Atlantic hurricane season begins today (June 1), and several new weather satellites will collect valuable data to improve hurricane forecasting this year.
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Euclid gains solar power and protection
Video: 00:02:54
Spacecraft are not so different to humans – whilst the Sun can be a great source of vital energy, both people and machines must also be protected from its harmful effects.
In this video, engineers at Thales Alenia Space in Turin are attaching a combined sunshield and solar panel module to the main body of ESA’s Euclid spacecraft. This process took place on 23 May 2022 and lasted an entire day.
The module has two functions: whilst the solar panels will provide the spacecraft with power, the sunshield will shade the instrument-carrying payload module from the Sun’s intense radiation.
The video also includes interviews with the ESA and Thales Alenia Space Euclid project managers, who tell us more about the importance of the sunshield and Euclid’s ambitious goals.
Euclid is a space telescope designed to explore the dark Universe. It will make a 3D-map of the cosmos (with time as the third dimension) by observing billions of galaxies out to 10 billion light-years, across more than a third of the sky. In doing so, Euclid will tackle some of the most fundamental questions in cosmology – questions like: How did the Universe originate? Why is the Universe expanding at an accelerating rate? What is the nature of dark matter? What is dark energy?
The previous step in Euclid’s journey, taking place on 24 March 2022, involved attaching Euclid’s payload module to its supporting service module. Next up, engineers will add the communications antenna and then Euclid will be complete. Finally, Euclid will be taken to Cannes where the complete spacecraft will be tested to check that it is ready for launch from Europe’s Spaceport in French
Vortex 10x50 Crossfire HD binocular review
With sharp optics and a chest harness included, the Vortex 10x50 Crossfire HD binocular is an excellent value mid-range option for stargazing and more.
Euclid gains solar power and protection
Image: Euclid gains solar power and protection
NASA's sun-grazing Parker Solar Probe will zip through its 12th stellar closeup today
NASA's sun-grazing spacecraft will make its 12th close flyby of our star on Wednesday (June 1), marking the halfway point of the mission.
NASA to make big announcement about Artemis moon spacesuits today. Watch the reveal live.
NASA will apparently announce today (June 1) who's going to make the spacesuits for its Artemis moon program, and you can watch the big reveal live.
Launch of NASA's CAPSTONE cubesat moon mission delayed to June 13
The launch of NASA's CAPSTONE moon mission has been pushed back another week, to no earlier than June 13.
June: Pre-dawn Planet-Palooza
Download this month's Sky Tour podcast to find out where and when to spot a rare alignment of five planets in the sky before dawn.
Plato’s cave: vacuum test for exoplanet detection
Image: Plato’s cave: vacuum test for exoplanet detection
Could we Detect Dark Matter’s Annihilation Within Globular Clusters?
A team of astronomers studied two nearby globular clusters, 47 Tucanae and Omega Centauri, searching for signals produced by annihilating dark matter. Those the searches turned up empty, they weren’t a failure. The lack of a detection placed strict upper limits on the mass of the hypothetical dark matter particle.
Why are Uranus and Neptune Different Colors? Haze
Way back in the late 1980s, the Voyager 2 spacecraft visited Uranus and Neptune. During the flybys, we got to see the first close-up views of those ice giants. Even then, planetary scientists noticed a marked color difference between the two. Yes, they both sport shades of blue. But, if you look closely at Uranus, you see a featureless pale blue planet. Neptune, on the other hand, boasts interesting clouds, dark banding, and dark spots that come and go. They’re all set against a darker blue backdrop.
Hubble Sees Two Spiral Galaxies Together
Two peculiar spiral galaxies are in the latest image release from the Hubble Space Telescope. The two galaxies, collectively known as Arp 303, are located about 275 million miles away from Earth. IC 563 is the odd-shaped galaxy on the bottom right while IC 564 is a flocculent spiral at the top left.
'The Mandalorian' season 3 is coming in February 2023 on Disney Plus
Lucasfilm has just announced a new February 2023 arrival for "The Mandalorian" Season 3 on Disney Plus.
'Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' episode 4 embraces classic, submarine-style space battles
There are notable nods to "The Wrath of Khan" in episode 4 of "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds."
Planet Parade to Grace the Dawn Sky this Month
All five naked-eye planets will line up in the dawn sky in June. Not only that, they’ll also be in their proper order from the Sun.
China rolls out rocket for crewed Shenzhou 14 mission ahead of Saturday launch (video, photos)
China is gearing up to send the third crew to its new Tiangong space station, with launch set for late Saturday (June 4) U.S. Eastern time.
Blue Origin targets June 4 for next space tourist mission after delay
NS-21, the next mission of Blue Origin's New Shepard suborbital vehicle, is now targeted for Saturday (June 4) — about two weeks later than originally planned.
Mysterious pulsar spins too slowly with 7 different pulse patterns
A single flash from the sky pointed the way to a bizarre star that rotates very slowly, making it difficult to figure out if it's a pulsar or some other stellar object.
ESA's Juice Mission is Fully Integrated and Ready for Testing. Soon it'll fly to Space on a Mission to Jupiter's Moons
Now less than one year until the projected launch date, ESA’s JUICE mission is in the final phases of development. The JUpiter ICy moons Explorer (JUICE) is now fully built with all ten instruments integrated into the spacecraft bus. Next comes all-up testing in a full flight configuration.
Civilizations Don’t Even Need Space Ships to Migrate From Star System to Star System
In about 5 billion years, the Sun will leave the main sequence and become a red giant. It’ll expand and transform into a glowering, malevolent ball and consume and destroy Mercury, Venus, Earth, and probably Mars. Can humanity survive the Sun’s red giant phase? Extraterrestrial Civilizations (ETCs) may have already faced this existential threat.
New tau Herculid meteor shower drops bright fireballs, but no 'meteor storm,' for stargazers (photos)
"Shooting stars" from a new meteor shower lit up the night sky in a dazzling display, even if it wasn't a "meteor storm" some stargazers hoped for.
