Space News & Blog Articles

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The Outer Reaches of the Milky Way are Full of Stars, and the JWST is Observing Them

The Milky Way’s outer reaches are coming into view thanks to the JWST. Astronomers pointed the powerful space telescope to a region over 58,000 light-years away called the Extreme Outer Galaxy (EOG). They found star clusters exhibiting extremely high rates of star formation.

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More Bodies Discovered in the Outer Solar System

The outer Solar System has been a treasure trove of discoveries in recent decades. Using ground-based telescopes, astronomers have identified eight large bodies since 2002 – Quouar, Sedna, Orcus, Haumea, Salacia, Eris, Makemake, and Gonggang. These discoveries led to the “Great Planet Debate” and the designation “dwarf planet,” an issue that remains contentious today. On December 21st, 2018, the New Horizons mission made history when it became the first spacecraft to rendezvous with a Kuiper Belt Object (KBO) named Arrokoth – the Powhatan/Algonquin word for “sky.”

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The best 70s sci-fi movies

Sci-fi in the 1970s was weird, wonderful, and where franchises were born.

Watch space aliens invade in wild new 'Venom: The Last Dance' trailer (video)

Sony Pictures released a final launch trailer for "Venom: The Last Dance," which premieres on Oct. 25, 2024.

SpaceX Super Heavy rocket gets supersonic wind tunnel test for NASA's Artemis moon missions (photos)

A 1.2% scale model of SpaceX's Starship Super Heavy rocket underwent NASA wind tunnel testing, during which high-speed forced air simulated varying flight conditions.

'Star Wars Outlaws' finally lets fans play as the scoundrel (review)

The first open-word game from the galaxy far, far away feels like the Han Solo simulator we've been waiting for.

Jupiter’s Moon Io Has a Giant New Volcano

NASA’s Juno mission has spotted a new volcano on Jupiter’s pockmarked moon, Io.

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Apollo 11 moonwalk footprint featured on Sprayground's latest backpack

Follow in the footsteps of Apollo astronauts with a new space-themed backpack that aims to inspire a sense of exploration and transport wearers to the lunar surface.

How the ESA’s Rosalind Franklin Rover Will Drill for Samples on Mars

Russia’s attack on Ukraine has delayed its launch, but the ESA’s Rosalind Franklin rover is heading toward completion. It was originally scheduled to launch in 2018, but technical delays prevented it. Now, after dropping Russia from the project because of their invasion, the ESA says it won’t launch before 2028.

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Iron winds and molten metal rains ravage a hellish hot Jupiter exoplanet

"Iron Winds and Metal Rain." Not the title of a heavy metal album but an accurate weather prediction for a hellish exoplanet called WASP-76b.

SpaceX launches 21 Starlink satellites from California's Vandenberg Space Force Base, lands rocket (video)

SpaceX's latest Starlink satellite launch lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base on Sept. 12, adding to a constellation of more than 6,300 operational satellites.

ESA's JUICE spacecraft confirmed Earth is habitable. Here's why

JUICE successfully identified water and the building blocks of life in Earth's atmosphere. In doing so, the probe headed for Jupiter's moons confirmed that its instruments are working properly.

SpaceX's private Polaris Dawn astronauts beam photos to Earth using Starlink satellites

The private Polaris Dawn crew notched another milestone on Thursday (Sept. 12), beaming photos home using SpaceX's Starlink broadband satellites.

Week in images: 09-13 September 2024

Week in images: 09-13 September 2024

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BepiColombo’s fourth Mercury flyby: the movie

Video: 00:01:25

Watch the closest flyby of a planet ever, as the ESA/JAXA BepiColombo spacecraft sped past Mercury during its latest encounter on 4 September 2024.

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This Week's Sky at a Glance, September 13 – 22

The Moon occults Saturn before dawn on Tuesday morning, then the Moon skims the edge of Earth's shadow for a partial lunar eclipse that evening. Meanwhile, Jupiter and Mars shine in fine view late at night.

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Earth from Space: Adriatic bloom

Image: This Copernicus Sentinel-2 image captures algal bloom swirls in the north Adriatic Sea, along the coast of Italy.

Artemis Missions Could Put the most Powerful imaging Telescope on the Moon

Ground-based interferometry on Earth has proven to be a successful method for conducting science by combining light from several telescopes into acting like a single large telescope. But how can a ultraviolet (UV)/optical interferometer telescope on the Moon deliver enhanced science, and can the Artemis missions help make this a reality? This is what a recently submitted study to the SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation 2024 conference hopes to address as a team of researchers propose the Artemis-enabled Stellar Imager (AeSI) that, as its name implies, could potentially be delivered to the lunar surface via NASA’s upcoming Artemis missions. This proposal was recently accepted as a Phase 1 study through NASA’s Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) program and holds the potential to develop revolutionary extremely high-angular resolution way of conducting science on other planetary bodies while contributing to other missions, as well.

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And the Winner is…. Astronomy Photographers of the Year 2024 Announced

Every year, the “Astronomy Photographer of the Year” competition provides incredible images of our night sky — whether they are stunning views of distant galaxies or dramatic photos of aurorae or other views from our home planet. This year is no different, and the awards were just announced at a special presentation at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich (ROG), England for the incredible 16th year of the competition. The event is sponsored by the ROG, supported by Liberty Specialty Markets and in association with BBC Sky at Night Magazine. For the 2024 competition there were over 3,500 entries from 58 countries.

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SpaceX launches 21 Starlink satellites on Falcon 9 rocket from West Coast

File: A Falcon 9 rocket stands ready to launch a Starlink mission. Image: SpaceX

SpaceX launched its latest batch of 21 Starlink satellites on a Thursday night Falcon 9 launch from California.

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See a First-Person View of the First Private Spacewalk

On Tuesday, September 10th, at 5:23 a.m. EST (03:23 p.m. PST), the Polaris Dawn mission launched from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, carrying a crew of four to Low Earth Orbit (LEO). This mission is the first of three that comprise the Polaris Program, a private spaceflight program organized by entrepreneur and private astronaut Jared Isaacman and financed by SpaceX. Since launching, the Resilience Crew Dragon spacecraft has flown higher than any crewed mission since the Apollo Era and passed through parts of the Van Allen radiation belt.

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