One of the largest reentries in recent years, ESA’s ERS-2 satellite is coming down this week.
Space News & Blog Articles
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Star Trek's Seven of Nine returns in new novel 'Picard: Firewall' (exclusive)
Space.com has an exclusive excerpt from New York Times bestselling author David Mack's "Picard: Firewall," a new Star Trek novel featuring former Borg drone Seven of Nine.
Brightest quasar ever seen is powered by black hole that eats a 'sun a day'
Astronomers have discovered a quasar that remained hidden for over the years is the brightest ever, powered by the fastest growing black hole ever discovered that eats a sun every day.
Build your own moon base and explore the lunar surface in 'Moonshot' (video)
The new lunar simulation video game "Moonshot" offers players the chance to build and manage their own settlements on the moon's surface.
NASA's twin spacecraft will go to the ends of the Earth to combat climate change
In Spring 2024, NASA will launch two tiny twin satellites as part of the PREFIRE mission that will journey to the poles to collect data that will help monitor climate change.
Varda's 1st in-space manufacturing capsule to land in Utah this week
Varda Space Industries' first off-Earth manufacturing effort, a mission called W-1, is scheduled to land in northern Utah on Wednesday (Feb. 21).
Look at How Much the Sun Has Changed in Just Two Years
The solar cycle has been reasonably well understood since 1843 when Samuel Schwabe spent 17 years observing the variation of sunspots. Since then, we have regularly observed the ebb and flow of the sunspots cycle every 11 years. More recently ESA’s Solar Orbiter has taken regular images of the Sun to track the progress as we head towards the peak of the current solar cycle. Two recently released images from February 2021 and October 2023 show how things are really picking up as we head toward solar maximum.
Big, doomed satellite seen from space as it tumbles towards a fiery reentry on Feb. 21 (photos)
Non-Earth imaging company HEO Robotics captured breathtaking images of ESA's ERS-2 satellite as it tumbles towards an atmospheric reentry on Feb. 21.
What are the Differences Between Quasars and Microquasars?
Quasars are fascinating objects; supermassive black holes that are actively feasting on material from their accretion disks. The result is a jet that can outshine the combined light from the entire galaxy! There are smaller blackholes too that are the result of the death of stars and these also sometimes seem to host accretion disks and jets just like their larger cousins. We call these microquasars and, whilst there are similarities between them, there are differences too.
The place to film 'space'
It's 'Lights, camera and... action!' for ESA as the agency launches Film ESA, a dedicated film location guide.
Odysseus Moon Lander Sends Back Selfies With Earth in the Picture
Intuitive Machines’ Odysseus lander has beamed back a series of snapshots that were captured as it headed out from the Earth toward the moon, and one of the pictures features Australia front and center. The shots also show the second stage of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket that launched the spacecraft, floating away as Odysseus pushed onward.
Solar Eclipses Provide a Rare Way to Study Cloud Formation
April 8’s North American solar eclipse is just around the corner, and it has astronomy fans and weather aficionados alike preparing for an incredible show. But it’s not just fun and games. Eclipses are rare opportunities for scientists to study phenomena that only come around once in a while.
Even Eris and Makemake Could Have Geothermal Activity
Whether or not you agree that Pluto isn’t a planet, in many ways, Pluto is quite different from the classical planets. It’s smaller than the Moon, has an elliptical orbit that brings it closer to the Sun than Neptune at times, and is part of a collection of icy bodies on the edge of our solar system. It was also thought to be a cold dead world until the flyby of New Horizons proved otherwise. The plucky little spacecraft showed us that Pluto was geologically active, with a thin atmosphere and mountains that rise above icy plains. Geologically, Pluto is more similar to Earth than the Moon, a fact that has led some to reconsider Pluto’s designation as a dwarf planet.
Our universe is merging with 'baby universes', causing it to expand, new theoretical study suggests
The universe is expanding faster and faster, but not all scientists agree that dark energy is the cause. Perhaps, instead, our universe keeps colliding with and absorbing smaller 'baby universes,' a new theoretical study suggests.
Watch trailer for 'Space: The Longest Goodbye,' new film exploring astronaut mental health (video)
The new documentary 'Space: The Longest Goodbye' looks at how long-term space missions, such as a trip to Mars, could affect astronaut mental health.
Rocket Lab Electron rocket lifts off with space debris removal mission
An Electron rocket lifts off from Rocket Lab’s launch site on New Zealand’s Mahia Peninsula carrying the ADRAS-J satellite for Astroscale. Image: Rocket Lab.
A small satellite that will inspect a discarded rocket body in orbit lifted off Sunday/Monday on a mission to develop techniques for removing space debris. The satellite built by Japan-based Astroscale launched atop a Rocket Lab Electron from the Mahia Peninsula in New Zealand at 3:52 a.m. NZDT (9:52 a.m. EST / 1452 UTC).
I put Abisko's 'cloud-busting weapon' to the test during a Sweden northern lights adventure and was not disappointed
High in the Arctic Circle lies Abisko National Park, Sweden. The unique microclimate of the region means clear skies are more likely which is great news for those wishing to see the northern lights.
Watch Rocket Lab launch bold space-junk inspection mission today
Rocket Lab will launch an ambitious space-junk inspection mission for the Japanese company Astroscale this morning (Feb. 18), and you can watch the action live.
There’s One Last Place Planet 9 Could Be Hiding
A recently submitted study to The Astronomical Journal continues to search for the elusive Planet Nine (also called Planet X), which is a hypothetical planet that potentially orbits in the outer reaches of the solar system and well beyond the orbit of the dwarf planet, Pluto. The goal of this study was to narrow down the possible locations of Planet Nine and holds the potential to help researchers better understand the makeup of our solar system, along with its formation and evolutionary processes. So, what was the motivation behind this study regarding narrowing down the location of a potential Planet Nine?
