Editorial standards

Last revised October 30, 2026

Numbers first

Before we write about a sky event, we compute it: Moon phases and distances, rise and set times, how high an object climbs from named places, and when the Moon passes a star. We use open-source astronomy software and say which places our figures are for. Meteor shower dates and typical rates follow the International Meteor Organization. Spacecraft dates come from the mission teams.

Sources on the page

Every report lists its sources. Research findings are taken from the published study or the institution that produced it. When something is an estimate, a model or a contested idea, we say so in the text.

Independence

SpacePloer has no affiliation with NASA, any other space agency or any company in the space industry. Nobody outside our newsroom approves reports before publication. We don't accept payment for coverage.

Advertising

Any advertising is clearly separated from reporting and labelled. Advertisers can't influence what we cover. Affiliate links, if we ever use them, will be disclosed beside the link.

Honest headlines

If the Moon will wash out a meteor shower, the headline says so. We don't call annual events "once in a lifetime," and we don't sell asteroid stories with fear.

Images

We use real photographs and scientific images from public archives, or images photographers have licensed for reuse. Illustrations are labelled as illustrations. When a photo of one event illustrates another, the caption says what it really shows. We don't use AI-generated images.

Corrections

We fix factual errors promptly and add a dated note at the end of the report. Typos are corrected quietly. To report an error, use our correction form or email [email protected], naming the report and the line.

Credits

Reports are filed by four teams: Meteor Watch, Moon Log, Starfield Report and Mission Tracker.

For readers everywhere

We give times in Universal Time with a local conversion, note which hemisphere or region an event favors, and avoid assuming every reader is in the United States, even though we are.