Astronomers will go to great lengths for science. Recently, dozens of astronomers had the misfortune of traveling to one of the most tempting locales in the southwestern US – Las Vegas. But they weren’t there for the city’s bright lights – they were there to observe a very dim light of a star thousands of light-years away. And what they specifically wanted to see was the light from that star blink out for a few seconds. That lack of light provided the exact kind of data they needed to help them determine the size of Eurybates, one of the Trojan asteroids that will be the focal point of NASA’s Lucy mission.
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Newly discovered asteroid just second of its kind
You may have heard of the Trojans, two vast swarms of asteroids that lead and trail Jupiter on its orbit around the Sun.
How many galaxies are there?
Astronomers say there are 100 billion to 200 billion galaxies in the universe. But accurately counting the number of galaxies depends on several factors.
Lunar New Year 2022 roars in with celebratory Google doodle
Today (Feb. 1) marks a new moon and the first day of a new lunar year.
Apply now for the 2022 YGT opportunities!
The 2022 ESA YGT opportunities are now open for applications. Positions are available in engineering, science, IT and business services. Find out more and apply now.
Looking four-ward to launch
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ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti is all smiles alongside her Crew-4 mates during a training session at SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, California, USA.
Tim Russ: Actor, Director, and Amateur Astronomer
Tim Russ is best known for his role as Tuvok on Star Trek: Voyager, but his affinity for space goes further than that — he's an amateur astronomer, too.
Best monocular 2022: Kit you can use for stargazing
Pocket-sized, affordable and now available with large objective lenses, the best monoculars have increasing astro value.
Chinese astronauts celebrate lunar new year on Tiangong space station, a first
The Shenzhou 13 astronauts are the first to celebrate the holiday in orbit on the Tiangong space station.
Albert Einstein: His life, theories and impact on science
Albert Einstein profoundly changed physics and ideas about space and time. Learn his theories, find facts and quotes from the man with an IQ of 160.
Hubble Space Telescope spots an 'oddball' starburst
The Hubble Space Telescope snapped a stellar look at a strange cosmic starburst.
The first life on Earth depended on a deadly poisonous gas, study suggests
Toxic hydrogen cyanide gas, used in chemical weapons today, may have been involved in the early stages of life's evolution, a new study suggests.
February: Orion’s Neighborhood
Our monthly Sky Tour astronomy podcast provides an informative and entertaining 12-minute guided tour of the nighttime sky. Download February’s episode to explore the colorful constellations that surround Orion, the Hunter.
Italian radar satellite rides SpaceX rocket into polar orbit
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket takes off just after sunset Monday with Italy’s sixth COSMO-SkyMed satellite. Credit: SpaceX
SpaceX gave an Italian radar satellite a picture-perfect ride into orbit with a memorable Monday evening launch from Cape Canaveral on top of a Falcon 9 rocket. A clear sunset sky offered spectators dazzling views of the reusable booster’s fiery climb into space and pyrotechnic plunge back to Earth.
Exoplanet Hunter Racks up 5,000 “Objects of Interest”
Since its 2018 launch, the unassuming TESS satellite has found 175 confirmed exoplanets (so far) among 5,000 “objects of interest.”
During a Solar Flare, Dark Voids Move Down Towards the Sun. Now We Know Why
Solar flares are complex phenomena. They involve plasma, electromagnetic radiation across all wavelengths, activity in the Sun’s atmosphere layers, and particles travelling at near light speed. Spacecraft like NASA’s Solar and Heliophysics Observatory (SOHO) and the Parker Solar Probe shed new light on the Sun’s solar flares.
The Big Spaceflight Stories You Should be Watching in 2022
The year 2021 was a big one as far as stories from space are concerned! From start to finish, 2021 witnessed innumerable milestones and groundbreaking missions mounted by space agencies and the commercial space industry. Among them, the long-awaited launch of the James Webb Space Telescope, the arrival of the Perseverance mission, the launch of Double-Asteroid Redirect Test (DART), multiple test flights with the Starship, and the inauguration of space tourism. There was something for everyone!
North Korean missile test captures photos of Earth from space: report
North Korea launched its biggest missile test since 2017 on Sunday (Jan. 30) and apparently captured photos of Earth from space during the flight.
It Turns out, We Have a Very Well-Behaved Star
Should we thank our well-behaved Sun for our comfy home on Earth?
Binary Black Holes can Unlock Another of Einstein’s Predictions
In the grand scheme of things, the structure of a black hole is pretty simple. All you need to know is its mass, electric charge, and rotation, and you know what the structure of space and time around the black hole must be. But if you have two black holes orbiting each other, then things get really complicated. Unlike a single black hole, for which there is an exact solution to Einstein’s equations, there is no exact solution for two black holes. It’s similar to the three-body problem in Newtonian gravity. But that doesn’t mean astronomers can’t figure things out, as a couple of recent studies show.
SpaceX double vision: These photos show two Falcon 9 rockets on their pads for back-to-back launches
SpaceX has two Falcon 9 rockets on nearby Florida launch pads at the same time and the photos are amazing.
