When NASA's asteroid-diverting DART mission slammed into the tiny moonlet Dimorphos, it didn't just shift its orbit — it also almost completely changed its shape, new research suggests.
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Brash new 'Borderlands' trailer takes fans to the abandoned planet of Pandora
A new trailer has landed for director Eli Roth's live-action "Borderlands" feature film starring Kate Blanchett, Jack Black and Kevin Hart in this bold video game adaptation landing Aug. 9.
DART impact might have reshaped Hera's target asteroid
ESA’s Hera spacecraft for planetary defence is being prepared for a journey to the distant asteroid moon Dimorphos orbiting around its parent body Didymos. One of the first features Hera will look for is the crater left on Dimorphos by its predecessor mission DART, which impacted the asteroid to deflect its orbit. Yet a new impact simulation study reported in Nature Astronomy today suggests no crater will be found. The DART impact is likely to have remodelled the entire body instead – a significant finding for both asteroid science and planetary defence.
See February's Full Snow Moon light up the night sky around the world (photos)
February's Full Snow Moon may have been the smallest full moon of 2024, but it had a big impact on moon lovers, skywatchers, and astrophotographers across the globe who braved the cold to catch it.
The mathematically perfect exoplanet system — a great place to search for alien tech
A newfound exoplanet system with six sub-Neptunes has piqued the interest of scientists who seek extraterrestrial life.
Japan's Lunar Lander Wakes Up, Phones Home
The Japanese space agency has reestablished contact with its SLIM lunar lander prior to sunset, enabling mission science to continue.
Webb Telescope Spies Hints That Solar System's Outskirts Are a Hotbed of Activity
The James Webb Space Telescope has found that distant dwarf planets might be methane factories.
Astronomers Discover a New Meteor Shower. The Source is Comet 46P/Wirtanen
Like many of you, I love a good meteor shower. I have fond memories of the Leonid meteor storm back in 1999 when several hundred per hour were seen at peak. Sadly meteor storms are not that common unlike meteor showers of which, there are about 20 major showers per year. Wait, there’s another one and this time it comes from the debris left behind from Comet 46P/Wirtanen with an expected peak on December 12. Last year, 23 meteors were seen on that night that matched the location of the comets trail.
ERS-2 buckles and bends during final farewell
Image: ERS-2 buckles and bends during final farewell
Surprise! Japan’s SLIM Moon Lander Wakes Up After a Freezing Night
Japan’s space agency didn’t expect its wrong-side-up SLIM moon lander to revive itself after powering down for a circuit-chilling lunar night on Feb. 1. But that’s exactly what happened.
Titan Probably Doesn’t Have the Amino Acids Needed for Life to Emerge
Does Saturn’s largest moon, Titan, possess the necessary ingredients for life to exist? This is what a recent study published in Astrobiology hopes to address as a team of international researchers led by Western University investigated if Titan, with its lakes of liquid methane and ethane, could possess the necessary organic materials, such as amino acids, that could be used to produce life on the small moon. This study holds the potential to help researchers and the public better understand the geochemical and biological processes necessary for life to emerge throughout the cosmos.
SpaceX, NASA 'go' to launch Crew-8 astronaut mission to ISS on March 1
SpaceX and NASA are officially go to launch their next astronaut mission to International Space Station on March 1.
What Kinds of Astronomy Could Be Done With a Telescope on the Moon?
For decades, astronomers have said that one of the most optimal places to build large telescopes is on the surface of the Moon. The Moon has several advantages over Earth- and space-based telescopes that make it worth considering as a future home for giant observatories. A new paper lists all the advantages, including how telescopes on the lunar surface wouldn’t be blocked by an atmosphere or impacted by wind, and how the low gravity would allow gigantic structures to be built that could be upgraded over time by astronauts.
The Kuiper Belt is Much Bigger Than We Thought
NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft is just over 8.8 billion km away, exploring the Kuiper Belt. This icy belt surrounds the Sun but it seems to have a surprise up its sleeve. It was expected that New Horizons would be leaving the region by now but it seems that it has detected elevated levels of dust that are thought to be from micrometeorite impacts within the belt. It suggests perhaps that the Kuiper Belt may stretch further from the Sun than we thought!
Astronauts, cosmonaut arrive at Kennedy Space Center ahead of NASA, SpaceX Crew-8 launch
The four members of the SpaceX Crew-8 mission pose in front of the NASA Gulfstream plane at Space Florida’s Launch and Landing Facility. (Left to right) Roscosmos Cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin and NASA Astronauts Jeanette Epps, Matthew Dominick and Michael Barratt. Image: Adam Bernstein/Spaceflight Now
Set against a bright, blue Florida skyline, the three astronauts and one cosmonaut who make up the SpaceX Crew-8 mission touched down at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center Sunday afternoon.
A Planetary Disk in the Orion Nebula is Destroying and Replenishing Oceans of Water Every Month
Planet-forming disks are places of chaotic activity. Not only do planetesimals slam together to form larger worlds, but it now appears that the process involves the destructive recycling of water within a disk. That’s the conclusion from scientists studying JWST data from a planetary birth crèche called d203-506 in the Orion Nebula.
ISS astronauts witness 'spectacular' auroras from space (photos)
ISS astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli caught some stunning auroras on camera on Feb. 15. From orbit, she shared with Space.com what it's like to watch the Earth changing below, every day.
James Webb telescope finds ancient galaxy larger than our Milky Way, and it's threatening to upend cosmology
Astronomers believe the first galaxies formed around giant halos of dark matter. But a newly discovered galaxy dating to roughly 13 billion years ago mysteriously appeared long before that process should have occurred.
'A wonderful spectacle': Photographer snaps rare solar eruption as 'magnetic noose' strangles the sun's south pole
A recent solar flare unleashed a massive plasma plume from the sun's south pole, where these stellar eruptions rarely happen. The unusual phenomenon is a sign of the impending solar maximum.
Artemis 2 moon astronauts will enjoy maple cream cookies and smoked salmon thanks to Canada
The Canadian Space Agency has five menu items planned for the Artemis 2 moon mission that will lift off no earlier than September 2025.
Brrr. JWST Looks at the Coldest Brown Dwarf
What are the atmospheric compositions of cold brown dwarf stars? This is what a recent study published in The Astronomical Journal hopes to address as an international team of researchers used NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) to investigate the coldest known brown dwarf star, WISE J085510.83?071442.5 (WISE 0855). This study holds the potential to help astronomers better understand the compositions of brown dwarf stars, which are also known as “failed stars” since while they form like other stars, they fail to reach the necessary mass to produce nuclear fusion. So, what was the motivation behind using JWST to examine the coldest known brown dwarf star?
