Astronomy

R.I.P. Neil Armstrong, First Person to Set Foot On the Moon

Neil Alden Armstrong, spacecraft commander of NASA’s Apollo 11 mission and the first person to walk on the Moon, has died at 82. The former U.S. astronaut passed away while recovering from heart-bypass surgery, a procedure he underwent just weeks ago, according to a statement released by his family. On March 16, 1966, Armstrong became…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez

Over 100 Past, Present and Future NASA JPL Missions in One Handy Infographic

Three weeks ago, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (aka JPL) landed the Curiosity rover on Mars. It was a monumental achievement, but only the most recent in a long and impressive string of missions in which JPL has played a major part. This beautiful data visualization — which shows the launch dates of more than 100…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez

This is what a red giant looks like just as it’s about to blow

If you’re ever traveling through space and you encounter a red giant star that looks like this, you might just want to turn tail and get the hell out of there. This is a video interpretation of Betelgeuse, a star that’s on the brink of going supernova. And as you can see, it’s a bubbling…

io9 George Dvorsky

What’s the coolest way Saturn’s rings could get destroyed?

Saturn’s rings might be sitting pretty right now, but eventually they’re gonna go. And we’ve narrowed it down to three spectacular possible fates, the last of which might actually be pretty cool to watch. A lot of people have been moved by the sight of Saturn’s rings. Galileo described them, when he first saw them,…

io9 Esther Inglis-Arkell

Use This Equation to Figure Out If Alien Life Exists

The Drake Equation, developed by astronomer Frank Drake, is an equation that estimates how many alien civilizations might live in our galaxy. But the more we find out about the way of the milky, the less chance alien life exists. Just check out the difference between how much alien life existed before when the Drake…

Space & Spaceflight Casey Chan

Astronomers discover Milky Way’s twin, Magellanic Clouds and all

As a spiral galaxy, the Milky Way is far from unique. But what makes our galaxy particularly special is its pairing with the Magellanic Clouds — two irregular dwarf galaxies that are orbiting around it. Astronomers have never been able to find anything quite like it — at least not until now. A new paper…

io9 George Dvorsky

Amateurs Uncover Stunning Hidden Treasures In Hubble’s Image Vaults

With over one million observations since it launch on April 24, 1990, the Hubble Space Telescope has been a endless source for insane wonders, unprecedented scenes and humbling experiences. However, many of its most amazing images have never been seen before by anyone—until now. In fact, some images actually show objects that nobody knew existed…

Tech News Jesus Diaz

These mirrors will allow us to observe the birth of the Universe

In 2018, the James Webb Space Telescope will become one of the greatest tools in humanity’s quest to understand the cosmos. Now, after eight years, the technology comprising the heart and soul of the telescope — an ultra-sophisticated beryllium mirror system — is complete. Up top, 11 of JWST’s 18 gigantic mirror segments, engineered and…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez

Astronomers catch a star in the act of devouring a planet

How’s this for a depressing look into Earth’s potential future: Astronomers have witnessed the first evidence of a planet’s destruction by its aging star as it expands into a red giant. “A similar fate may await the inner planets in our solar system, when the Sun becomes a red giant and expands all the way…

io9 Nancy Atkinson - Universe Today

NASA to send another robot to Mars in 2016

Hot on the heels of Curiosity’s flawless landing, NASA has just announced a brand new mission to Mars, one that will provide us with our best look yet into the Red Planet’s mysterious interior. The mission is named InSight, and it’s set to launch in 2016. InSight will mark the 12th project to be selected…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez

And now, a video of 2,299 exoplanets orbiting a single star

There are 2,299 exoplanets featured in the video up top, all of which have been discovered by NASA’s Kepler spacecraft since 2009. In reality, these planets — which all reside within the Milky Way, albeit well beyond the reaches of our own solar system — circle some 1,770 different stars, but thanks to some handy…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez

How can a galaxy full of billions of stars be considered small and lonely?

This striking explosion of cosmic color is the galaxy DDO 190. But whatever its aesthetic merits, it’s nothing special in scientific terms — indeed, it’s rather unflatteringly termed a dwarf irregular galaxy. It’s also one of the loneliest galaxies around. While it’s kind of hard to believe it when looking at this beautiful image from…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins

Curiosity has acquired its first scientific targets!

It’s been just shy of two weeks since Curiosity’s wheels touched down on the surface of Mars, and things are looking excellent. Since landing, the rover has been busy stretching out, extending its mast cam to its full height, snapping photos of its surroundings and running its impressive suite of scientific instruments through its paces.…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez

NASA confirms there’s helium in the Moon’s atmosphere. But where did it come from?

When astronauts from the Apollo 17 mission landed on the Moon in 1972, one of their mission objectives was to analyze the tenuous atmosphere using the Lunar Atmosphere Composition Experiment, a mass spectrometer (with a shape and appearance weirdly reminiscent of a modern day printer/scanner combo) designed to detect traces of gas in the lunar…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez

It’s official: the Sun is the most perfect natural sphere ever measured

The Earth is not round, but the Sun — contrary to long-standing scientific belief — is a different story. To be clear: the Earth certainly isn’t flat, but it’s definitely not a perfect sphere. Technically speaking, it’s an oblate spheroid — a sphere that’s been squashed, such that the distance from Earth’s center to sea…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez

We Were Totally Wrong About the Sun’s Shape Until Yesterday

For as long as we’ve bothered to care about heavenly bodies other than our own, we’ve thought that the size of the Sun varies throughout its 11-year solar cycles. Intense magnetic forces, the theory went, rendered it as malleable as a sturdy stress ball. That was a good theory, backed up by decades of data.…

Space & Spaceflight Brian Barrett

14 billion years of cosmic evolution in just 78 seconds

Feast your eyes on Arepo, a computer simulation capable of modeling the birth and evolution of an entire cosmos. It was designed by scientists at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in collaboration with researchers at the Heidelberg Institute for Theoretical Studies, and unlike previous simulators, this one can reproduce the full range of galaxies that…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez

What Happens When You Stare Directly at the Sun

Snow blindness, arc eye, welder’s flash, bake eyes—these all describe the common effects of staring at an intensely bright light source. But what actually happens to your eyes when you try to hold a staring contest with our closest star? It’s not pleasant, that’s for sure. Here’s a look at what you shouldn’t see for…

Tech News Andrew Tarantola

Gorgeous new photos show Curiosity, as viewed from Mars orbit, six days after touchdown

These are the first color images of NASA’s Curiosity rover and its immediate surroundings on the Red Planet, released just hours ago. The photographs were recently acquired by HiRISE, the most powerful camera we’ve ever sent to another planet, and holy crap are they stunning. Jaw-dropping, color-enhanced views await you below the fold. Trust us…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez

What the f*ck has NASA done for you lately? More than you think.

Despite NASA’s epic accomplishments last week — what with the landing a one-ton superlab on the surface of Mars with a rocket-powered skycrane, and everything — the haters remained out in full force, asking inane, vaguely trollish questions along the lines of “what’s the point?” “why is NASA wasting money on robots in space?” and…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez

R.I.P. Neil Armstrong, First Person to Set Foot On the Moon

Over 100 Past, Present and Future NASA JPL Missions in One Handy Infographic

This is what a red giant looks like just as it’s about to blow

What’s the coolest way Saturn’s rings could get destroyed?

Use This Equation to Figure Out If Alien Life Exists

Astronomers discover Milky Way’s twin, Magellanic Clouds and all

Amateurs Uncover Stunning Hidden Treasures In Hubble’s Image Vaults

These mirrors will allow us to observe the birth of the Universe

Astronomers catch a star in the act of devouring a planet

NASA to send another robot to Mars in 2016

And now, a video of 2,299 exoplanets orbiting a single star

How can a galaxy full of billions of stars be considered small and lonely?

Curiosity has acquired its first scientific targets!

NASA confirms there’s helium in the Moon’s atmosphere. But where did it come from?

It’s official: the Sun is the most perfect natural sphere ever measured

We Were Totally Wrong About the Sun’s Shape Until Yesterday

14 billion years of cosmic evolution in just 78 seconds

What Happens When You Stare Directly at the Sun

Gorgeous new photos show Curiosity, as viewed from Mars orbit, six days after touchdown

What the f*ck has NASA done for you lately? More than you think.

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