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Latest by G. Torbet

Simplified diagram of space solar power concept..

Asimov’s vision of harvesting solar power from space could become a reality

Isaac Asimov's idea of harvesting solar power from space may not be a thing of fiction much longer as space agencies explore the concept.
This composite image shows the MWC 758 planet-forming disc, located about 500 light-years away in the Taurus region, as seen with two different facilities. The yellow colour represents infrared observations obtained with the Spectro-Polarimetric High-contrast Exoplanet REsearch (SPHERE) instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT). The blue regions on the other hand correspond to observations performed with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA).

See planets being born in new images from the Very Large Telescope

Astronomers have peered into the disks of matter from which exoplanets form, looking at more than 80 young stars to see which have planets forming around them.
Part of NASA’s CADRE technology demonstration, three small rovers that will explore the Moon together show off their ability to drive as a team autonomously – without explicit commands from engineers – during a test in a clean room at the agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in December 2023.

Meet NASA’s trio of mini moon rovers set to launch next year

NASA introduces a trio of mini rovers which will work together as a team to map the lunar surface, testing out the possibilities of using rovers in groups.
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See what James Webb and Hubble are observing right now with this tool

If you're looking for a relaxing way to observe the fascinating sights of space on your lunch break, then a newly updated tool from NASA has you covered.
This view of Jupiter’s icy moon Europa was captured by the JunoCam imager aboard NASA’s Juno spacecraft during the mission’s close flyby on Sept. 29, 2022.

Jupiter’s icy moon Europa may be light on oxygen, lowering habitability hopes

New research pours cold water on the likelihood of Europa being habitable, as it seems that the moon produces less oxygen than previously thought.
NASA’s SpaceX Crew-8 mission launches from Kennedy Space Center at 10:53 p.m. EST on Sunday, March 3, 2024.

NASA addresses the crack in the hatch of the Crew-8 spacecraft

NASA and SpaceX launched the Crew-8 mission late last night, but a crack was discovered in the hatch seal of the spacecraft around 30 minutes before liftoff.
The CHAPEA mission 1 crew (from left: Nathan Jones, Ross Brockwell, Kelly Haston, Anca Selariu) exit a prototype of a pressurized rover and make their way to the CHAPEA facility ahead of their entry into the habitat on June 25, 2023.

NASA is looking for volunteers for yearlong simulated Mars mission

If you've ever wanted to visit Mars, then NASA has an offer for you. The agency is running a simulated mission to Mars, and it's looking for volunteers.
Intuitive Machines' Odysseus lander heads to the moon.

U.S. spacecraft lands on the moon for the first time in over 50 years

NASA and the company Intuitive Machines have made a historic landing on the moon, the first landing there by a commercial entity.
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Listen to the sounds of a space nebula with NASA sonifications

A NASA project called sonifications gives a new way to experience beautiful images of space: via sound.
The International Space Station.

Air is leaking from Russian module of the International Space Station

The International Space Station is experiencing a leak from a Russian module, but NASA assures the public that it is no threat to the crew on board.
Taken on February 27th, flight controllers commanded Odysseus to capture a new image using its narrow-field-of-view camera. Previous attempts to send photos from landing and the days following returned unusable imagery. After successfully transmitting the image to Earth, flight controllers received additional insight into Odysseus’ position on the lunar surface

See images of the tilted Odysseus lander on the moon

New images released by Intuitive Machines show it sitting tilted on the moon's surface and the damage that the Odysseus lander incurred during landing.
An illustration shows a spacecraft from NASA's DART mission approaching the asteroid it was intended to redirect.

Asteroid impacted by spacecraft is reshaped like an M&M ‘with a bite taken out’

In 2022, NASA deliberately crashed a spacecraft into an asteroid. Now astronomers have found that the impact may have reshaped the asteroid significantly.
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Odysseus lander mission expected to end early due to power issue

Intuitive Machines has announced that it expects its lander to stop communications on the morning of Tuesday, February 27, cutting the mission short.
Neptune

Three tiny new moons spotted orbiting Uranus and Neptune

Astronomers have discovered three new tiny moons orbiting the far-off planets Neptune and Uranus of the outer solar system.
On Feb. 22, 2024, Intuitive Machines’ Odysseus lunar lander captures a wide field of view image of Schomberger crater on the Moon approximately 125 miles (200 km) uprange from the intended landing site, at approximately about 6 miles (10 km) altitude.

Lunar lander is on its side on the moon’s surface

Intuitive Machines' Odysseus lander is stable and functioning, but it appears to have landed on the moon's surface on its side.
Webb’s NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) captured this detailed image of SN 1987A (Supernova 1987A). At the center, material ejected from the supernova forms a keyhole shape. Just to its left and right are faint crescents newly discovered by Webb. Beyond them an equatorial ring, formed from material ejected tens of thousands of years before the supernova explosion, contains bright hot spots. Exterior to that is diffuse emission and two faint outer rings. In this image blue represents light at 1.5 microns (F150W), cyan 1.64 and 2.0 microns (F164N, F200W), yellow 3.23 microns (F323N), orange 4.05 microns (F405N), and red 4.44 microns (F444W).

This famous supernova remnant is hiding a secret

Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope have peered into the famous SN 1987A supernova remnant and found something special inside.
Members of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-8 from right to left, NASA astronauts Jeanette Epps, mission specialist; Matthew Dominick, commander; Michael Barratt, pilot; and Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin, mission specialist; participate in the Crew Equipment Interface Test at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on Friday, Jan. 12, 2024.

Crew-8 astronauts head into quarantine ahead of Space Station launch

The next set of astronauts due to visit the International Space Station, Crew-8, have entered quarantine ahead of their launch scheduled for early March.
Artist’s impression showing the record-breaking quasar J059-4351.

Nightmare black hole is the brightest object in the universe

A monster black hole has been discovered, and it devours the equivalent mass of our sun every single day.
In an ejection that would have caused its rotation to slow, a magnetar is depicted losing material into space in this artist’s concept. The magnetar’s strong, twisted magnetic field lines (shown in green) can influence the flow of electrically charged material from the object, which is a type of neutron star.

Astronomers are figuring out what causes incredibly bright flashes in space

Some of the oddest cosmic phenomena are short but powerful flashes called fast radio bursts. Now astronomers have observed one before and after it occurred,
This image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope is a relatively close star-forming region known as IRAS 16562-3959.

Hubble spots a massive star forming amid clouds of dust and gas

A stunning new image from the Hubble Space Telescope shows the birth of a new, massive star at around 30 times the mass of our sun.
This image from the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope features an H II region in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), a satellite galaxy of our Milky Way. This nebula, known as N79, is a region of interstellar atomic hydrogen that is ionised, captured here by Webb’s Mid-InfraRed Instrument (MIRI).

James Webb snaps a stunning stellar nursery in a nearby satellite galaxy

A stunning new image from the James Webb Space Telescope shows a star-forming region in the nearby galaxy of the Large Magellanic Cloud.
This new NASA Hubble Space Telescope image showcases a resplendent pair of galaxies known as Arp 140.

Hear the otherworldly sounds of interacting galaxies with this Hubble sonification

Hubble scientists have created a sonification of interacting galaxy pair Arp 140, translating the colors and brightness of the image into sound.
NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter unlocked its rotor blades, allowing them to spin freely, on April 7, 2021, the 47th Martian day, or sol, of the mission.

NASA says goodbye to Mars helicopter Ingenuity after an incredible 72 flights

The plucky helicopter Ingenuity has finally come to the end of its mission on Mars due to damage to one of its rotors that occurred during a recent landing.
This map shows the location where the small asteroid 2024 BX1 harmlessly impacted Earth’s atmosphere over Germany, about 37 miles (60 kilometers) west of Berlin, on Jan. 21. A NASA system called Scout predicted the impact time and site within 1 second and about 330 feet (100 meters).

NASA automated system predicts asteroid impact over Germany

NASA recently predicted the impact of a small asteroid which burned up in the atmosphere over Germany, using its impact prediction system, Scout.
This is an artist’s conception of the exoplanet GJ 9827d, the smallest exoplanet where water vapour has been detected in its atmosphere. The planet could be an example of potential planets with water-rich atmospheres elsewhere in our galaxy. It is a rocky world, only about twice Earth’s diameter. It orbits the red dwarf star GJ 9827. Two inner planets in the system are on the left. The background stars are plotted as they would be seen to the unaided eye looking back toward our Sun, which itself is too faint to be seen. The blue star at upper right is Regulus, the yellow star at bottom centre is Denebola, and the blue star at bottom right is Spica. The constellation Leo is on the left, and Virgo is on the right. Both constellations are distorted from our Earth-bound view from 97 light-years away.

Small exoplanet could be hot and steamy according to Hubble

Hubble recently identified water vapor in the atmosphere of a small, hot exoplanet.
CSIRO's ASKAP antennas at the Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory in Western Australia, 2010.

What it takes to build a next-generation observatory

From rats to snow, building massive scientific instruments in harsh environments requires money, brilliant engineering, and good old-fashioned human sweat.
This landscape of “mountains” and “valleys” speckled with glittering stars is actually the edge of a nearby, young, star-forming region called NGC 3324 in the Carina Nebula. Captured in infrared light by NASA’s new James Webb Space Telescope, this image reveals for the first time previously invisible areas of star birth.

The 60 best space photos of all time from Nasa, Hubble, and more

From views of Mars to glimpses of distant galaxies, from the Perseverance rover to the James Webb Space Telescope, here are 60 of the best space photos.
Unistellar eQuinox 2 smart telescope in use

The 5 best telescopes for beginners in 2024

Telescopes can be rather pricy, but knowing the exact model and accessories you need can save you valuable time and money. Here are our six favorite telescopes.
This collection of 19 face-on spiral galaxies from the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope in near- and mid-infrared light is at once overwhelming and awe-inspiring. Webb’s NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) captured millions of stars in these images. Older stars appear blue here, and are clustered at the galaxies’ cores. The telescope’s MIRI (Mid-Infrared Instrument) observations highlight glowing dust, showing where it exists around and between stars – appearing in shades of red and orange. Stars that haven’t yet fully formed and are encased in gas and dust appear bright red.

See 19 gorgeous face-on spiral galaxies in new James Webb data

A stunning new set of images from the James Webb Space Telescope shows the variety of forms that exist within spiral galaxies like our Milky Way
The Jezero Crater on Mars, showing a delta where an ancient lake was once located.

Yes, Perseverance is exploring an ancient lake bed but no, it hasn’t found signs of life (yet)

A new study shows exciting results about the Jezero Crater on Mars, but Perseverance hasn't yet found evidence of life on the red planet.
Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC), Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) mosaic of the Wiechert cluster of lobate scarps (left pointing arrows) near the lunar south pole. A thrust fault scarp cut across an approximately 1-kilometer (0.6-mile) diameter degraded crater (right pointing arrow).

The moon is shrinking, causing moonquakes at the lunar south pole

New research from NASA suggests that the shrinking of the moon over time is causing moonquakes and the formation of faults near its south pole.
unistellar

The 5 best telescopes for astrophotography in 2024

If you're interested in both observing and photographing the sky, we've rounded up suggestions for five of the best telescopes for astrophotography.
unistellar telescope

The 5 best telescopes for viewing planets in 2024

We've put together a list of some of the best telescopes for viewing planets and galaxies to help you find the telescope that's right for you.
The SpaceX Dragon Freedom spacecraft carrying four Axiom MIssion 3 astronauts is pictured docked to the space station on Jan. 20, 2024.

How to watch Axiom-3 depart from the ISS on Wednesday

On Wednesday the Axiom-3 crew will depart the International Space Station (ISS), marking the end of the first all-European private mission to the station.