Five years after departing Earth, and a month after slipping into orbit around Jupiter, NASA’s Juno spacecraft is nearing a turning point. On July 31 at 12:41 p.m. PDT (3:41 p.m. EDT), Juno will reach the farthest point in its orbit of Jupiter for the first time, known as “apojove,” 5 million miles (8.1 million kilometers) from the giant planet. … Read the rest of this article
New findings using data from NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter show that gullies on modern Mars are likely not being formed by flowing liquid water. This new evidence will allow researchers to further narrow theories about how Martian gullies form, and reveal more details about Mars’ recent geologic processes.
Scientists use the term “gully” for features on Mars that share three … Read the rest of this article
The ESA-JAXA BepiColombo mission to Mercury must withstand extremely harsh conditions while in orbit around the innermost planet of our Solar System: temperatures in excess of 450 degree Celsius, high ultraviolet and electron and proton fluxes.
ESA’s Materials and Electrical Components Laboratory was called in by the mission team to test the performance of candidate materials and components throughout the … Read the rest of this article
ESA is participating in today’s international Asteroid Day, to mark the largest observed asteroid strike in recorded history – the 1908 airburst above Tunguska in Siberia. The Agency monitors asteroids as well as performs scientific research, not to mention contingency planning: what could be done if an asteroid were incoming?
The Tunguska impact felled around 60 million trees across … Read the rest of this article
AAVSO Alert Notice 544Discovered by: Hideo Nishimura (Kakegawa, Shizuoka-ken, Japan) (reported by S. Nakano, Sumoto, Japan, via CBET 4285)
Discovery magnitude: 12.4 unfiltered CCD on three 10-s CCD frames, using a 200-mm-f.l. f/3.2 lens with a Canon EOS 5D digital camera
Discovery date: 2016 June 10.629 UT
Coordinates (2000.0): R.A. 17 38 19.31 … Read the rest of this article
This timelapse video shows Sentinel-1B, from final preparations to liftoff on a Soyuz launcher from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana, on 25 April 2016 at 21:02 GMT (23:02 CEST).
With the Sentinel-1 mission designed as a two-satellite constellation, Sentinel-1B will join its identical twin, Sentinel-1A, which was launched two years ago from Kourou.
Both satellites carry an advanced radar that … Read the rest of this article
It may look like a star, it may be called a star, but it does not yet generate energy like a normal star. This is because this star is still being formed.
It offers a fascinating glimpse into our own past because our Sun began its life as such a ‘T Tauri’ star some 4.6 billion years ago.
Located 1,800 … Read the rest of this article
Planetary Resources, Inc., the asteroid mining company, announced on June 13, 2016, that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Government of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and the banking institution Société Nationale de Crédit et d’Investissement (SNCI). T
With the agreement, the Government of Luxembourg is considering a direct capital investment in Planetary Resources Luxembourg. Research into … Read the rest of this article
Fifty years ago, astronomers discovered a mystery. They called it Loop I. Today, we still have not fully resolved the mystery of how this giant celestial structure formed but we do now have the best image of it, thanks to ESA’s Planck satellite.
Loop I is a nearly circular formation that covers one third of the sky. In reality, it … Read the rest of this article
The Sentinel-1A satellite takes us over to Ireland, in this multi-temporal colour composite of land coverage across the island. (Download a hired image here).
With a coastline of 7500 km, Ireland is home to some 4.8 million people and a wealth of history and tradition.
Stretching 486 km from north to south and 275 km across, Ireland is … Read the rest of this article
The Sun Now (Visible light)
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The Sun Now (H-Alpha light)
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Aurora Oval
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Aurora Oval
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