A colossal comet, known informally as the “Devil Comet,” is hurtling towards Earth following an unpredictable outburst earlier this year. This comet, officially designated as 12P/Pons-Brooks, has captivated astronomers for centuries and is set to become visible from Earth in April 2024, marking its first appearance in 71 years. “Pons-Brooks was first discovered in 1812 and this will be its fourth time coming around,” Quanzhi … Continue reading Mystery ‘Devil Comet’ Possibly the Size of Manhattan Is Nearing Earth

Last week, NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter on Mars took a notable journey. Weighing in at 4 pounds (1.8 kilograms), Ingenuity embarked on its 63rd flight on Mars, which took place on Thursday, October 19. During this flight, it covered an impressive distance of 1,901 feet (579 meters). As announced by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, the team responsible for overseeing Ingenuity’s mission, this marked … Continue reading NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter aces longest Mars flight in 18 months

SpaceX is set to conduct launches for the European Space Agency (ESA), deploying four navigation satellites. This development comes as ESA faces ongoing delays in the deployment of their own next-generation launch vehicles. The initial report was provided by The Wall Street Journal, and earlier this summer, Politico noted that the European Commission had been exploring options beyond their borders for a launcher for the … Continue reading SpaceX to launch European navigation satellites as EU launchers stall

Jupiter became one of the initial focal points for the James Webb Space Telescope when it first turned its infrared gaze toward the cosmos in July 2022. Following the capture of breathtaking images that exceeded astronomers’ expectations, this space observatory has now unveiled an entirely unprecedented aspect of the gas giant’s atmosphere. Utilizing Webb’s Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam), researchers conducted a series of image captures of … Continue reading Webb telescope spots never-before-seen feature in Jupiter’s atmosphere

Lunar dust gathered by the Apollo 17 astronauts in the 1970s has led to a groundbreaking revelation: the moon’s age is 40 million years greater than previously thought. During their mission on December 11, 1972, NASA astronauts Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt, following their moon landing, collected a variety of rocks and lunar dust. In a recent examination of these lunar samples, zircon crystals were … Continue reading Rock collected by Apollo 17 astronauts reveals moon’s true age

While Jupiter’s oceanic moons often steal the spotlight due to their potential for habitability, Io, the unruly volcanic moon of Jupiter, stands in a category of its own. There exists nothing comparable to it within the Solar System, and NASA’s Juno spacecraft recently captured fresh images of this volcanic satellite during its closest encounter to date. Io holds the position as Jupiter’s third-largest moon and … Continue reading Juno Completes its Closest Flyby of Io Yet

Astronomers have identified a perplexing surge of radio waves that has traversed a span of 8 billion years to reach Earth. This fast radio burst stands as one of the most remote and high-energy occurrences ever recorded. Fast radio bursts, commonly known as FRBs, represent brief, millisecond-long outbursts of radio waves whose origins remain a mystery, CNN reported. The first FRB was uncovered in 2007, … Continue reading 8 billion-year-old radio signal reaches Earth

A NASA spacecraft, with a budget of $1.2 billion, has been launched from Florida today, embarking on a journey spanning 3.6 billion kilometers to reach a metal-rich asteroid unlike any previously studied by scientists. This extraordinary space rock is known as Psyche and stands as the largest metallic object within the Solar System. Researchers believe that Psyche may represent the core of a planet that … Continue reading NASA’s Psyche mission is on its way to this huge metal asteroid

After spending over a year in space, Frank Rubio is now readjusting to the pull of gravity that Earthlings experience. Rubio shared at a news conference held at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, that “Walking hurts a little bit the first few days, the soles of your feet and lower back,” He went on to explain, “I think there is a certain level … Continue reading US Astronaut Gets Used to Earth After Record-Setting 371 Days in Space

Throughout the Americas, people turned their gaze to the skies on Saturday, in hopes of witnessing a rare celestial event known as the annular solar eclipse. Referred to as the “ring of fire,” this phenomenon was observable in various parts of the United States, Mexico, and numerous countries in South and Central America, as confirmed by NASA. Omar Lopez, who observed this extraordinary spectacle from … Continue reading Rare “ring of fire” solar eclipse dazzles people across Americas

For the first time, astronomers have observed the lingering radiance from a cataclysmic collision between two colossal planets that occurred in a distant, sun-like star system. This event is thought to have obliterated a pair of ice giant planets that collided, generating a shower of debris and giving rise to a hot, spinning object, possibly hundreds of times larger than Earth. “It would be very … Continue reading Afterglow of cataclysmic collision between two planets seen for first time

The launch of NASA’s Psyche asteroid mission has been postponed to 10:19 a.m. EDT on Friday, October 13th, due to inclement weather approaching from the Gulf of Mexico. Originally, NASA’s Psyche probe, designed to investigate a metal asteroid with the same name, was set to launch on Thursday morning, October 12th, aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from Pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. … Continue reading Bad weather delays SpaceX Falcon Heavy launch of NASA’s Psyche asteroid mission

A remarkably preserved asteroid sample, akin to a time capsule from the early stages of our solar system, has been unveiled. According to NASA administrator Bill Nelson, the collected rocks and dust contain water and a significant amount of carbon. This discovery implies that asteroids may have transported the fundamental elements necessary for life to Earth, CNN reported. The sample is found to contain nearly … Continue reading Unprecedented asteroid sample contains ‘crucial elements,’ NASA says

Looking Ahead: Science fiction movies, television shows, and literature have often portrayed scenarios of human habitation on the moon. While this may seem like a distant dream for most, NASA is actively working on plans to establish 3D-printed lunar residences that will be inhabited by both astronauts and civilians by the year 2040. According to a New York Times report featuring insights from seven NASA … Continue reading NASA targets 2040 for 3D-printed moon homes for astronauts, civilians

China is set to expand its space station, increasing the number of modules from three to six in the coming years. This expansion will provide astronauts from various nations with an alternative platform for near-Earth missions, particularly as the NASA-led International Space Station (ISS) approaches the end of its operational lifespan. The China Academy of Space Technology (CAST), a division of China’s primary space contractor, … Continue reading China to double the size of its space station as it offers an alternative to NASA-led ISS

The powerful emissions from celestial beacons known as pulsars are far more energetic than previously believed, raising questions about the energy sources driving them. An extensive analysis conducted by the High Energy Stereoscopic System array in Namibia has unveiled a pulsar emitting radiation at a remarkable 20 trillion electron volts, marking it as the most energetically active pulsar ever observed. This discovery, reported on October … Continue reading Vela’s exploded star is the highest-energy pulsar ever seen

NASA’s Perseverance rover identified a dust devil while exploring the Jezero Crater on Mars. Utilizing images taken by one of the rover’s Navigation Cameras (NavCams), a video was created (viewable below), comprising 21 frames captured at four-second intervals and accelerated by 20 times. Resembling brief whirlwinds on Earth, these vertical wind columns emerge when pockets of hot air near the Martian surface swiftly ascend through … Continue reading Perseverance Captures a 1.2-Mile-High Dust Devil Whirling Across Mars

NASA has issued a request for designs of a “lunar freezer” intended to securely store materials obtained from the moon during the upcoming Artemis missions. As outlined in a request for information (RFI) published on the federal contracting website SAM.gov, the primary purpose of this freezer will be to facilitate the safe transport of scientific and geological samples from the moon back to Earth. These … Continue reading NASA wants a ‘lunar freezer’ for its Artemis moon missions

Scientists have obtained their initial glimpse of a sample collected from the near-Earth asteroid Bennu, and in the process, they stumbled upon more than they had anticipated. Upon opening the canister containing the sample on September 26, researchers were surprised to find an abundance of dark, fine-grained material adhering to the inside of the container’s lid and the base around the mechanism used to gather … Continue reading Returned Asteroid Sample Canister Contains Way More Asteroid Than Expected

NASA’s mission to explore the metal-rich asteroid known as “Psyche” has encountered a delay due to issues with the spacecraft’s thrusters, the agency disclosed in a recent announcement. The launch of the Psyche spacecraft has been rescheduled for a week later, now aiming for a new launch date of October 12th at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, as detailed in a NASA blog post. … Continue reading NASA delays Psyche asteroid mission over spacecraft’s thrusters

On October 14, an annular solar eclipse is set to grace the skies over North, Central, and South America, promising a remarkable spectacle for those fortunate enough to witness it. This rare celestial event presents a unique opportunity for scientists as well. Described as a “ring of fire” eclipse, this breathtaking phenomenon occurs when the moon, in its farthest point from Earth during its orbit, … Continue reading A ‘ring of fire’ solar eclipse is coming

NASA has chosen SpaceX to launch a pair of small satellites in 2025 as part of a rideshare mission dedicated to studying space weather. On September 29, NASA revealed that it had awarded SpaceX a task order for launching the Tandem Reconnection and Cusp Electrodynamics Reconnaissance Satellites (TRACERS), two small satellites designed to investigate space weather and the Earth’s magnetosphere from low Earth orbit. NASA … Continue reading NASA selects SpaceX for rideshare launch of smallsat mission

SpaceX maintained its impressive pace of space launches on Friday night, successfully placing 22 Starlink satellites into lower Earth orbit from Florida’s Canaveral Space Force Station. The launch occurred at 10 p.m. EDT at Space Launch Complex 40, with the first stage returning to Earth safely approximately 8 minutes after liftoff. Notably, this marked the 10th time the first-stage booster had been utilized in a … Continue reading SpaceX launches 22 new Starlink satellites into space

India’s sun-monitoring spacecraft has reached a significant milestone on its voyage to break free from “the sphere of Earth’s influence,” according to its space agency. This achievement comes shortly after the disappointment of the moon rover’s failure to reactivate. The Aditya-L1 mission, which embarked on its four-month journey toward the heart of the solar system on September 2, is equipped with instruments designed to observe … Continue reading Indian spacecraft heads towards center of solar system

On October 14, a celestial event will unfold as the moon moves between the Earth and the sun, casting a shadow over North, Central, and South America, as reported by NASA. This particular eclipse occurring in October will be categorized as an annular solar eclipse, a classification based on the moon’s positioning during the event. According to NASA, the moon will traverse between the Earth … Continue reading North America to experience solar eclipse in October