Astronomy

An Asteroid Zipped Through Earth’s Shadow Last Night

A newly discovered asteroid gave our planet a close brush last night—and in what may be an astronomical first, observers managed to film the space rock passing in and out of Earth’s shadow. 2016 VA, an object roughly the length of a commercial bus, was discovered yesterday by the Mount Lemmon Sky Survey in Arizona,…

Space & Spaceflight Maddie Stone

The World’s Largest Telescope Might Not Be Built in Hawaii After All

As a bitter, multi-year battle over the legality of the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) rages on, an alternate path forward has begun to emerge. The world’s largest telescope may not wind up on the frosty peak of Mauna Kea, Hawaii, but instead it might be placed in Spain’s Canary Islands. It’d be a loss for…

Tech News Maddie Stone

This Is Our Best Image Yet of ESA’s Crashed Mars Lander

NASA’s Mars Reconaissance Orbiter (MRO) has acquired new high-resolution images of the crashed Schiaparelli lander, following its ill-fated attempt to reach the surface of Mars in one piece. The images confirm that the lander had a very hard fall, and raise new questions about the exact nature of the crash. Ever since the European Space…

Space & Spaceflight Maddie Stone

Our Best Glimpse Yet of a Triple Star System Being Born

Using the ALMA telescope, astronomers have captured an exceptionally clear image of a triple protostar system still in the early stages of development. The new image is providing fresh insights into multi-star systems and how they come into existence. This baby protostar system is called L1448 IRS3B, and it’s less than 150,000 years old—a minor…

Space & Spaceflight George Dvorsky

This Might Be Our Best Shot at Finding That ‘Alien Megastructure’

Since it was first suggested that the flickering star known as KIC 8462852 might be a Dyson Sphere, telescope-toting astronomers associated with the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) have been scouring the system for signs of aliens. Now, the most well-funded SETI program on Earth—UC Berkeley’s Breakthrough Listen—is getting in on the hunt, too. KIC…

Space & Spaceflight Maddie Stone

It Looks Like NASA Found ESA’s Crashed Mars Lander

On Wednesday, the European Space Agency attempted to land a probe on Mars, and things went bad. While the ExoMars mission team continues to piece together why its Schiaparelli lander lost contact with the Earth, NASA has now obtained photographic evidence of what appears to be a crash-landing. A new image of Schiaparelli’s intended landing…

Space & Spaceflight Maddie Stone

Our Best Map Yet of Io’s Volcanic Activity Looks Terrifying

Jupiter’s moon Io is the most volcanically-active body in our solar system, and a recent observational campaign offers a little more insight into the a terrifying hellscape that awaits any unfortunate space probes we send there. A team of astronomers at UC Berkeley has just completed a two and a half year survey of Jupiter’s…

Space & Spaceflight Maddie Stone

Our Sun’s Quirky Tilt Means Planet Nine Might Actually Exist

New research links the odd and unexplained six-degree tilt of our Sun to an undiscovered planet in the outer reaches of our solar system. It’s even more evidence that planet Nine is for real. A new paper published in the Astrophysical Journal posits the hypothesis that a large and distant planet at the outer reaches…

Space & Spaceflight George Dvorsky

This Is the Most Detailed Hydrogen Map of the Milky Way Ever Created

Using two of the world’s largest configurable telescopes, scientists have created the most detailed map yet of hydrogen atoms the Milky Way. It’s called the HI4PI map, and it was produced using data from the Max-Planck radio telescope in Germany, and the CSIRO radio telescope in Australia. The stunning image was compiled from more than…

Space & Spaceflight George Dvorsky

Pluto’s Skies Look More Earth-Like Than We Imagined

Here’s a dazzling thought: Pluto’s blue skies may be cloudy. Earlier this year, we heard a rumor that scientists were considering the possibility of clouds on Pluto. According to NASA, that rumor is very much alive, and a hot topic of discussion at a planetary science conference this week. Pluto’s hazy, layered atmosphere is mostly…

Space & Spaceflight Maddie Stone

The Solar System Is Always Visible at Night With These Planetary String Lights

A stellar view of the night sky, including all of our celestial neighbors, is dependent on countless factors like light pollution, the weather, and even the time of year. But you can guarantee that all of the planets in our solar system are visible when you go stargazing with this planetary string light set created…

Tech News Andrew Liszewski

Something Went Wrong With the Juno Spacecraft’s Engine

A critical moment in NASA’S Juno mission has been postponed while engineers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory attempt to sort out a mysterious engine issue. If the problem is not resolved quickly, it could reduce the amount of high-quality data the Jupiter-orbiting probe is able to collect during its scientific mission. On October 19th, at…

Space & Spaceflight Maddie Stone

Two Undiscovered Dark Moons Appear to Be Hiding Near Uranus

After re-examining data acquired by the Voyager 2 spacecraft, astronomers have detected wavy patterns in two of Uranus’s dark system of rings—patterns that may be indicative of two undiscovered moons. Like the other gas giants in our solar system, Uranus features a ring system, though it’s not nearly as spectacular as the one around Saturn.…

Space & Spaceflight George Dvorsky

The Surprising Reason This ‘Saturn on Steroids’ Could Actually Exist

A few years ago, astronomers discovered a bizarre object in orbit around a distant star. Preliminary research suggested an exoplanet with an oversized ring system roughly 200 times larger than Saturn’s. Researchers have now proven that this dramatic celestial structure is indeed possible—but for it to work, the rings need to spin in the wrong…

Space & Spaceflight George Dvorsky

We Were Very Wrong About the Number of Galaxies in the Universe

Using the Hubble Space telescope and other observatories, astronomers have completed the most accurate census of galaxies in the observable universe to date. In terms of the actual number, let’s just say we were way the hell off. The observable universe—that is, the part of the universe that’s visible to us on Earth—contains 10 to…

Tech News George Dvorsky

The Daring Plan to Find the Next Earth Within a Decade

When astronomers confirmed the discovery of an Earth-sized world orbiting Proxima Centauri just 4.25 light years away, hopes were ignited that there may be more planetary real estate in our cosmic neighborhood. To find out, a team of ex-NASA scientists is now seeking private funding to scour the Alpha Centauri system for habitable planets. This…

Space & Spaceflight Maddie Stone

Try Not to Cry While Watching Earth Rise From the Moon in HD

These aren’t renderings, special effects, or a scene from No Man’s Sky. This is actual footage of the Earth and the Moon, as seen by Japan’s Kaguya spacecraft in October 2008. Shot with a pair of 2.2 megapixel HDTV sensors, it’s some of the first HD footage of our nearest neighbor that humans ever captured.…

Sploid Maddie Stone

The Nearest Earth-Like Planet Outside Our Solar System Could Be a Water World

At a distance of 4.2 light years, Proxima b is the closest potentially habitable Earth-like planet outside our solar system. New research suggests this distant orb could be completely covered in water. So when do we go? This past August, scientists with the European Southern Observatory (ESO) confirmed the discovery of a rocky planet in…

Tech News George Dvorsky

Astronomers Spot a Massive Black Hole That’s Gone Rogue

Using the Chandra X-ray Observatory, astronomers have found evidence of a “wandering” black hole on the outskirts of a distant galaxy. It’s too far away to cause us any trouble, but the discovery of this homeless ball of gravitational despair affirms a long standing theory about the existence of such objects. A massive black hole…

Physics & Chemistry George Dvorsky

Curiosity’s Latest Selfie Is an Instant Classic

NASA’s Curiosity rover has completed its survey of “Murray Buttes,” and is now set to venture even higher along the slopes of Mount Sharp. The intrepid rover took the opportunity to snap a selfie as it proudly stood in front of some rather dramatic Martian features. This striking image, taken on September 17, 2016, is…

Tech News George Dvorsky

An Asteroid Zipped Through Earth’s Shadow Last Night

The World’s Largest Telescope Might Not Be Built in Hawaii After All

This Is Our Best Image Yet of ESA’s Crashed Mars Lander

Our Best Glimpse Yet of a Triple Star System Being Born

This Might Be Our Best Shot at Finding That ‘Alien Megastructure’

It Looks Like NASA Found ESA’s Crashed Mars Lander

Our Best Map Yet of Io’s Volcanic Activity Looks Terrifying

Our Sun’s Quirky Tilt Means Planet Nine Might Actually Exist

This Is the Most Detailed Hydrogen Map of the Milky Way Ever Created

Pluto’s Skies Look More Earth-Like Than We Imagined

The Solar System Is Always Visible at Night With These Planetary String Lights

Something Went Wrong With the Juno Spacecraft’s Engine

Two Undiscovered Dark Moons Appear to Be Hiding Near Uranus

The Surprising Reason This ‘Saturn on Steroids’ Could Actually Exist

We Were Very Wrong About the Number of Galaxies in the Universe

The Daring Plan to Find the Next Earth Within a Decade

Try Not to Cry While Watching Earth Rise From the Moon in HD

The Nearest Earth-Like Planet Outside Our Solar System Could Be a Water World

Astronomers Spot a Massive Black Hole That’s Gone Rogue

Curiosity’s Latest Selfie Is an Instant Classic

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