The Sun Is a Mass of Incandescent Gas: Mars Perseverance Rover’s First Solar Conjunction
As the Sun spews hot, energized gas from its outer atmosphere (corona) far across space, and Mars and Earth align on opposite sides, this causes…
Space News
Spacecraft Propulsion Without Fuel Using Electrodynamic Tethers
How to propel a spacecraft without propellant? Use electrodynamic tethers. These are long, strong conductors connecting two spacecraft. When direct current is applied to the…
$10 Billion Webb Space Telescope Arrives at Europe’s Spaceport
The James Webb Space Telescope has arrived safely at Pariacabo harbor in French Guiana. ESA in close collaboration with NASA will now prepare this once-in-a-generation…
NASA Perseverance Mars Rover Images Confirm Jezero Crater Is an Ancient Martian Lake
The findings include signs of flash flooding that carried huge boulders downstream into the lakebed. The first scientific analysis of images taken by NASA’s Perseverance…
NASA Searching for Free-Floating Planets Using Artificial Intelligence and Gravitational Microlensing
Exoplanet hunters have found thousands of planets, most orbiting close to their host stars, but relatively few alien worlds have been detected that float freely…
Major 6-Year Search of the Outer Solar System Turns Up 461 New Objects (but No Planet 9)
In the near future, astronomers will benefit from the presence of next-generation telescopes like the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) and the Nancy Grace Roman…
Strange Radio Signals From the Heart of the Milky Way Tantalize Scientists
A variable signal aligned to the direction of the galactic center is tantalizing scientists. Astronomers have discovered unusual signals coming from the direction of the…
A European Push to the Moon and Beyond
The European Space Agency is playing a vital role in humankind’s return to the Moon. In a few months, NASA will launch Artemis I from…
Unexpected Radio Signals From Distant Stars Suggest Hidden Planets
Using the world’s most powerful radio antenna, scientists have discovered stars unexpectedly blasting out radio waves, possibly indicating the existence of hidden planets. The University…
Astrophysicists Explain Puzzling Results From Gravitational Wave Observatories
Astrophysicists Explain the Origin of Unusually Heavy Neutron Star Binaries Simulations of supernova explosions of massive stars paired with neutron stars can explain puzzling results…
Giant Cosmic Cotton Ball: A Dark Matter Deficient Galaxy
The galaxy NGC 1052-DF2 resides in a field of galaxies about sixty-five million light-years away. Its low mass, only about two hundred million solar-masses, makes…
NASA Perseverance Rover’s First Major Successes on Mars – An Update From Mission Scientists
In the short time since NASA’s Perseverance rover landed in Mars’ Jezero Crater on Feb. 18, 2021, it’s already made history. At the moment, Mars…
NASA’s Lucy 12-Year Mission to Jupiter’s Trojan Asteroids Launches This Week – How To Watch It Live
On October 16, 2021, NASA’s Lucy spacecraft will begin its journey to visit a record-breaking number of asteroids. The 12-year mission starts from NASA’s Kennedy…
Wandering Supermassive Black Holes Whizzing Through the Universe
Every massive galaxy is believed to host a supermassive black hole (SMBH) at its center. Its mass is correlated with the mass of the inner…
Invisible Galactic Gale: Superwind From Spectacularly Energetic Supernova Explosions
NGC 4666 takes center stage in this image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. This majestic spiral galaxy lies about 80 million light-years away in…
Van Allen Radiation Belts: 21 Fun Facts
Radiation Belts — Fun Facts Two radiation belts filled with electrons and charged particles surround Earth. The inner one is fairly stable, but the outer…
NASA Images of the Week: Rogue Planet, Dangerous Dance, SpaceX & Electric Propulsion
Hubble Detects a Dangerous Dance This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image features two interacting galaxies that are so intertwined, they have a collective name –…
Cracking a Mystery of Massive Black Holes and Quasars
A discovery that provides new insight into how galaxies evolve. At the center of galaxies, like our own Milky Way, lie massive black holes surrounded…