While astronomers and engineers were trying to calibrate one of the James Webb Space Telescope’s instruments last summer, they serendipitously found a previously unknown small 100–200-meter (300-600 ft) asteroid in the main asteroid belt. Originally, the astronomers deemed the calibrations as a failed attempt because of technical glitches. But they noticed the asteroid while going through their data from the Mid-InfraRed Instrument (MIRI), and ended up finding what is likely the smallest object observed to date by JWST. It is also one of the smallest objects ever detected in our Solar System’s main belt of asteroids.
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Webb detects extremely small main-belt asteroid
A previously unknown 100–200-metre asteroid — roughly the size of Rome’s Colosseum — has been detected by an international team of European astronomers using the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope. Their project used data from the calibration of the Mid-InfraRed Instrument (MIRI), in which the team serendipitously detected an interloping asteroid. The object is likely the smallest observed to date by Webb and may be an example of an object measuring under 1 kilometer in length within the main asteroid belt, located between Mars and Jupiter. More observations are needed to better characterize this object’s nature and properties.
Do we live in a rotating universe? If we did, we could travel back in time
A rotating universe would be capable of rotating your future into your own past, allowing you to travel back in time.
On Burnout, the “Green Comet,” and White Dwarf Stars
With care and diligence, amateur astronomy can offer a satisfying reprieve.
The Making of Juice – Episode 9
Video: 00:05:36 Five-minute behind-the-scenes documentary covering the story behind the application of the Galileo tribute plaque to ESA’s Juice spacecraft.
SpaceX eyeing March for 1st Starship orbital flight, Elon Musk says
SpaceX will try to launch its huge Starship rocket to Earth orbit for the first time next month, provided the vehicle passes its remaining tests, Elon Musk said.
Astronomers poised to hunt new kind of gravitational wave
The gravitational waves would be weak, but potentially detectable by the next joint observing run of the world's gravitational-wave detectors.
Live coverage: SpaceX delays launch of Amazonas Nexus satellite until Monday
Live coverage of the countdown and launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida. The Falcon 9 rocket will launched the the Amazonas Nexus geostationary communications satellite for Hispasat. Follow us on Twitter.
Rolls-Royce Space Reactor, Close Call in Orbit, Webb’s Back
Webb is fully operational again, Rolls-Royce is building a nuclear reactor for the Moon, and the space debris worst-case scenario almost happened.
Bright blue stars crawl among Tarantula Nebula clouds in Hubble telescope photo
A stunning new view of the Tarantula Nebula captures turbulent clouds of gas and dust swirling between young stars.
Doomsday clock advances to 90 seconds to midnight — the closest to apocalypse it's ever been
Humanity faces greater existential threats than it did during the Cold War, according to the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists
A.I. Finds a New Way to Build Multiple-Star Systems
Over over 50% of high mass stars reside in multiple star systems. But due to their complex orbital interactions, physicists have a difficult time understanding just how stable and long-lived these systems are. Recently a team of astronomers applied machine learning techniques to simulations of multiple star systems and found a new way that stars in such systems can arrange themselves.
Strange unprecedented vortex spotted around the sun's north pole
A huge filament of solar plasma has broken off the sun's surface and is circling its north pole like a vortex of powerful winds, but scientists have no clue what caused it.
SpaceX Crew-6 astronauts gear up for Feb. 26 launch to space station
Crew-6 will head to the International Space Station after its Feb. 26 launch, but three of its four crewmembers are preparing for the next generation of missions to the moon.
The Full Snow Moon of 2023: Smallest 'micromoon' of the year rises tonight
February's Full Snow Moon rises on Sunday (Feb. 5) and will be the smallest full moon of the year due to the current position of the moon in its orbit.
How astronaut diversity changed for the better in a single NASA class
Thirty-five new astronauts joined the corps in 1978, among them women and people of color who reshaped the agency forever, a new book shows.
US military shoots down Chinese surveillance balloon
An F-22 fighter jet destroyed a Chinese balloon with a Sidewinder missile on Saturday (Feb. 4) when the airship was over the Atlantic Ocean off the South Carolina coast.
Watch SpaceX launch big communications satellite on Sunday
SpaceX plans to launch Hispasat's Amazonas Nexus communications satellite to orbit Sunday (Feb. 5), and you can watch the action live.
Release of 'Star Wars Jedi: Survivor' video game delayed to April 28
"Star Wars Jedi: Survivor's" design team announced a six-week delay for the game's release, to April 28.
Astronomers use Earthquakes to Understand Glitches on Neutron Stars
A team of astronomers have used a model of earthquakes to understand glitches in the timing of pulsars. Their results suggest that pulsars may have interiors that are far stranger than can be imagined.
Tonga's massive volcanic eruption wiped out unique, never-before-seen life-forms
The island was destroyed by the same volcano that formed it seven years before.
