The pareidolia crowd is sure to have a field day with this! Once again, an oddly-shaped rock has been spotted on Mars. Once again, the rock is donut-shaped. This particular rock was spotted by NASA’s Perseverance rover, which continues to explore the Jezero Crater in Mars’ northern hemisphere. The image was taken by the Remote Microscopic Imager (RMI), part of the SuperCam instrument, at a distance of about 100 meters (328 feet) from the rover, on June 22nd, 2023 – the 832nd Martian day (or sol) of the mission.
Space News & Blog Articles
Tune into the SpaceZE News Network to stay updated on industry news from around the world.
Euclid Space Telescope Launches to Explore Dark Energy, Dark Matter
The European Space Agency’s New Space Telescope promises to unlock a key mystery of modern cosmology.
Dark Matter Might Interact in a Totally Unexpected Way With the Universe
According to Sir Isaac Newton’s theory of Universal Gravitation, gravity is an action at a distance, where one object feels the influence of another regardless of distance. This became a central feature of Classical Newtonian Physics that remained the accepted canon for over two hundred years. By the 20th century, Einstein began reconceptualizing gravity with his theory of General Relativity, where gravity alters the curvature of local spacetime. From this, we get the principle of locality, which states that an object is directly influenced by its surroundings, and distant objects cannot communicate instantaneously.
SpaceX launches European ‘dark energy telescope’ to help unravel cosmology’s biggest mysteries
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket thunders away from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, boosting the European Space Agency’s Euclid space telescope on a trajectory to deep space where it will probe the nature of dark energy and dark matter. Image: Adam Bernstein/Spaceflight Now.
The European Space Agency launched its $1.5 billion Euclid space telescope Saturday, an ambitious, first-of-a-kind attempt to pin down the nature of dark matter, an unknown material pervading the cosmos, and dark energy, the mysterious repulsive force that is speeding up the expansion of the universe.
Astronomers Find the Fastest Spider Pulsar, Filling in the Missing Link in Their Evolution
Pulsars are rotating neutron stars aligned with Earth in just such a way that the energy radiated from their magnetic poles sweeps across us with each rotation. From this, we see a regular pulse of radio light, like a cosmic lighthouse. The fastest pulsars can rotate very quickly, pulsing hundreds of times per second. These are known as millisecond pulsars.
Euclid liftoff
Video: 00:05:59
ESA’s latest astrophysics mission, Euclid, lifted off on a Space X Falcon 9 from Cape Canaveral in Florida, USA, at 17:12 CEST on 1 July 2023.
ESA’s Euclid lifts off on quest to unravel the cosmic mystery of dark matter and dark energy
ESA’s Euclid spacecraft lifted off on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, USA, at 17:12 CEST on 1 July 2023. The successful launch marks the beginning of an ambitious mission to uncover the nature of two mysterious components of our Universe: dark matter and dark energy, and to help us answer the fundamental question: what is the Universe made of?
SpaceX rocket launches Euclid space telescope to map the 'dark universe' like never before (video)
Europe's Euclid satellite flew July 1 aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. After reaching its deep space destination, Euclid will map an unseen part of our universe's history.
Watch the Euclid launch - now live on ESA WebTV
Watch the Euclid launch - now live on ESA WebTV
Who is the Euclid 'dark universe' space telescope named after?
Dark matter and dark energy distort traditional Euclidean geometry in the universe, and the Euclid mission will measure how much they distort it by.
We have never seen dark matter and dark energy. Why do we think they exist?
We have never seen dark matter and dark energy, so why do we think they exist? And what would happen if Europe's new space telescope Euclid finds evidence that they don't exist after all?
July: Scorpion & Serpent Handler
Count on our monthly Sky Tour podcast to help you get the most out your casual stargazing. It’s a fun and informative way to introduce yourself to the nighttime sky!
Psyche Mission Passes Independent Review Board with Flying Colors
An independently appointed review board recently announced that NASA, their Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), and the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) have exceeded expectations in taking steps to ensure the successful launch of the metal-rich asteroid-hunting Psyche mission this October. This comes after Psyche’s initial launch date was delayed from August 2022 due to late delivery of the spacecraft’s flight software and testing equipment, which prevented engineers from performing the necessary checkouts prior to launch.
Melting Water in Mars’ Past Could Have Created Martian Gullies
A recent study published in Science examines how thin channels inside impact craters on Mars could have formed from Martian gullies, which share similar characteristics with gullies on Earth and are typically formed from cascading meltwater, despite the Martian atmosphere being incapable of supporting liquid water on its surface. However, the researchers hypothesize these gullies could have formed during periods of high obliquity, also known as axial tilt, on Mars, which could have resulted in a brief rise in surface temperatures that could have melted some surface and subsurface ice, leading to meltwater cascading down the sides of impact craters across the planet.
Euclid prepares to blast off on a mission to discover the fate of the Universe
An artist’s impression of the Euclid space telescope. Image: ESA.
The European Space Agency’s (ESA) Euclid space telescope will blast off from Cape Canaveral on 1 July on a mission to shed light on the ‘dark universe’ dominated by dark matter and dark energy.
Mars helicopter Ingenuity phones home, breaking 63-day silence
NASA's Mars helicopter Ingenuity has phoned home after 63 days of silence, and all appears to be well with the little rotorcraft.
IceCube Makes a Neutrino Map of the Milky Way
We’ve seen the Milky Way with ultraviolet eyes, through x-ray vision, gamma-ray views, radio emissions, microwaves, and visible light. Now, consider a neutrino point of view. Thanks to the IceCube Collaboration, we get to see our home galaxy through the lens of this mysterious particle. It’s an eerie sight that also tells us our galaxy isn’t quite like the others. It’s a neutrino desert.
One of the longest solar eclipses on Earth darkened the sky 50 years ago. Here's how it happened.
Fifty years ago, on Saturday, June 30, 1973, one of the longest total eclipses of the sun in modern times took place.
Europe's 'dark universe' Euclid spacecraft ready for July 1 SpaceX launch
The Euclid spacecraft, which aims to shed light on dark matter and dark energy, is ready to lift off atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on Saturday (July 1).
Saturn's rings look gorgeous in 1st James Webb Space Telescope photo of the gas giant
Saturn's famous rings shine bright in an incredible new photo by NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, its first officially released shot of the gas giant.
James Webb Space Telescope spots intriguing carbon molecule in planet-forming disk
The James Webb Space Telescope spotted the carbon molecule methyl cation in a planet-forming disk around a red dwarf star.
