For the first time, ESA is providing regular space-weather reports for a spacecraft orbiting another planet.
When your spacecraft is surfing deep into the atmosphere of an alien world, you need the latest information on conditions that could affect your trajectory.
If that planet is Venus, that means knowing what’s happening on our Sun in real time, because solar activity … Read the rest of this article
Supernovas are often thought of as the tremendous explosions that mark the ends of massive stars’ lives. While this is true, not all supernovas occur in this fashion. A common supernova class, called Type Ia, involves the detonation of white dwarfs — small, dense stars that are already dead.
New results from NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope have revealed a rare … Read the rest of this article
Astronomers using the Hubble Space Telescope have captured the most comprehensive picture ever assembled of the evolving Universe – and one of the most colourful. The study is called the Ultraviolet Coverage of the Hubble Ultra Deep Field (UVUDF) project.
Prior to this survey, astronomers were in a curious position. They knew a lot about star formation occurring in nearby … Read the rest of this article
A new exhibit steeped in the cinematic world of “The Avengers” provides a super-powered dose of science and technology from NASA. The unique, interactive educational display premiered at Discovery Times Square in New York City on May 30, 2014, for a six-month engagement.
Marvel’s Avengers S.T.A.T.I.O.N. — an acronym for Scientific Training and Tactical Intelligence Operative Network — is an … Read the rest of this article
ESA’s Solar Orbiter mission has undergone its latest major test: its protective shield has been subjected to concentrated sunlight to prove it can cope with the fierce temperatures close in to our parent star.
A ‘structural–thermal’ version of the craft’s sunshield was recently exposed to an artificial Sun for two weeks in Europe’s largest vacuum chamber at ESA’s Technical Centre … Read the rest of this article
Astronomers have discovered a rocky planet that weighs 17 times as much as Earth and is more than twice as large in size. This discovery has planet formation theorists challenged to explain how such a world could have formed.
“We were very surprised when we realized what we had found,” said astronomer Xavier Dumusque of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, … Read the rest of this article
NASA’s flying saucer-shaped test vehicle is ready to take to the skies from the U.S. Navy’s Pacific Missile Range Facility in Kauai, Hawaii, for its first engineering shakeout flight.
The first launch opportunity for the test vehicle is June 3, when the launch window opens at 8:30 a.m. HST. The test will be carried live on NASA TV and streamed … Read the rest of this article
This new commercial is for my LunarPhase Pro software. If you’ve visited the site in recent days, you may have spotted a smaller version of it in the sidebar. If you’ve any feedback on it, I’d love to hear it (good or bad!).… Read the rest of this article
This weekend, Earth will pass through a stream of debris from Comet 209P/LINEAR.
If forecasters are correct, the encounter could produce an outburst of bright meteors numbering more than 200 per hour.
Most models agree that peak rates should occur between the hours of 0600 UT and 0800 UT (2 a.m. and 4 a.m. EDT) on Saturday morning, May 24th, … Read the rest of this article
Researchers have discovered on the Red Planet the largest fresh meteor-impact crater ever firmly documented with before-and-after images. The images were captured by NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.
The crater spans half the length of a football field and first appeared in March 2012. The impact that created it likely was preceded by an explosion in the Martian sky caused by … Read the rest of this article
The Sun Now (Visible light)
|
The Sun Now (H-Alpha light)
|
|
Aurora Oval
(Northern Hemisphere) |
Aurora Oval
(Southern Hemisphere) |
|
