains, central Roc

SpaceX celebrated Halloween with an early-morning launch from California. A Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base today (Oct. 31) at 12:04 a.m. EDT (0404 GMT; 9:04 p.m. on Oct. 30 local time), sending 27 of the company's Starlink internet satellites to low Earth orbit (LEO).The Falcon 9's first stage came back to Earth as planned, touching down about 8.5 minutes after launch on the SpaceX drone ship "Of Course I Still Love You," which was stationed in the Pacific Ocean.A Sp

As we all begin to absorb the bitter news of Patrick Stewart's death at the age of 86, a flood of personal tributes are pouring in, reflecting this global treasure's wonderful life lived with a dignity and bravado that few mortals possess.We’re getting just a hint of what Patrick Stewart meant to those who worked with him or knew him throughout his stellar career. Whether on stage with the Royal Shakespeare Company, on TV as the dashing Captain Jean-Luc Picard in "Star Trek: The Next Generation,