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The 10 · sourced stories, read aloud

1. Ancient Pillar 43 at Göbekli Tepe: the oldest object claimed as a star map unverified UNESCO World Heritage Centre · Oct 27Original headline: Göbekli Tepe - UNESCO World Heritage Centre
   

   Pillar 43, the Vulture Stone, in Enclosure D at Göbekli Tepe: the vulture with outstretched wing and the disc above it. The scorpion is lower on the pillar, out of this photo. Photo: Sue Fleckney, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0 (share-alike).
   Establishing a Radiocarbon Sequence for Göbekli Tepe (Neo-Lithics 1/13) →Neo-Lithics 1/13, 2013, DAI excavation team (PDF)The excavators' dating report. It gives sample KIA-44149 from the wall plaster of Enclosure D between Pillars 41 and 42, 9745–9314 cal BC, and charcoal from the enclosure at 9664–9311 cal BC, placing construction in the mid-10th millennium BC.
   A Radiocarbon Date from the Wall Plaster of Enclosure D (Neo-Lithics 2/10) →Neo-Lithics 2/10, ex oriente (PDF)The first published radiocarbon date from the wall plaster of Enclosure D, the building that holds Pillar 43, by the excavation team.
   Decoding Göbekli Tepe with Archaeoastronomy: What Does the Fox Say? (Sweatman and Tsikritsis 2017) →Mediterranean Archaeology and Archaeometry 17(1), 2017 (open PDF)The paper that reads Pillar 43 as a star map: vulture as Sagittarius, scorpion as Scorpius, the disc as the sun. It calls the pillar a "date stamp for 10950 BC ± 250 yrs" and links it to a proposed comet impact.
   More than a vulture: A response to Sweatman and Tsikritsis (Notroff et al. 2017) →Mediterranean Archaeology and Archaeometry 17(2), 2017 (PDF)The excavators' rebuttal: pillars were moved and reused, the buildings may have been roofed, and the 10950 BC date is 700 to 1,000 years older than Enclosure D's oldest radiocarbon dates.

   See the photos at UNESCO World Heritage Centre

   More on this

   Could Göbekli Tepe’s ‘Handbag’ Symbols Be the World’s Oldest Architectural Drawings?arkeonews · Sep 6, 2026

   Three unusual shapes carved across the upper part of Göbekli Tepe’s famous Pillar 43 have been compared to handbags, baskets and buckets for years. A new interpretation proposed by Turkish lecturer ...

2. Ancient The oldest clay tablets that name the stars unverified ORACC · Oct 27Original headline: MUL.APIN tablet 1, ORACC online edition
   Louvre AO 6769: tablet, prayer for the examination of entrails →Musée du Louvre, collections databaseThe museum record for text B of the Prayer to the Gods of the Night, dated by the Louvre to 1800–1700 BC. It has the object's size (9.9 by 5.2 cm), acquisition in 1914 and the museum's photos.
   Prayer to the Gods of the Night: text and translation (SEAL 7491) →SEAL, Hebrew University of JerusalemA full English translation of the Old Babylonian prayer, which calls on the Bow, the Yoke, Orion, the Dragon, the Wagon, the She-Goat, the Bison and the Horned Serpent. It lists the editions from Šilejko 1924 to Mayer 2018.
   

   VAT 9412, a copy of the star catalogue MUL.APIN from Assur, Neues Museum Berlin. Its colophon dates the copy to 687 BC, the oldest dated copy known. Photo: Bautsch, via Wikimedia Commons, CC0.
   

   K.8538, a clay star chart from Ashurbanipal's library at Nineveh, British Museum. The museum's curator dates the sky it shows to the night of 3–4 January 650 BC. Photo: BabelStone, via Wikimedia Commons, CC0.
   The Babylonian Astronomical Compendium MUL.APIN (Hunger and Steele 2018) →Routledge, 2018The standard modern edition and translation of MUL.APIN, with commentary on its star lists, rising dates and the open question of when it was composed.
3. Ancient A Metal Detectorist Hit a Signal Under a Scottish Cairn The Daily Galaxy · Oct 26

   See the photos at The Daily Galaxy

   More on this

   A Finnish Metal Detectorist Was Shocked to Unearth a Trove of Viking Age Silver in His Hometown. Then His Detector Went Off AgainSmithsonian Magazine · Sep 11, 2026

   The collection of Viking Age coins found by a metal detectorist scouring his hometown Lahti City Museums A metal detectorist in southern Finland has unearthed the country’s largest hoard of Late Iron ...

4. Space Mars rover tracks from a historic drive | Space photo of the day for Oct. 27, 2026 Space.com · Chelsea Gohd · Oct 27
   Sunshade for NASA’s NEO Surveyor Mission Ready for Its Day in Sun - NASA Science →science.nasa.gov

   See the photos at Space.com

   More on this

   Q&A: Mars Perseverance Rover Sets a Distance RecordAOL · Oct 15, 2026

   On October 11, the Perseverance rover completed a drive that brought its total distance traveled on Mars to 28. 10 miles (45.

5. Space Ukrainian startup, GomSpace test satellite for future communications network SpaceNews · Oct 27

   See the photos at SpaceNews

   More on this

   Ukraine begins testing OBRIA NANO, a test satellite for a national communications networkEOTO Tech · Oct 27, 2026

   Himera and Denmark’s GomSpace say OBRIA NANO, launched on SpaceX’s Transporter‑18 on 1 October, is operating as planned and has begun technical trials ...

   GomSpace Launches GOMX-5 to Demonstrate Next-Generation Satellite Communications TechnologiesMorningstar, Inc. · Sep 30, 2026

   The ESA-supported mission validates next-generation communications technologies in orbit, strengthens GomSpace's flight heritage, and supports future commercial and institutional opportunities.

   Ukraine's Sovereign Satellite Now Operating in OrbitTMCnet · Oct 26, 2026

   STOCKHOLM, Oct. 27, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Ukraine's HIMERA and Denmark's GomSpace have launched OBRIA NANO – the first test satellite for a future independent Ukrainian communications network – into ...

6. UAP Origins of Peru's Alien Mummies Explained in New DNA Study Colombia One · Abdul Moeed · Aug 15

   See the photos at Colombia One

7. Ancient Denisovan Fossils Identified Archaeology Magazine (AIA) · Oct 27

   More on this

   20 Denisovan fossil remains identified in China — Live ScienceUA.NEWS · Oct 27, 2026

   Researchers identified 20 fossil remains from northern China as Denisovans using protein analysis, providing new details about their skull features.

   Denisovan Face Emerges from Ancient Fossils and ProteinsAncient Origins · Oct 23, 2026

   The Denisovan story began in 2010, when genetic material from a finger bone found in Siberia’s Denisova Cave revealed an unexpected branch of the human family. Since then, researchers have linked ...

   Xujiayao proteome links East Asian archaic Homo fossils to DenisovansBIOENGINEER · Oct 21, 2026

   Protein and cranial analyses link Xujiayao to the Denisovan lineage and support the same broad assignment for several other East Asian archaic Homo fossils.

8. Space Meteor shower guide 2026: Up next … the Taurids unverified EarthSky · Oct 22

   See the photos at EarthSky

   More on this

   Meteor showers, planets, and the core of the Milky Way: Astronomical events for October 2026KMBC Kansas City · Oct 1, 2026

   It’s the start of a supernatural season, and this month is packed with astronomical events to check out. This month, we'll have plenty of chances to view the inner planets in the night sky and two ...

   Orionid Meteor Shower peaks this week: Best time and places to watchPRIMETIMER · Oct 21, 2026

   Despite the fact that this meteor shower seems to come from the constellation Orion, meteors can fly in various directions. According to NASA, the best place to see long meteor trails would be about ...

   The Orionid meteor shower is coming. Here’s how and when to watchOrlando Sentinel · Oct 20, 2026

   The best time to watch a meteor shower is typically after midnight, or in the early predawn hours, when there’s usually less interference from moonlight.

9. Space Hubble spies 9.5 light-year bit of the amazing Eagle Nebula unverified Dailymotion on MSN · Oct 27
   More on this story from forbes.com →forbes.com
   How Long Can the Hubble Space Telescope Operate Reliably? - NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS) →ntrs.nasa.gov
   As the Hubble Space Telescope turns 36, see 36 of its most breathtaking photos of space →yahoo.com
   The Hubble Is Inexorably Falling to Earth →futurism.com
10. Space Double debris disk orbiting a dead star hints at our solar system's future Phys.org · Oct 27

    More on this

    Dead Star And Planetary Bodies: Astronomers Spot Unique Disc Of Debris That Foretells Solar System’s FutureEurasia Review · Oct 27, 2026

    Astronomers using the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (ESO’s VLT) have found a rare disc of debris around a dead star that provides a ...

    Astronomers Spot Double Debris Disc Hinting at Solar System's FutureMirage News · Oct 27, 2026

    An international team led by astronomers from the University of Trieste and the University of Warwick has discovered a double ring of planetary debris ...

The 4 · main stories

The 2 · side by side

A · UNESCO World Heritage Centre

Pillar 43 at Göbekli Tepe: the oldest object claimed as a star map

Pillar 43 at Göbekli Tepe in Turkey was carved about 11,500 years ago. In 2017 two researchers read its vulture and scorpion as Sagittarius and Scorpius and called it a date stamp for 10950 BC. The archaeologists who dig the site reject that reading. Status: unproven.

UNESCO World Heritage Centre · Oct 27

Original headline: Göbekli Tepe - UNESCO World Heritage CentreRead the source →

Pillar 43, the Vulture Stone, in Enclosure D at Göbekli Tepe: the vulture with outstretched wing and the disc above it. The scorpion is lower on the pillar, out of this photo. Photo: Sue Fleckney, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0 (share-alike).

Establishing a Radiocarbon Sequence for Göbekli Tepe (Neo-Lithics 1/13) →Neo-Lithics 1/13, 2013, DAI excavation team (PDF)The excavators' dating report. It gives sample KIA-44149 from the wall plaster of Enclosure D between Pillars 41 and 42, 9745–9314 cal BC, and charcoal from the enclosure at 9664–9311 cal BC, placing construction in the mid-10th millennium BC.

A Radiocarbon Date from the Wall Plaster of Enclosure D (Neo-Lithics 2/10) →Neo-Lithics 2/10, ex oriente (PDF)The first published radiocarbon date from the wall plaster of Enclosure D, the building that holds Pillar 43, by the excavation team.

Decoding Göbekli Tepe with Archaeoastronomy: What Does the Fox Say? (Sweatman and Tsikritsis 2017) →Mediterranean Archaeology and Archaeometry 17(1), 2017 (open PDF)The paper that reads Pillar 43 as a star map: vulture as Sagittarius, scorpion as Scorpius, the disc as the sun. It calls the pillar a "date stamp for 10950 BC ± 250 yrs" and links it to a proposed comet impact.

More than a vulture: A response to Sweatman and Tsikritsis (Notroff et al. 2017) →Mediterranean Archaeology and Archaeometry 17(2), 2017 (PDF)The excavators' rebuttal: pillars were moved and reused, the buildings may have been roofed, and the 10950 BC date is 700 to 1,000 years older than Enclosure D's oldest radiocarbon dates.

B · ORACC

The oldest clay tablets that name the stars

The oldest clay tablets that certainly name constellations are far younger. A Babylonian prayer to the "gods of the night," on a tablet the Louvre dates to 1800–1700 BC, calls on Orion and the Pleiades by name. The star catalogue MUL.APIN, in copies from 687 BC, calls Orion the True Shepherd of Anu. Status: accepted; MUL.APIN's first date is debated.

ORACC · Oct 27

Original headline: MUL.APIN tablet 1, ORACC online editionRead the source →

Louvre AO 6769: tablet, prayer for the examination of entrails →Musée du Louvre, collections databaseThe museum record for text B of the Prayer to the Gods of the Night, dated by the Louvre to 1800–1700 BC. It has the object's size (9.9 by 5.2 cm), acquisition in 1914 and the museum's photos.

Prayer to the Gods of the Night: text and translation (SEAL 7491) →SEAL, Hebrew University of JerusalemA full English translation of the Old Babylonian prayer, which calls on the Bow, the Yoke, Orion, the Dragon, the Wagon, the She-Goat, the Bison and the Horned Serpent. It lists the editions from Šilejko 1924 to Mayer 2018.

VAT 9412, a copy of the star catalogue MUL.APIN from Assur, Neues Museum Berlin. Its colophon dates the copy to 687 BC, the oldest dated copy known. Photo: Bautsch, via Wikimedia Commons, CC0.

K.8538, a clay star chart from Ashurbanipal's library at Nineveh, British Museum. The museum's curator dates the sky it shows to the night of 3–4 January 650 BC. Photo: BabelStone, via Wikimedia Commons, CC0.

The Babylonian Astronomical Compendium MUL.APIN (Hunger and Steele 2018) →Routledge, 2018The standard modern edition and translation of MUL.APIN, with commentary on its star lists, rising dates and the open question of when it was composed.

The 1

Our Take

The sky behind both sides

Side A is the oldest object said to show the stars, Pillar 43 at Göbekli Tepe, carved about 11,500 years ago. Side B is the oldest clay tablets known to name them. Here both sit beside telescope photographs of the same stars as they are today.

Side by side

Take A: the sky behind Pillar 43

Sweatman and Tsikritsis match the scorpion and vulture on Pillar 43 to Scorpius and Sagittarius. The brightest star in Scorpius is Antares, a red supergiant; a 2017 study in Nature put it about 550 light-years away. Behind Sagittarius the distances grow: the Lagoon Nebula is about 4,000 light-years off, and Sagittarius C lies near the centre of the Milky Way, about 25,000 light-years away. A constellation is a pattern seen from Earth. Earth's axis also wobbles like a spinning top, on a cycle NASA gives as about 25,771.5 years. From 9600 BC to 2026 is about 45 percent of one cycle (our calculation from NASA's figure), so the sky over Göbekli Tepe when Enclosure D was built sat at a very different angle to the seasons. The 10950 BC date in the star-map reading rests on this effect.

Take B: the sky behind the tablets

The Old Babylonian prayer to the gods of the night names Orion, and MUL.APIN calls it the True Shepherd of Anu. Orion's red shoulder star, Betelgeuse, is over 700 light-years away, according to ESO, and the Orion Nebula in the hunter's sword is about 1,500 light-years away. The tablets fix Orion by the day it first rose at dawn: MUL.APIN says the True Shepherd of Anu appears on the 10th day of Simanu, the third month. Precession slowly moves those dates through the year; the 2,700 years since the 687 BC copy are about a tenth of a cycle (our calculation from NASA's figure).

Every picture is shown with its credit and licence. Sources for the dates and distances: NASA, ESO, ESA/Hubble, ESA/Webb, ORACC and the papers linked in The 2.

Rests on UNESCO World Heritage Centre and ORACC.