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The young planetary system PDS 70, located nearly 400 light-years away from Earth.

Astronomers spot first evidence of two planets sharing the same orbit

Two planets in one orbit? It could be possible, according to new research looking at planetary system PDS 70.
Georgina Torbet
car sized object washed up on beach could be space junk australia

Car-sized object washed up on beach could be space junk

A large chunk of metal that suddenly appeared on an Australian beach is believed to have fallen from an Indian rocket.
Trevor Mogg
A man in a small room with a Circadian Light glowing red.

Could the key to living in space be … a good lighting system?

Lighting is typically more of an afterthought when it comes to space habitats, but as it turns out, it may just be the most important part
Georgina Torbet
A billowing pair of nearly symmetrical loops of dust and gas mark the death throes of an ancient red-giant star, as captured by Gemini South, one half of the International Gemini Observatory, operated by NSF’s NOIRLab. The resulting structure, said to resemble an old style of English jug, is a rarely seen bipolar reflection nebula. Evidence suggests that this object formed by the interactions between the dying red giant and a now-shredded companion star. The image was obtained by NOIRLab’s Communication, Education & Engagement team as part of the NOIRLab Legacy Imaging Program.

This star shredded its companion to create a stunning double-lobed nebula

Nebulae are some of the most beautiful structures to be found in space. A new image from the Gemini South telescope shows an usual double-lobed nebula.
Georgina Torbet
mars 2020 perseverance rover

Perseverance rover finds organic molecules in Mars’ Jezero Crater

The molecules are associated with life but can be created by other processes. So they aren't proof there was life there, but they are life's building blocks.
Georgina Torbet
Virgin Galactic's space plane heading to the edge of space.

Virgin Galactic sets date for first tourism flight with fee-paying civilians

Virgin Galactic has announced a date for its first space tourism flight involving civilians who've paid upward of $250,000 for the experience.
Trevor Mogg
The first anniversary image from the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope displays star birth like it’s never been seen before, full of detailed, impressionistic texture. The subject is the Rho Ophiuchi cloud complex, the closest star-forming region to Earth. It is a relatively small, quiet stellar nursery, but you’d never know it from Webb’s chaotic close-up. Jets bursting from young stars crisscross the image, impacting the surrounding interstellar gas and lighting up molecular hydrogen, shown in red. Some stars display the telltale shadow of a circumstellar disc, the makings of future planetary systems.

See the stunning image James Webb took to celebrate its first birthday

Today marks the one-year anniversary of the first images from the James Webb Space Telescope, and to celebrate NASA has shared another gorgeous image of space.
Georgina Torbet
A section of a James Webb image showing a small part of the Extended Groth Strip, located between the Ursa Major and Boötes constellations.

Zoom into stunning James Webb image to see a galaxy formed 13.4 billion years ago

The visualization shows a small part of a region called the Extended Groth Strip, covering 5,000 galaxies and zooming in toward the distant Maisie's galaxy.
Georgina Torbet
An artist impression of exoplanet LTT9779b orbiting its host star.

Astronomers spot the shiniest exoplanet ever discovered

Metallic clouds reflect sunlight and have helped the unusual planet to retain its atmosphere.
Georgina Torbet
Artist's conception shows two merging black holes similar to those detected by LIGO.

Researchers want to use gravitational waves to learn about dark matter

A team of astronomers has come up with a method for using gravitational waves to study the mysterious phenomenon of dark matter.
Georgina Torbet
The Large Binocular Telescope in Arizona. The LBTI instrument combines infrared light from both 8.4-meter mirrors to image planets and disks around young and nearby stars.

Astronomers spot an exoplanet creating spiral arms around its star

Astronomers investigated a giant exoplanet named MWC 758c which seems to be forming the spiral arms around its host star.
Georgina Torbet
Juice flyby of Ganymede (artist’s impression)

How engineers on the ground fixed the Juice spacecraft’s stuck antenna

In April the Juice spacecraft launched to investigate the icy moons of Jupiter, but there was a problem: an antenna was stuck and wasn't deploying.
Georgina Torbet
The peculiar galaxy NGC 3256 takes centre stage in this image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. This distorted galaxy is the wreckage of a head-on collision between two spiral galaxies which likely occurred 500 million years ago, and it is studded with clumps of young stars which were formed as gas and dust from the two galaxies collided.

One galaxy, two views: see a comparison of images from Hubble and Webb

Hubble and the James Webb Space Telescope operate in different wavelengths. That means that they can see different aspects of the same objects.
Georgina Torbet
Crop of Webb's CEERS Survey image.

James Webb spots the most distant active supermassive black hole ever discovered

A very early example of a supermassive black holes was recently discovered, dating back to just 570 million years after the big bang.
Georgina Torbet
blue origin nails another rocket mission ahead of space tourism flights new shepard

Blue Origin wants to launch rockets from new site outside U.S.

Blue Origin's plans to expand its spaceflight business include the establishment of its first rocket launch site beyond the U.S.
Trevor Mogg
This artist’s concept shows the ESA (European Space Agency) Euclid mission in space.

Euclid mission launches to probe the mysteries of dark matter

The European Space Agency has successfully launch its Euclid space telescope to study the mysteries of dark matter and dark energy.
Georgina Torbet
This artist’s concept shows stars, black holes, and nebula laid over a grid representing the fabric of space-time.

The universe has a cosmic ‘hum’ caused by merging black holes

A 15-year study has provided more evidence of gravitational waves, including those at very low frequencies.
Georgina Torbet
An arrangement of 10 distant galaxies marked by eight white circles in a diagonal, thread-like line.

James Webb spots clues to the large-scale structure of the universe

If you look at the universe on a big enough scale, galaxies aren't randomly scattered. Instead, they form a structure known as the cosmic web.
Georgina Torbet
This spectacular picture of the Sh2-284 nebula has been captured in great detail by the VLT Survey Telescope at ESO’s Paranal Observatory. Sh2-284 is a star formation region, and at its centre there is a cluster of young stars, dubbed Dolidze 25. The radiation from this cluster is powerful enough to ionise the hydrogen gas in the nebula’s cloud. It is this ionisation that produces its bright orange and red colours.

Stunning nebula 15,000 light-years away imaged by VLT Survey Telescope

A gorgeous new image of a distant nebula has been captured by the European Southern Observatory (ESO)'s VLT Survey Telescope.
Georgina Torbet
This artist impression shows Euclid leaving Earth and on its way to Sun-Earth Lagrange point L2. This equilibrium point of the Sun-Earth system is located 1.5 million kilometres from Earth in the opposite direction of the Sun. L2 revolves around the Sun along with Earth. During Euclid’s orbit at L2, Euclid’s sunshield always blocks the light from the Sun, Earth and Moon while pointing its telescope towards deep space, ensuring a high level of stability for its instruments.

How to watch the Euclid dark matter telescope launch this Saturday

Astronomers are getting a new instrument to probe the mysteries of dark matter with the launch of the Euclid telescope this Saturday. Here's how to watch.
Georgina Torbet
This image is NIRCam’s view of the Orion Bar region studied by the team of astronomers. Bathed in harsh ultraviolet light from the stars of the Trapezium Cluster, it is an area of intense activity, with star formation and active astrochemistry. This made it a perfect place to study the exact impact that ultraviolet radiation has on the molecular makeup of the discs of gas and dust that surround new stars. The radiation erodes the nebula’s gas and dust in a process known as photoevaporation; this creates the rich tapestry of cavities and filaments that fill the view. The radiation also ionises the molecules, causing them to emit light — not only does this create a beautiful vista, it also allows astronomers to study the molecules using the spectrum of their emitted light obtained with Webb’s MIRI and NIRSpec instruments.

James Webb detects important molecule in the stunning Orion nebula

The molecule, called methyl cation, is important for the development of the complex carbon-based molecules on which life depends.
Georgina Torbet
VSS Unity during a test flight to the edge of space.

How to watch Virgin Galactic’s first commercial rocket flight on Thursday

After years of testing its rocket-powered plane, Virgin Galactic is finally ready to launch its first commercial flight. Here's how to watch.
Trevor Mogg
The International Space Station pictured from the SpaceX Crew Dragon Endeavour during a fly-around of the orbiting lab.

NASA improves process for turning astronaut pee into drinking water

Human space travel may well be exciting, but anyone that does it has to accept that consuming water from recycled urine will be part of the mission.
Trevor Mogg
Bands of high-altitude haze forming above cyclones in an area of Jupiter known at Jet N7.

Gorgeous images of Jupiter’s cloud tops snapped by Juno spacecraft

The Juno spacecraft made its 49th close flyby of Jupiter earlier this year, and NASA has shared stunning images taken as it whizzed by the planet's cloud tops.
Georgina Torbet
Rendering of a a spacecraft slowing down in the Venus atmosphere.

The art and science of aerobraking: The key to exploring Venus

Slowing a spacecraft down takes tons of fuel, so scientists are eager to try something different on Venus: slowing down with the help of the planet's atmosphere
Georgina Torbet
A new visualization explores the galaxy group Stephan's Quintet by using observations in visible, infrared, and X-ray light. The sequence contrasts images from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, Spitzer Space Telescope, Webb Space Telescope, and Chandra X-ray Observatory to provide insights across the electromagnetic spectrum.

See and hear Stephan’s Quintet in a whole new way with NASA visualizations

Data from the James Webb Space Telescope has been combined with data from other telescopes to create a new way to see and hear a famous galaxy group.
Georgina Torbet
mars maven ultraviolet seasons orbit16863 apo ladfit localff png

See seasonal changes on Mars in two stunning images from MAVEN

Two images from the MAVEN spacecraft, taken six months apart, show how the environment of Mars changes with both season and the planet's orbit.
Georgina Torbet
Artist impression of BepiColombo flying by Mercury. The spacecraft makes nine gravity assist manoeuvres (one of Earth, two of Venus and six of Mercury) before entering orbit around the innermost planet of the Solar System in 2025.

European BepiColombo spacecraft makes its third Mercury flyby today

BepiColombo is set to enter the orbit of Mercury in 2025, but in the meantime, it will be making several flybys of the planet, including a close approach today.
Georgina Torbet
This artist' concept shows what the hot rocky exoplanet TRAPPIST-1 c could look like based on this work. TRAPPIST-1 c, the second of seven known planets in the TRAPPIST-1 system, orbits its star at a distance of 0.016 AU (about 1.5 million miles), completing one circuit in just 2.42 Earth-days. TRAPPIST-1 c is slightly larger than Earth, but has around the same density, which indicates that it must have a rocky composition. Webb’s measurement of 15-micron mid-infrared light emitted by TRAPPIST-1 c suggests that the planet has either a bare rocky surface or a very thin carbon dioxide atmosphere.

James Webb telescope searches for habitability in the famous TRAPPIST-1 system

James Webb peered into the atmosphere of what was thought to be a Venus-like planet, and saw something unexpected.
Georgina Torbet
SpaceX launches a Falcon 9 rocket on June 18, 2023.

Watch this SpaceX Falcon 9 booster takes its 12th ride to space

SpaceX successfully launched an Indonesian communications satellite to orbit on Sunday using a Falcon 9 booster on its 12th flight.
Trevor Mogg
The Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) making observations in the night sky on the Nicholas U. Mayall 4-meter Telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory in Arizona.

This one instrument has surveyed 2 million objects to understand dark energy

An early release of data from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument contains nearly 2 million astronomical objects.
Georgina Torbet
This artist impression illustrates how astronomers using the Gemini North telescope, one half of the International Gemini Observatory operated by NSF’s NOIRLab, have made multiple detections of rock-forming elements in the atmosphere of a Jupiter-sized exoplanet, WASP-76b. The so-called “hot Jupiter” is perilously close to its host star, which is heating the planet’s atmosphere to astounding temperatures and vaporized rock-forming elements such as magnesium, calcium and iron, providing insight into how our own Solar System formed.

This exoplanet is over 2,000-degrees Celsius, has vaporized metal in its atmosphere

The puffy, scorching-hot planet has elements in its atmosphere that would normally form rocks, but are so hot that they have vaporized.
Georgina Torbet
NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover used its black-and-white navigation cameras to capture panoramas of “Marker Band Valley” at two times of day on April 8. Color was added to a combination of both panoramas for an artistic interpretation of the scene.

See a postcard from Mars taken by the Curiosity rover

The image combines two different views of the same area and is colorized to show off the undulating martian landscape in a region called the Marker Band Valley.
Georgina Torbet
During a 2005 flyby, NASA’s Cassini spacecraft took high-resolution images of Enceladus that were combined into this mosaic, which shows the long fissures at the moon’s south pole that allow water from the subsurface ocean to escape into space.

The search for habitable moons in the solar system is heating up

Recent research has found phosphorus, one of the building blocks for life, at Saturn's icy moon Enceladus.
Georgina Torbet
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