ESA’s Mars Express has captured an intriguing view near Mars’s north pole, imaging where vast sand dunes meet the many layers of dusty ice covering the planet’s pole.
Space News & Blog Articles
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Comets: Why study them? What can they teach us about finding life beyond Earth?
Universe Today has explored the importance of studying impact craters, planetary surfaces, exoplanets, astrobiology, and solar physics, and what this myriad of scientific disciplines can teach scientists and the public regarding the search for life beyond Earth. Here, we will explore some of the most awe-inspiring spectacles within our solar system known as comets, including why researchers study comets, the benefits and challenges, what comets can teach us about finding life beyond Earth, and how upcoming students can pursue studying comets. So, why is it so important to study comets?
DART Made a Surprisingly Big Impact on Dimorphos
NASA’s DART (Double Asteroid Redirection Test) mission was hailed a success when it collided with its target asteroid Dimorphos last year. The purpose of the endeavour was to see if it could redirect an asteroid and, since the impact, astronomers have been measuring and calculating the impact on the target. It is incredible that the 580kg spacecraft travelling at 6 km/s was able to impart enormous kinetic energy to the 5 billion kg asteroid.
See the Dramatic Final Moments of the Doomed ERS-2 Satellite
When a satellite reaches the end of its life, it has only two destinations. It can either be maneuvered into a graveyard orbit, a kind of purgatory for satellites, or it plunges to its destruction in Earth’s atmosphere. The ESA’s ERS-2 satellite took the latter option after 30 years in orbit.
NASA radar images show stadium-sized asteroid tumbling by Earth during flyby (photos)
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory used a powerful Deep Space Network radar antenna to image asteroid 2008 OS7 as it spun harmlessly past Earth on Feb. 2, 2024.
Mars Had its Own Version of Plate Tectonics
Plate tectonics is not something most people would associate with Mars. In fact, the planet’s dead core is one of the primary reasons for its famous lack of a magnetic field. And since active planetary cores are one of the primary driving factors of plate tectonics, it seems obvious why that general conception holds. However, Mars has some features that we think of as corresponding with plate tectonics – volcanoes. A new paper from researchers at the University of Hong Kong (HKU) looks at how different types of plate tectonics could have formed different types of volcanoes on the surface of Mars.
Apollo astronaut's granddaughter opens immersive moonwalk experience in Dallas
What do you get when you mix an Apollo astronaut's legacy with a trio of shipping containers, VR technology, the cousin of a 'Star Wars' robot and an escape room? A chance to go to the moon.
Planets in Binary Star Systems Could be Nice and Habitable
The Star Wars world Tatooine is one of the most recognizable planets in the realm of science fiction. It’s a harsh place, and its conditions shaped the hero Luke Skywalker in many ways. In the reality-based Universe, there may not be many worlds like it. That’s because, according to a new study out from Yale researchers, the Universe likes to be more orderly, and that affects planets and their environments.
New Moons Found at Uranus and Neptune
Astronomers have found three new moons orbiting our Solar System’s ice giants. One is orbiting Uranus, and two are orbiting Neptune. It took hard work to find them, including dozens of time exposures by some of our most powerful telescopes over several years. All three are captured objects, and there are likely more moons around both planets waiting to be discovered.
Put on your eclipse glasses and look up to see the biggest sunspot in years before it disappears from view
The AR3590 solar region has grown to become the is the largest sunspot of the solar cycle and can be seen with eclispe glasses. The region was already a record breaker, responsible for the most powerful solar flare seen since 2017.
NASA's Dana Weigel will be the 1st female ISS program manager
NASA's Dana Weigel will helm the International Space Station program for NASA. She will succeed Joel Montalbano, who will take on an associate administrator position in April.
Intuitive Machines' Odysseus probe beams home more photos from historic moon landing
Intuitive Machines' Odysseus moon lander has beamed home a few selfies snapped during its pioneering descent to the lunar surface last week.
James Webb Space Telescope finds 'extremely red' supermassive black hole growing in the early universe
Using the James Webb Space Telescope, astronomers discovered an "extremely red," growing supermassive black hole powering a quasar that existed 700 million years after the Big Bang.
Some Intelligent Civilizations Will Be Trapped on their Worlds
Evolution has produced a wondrously diverse variety of lifeforms here on Earth. It just so happens that talking primates with opposable thumbs rose to the top and are building a spacefaring civilization. And we’re land-dwellers. But what about other planets? If the dominant species on an ocean world builds a technological civilization of some sort, would they be able to escape their ocean home and explore space?
India completes critical test for Gaganyaan flight crewed by humanoid robot later this year
Early last week, ISRO successfully completed the final test to qualify its Gaganyaan rocket engine, approving it to be capable of safely ferrying astronauts to space.
Computer-simulated moon dust may help lunar robots pass a major hurdle
Scientists have developed a new computer model that simulates how moon dust behaves in lunar gravity. They hope it will keep future moon exploration robots safe.
Black hole's powerful eruption creates a string of stellar jewelry
A powerful jet erupting from a distant supermassive black hole released 100,000 trillion times more energy than the sun will over its entire life, forging a chain of star clusters.
Ariane 6: Arrives
Video: 00:02:10
The largest components for the first flight model of Europe’s new rocket Ariane 6 arrived at the port of Pariacabo in Kourou, French Guiana on 21 February 2024 via the novel ship, Canopée (canopy in French).
Radar images reveal damage on Europe's doomed ERS-2 satellite during final orbits
As Europe's ERS-2 satellite tumbled through the sky, radar images picked up some of the damage it experienced during its final moments.
Radar could help scientists find potentially threatening asteroids. Here's how
Ground-based radar systems could play a major role in planetary defense, spotting asteroids on a cataclysmic collision course with Earth by bouncing radio waves off them to get position and velocity measurements.
NASA's DART Impact Reshaped the Asteroid Dimorphos
Models of the NASA's DART impact reshaping the asteroid moon Dimorphos show that this object is "rubble all the way down."
