The Geminid meteor shower 2023 peaks overnight tonight (Dec. 13), and you can watch the action live with these free livestreams.
Space News & Blog Articles
The best places in Canada to see the 2024 total solar eclipse
On April 8, 2024, all of Canada will see at least a partial solar eclipse, but parts of Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic Canada will experience totality.
Webb identifies tiniest free-floating brown dwarf
Discovery helps answer the question: How small can you go when forming stars?
Brown dwarfs are sometimes called failed stars, since they form like stars through gravitational collapse, but never gain enough mass to ignite nuclear fusion. The smallest brown dwarfs can overlap in mass with giant planets. In a quest to find the smallest brown dwarf, astronomers using the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope have found the new record-holder: an object weighing just three to four times the mass of Jupiter.
Design the patch for Hera’s Milani CubeSat
Milani needs you! This is your chance to design a mission patch for the Milani CubeSat which will fly with ESA's Hera planetary defence spacecraft to the Didymos binary asteroid system.
A mission for the Rosalind Franklin rover
Video: 00:01:25
Trailer of the ExoMars Rosalind Franklin mission.
Planets Orbiting Pulsars Should Have Strange and Beautiful Auroras. And We Could Detect Them
We have been treated to some amazing aurora displays over recent months. The enigmatic lights are caused by charged particles from the Sun rushing across space and on arrival, causing the gas in the atmosphere to glow. Now researchers believe that even on exoplanets around pulsars we may just find aurora, and they may even be detectable.
How Do Superflares Get So Powerful?
We live with a star that sends out flares powerful enough to disrupt things here on Earth. Telecommunications, power grids, even life itself, are affected by strong solar activity. But, the Sun’s testy outbursts are almost nothing compared to the superflares emitted by other stars. Why do flares happen? And what’s going on at distant stars to ramp up the power of their flares?
Solar Storms Could Cause Mayhem to Trains
The rail service here in the UK is often the brunt of jokes. If it’s not the wrong type of rain, or the leaves are laying on the tracks the wrong way then it’s some other seemingly ludicrous reason that the trains are delayed, or even cancelled. A recent study by scientists at the University of Lancaster suggest that even the solar wind might cause train signals to be incorrectly triggered with potentially disastrous consequences.
Solar storms could affect train safety by glitching railroad signals
Rare but explosive solar eruptions may cause train signals to switch the wrong way, affecting train safety, a new study finds.
We've Entered a New Era: The Lunar Anthropocene
For almost half a century, the term “Anthropocene” has been informally used to describe the current geological epoch. The term acknowledges how human agency has become the most significant factor when it comes to changes in Earth’s geology, landscape, ecosystems, and climate. According to a new study by a team of geologists and anthropologists, this same term should be extended to the Moon in recognition of humanity’s exploration (starting in the mid-20th century) and the growing impact our activities will have on the Moon’s geology and the landscape in the near future.
NASA's Voyager 1 probe in interstellar space can't phone home (again) due to glitch
Voyager 1 is currently unable to transmit any scientific or systems data back to Earth. The 46-year-old NASA spacecraft is capable of receiving commands, but a problem seems to have arisen with the probe's computers.
The Positions of Stars on an Ancient Navigation Device Tell us When it was Made
Astrolabes serve two purposes. First, they are useful as an astronomical tool, especially for finding a ship’s latitude. But second, they are works of art in themselves. Besides having to be precise, many are beautiful. They are even seeing a resurgence in popularity as collectors lap up even those made by modern manufacturing processes because of their aesthetic appeal. Now, a new paper adds to their uses – a self-referential ability to mark what year they were made by the patterns of the stars they reference.
Relive Artemis 1 Orion's fiery return from the moon in this amazing video
Just over a year ago, NASA's Artemis 1 Orion capsule returned to Earth in a blaze of glory, which the spacecraft captured on video.
Review: Unistellar’s eQuinox 2 Telescope and New Smart Solar Filter
I recently had the chance to try out one of Unistellar’s smart telescopes, the eQuinox 2. Unparalleled in its ease of use, I was literally viewing distant nebula, galaxies, and star clusters within 15 minutes of opening the box.
China lofts Yaogan spy satellites on 500th Long March rocket launch (video)
A fifth group of three Yaogan-39 satellites launched over the weekend, on a mission that marked the 500th liftoff for China's Long March family of rockets.
Three Baby Stars Found at the Heart of the Milky Way
The core of our Milky Way is buzzing with stars. Recently astronomers reported that it contains at least one ancient star that formed outside our galaxy. Now, an international research team reports finding a grouping of very young ones there, as well. Their presence upends ideas about star birth in that densely packed region of space.
December's new moon allows the Geminid meteor shower to shine tonight
The new moon of December 2023 offers skywatchers dark skies for catching the Geminid meteor shower, one of the year's best celestial spectacles.
Blue Origin will return to flight with uncrewed mission on Dec. 18
Blue Origin plans to end its 15-month spaceflight hiatus with an uncrewed mission of its New Shepard suborbital vehicle on Dec. 18.
Cats and dogs in space! Pets crash onto an alien planet in 'Man's Best' miniseries (exclusive)
What happens when emotional support pets have to rescue their owners? Find out in Boom! Studios' "Man's Best" comic book miniseries arriving in 2024.
How 'Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora' expands the exotic alien world of the movies
The video game "Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora" presents a stunning recreation of Pandora as seen in the movies. But how does it expand on what we already know?