This month, let's turn our attention to two celestial objects that can readily be seen even from bright cities. One is our nearest neighbor in space, while the other is a familiar pattern of stars.
Space News & Blog Articles
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Saharan dust over the Strait of Messina
Image: Saharan dust over the Strait of Messina
Pentagon picks SpaceX, Blue Origin and ULA for $5.6 billion launch deal
SpaceX, Blue Origin and United Launch Alliance will compete for National Security Space Launch contracts worth up to $5.6 billion across fiscal years 2025 through 2029.
This Week's Sky at a Glance, June 21 – 30
The two brightest stars of summer balance across the zenith. Arcturus and Vega represent the two commonest spectral types, and colors, of all the naked-eye stars in the sky.
Week in images: 17-21 June 2024
Week in images: 17-21 June 2024
Earth from Space: Adam’s Bridge
Image: This Copernicus Sentinel-2 image shows Adam’s Bridge, a chain of shoals linking India and Sri Lanka.
Matched Twin Stars are Firing Their Jets Into Space Together
Since it began operating in 2022, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has revealed some surprising things about the Universe. The latest came when a team of researchers used Webb‘s Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) to observe Rho Ophiuchi, the closest star-forming nebula to Earth, about 400 light-years away. While at least five telescopes have studied the region since the 1970s, Webb’s unprecedented resolution and specialized instruments revealed what was happening at the heart of this nebula.
Astroscale Closes Within 50 Meters of its Space Junk Target
Space debris is a major problem for space exploration. There are millions of pieces up there in orbit from flecks of paint to defunct satellites. It is a known challenge to space exploration creating a shell of uncontrolled debris which could cause damage to orbiting craft or astronauts. A team at Astroscale have a spacecraft in orbit whose singular purpose has been to rendezvous with a defunct Japanese upper-stage rocket module. On arrival it is to survey the debris to test approach and survey techniques to ultimately inform how we can remove them from orbit.
Hubble Telescope bounces back with glorious galaxy pic in '1-gyroscope mode'
The Hubble Space Telescope snapped a striking shot of the fluffy spiral galaxy NGC 1546, showing it can still observe the heavens in its new one-gyroscope mode.
New 'Space Cadet' trailer enlists Emma Roberts into NASA's astronaut program (video)
A new trailer for Amazon MGM Studios' NASA comedy starring Emma Roberts, "Space Cadet"
Here’s Hubble’s First Image in its New Pointing Mode
This is probably what the demise of the Hubble Space Telescope was always going to look like: components failing one by one, with no way to replace them. In the last few months, the Hubble has repeatedly gone into safe mode as one of its remaining three gyros keeps giving faulty readings. But the Hubble and the people operating it are resilient and resourceful. The telescope is back to science operations now, though in single gyro mode.
Rocket Lab launches 5 IoT satellites on landmark 50th mission
Rocket Lab launched its Electron rocket for the 50th time on Thursday (June 20), reaching the milestone in record time.
Is Jupiter's Great Red Spot an impostor? Giant storm may not be the original one discovered 350 years ago
Astronomer Giovanni Cassini observed Jupiter's 'Permanent Spot' in 1665, but new research suggests it's a different vortex from today's Great Red Spot.
Did the Solar System Once Collide with an Interstellar Cloud?
Astronomers have proposed a rather uncomfortable past for our solar system and our planet — as well as an alternative explanation for a radioactive anomaly on Earth.
Rocket Lab successfully launches its 50th Electron rocket
Rocket Lab’s 50th Electron rocket stands ready to launch five satellites on behalf of France-based internet of things company, Kinéis. Image: Rocket Lab
Rocket Lab successfully reached a milestone that few commercial rockets achieved and at a pace that outperformed its competition. The company launched its 50th Electron rocket to date just seven years after the vehicle’s debut in May 2017.
Slingshotting Around the Sun Would Make a Spacecraft the Faster Ever
NASA is very interested in developing a propulsion method to allow spacecraft to go faster. We’ve reported several times on different ideas to support that goal, and most of the more successful have utilized the Sun’s gravity well, typically by slingshotting around it, as is commonly done with Jupiter currently. But, there are still significant hurdles when doing so, not the least of which is the energy radiating from the Sun simply vaporizing anything that gets close enough to utilize a gravity assist. That’s the problem a project supported by NASA’s Institute for Advanced Concepts (NIAC) and run by Jason Benkoski, now of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, is trying to solve.
'Star Wars: The Acolyte' episode 4: What's the goal of Mae's test?
In its fourth episode, "The Acolyte" has a bigger sense of urgency, delivers a surprising Star Wars prequels cameo, and twists the plot once again.
New 'Exodus Green Worlds' trailer highlights hunt for habitable planets (video)
Check out the new prologue video for the upcoming sci-fi RPG title, "Exodus."
DARPA's military-grade 'quantum laser' will use entangled photons to outshine conventional laser beams
Prototype quantum photonic-dimer laser uses entanglement to bind photons and deliver a powerful beam of concentrated light that can shine through adverse weather like thick fog.
Summer solstice 2024
Video: 00:00:10
Summer officially begins in the Northern Hemisphere today 20 June, marking the longest day of the year. The summer solstice, which is when the Sun reaches the most northerly point in the sky, is set to occur tonight at 21:50 BST/22:50 CEST.
