The second lunar lander from Japanese space exploration company ispace snapped a stunning image of the Earth as it prepares for its journey to the moon.

© ispace

By studying the fastest jet ever seen erupting from an infant star, astronomers have discovered that the mechanism that launches these jets also launch supermassive black hole jets.

© Wolfgang Steffen, UNAM

Author(s): Charles Day

At low temperatures the resistance of a layered magnetic semiconductor shoots up and down in response to an increasing magnetic field.

[Physics 18, s14] Published Thu Jan 30, 2025

The launch trailer just dropped for Citizen Sleeper 2, the follow-up to the indie smash hit Citizen Sleeper, ahead of the game's release tomorrow.

© Jump Over The Age

Space streaming company Sen is now broadcasting live views of Earth and space from the International Space Station (ISS) in 4K HD.

© Sen

SpaceX and Vast Space are looking for research ideas to fly aboard Vast's new Haven-1 space station launching later this year.

© Vast Space

These interior and exterior builds of the starship featured in the opening scenes of the original Star Wars movie are a great choice for fans and collectors.

© Future/Amazon

National Geographic premiered "SALLY," Cristina Costantini's new documentary about the first U.S. woman in space and her untold love, at the Sundance Film Festival in Utah on Tuesday (Jan. 28).

© Stephen Slater/collectSPACE.com

The building blocks of life could have been delivered to solar system dwarf planet Ceres by one or more space rocks from the outer asteroid belt.

© NASA

NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore are scheduled to begin U.S. Spacewalk 92 early Jan. 30.

© NASA

Kfir Simon, taken from Tivoli Farm, Namibia RCW 85 is a faint emission nebula in the southern constellation of Centaurus. The designation “RCW” comes from a catalog of Hα emission regions published in 1960 by a trio of researchers working in Australia under the astronomer Bart Bok: Alexander Rodgers, Colin Campbell, and John Whiteoak. ThisContinue reading "A southern target"

The post A southern target appeared first on Astronomy Magazine.

Chile is home to SOME of the world’s best skies — and some of the world’s most advanced instruments to observe them. From the radio telescope array charting complex chemistry in Titan’s atmosphere to the telescopes that pinpointed the neutron star merger last year, Chilean observatories play a starring role in today’s groundbreaking discoveries. ManyContinue reading "The Astronomy in Chile Educator Ambassadors Program: Sharing the skies above Chile"

The post The Astronomy in Chile Educator Ambassadors Program: Sharing the skies above Chile appeared first on Astronomy Magazine.

A SpaceX Starlink internet satellite fell from space in a blaze of glory overnight, lighting up the Midwest U.S. sky with a brilliant fireball.

© John Aubert via American Meteor Society

Observations from NASA's Chandra X-ray telescope and the VLT have revealed jets blasting from supermassive black holes cause gas to cool and fall toward them in a cosmic feeding process.

© Perseus Cluster: X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO/V. Olivares et al.; Optical/IR: DSS; H-alpha: CFHT/SITELLE; Centaurus Cluster: X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO/V. Olivaresi et al.; Optical/IR: NASA/ESA/STScI; H-alpha: ESO/VLT/MUSE; Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/N. Wolk

SpaceX launches next generation Spanish communications satellite on Wednesday evening (Jan. 29).

© SpaceX

NASA OSIRIS-REx asteroid sample return team has revealed exciting evidence of the precursors of life in the pieces of space rock Bennu.

© NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona

A memo issued by the Trump administration has frozen $1.2 billion in funding for NASA programs ranging from science to space operations.

© David McNew/Getty Images

The U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame will honor its 2025 class of inductees, record-setting space travelers Peggy Whitson and Bernard Harris, at a public ceremony in Florida this spring.

© NASA/collectSPACE.com

Author(s): Charles Day

Simulations demonstrate that light can be confined within a scattering medium in a way similar to electrons in a disordered metal.

[Physics 18, s10] Published Wed Jan 29, 2025

NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab begins normal operations after devastating LA fires as hundreds of employees who were displaced begin rebuilding their lives.

© NASA/JPL-Caltech

The young January moon will pass near Saturn and near Venus as they cluster together in the evening sky.

© Chris Vaughan/Starry Night

The Earth-observation company Planet just inked its largest deal to date, a $230 million contract to deliver a fleet of its new Pelican satellites.

© Planet Labs PBC

In the grim darkness of the 21st century, at least we have this awesome Warhammer 40,000 'Astartes II' trailer to watch

© GamesWorkshop

President Trump just asked Elon Musk to retrieve two NASA astronauts from the International Space Station. But the duo are already slated to come home with SpaceX this spring.

© NASA

As billions of people worldwide celebrate the Lunar New Year, astronauts aboard China's Tiangong space station sent home a holiday greeting.

© CCTV+

The moon has come into view for Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost spacecraft, which is scheduled to land on Earth's nearest neighbor a month or so from now.

© Firefly Aerospace

India launched the NVS-02 regional navigation satellite to orbit this evening (Jan. 28), the 100th liftoff from the nation's Satish Dhawan Space Centre.

© ISRO

The mega-iceberg poses a significant threat to South Georgia Island a remote wildlife haven.

© NOAA

Blue Origin scrubbed the planned 29th launch of its New Shepard suborbital rocket today (Jan. 28) due to uncooperative weather and a vehicle issue.

© Blue Origin

An exclusive interview with 'Section 31's' Alex Kurtzman and Olatunde Osunsanmi

© Paramount

Boom Supersonic made history today (Jan. 28) when its XB-1 jet broke the sound barrier for the first time on a test flight over the American desert.

© Boom Supersonic via X

Author(s): Ryan Wilkinson

An algorithm allows the states of certain quantum systems to be determined from data more quickly than was previously possible.

[Physics 18, s17] Published Tue Jan 28, 2025

A 196-foot-wide asteroid has a 1-in-83 chance of striking Earth in 2032. An expert tells Space.com where this asteroid could impact our planet and what level of destruction it could cause.

© Robert Lea (created by Canva)

Located less than 20 light years away, HD 20794d could potentially be one of the most Earth-like planets found so far, despite its extreme climatic variability.

© MARK GARLICK/SCIENCE PHOTO

An object eight times the mass of Jupiter may have swooped around the sun, coming superclose to Mars' present-day orbit before shoving four of the solar system's planets onto a different course.

© NASA/JPL

A preview of Marvel Comics' "Star Wars: A New Legacy #1"

© Marvel Comics

A "cosmic CT scan" performed by scientists using two very different cosmic surveys has revealed the cosmos is less clumpy and more complicated than we thought.

© Robert Lea (created with Canva)

The unobstructed skies that gave Big Sky, Montana its name made for an appropriate setting for the release of two postage stamps depicting vistas visible to the James Webb Space Telescope.

© USPS/collectSPACE.com

The gigantic coronal hole is blasting high-speed solar wind toward Earth, potentially igniting vibrant auroras and minor geomagnetic activity on Jan. 31.

© NASA/SDO

Computer algorithms can model the universe, matching simulations to observations and revealing the distribution of dark matter.

© Martinez, Delgado et al.

Boom Supersonic's XB-1 demonstrator craft will break the sound barrier for the first time during a Jan. 28 test flight, and you can watch the action live.

© Boom Supersonic

Blue Origin's NS-29 New Shepard rocket is expected to launch by late Jan. 31 after a delay if all goes well. Here's what to know

© blue origin

"Little red dot" galaxies discovered by the James Webb Space Telescope in the early cosmos appear to be ruled by supermassive black holes that are 1,000 times too massive.

© Robert Lea (created with Canva)

The Indian Space Research Organization has completed its first Gaganyaan astronaut crew capsule, marking another milestone in the country's pursuit to develop homegrown technology for independent human spaceflight capabilities.

© ISRO

After our Sun becomes a white dwarf and cools completely, what will be left? Richard LivitskiSeal Beach, California Our Sun will become a white dwarf in about 7 billion years. At that point, it will no longer produce energy through nuclear fusion, having exhausted its fuel (hydrogen and helium). Just like the embers of anContinue reading "After our Sun becomes a white dwarf and cools completely, what will be left?"

The post After our Sun becomes a white dwarf and cools completely, what will be left? appeared first on Astronomy Magazine.

Josh Dury, taken from the Mendip Hills in Somerset, U.K. The International Space Station sails through the sky in this long exposure, its arc in this long exposure intersecting the ongoing “planet parade” along the ecliptic, including (left to right) Mars, Jupiter, Venus, and Saturn. To view the photographer’s annotated version highlighting the planets, clickContinue reading "Parade crasher"

The post Parade crasher appeared first on Astronomy Magazine.

Both sci-fi hits pick up nominations, but 'Dune: Part 2' misses out on some categories that seemed like sure bets.

© Warner Bros. Pictures

SpaceX launched 21 more of its Starlink internet satellites today (Jan. 27) from Florida's Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

© SpaceX

Author(s): David C. Cassidy

Arthur Compton’s results convinced most skeptics that in some experiments, light can act like a stream of particles.

[Physics 18, 18] Published Mon Jan 27, 2025

The Vera C. Rubin Observatory is set to detect millions of exploding vampire stellar remnants called "white dwarfs," shedding light on dark energy.

© (Main) RubinObs/NOIRLab/SLAC/NSF/DOE/AURA/P. Marenfeld (Inset) Robert Lea (created with Canva)

In this episode, Dave Eicher invites you to go out and spot the many planets currently in our night sky. You’ll see four of the five planets visible without optical aid. Venus and Saturn are in the west; Jupiter lies overhead; and Mars is in the east. Opportunities to see so many easy-to-spot planets don’tContinue reading "A Parade of Planets: This Week in Astronomy with Dave Eicher"

The post A Parade of Planets: This Week in Astronomy with Dave Eicher appeared first on Astronomy Magazine.

Earth was in Xenomorph-related trouble long before the Nostromo’s trip to LV-426. Here’s the latest teaser for ‘Alien: Earth’, the FX show coming this summer.

© FX / Hulu

Boom Supersonic's XB-1 demonstrator craft could become the first commercial jet to break the sound barrier since Concorde after acing its 11th test and reaching 0.95 Mach at low altitudes.

© Boom Supersonic

NASA and Lockheed Martin recently released photos of the X-59 "quiet" supersonic jet conducting tests of its afterburner, blasting out a column of fire while in the hangar.

© Lockheed Martin

The U.S.’s return to the Moon with NASA’s Artemis program will not be a mere stroll in the park. Instead it will be a perilous journey to a lunar location representing one of the most extreme environments in the solar system. For the Artemis program astronauts, walking on the Moon will require new ways ofContinue reading "Astronauts on NASA’s Artemis mission to the Moon will need better boots — here’s why"

The post Astronauts on NASA’s Artemis mission to the Moon will need better boots — here’s why appeared first on Astronomy Magazine.

C/2024 G3 (ATLAS) is one of the few comets on record that became bright enough to be visible in the daytime without optical aid like binoculars or a telescope.

© Patricio Murphy/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

A preview of Prime Videos Invincible Season 3 landing on Feb. 6, 2025

© Prime Video

President Donald Trump recently invoked "manifest destiny" to outline a bold vision for America's space program. But what does this historic and controversial term mean when applied to outer space?

© SpaceX

The Oscar-winning 'Everything, Everywhere, All At Once' co-star makes her 'Star Trek' debut.

© Paramount+

Every day, about 48.5 tons of space rock hurtle towards Earth.

© NASA/Bill Dunford

A U.S. military joint task force did some training recently off the Florida coast, preparing to help rescue astronauts from the ocean if need be.

© U.S. Air Force Photo by Tech. Sgt. Della Creech

Some remote regions will experience a partial solar eclipse on Sunday, Sept. 21, 2025. The best places to see it will be in Antarctica and New Zealand.

© mtking via Getty Images

The skies may be full of invisible "boson stars" that could have a connection to dark matter.

© NASA/JPL-Caltech

Buttes and mesas in Mars' Chryse Planitia contain clay minerals made from liquid water interacting with the rock nearly 4 billion years ago.

© ESA/DLR/FU Berlin

On Episode 145 of This Week In Space, Rod Pyle and Tariq Malik meet the authors of a new book about spaceflight called "Star Bound: A Beginner's Guide to the American Space Program, from Goddard's Rockets to Goldilocks Planets and Everything in Between," Emily Carney and Bruce McCandless III.

© TwiT

Images captured by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory have revealed that "coronal loops" give off subtle flashes of ultraviolet light before a solar flare, which could act as an early warning system for dangerous space weather.

© NASA/SDO

NASA plans to fly two rockets through active auroras and study the unique ribbons of light that dance across the Alaskan night sky.

© Christopher Perry/NASA/Tribune News Service via Getty Images

Spacecraft powered by electric propulsion could soon be better protected against their own exhaust, thanks to new supercomputer simulations.

© NASA

If parallel universes exist, can we access them? Let's explore the possibility.

© Devrimb/Getty Images

As the shadowy branch of Starfleet Intelligence gets its very own movie, we look back at Section 31's morally dubious history.

© Paramount

A proposed massive hydrogen-fuel production project in Chile has astronomers galvanized in concern and opposition. One astronomer calls the possible Chilean facility a “nightmare” for the Paranal Observatory’s dark skies. One study has found that Paranal, located in Chile’s Atacama Desert, has the darkest skies of any major astronomical research site. That would change ifContinue reading "Green hydrogen project threatens pristine Paranal skies in Chile"

The post Green hydrogen project threatens pristine Paranal skies in Chile appeared first on Astronomy Magazine.

With winds blowing at 20,500 mph, "the planet has complex weather patterns just like Earth and other planets of our own system," scientists said.

© ESO/L. Calçada

Chris Cook from Long Beach, California The McMath-Pierce Solar Telescope stands beneath a dark, moonless sky at Kitt Peak National Observatory in Arizona. The photographer took 90 one-minute exposures with a Canon DSLR at f/2.8 and ISO 2500.

The post Solar scope appeared first on Astronomy Magazine.

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson stepped down on Monday, Jan. 20, after President Donald Trump was inaugurated, and the departing space agency chief had some words of advice for his replacement. In a letter addressed to the next NASA administrator — who, if Trump’s nomination is confirmed, will be Shift4 CEO and SpaceX ally Jared Isaacman — NelsonContinue reading "NASA administrator steps down, urges continuity under new leadership"

The post NASA administrator steps down, urges continuity under new leadership appeared first on Astronomy Magazine.

Blue Origin will launch the 29th mission of its New Shepard suborbital vehicle on Jan. 28, on an uncrewed research flight that will simulate lunar gravity conditions.

© Blue Origin

China successfully launched a classified satellite on Thursday (Jan. 23), but a spent booster from the mission fell shockingly close to a family home.

© CAST

The Virtual Telescope Project will livestream telescope views of the "planetary parade" on Saturday (Jan. 25), featuring a lineup of six planets, including Mars, Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune, Saturn and Venus.

© NASA/JPL-Caltech

Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost moon lander caught haunting images of Earth as it prepares to make its way towards lunar orbit.

© Firefly Aerospace

In some cases, binoculars are a better bet.

© Daniel Lanpher

The second total lunar eclipse of 2025 will be visible from Asia and western Australia on Sept. 7-8, 2025.

© Kristien Stragier / 500px via Getty Images

A new analysis of M87*, the first black hole imaged by humanity, has revealed turbulence in the matter around it, which this supermassive black hole feasts upon.

© Hung-Vi Pu (The Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration, 2025, Astronomy & Astrophysics)

Author(s): Mark Buchanan

Conventional theory has trouble predicting the conditions that will cause a liquid to boil, but a neural-network-based approach performs better.

[Physics 18, 17] Published Fri Jan 24, 2025

Last week at the 245th meeting of the American Astronomical Society in National Harbor, Maryland, astronomers presented some of their most recent and exciting finds from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). One such discovery was the identification of the most distant so-called core-collapse supernova ever confirmed. These explosions mark the end of life for massiveContinue reading "Astronomers find the most distant supernova yet"

The post Astronomers find the most distant supernova yet appeared first on Astronomy Magazine.

The James Webb Space Telescope has revolutionized astronomy in just three years. A new project celebrates its impact on the study of exoplanets, worlds beyond the solar system.

© Joshua Lothringer/ NASA/ Robert Lea (created with Canva)

A study of volcanic cones near the equator on Mars is challenging what scientists previously knew about when and where water flowed on Mars.

© Future

The Celestron 70mm Travel Scope is currently 36% off with a coupon, making it the cheapest it's been in a long time.

© Amazon/Future

There's currently a $26 saving to be had on the excellent Lego City Modular Space Station via Amazon.

© Lego/Future

Earth's temporary asteroid friend last year was a chunk of its real moon that had been blasted into space thousands of years ago, scientists find.

© Two-Meter Twin Telescope / Light Bridges / Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias

Friday, January 24The Moon passes 0.3° south of the bright red giant star Antares at 7 P.M. EST. However, the pair isn’t visible this evening, as they’ll rise in the early-morning sky, so we’ll feature them tomorrow.  Tonight, we’ll focus instead on Mars. The Red Planet recently reached opposition and is still visible essentially allContinue reading "The Sky This Week from January 24 to 31: The Moon mingles with Antares"

The post The Sky This Week from January 24 to 31: The Moon mingles with Antares appeared first on Astronomy Magazine.

SpaceX launched 23 more of its Starlink internet satellites from California's central coast today in the company's 11th Falcon 9 rocket flight of 2025 (Jan. 24).

© SpaceX

NASA honored its fallen space explorers during ceremonies at multiple sites on Thursday (Jan. 23).

© NASA

Humanity is reaching the threshold of adulthood. It is time to grow up and go out — beyond the cradle and into the cosmos.

© NASA

Despite the tepid reception back in 2000, the Jedi Power Battles remaster is a fun return to simpler times when Star Wars video games were allowed to be weird.

© Aspyr

Author(s): Susan Curtis

Physicists have demonstrated a quantum machine that could reduce errors in quantum computers by ensuring that the qubits they use remain in their initial state before a calculation starts.

[Physics 18, 16] Published Thu Jan 23, 2025

Author(s): Katherine Wright

Seong Jim Kim and Myoung-Woon Moon of the Korea Institute of Science and Technology have developed a device that can “vacuum” up tiny pieces of plastic floating on the surface of a body of water.

[Physics 18, 6] Published Thu Jan 23, 2025

"Star Trek" goes "Mission: Impossible" in a new TV movie – here's how to watch "Section 31" on Paramount Plus in the US, UK and Australia.

© Paramount Plus

NASA employees received a memo from acting agency administrator Janet Petro, Wednesday, mandating the closure of all diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility initiatives and contracts.

© NASA

Ahead of Blade Runner 2099 this year, the sequel/prequel is now available for free in the UK for a limited time only, with Blade Runner 2049 landing on the BBC.

© Warner Bros

Author(s): Rachel Berkowitz

Roughing up the surfaces of particles in a colloidal system can smooth its transition into a glassy state.

[Physics 18, s11] Published Thu Jan 23, 2025

The young protostar T Tauri is about to be eclipsed by a huge disk of gas and dust that could prompt the star to fade or even disappear.

© Adam Block/Mount Lemmon SkyCenter/University of Arizona.

A nearby star that may host a planet or two could provide a clue about whether planets orbiting the smallest stars can survive the bullying of their suns.  In a press conference last week at the 245th meeting of the American Astronomical Society, Scott Wolk of the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory presented his findings on WolfContinue reading "Could planets orbiting red dwarfs host life?"

The post Could planets orbiting red dwarfs host life? appeared first on Astronomy Magazine.

The most detailed panorama of the entire Andromeda galaxy is packed with science that could revolutionize our understanding of how spiral galaxies across the universe form and evolve.

© NASA, ESA, Benjamin F. Williams (UWashington), Zhuo Chen (UWashington), L. Clifton Johnson (Northwestern); Image Processing: Joseph DePasquale (STScI)

SpaceX made some history during a Jan. 21 Starlink satellite launch from California, landing an orbital-class rocket for the 400th time.

© SpaceX

Deeper look Imm Astrophotography SeriesOnalaska, TX The 750 Best Deep Sky Objects (Reachable From the Northern Hemisphere) by amateur astronomer Gary Imm is a precise visual guide to deep-sky objects, complete with rankings and images for every target. This 88-page reference gives readers a detailed list of where the targets are in the Northern HemisphereContinue reading "Cozy up with new astronomy products this month"

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Ahead of its early March release in theaters, Bong Joon-ho's Mickey 17 has received a second trailer full of action, intrigue, and comedic beats.

© Warner Bros. Pictures

Using the Atacama Large Millimeter Array, astronomers have discovered icy exocomet belts circling 74 different alien planetary systems.

© ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)/SMA/ L. Matrà et al.

Aurora chasers are on high alert for minor geomagnetic storm conditions from Jan. 24 through to Jan. 25. Northern lights might be visible over some northern and upper Midwest states.

© Wiltser via Getty Images

New camera gear for the holidays? It'll likely you'll need some accessories to go with it if you're going to shoot astro, here are the 10 best camera gifts we'd recommend.

© Getty

Astronomers have witnessed a monster supermassive black hole erupting with a light-year-long jet traveling at one-third the speed of light.

© Robert Lea (created with Canva)/ NSF/AUI/NSF NRAO/Meyer at al. 2025

A review of Paramount+'s "Star Trek: Section 31"

© Paramount

Chinese company Galactic Energy launched five satellites atop a Ceres-1 four-stage rocket on Jan. 20, 2025.

© Mao Zehao/VCG via Getty Images

A quasi-moon of Earth has been given a name. It's Cardea, after the goddess of door hinges.

© CFHT Legacy Survey/CFHT/Canadian Astronomy Data Centre

Huang Dandan, taken from Yulong Latso, Gangzi, Sichuan Province, China The Milky Way, zodiacal light, and airglow are all visible in this all-sky mosaic, capturing the glow of phenomena on planetary, solar system, and galactic scales. The photographer used an astromodified Sony mirrorless camera and 11mm fisheye lens to capture this mosaic, taking 20-second exposuresContinue reading "All aglow"

The post All aglow appeared first on Astronomy Magazine.

Miguel Claro captured a stunning portrait of the colorful Pelican Nebula from the Dark Sky Alqueva Observatory in Portugal.

© Miguel Claro

Author(s): Jennifer Ouellette

In one of his annus mirabilis papers, Einstein explained the photoelectric effect by considering light as a stream of energy quanta—which were later called photons.

[Physics 18, 15] Published Wed Jan 22, 2025

After the Battle of Jakku miniseries released in 2024, the main Star Wars comic book series from Marvel is fully embracing the New Republic era.

© Marvel / Lucasfilm

On Jan. 2, the Minor Planet Center at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Massachusetts, announced the discovery of an unusual asteroid, designated 2018 CN41. First identified and submitted by a citizen scientist, the object’s orbit was notable: It came less than 150,000 miles (240,000 km) from Earth, closer than the orbit of theContinue reading "Astronomers just deleted an asteroid because it turned out to be Elon Musk’s Tesla Roadster"

The post Astronomers just deleted an asteroid because it turned out to be Elon Musk’s Tesla Roadster appeared first on Astronomy Magazine.

Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost lander is healthy on its way to the moon, and even witnessed a solar eclipse from space when Earth passed in front of the sun as seen from the spacecraft.

© Firefly Aerospace

Two Chinese astronauts completed an 8.5-hour spacewalk on Jan. 20, a sojourn that installed debris shielding outside the Tiangong space station.

© CCTV

Author(s): Ryan Wilkinson

Noise is typically detrimental to quantum effects, but simulations suggest that it can boost entanglement under certain conditions.

[Physics 18, s5] Published Wed Jan 22, 2025

The European Space Agency (ESA) wants to develop key technologies for a Mars surface lander by the mid-2030s.

© ESA/ATG medialab

"Chemical rockets that we use today, even with the extra speed boost from flying by planets, or from swinging by the sun for a boost, just don't have the ability to scale to useful interstellar speeds."

© Yuichiro Chino/Getty Images

Christmas is a great time to look for a telescope for your budding amateur astronomer. But there are some things to keep in mind when buying a telescope. Here are some tips and features to consider when looking for astronomy telescopes and binoculars.

© Space.com

The European Space Agency is set to launch a joint space science mission with China in early 2026 after a long collaboration.

© European Space Agency

An exclusive trailer for the new podcast series "L.A. Made: The Other Moonshot," which comes out Jan. 29.

© LAist Studios/Lethabo Huma

Get ready for a deep partial solar eclipse on March 29, 2025, which will occur at sunrise in North America and mid-morning across Europe.

© Roudny Chatelain / 500px / Getty Images

Measurements of the distance to the Coma Cluster of galaxies find that it is millions of light years closer than the standard model predicts.

© NASA/ESA/Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)/D. Carter (Liverpool John Moores University)/Coma HST ACS Treasury Team

These rugged, all-weather Celestron binoculars are perfect for wide-field stargazing and wildlife watching, and now they're just $152, plus an additional $15 off.

© Celestron

Japanese scientists have created the first-ever long-term dataset about Earth's entire atmosphere, stretching all the way to space.

© Space.com/ Josh Diner

Finland just became the Artemis Accords' 53rd member nation, bolstering NASA's efforts to establish peaceful and cooperative international space exploration.

© ESA-ATG

Author(s): Sachin Rawat

Researchers predict that having extra sets of chromosomes can both speed up and slow down the evolution of an organism, depending on the organism’s “fitness landscape.”

[Physics 18, 14] Published Tue Jan 21, 2025

Bill Nelson has stepped down as NASA administrator, ending a half-century of public service. Janet Petro is now the agency's interim chief.

© NASA/Bill Ingalls

Author(s): Kohei Kawabata

Three theoretical studies have uncovered novel types of topological order inherent in open quantum systems, enriching our understanding of quantum phases of matter.

[Physics 18, 9] Published Tue Jan 21, 2025

An exclusive interview with "Silo's" acclaimed executive producer and showrunner, Graham Yost

© Apple TV+

A doorbell camera caught the moment when a meteorite impacted on the walkway of a home in Prince Edward Island, Canada, recording what is likely the world's first audio of a space rock impact.

© <a href="https://www.gettyimages.com/search/photographer?photographer=zhihao" target="_blank">zhihao</a> / Getty Images

Author(s): Michael Schirber

Powerful shock waves around magnetized neutron stars may be the source of mysterious radio bursts that are observed across the sky.

[Physics 18, s13] Published Tue Jan 21, 2025

After nearly a decade of brand-new Star Wars movies and shows under Disney, which are the coolest new starships flying across the galaxy?

© Lucasfilm

Shorter version of strapline

© Matt Morris

The new 5-year contract that focuses on hypersonic technology is worth $1.45 billion.

© Rocket Lab

In this episode, Dave Eicher invites you to go out and watch a close pairing of two naked-eye planets: Venus and Saturn. The two will be in the southwestern evening sky, and will be closest during the week of January 19. Each night, brilliant Venus and much less bright (but still easy to see) Saturn will be a bit more than 3Continue reading "Venus meets Saturn: This Week in Astronomy with Dave Eicher"

The post Venus meets Saturn: This Week in Astronomy with Dave Eicher appeared first on Astronomy Magazine.

The stars we can see in the night sky are a lot closer and live a lot longer than you would think.

© Future/Josh Dinner

The space shuttle and International Space Station are set to launch onto coins to celebrate advancements made by Texas and Florida. The U.S. Mint has released designs for American Innovation dollars.

© United States Mint/collectSPACE.com

The Black Series Force FX lightsabers are some of the best on the market, and you can save credits while learning the ways of the Force.

© Future/Hasbro

German launch startup Rocket Factory Augsburg has taken a step towards a first launch by gaining a first-ever license to vertically launch an orbital rocket from mainland Europe.

© RFA

SpaceX launched 21 of its Starlink internet satellites early Jan. 21, five days after a test flight of the company's Starship megarocket ended in an explosion.

© SpaceX

A recent photo from the Hubble Space Telescope captures two protostars called HOPS 150 and HOPS 153, which are located in the stellar nursery of the Orion Nebula.

© ESA/Hubble & NASA, T. Megeath

"Americans are explorers, builders, innovators, entrepreneurs and pioneers. The spirit of the frontier is written into our hearts," Trump says.

© Kenny Holston-Pool/Getty Images

A preview of DC Comics' new ongoing series coming in May, "Superman Unlimited"

© DC Comics

Do the periods of comets decrease because they lose mass every time they get near the Sun? Robert BaileyConover, Wisconsin Great question! Assuming you’re referring specifically to the orbital period — in other words, how long comets take to make one revolution around the Sun, or a cometary “year” — according to basic physics, the periodContinue reading "Does a comet’s period change because it loses mass every time it nears the Sun?"

The post Does a comet’s period change because it loses mass every time it nears the Sun? appeared first on Astronomy Magazine.

An international group of researchers is calling on the United Nations to include the protection of Earth's orbit in the U.N.'s sustainable development goals.

© Mark Garlick/Science Photo Library/Getty Images

From magnification to light-gathering, here’s how to make the decision between buying binoculars or a monocular for stargazing and astronomy.

© Jamie Carter

Dark matter can't be too heavy or it might break our best model of the universe, new research suggests.

© Dark matter, R. Caputo et al. 2016; background, Axel Mellinger, Central Michigan University

We are staring "right down the barrel of it, which is really quite surprising to me — we're just lucky."

© NASA/ESA/O'Dell/Ferland/Henney/Peimbert/Thompson; SMA image and SMA/JWST image overlay: Joel Kastner/RIT

The new Trump administration could upend NASA's priorities, reshaping the Artemis moon program, climate science funding and the role of commercial space players.

© Paul Hennessy/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

A recap of "Silo" Season 2's finale, "Into the Fire," and all its reveals and secrets exposed

© Apple TV+

It took a few updates, but Predator: Hunting Grounds has become a notable asymmetrical multiplayer game with a refreshing and cohesive take on the sci-fi universe.

© Illfonic Publishing

The size and spin of black holes can reveal how and where they were born, and gravitational waves offer a way to decode this information like a cosmic DNA test.

© Robert Lea (created with Canva)

Chris Schur, taken from Payson, Arizona Comet C/2024 G3 (ATLAS) lies above a mountain ridge in this shot taken before sunrise on Jan. 11, with particulate matter from forest fires giving the sky a reddish hue. The imager used a 3.2-inch refractor and a one-shot color camera to take a 0.1-second exposure.

The post Fire and ice appeared first on Astronomy Magazine.

 در حدود ۱۳ میلیارد سال پیش، کهکشان‌هایی در جهان وجود داشتند که هنوز از نظر ساختار به کهکشان راه شیری شباهت پیدا نکرده‌بودند. اما چگونه می‌توان از راز این کهکشان‌های باستانی پرده برداشت؟ سرعت شکل‌گیری ستارگان در این کهکشان‌ها تا چه اندازه بوده‌است و چه مسیر تکاملی‌ای را  طی کرده‌اند؟

نور این کهکشان‌ها، پس از سفری طولانی و بی‌نظیر به ما رسیده‌است. در این مسیر، غبار کیهانی^۱، متشکل از ذرات بسیار ریز کربن و سیلیکات، نور را پراکنده^۲ می‌کند و باعث کاهش شدت آن می‌شود. این موضوعی‌ست که مطالعه‌ی کهکشان‌های اولیه را دشوارتر می‌کند. غبار کیهانی علاوه بر جذب کردن نور آن را تغییر هم می‌دهد. برای مثال، نور فرابنفش^۳، بیش‌تر از طول‌موج‌های بلندتر پراکنده می‌شود. این ویژگی باعث می‌شود که کهکشان‌ها قرمزتر و کم‌نورتر از چیزی که هستند به نظر برسند. تصویری جدید از ستون‌های آفرینش^۴، توسط تلسکوپ فضایی جیمز وب، این تغییرات را به وضوح نشان می‌دهد (شکل ۱).

برای درک بهتر این تغییرات و اصلاح این اعوجاجات نوری، اخترشناسان از ابزارهایی به نام منحنی‌های جذبی غبار^۵ استفاده می‌کنند. این منحنی‌ها تاثیر غبار بر روی نور در طول‌موج‌های مختلف را نشان می‌دهد؛ یعنی چه مقدار از نور در هر طول‌موج پراکنده یا جذب می‌شود. برای مثال، منحنی غبار کهکشان راه شیری دارای برآمدگی خاصی در طول‌ موج ۲۱۷۵ آنگستروم است که ناشی از ذرات ریز کربنی در غبار است. از سوی دیگر، این برآمدگی در منحنی غبار ابر ماژلانی کوچک ^۶ وجود ندارد و در طول‌ موج فرابنفش، شیب بیش‌تری نشان می‌دهد. این تفاوت‌ها، تصادفی نیستند و اطلاعات ارزشمندی درباره ترکیب و توزیع ذرات غبار در کهکشان‌های مختلف به ما می‌دهند.

اما نکته‌ی مهم این است که بیش‌تر منحنی‌های غباری که در اختیار داریم، برای کهکشان‌های نزدیک‌تر مانند راه شیری یا ابر ماژلانی کوچک طراحی شده‌اند. آیا همین منطق و منحنی‌های جذبی برای کهکشان‌هایی که میلیاردها سال پیش وجود داشته‌اند نیز صادق است؟

این پرسش رایان سندرز و تیم او را بر آن داشت که کهکشان GOODSN-17940 را مورد مطالعه قراردهند، کهکشانی ستاره‌فشان^۷ که در انتقال به سرخ  ۴/۴۱ قرار دارد. این کهکشان که تنها ۱/۳۶ میلیارد سال پس از مهبانگ ^۸ وجود داشته، فرصتی بی‌نظیر برای مطالعه‌ی رفتار غبار در گذشته‌ی دور را فراهم می‌کند.

این تیم با استفاده از ابزار طیف‌سنجی فروسرخ نزدیک تلسکوپ فضایی جیمز وب، ۱۱ خط نشری هیدروژن ^۹ از Hα تا H12 را بررسی کردند. این خطوط مانند فانوس‌های دریایی‌ عمل می‌کنند؛ شدت نور آن‌ها نشان می‌دهد که چه مقدار نور در هر طول‌ موج توسط غبار جذب شده‌است. با مقایسه‌ی روشنایی مشاهده‌شده‌ از این خطوط، آن‌ها توانستند منحنی جذبی دقیقی برای کهکشان GOODSN-17940 ترسیم کنند.

منحنی جذبی رصد شده از GOODSN-17940 متفاوت از آن‌چه انتظار می‌رفت ظاهر شده‌است. در ناحیه‌ی فروسرخ^۱۱، این منحنی شیب بسیار بیش‌تری نسبت به منحنی‌های راه شیری یا ابر ماژلانی کوچک دارد. این موضوع احتمالاً به دلیل کوچک‌تر بودن یا توزیع متفاوت ذرات غبار در این کهکشان است. اما در قسمت فرابنفش طیف، این منحنی مسطح‌تر است و جذب کم‌تری نسبت به مدل‌های کلاسیک نشان می‌دهد. همچنین هیچ‌گونه برآمدگی‌ در ۲۱۷۵ آنگستروم دیده نمی‌شود. این یافته‌ها نشان می‌دهد که غبار این کهکشان به دلیل سن بسیار کم جمعیت ستاره‌ای و محیط فعال ستاره‌زا در آن، ویژگی‌های منحصر به فردی دارد. شکل ۳ این نتایج را نشان می‌دهد. محور عمودی بیانگر این است که نور در هر طول‌موج، چند برابر بیش‌تر از مقدار آن در طول‌موج ۹۵۵۰ آنگستروم توسط غبار جذب یا پراکنده می‌شود. به عنوان مثال، مقدار عددی ۲ در این نمودار به این معنی است که نور در آن طول‌ موج دو برابر بیش‌تر از نور در طول‌موج ۹۵۵۰ آنگستروم تضعیف شده‌است.

اما اهمیت این منحنی جذبی جدید در چیست؟ این منحنی در تخمین پارامترهای مهمی چون نرخ شکل‌گیری ستارگان^۱۲، نقش کلیدی دارد. به طور مثال اگر از منحنی غبار کهکشان راه شیری برای کهکشانی مانند GOODSN-17940 استفاده کنید، نرخ شکل‌گیری ستارگان را تا ۵۰٪ کم‌تر برآورد خواهید کرد! این اشتباه، می‌تواند درک ما از ساختار و تحول کهکشان‌ها را به طور کلی تغییر دهد.

تلسکوپ فضایی جیمز وب، با قابلیت‌های خود، به تیم سندرز این امکان را داد که این کهکشان دوردست را مطالعه کرده و بتوانند پیچیدگی غبار را در زمانی حدود ۱۰٪ از عمر کنونی جهان، بررسی کنند. این یافته‌ها به ما کمک می‌کند تا جهان اولیه را با دقتی بی‌سابقه مطالعه کنیم و به درک بهتری از تکامل کهکشان‌ها برسیم.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A new way of measuring structures deep inside Earth has highlighted numerous previously unknown blobs within our planet's mantle. These anomalies are surprisingly similar to sunken chunks of Earth's crust but appear in seemingly impossible places.

© Vadim Sadovski/Shutterstock

For decades, scientists assumed that the expansion of the universe was powered by a new entity, known as the inflaton, but new research suggests that it may have been possible without it.

© Mark Garlick/Science Photo Library/Getty Images

The mighty telescope is expected to see its "first light" by 2028.

© ESO/G. Vecchia

Despite crashing in the Utah desert in 2004, NASA's Genesis mission is still helping scientists study the effects of solar wind.

© USAF 388th Range Squadron

On Episode 144 of This Week In Space, Rod Pyle and Tariq Malik take a look a pair of private moon missions by Firefly Aerospace and ispace that lifted off this week and so much more.

© TWiT/SpaceX

The Nikon 5x15 HG monocular is tiny, but it promises the same high-quality build and lens of Nikon's other optical devices.

© Matt Morris

The Kumani Bank mud volcano in the Caspian Sea created an island in early 2023 that had almost disappeared by the end of 2024, according to Landsate satellite imagery.

© NASA Earth Observatory images by Wanmei Liang, using Landsat data from the U.S. Geological Survey.

Astronomers are sounding alarm bells as the world's most precious sky-observing location faces a light pollution risk due to a new renewable energy project.

© ESO

SpaceX launched 27 more of its Starlink internet satellites from California's central coast on Tuesday (Jan. 21).

© SpaceX

Ashley Zelinskie's VR artwork Twin Quasar was inspired by the iconic deep-space image from the James Webb Space Telescope that introduced a new audience to gravitational lensing.

© Whitney Museum of American Art/Ashley Zelinskie (Screenshot by Stefanie Waldek)

The jets of a supermassive black hole are one of the cosmos’ greatest spectacles — and also one of its greatest mysteries. These beams of ionized matter burst forth from the cores of galaxies at speeds approaching that of light. How those black holes harness and focus that energy remains hotly contested. In recent years,Continue reading "Unusual spiral quasar seen dancing with a companion"

The post Unusual spiral quasar seen dancing with a companion appeared first on Astronomy Magazine.

Losing the Block 2 Starship on its debut flight was not the optimal outcome. But SpaceX still managed to make significant progress on Flight 7. In October, SpaceX made history by snaring the Super Heavy booster from the sky using a pair of metal chopstick arms attached to a tower on the launch pad, which the companyContinue reading "SpaceX Starship Flight 7 explodes midair, but Super Heavy booster catch successful"

The post SpaceX Starship Flight 7 explodes midair, but Super Heavy booster catch successful appeared first on Astronomy Magazine.

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California has come through the L.A. fires in one piece. It will open next week to employees who need to work on site.

© NASA/JPL-Caltech

On Jan. 20, the U.S. Space Force will participate in the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump, a first for the nation's newest military branch.

© U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Jordan Powell

If there is a leader in the aerospace industry, SpaceX is it. The company’s Crew Dragon and Cargo Dragon spacecrafts are the current go-to vehicles to deliver astronauts and supplies to the International Space Station. NASA contracts awarded to SpaceX through 2030 alone are worth nearly US$5 billion and include research and development for theContinue reading "The Starbase rocket testing facility is permanently changing the landscape of southern Texas"

The post The Starbase rocket testing facility is permanently changing the landscape of southern Texas appeared first on Astronomy Magazine.

Amateur astronomers who have purchased telescopes from leading suppliers in the U.S. may be entitled to a payment from a class action settlement.

© Tony Rowell/Getty Images

Chirag Upreti, taken from the Bronx, New York City Mars is seen just before dipping behind the Moon during its occultation Jan. 13. The photographer used a Sony mirrorless camera and 600mm lens with a x2 teleconverter.

The post Be right back appeared first on Astronomy Magazine.

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration is requiring an investigation into the explosion of SpaceX's Starship upper stage during the vehicle's seventh test flight on Jan. 16.

© SpaceX

NASA's TESS exoplanet hunter has found the fastest-disintegrating planet ever. Losing a moons-worth of matter every million years, it is a prime target for the James Webb Space Telescope.

© Robert Lea (created with Canva)

Author(s): Gerald Holton

The experiment provided further proof of the reality of photons, yet Millikan didn’t accept their existence until later in his career.

[Physics 18, 12] Published Fri Jan 17, 2025

Bag an $11 saving on Lego Creator 3-in-1 Space Astronaut, which can also be turned into a dog or a space shuttle.

© Lego/Future

Author(s): Michael Schirber

Measurements of grains flowing down an inclined plane have uncovered general principles that may help researchers model rockslides and other granular flows.

[Physics 18, 13] Published Fri Jan 17, 2025

Europe is moving towards the second launch of its new Ariane 6 launcher after finding and addressing anomalies following its debut flight.

© ESA-Manuel Pedoussaut

Star-forming galaxies, including ours, are rich in elements — and secrets. Stars come to life fastest in the early histories of such galaxies, but this process doesn’t last at such a high rate forever. The star-formation rate (SFR) eventually slows.  Thanks to a recent study published Dec. 27, 2024, in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, weContinue reading "Galactic ‘conveyor belt’ circulates elements like carbon in and out of galaxies"

The post Galactic ‘conveyor belt’ circulates elements like carbon in and out of galaxies appeared first on Astronomy Magazine.

Here we debunk some of the most common and enduring space conspiracies.

© Hulton Archive/Getty Images

The Bushnell Equinox X650 digital night vision monocular is an entry-level 5x32mm monocular capable of night vision. Is it worth considering?

© Future

A photo taken from the International Space Station captures the brilliant comet known as C/2024 G3 ATLAS, which could be the brightest of 2025.

© Don Petit/NASA

The fourth live-action "Star Trek" TV show made some mistakes along the way, but it was arguably held back by the time it was made

© Paramount

Venus and Saturn will appear extraordinarily close together in the night sky overnight on Jan. 17 during a celestial event known as a conjunction.

© Chris Vaughan/Starry Night

NASA's Chandra and NuSTAR telescopes have teamed up to study a supermassive black hole-powered quasar that could have played a key role in ending the cosmic dark ages.

© Robert Lea (created with Canva)

SpaceX has traced the likely cause of the explosion that destroyed its Starship vehicle during its Jan. 16 test flight to a leak of liquid oxygen or liquid methane.

© SpaceX

A century ago, humans didn't know other galaxies existed. Here's how Edwin Hubble changed that view.

© New York Times Co./Getty Images

Friday, January 17Although Jupiter and Mars have been dominating the eastern sky, there’s more here to view than just planets. Already 50° high an hour after sunset, the bright, magnitude 0.1 star Capella stands high above Mars and to Jupiter’s upper left. This is the alpha star of the constellation Auriga, which sits directly aboveContinue reading "The Sky This Week from January 17 to 24: A conjunction of Venus and Saturn"

The post The Sky This Week from January 17 to 24: A conjunction of Venus and Saturn appeared first on Astronomy Magazine.

The upper stage of SpaceX's Starship megarocket exploded over the Atlantic Ocean during the vehicle's Flight 7 test today (Jan. 16), and lots of people saw the sky show.

© SpaceX

SpaceX pulled off a launch-tower catch of Starship's Super Heavy booster during a test flight today (Jan. 16) but lost the vehicle's upper stage.

© SpaceX

An obituary for iconic filmmaker David Lynch who died Jan. 16, 2025.

© Michael Tran/FilmMagic/Getty Images

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has captured the first exquisite images of an interstellar patch of sky, about 11,000 light-years away in the constellation Cassiopeia.

© NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Jacob Jencson (Caltech/IPAC)

India successfully docked its two SpaDex satellites in Earth orbit yesterday (Jan. 15), becoming just the fourth country to pull off such a satellite meetup.

© ISRO

Like the Sun shining through the clouds in the early morning, a bright star within the star-forming nebula N79 appears to burst forth through a web of cooler gas and dust in this image taken by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). Located in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), a satellite of our Milky WayContinue reading "A young star-forming region shines bright for JWST "

The post A young star-forming region shines bright for JWST  appeared first on Astronomy Magazine.

NASA astronauts Nick Hague and Suni Williams completed a six-hour spacewalk to repair and upgrade equipment outside the International Space Station on Thursday (Jan. 16).

© NASA

Just past 2 a.m. Eastern time on Jan. 16, 2025, a new rocket blasted off from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. By reaching orbit, Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket launch has marked a milestone for a commercial space company that has big ambitions. As a space policy expert, I see New Glenn’sContinue reading "Blue Origin has successfully launched its New Glenn rocket to orbit"

The post Blue Origin has successfully launched its New Glenn rocket to orbit appeared first on Astronomy Magazine.

2024 was the warmest year on record, according to NASA data. The global average temperature was 2.3 degrees Fahrenheit above the mid-20th-century baseline.

© NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio

The head of the European Space Agency says that ESA is ready for any changes in NASA's direction that U.S. President-elect Donald Trump may make.

© NASA

Author(s): Katherine Wright

Researchers predict the existence of a class of particles that behave differently from those already known.

[Physics 18, 11] Published Thu Jan 16, 2025

Photographer Josh Dury captured rare Comet C/2024 G3 (Atlas) in a dramatic 'once-in-a-lifetime' image after a challenging chase across UK skies at dusk.

© Josh Dury

Author(s): Marric Stephens

Researchers have built an optical clock using an array of trapped ions—an architecture that can be scaled up to boost the clock’s precision.

[Physics 18, s7] Published Thu Jan 16, 2025

Author(s): Katherine Wright

Researchers find that two types of biological magnetic sensor can sense fields close to the quantum limit, a finding that could guide the design of lab-made devices.

[Physics 18, s8] Published Thu Jan 16, 2025

For stargazers and wildlife watchers, monoculars can be an effective alternative to telescopes or binoculars. Here's how they work.

© Matt Morris

The Habitable Worlds Observatory is a flagship NASA telescope that could answer the ultimate question.

© NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center Conceptual Image Lab

The shells of carbon-rich dust are expanding outward into space at the breakneck velocity of 1,600 miles per second.

© NASA/ESA/CSA/STScI/Emma Lieb and Jennifer Hoffman (University of Denver/Ryan Lau (NSF NOIRLab)

How do images taken by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) appear so colorful, and where do the colors come from?

© NASA, ESA, CSA. Image Processing: Joseph DePasquale (STScI)

The World Monuments Fund has added the moon to its watch list of 25 historic places that face major challenges and has called for preserving lunar heritage.

© NASA

Scientists think it's possible that life cells from Earth could've been transferred to Venus, thanks to asteroid impacts over the last few billion years.

© ESA/MPS/DLR/IDA

Blue Origin's powerful New Glenn rocket reached orbit on its first-ever flight early this morning (Jan. 16).

© Miguel J. Rodríguez Carrillo/Getty Images

NASA's Nick Hague and Suni Williams will service the X-ray telescope attached to the ISS during a 6.5-hour-long spacewalk today (Jan. 16). Watch it live.

© NASA

The ride today bears little resemblance to actual spaceflight. But in the 50 years Space Mountain has been running, there have been and still are several nods to NASA.

© RetroWDW.com/Disney/collectSPACE.com

How a kitsch "Star Wars" cash-in spawned a bona fide sci-fi classic. So say we all!

© NBCUniversal

We explore seven of the best solar eclipses to look out for over the next 10 years.

© Michael Zeiler/GreatAmericanEclipse.com

The Hubble Space Telescope recently captured a snapshot of a rare supernova that sits in the Gemini constellation, about 650 million light-years away from Earth.

© ESA/Hubble & NASA, R. J. Foley (UC Santa Cruz)

The James Webb Space Telescope's ancient "little red dot" galaxies have been seen as a sign of "broken cosmology." Feeding supermassive black holes may have come to the rescue.

© NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Dale Kocevski (Colby College)/ Robert Lea (created with Canva)

Director Fede Alvarez spoke to Empire about fixing the controversial CGI of Rook in Alien: Romulus.

© 20th Century Studios

Goodnight Gaia. The European Space Agency star-tracking satellite ceased operations on Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025, after 12 years of mapping the Milky Way.

© Robert Lea (created with Canva)

Author(s): Susan Curtis

A cryogenic microscope reveals the atomic-scale processes that disrupt the charge-ordered state in a material as the temperature rises.

[Physics 18, 10] Published Wed Jan 15, 2025

Author(s): Agnese Curatolo

A new model reveals that bursts of neural activity known as critical avalanches underlie the brain’s ability to respond consistently to stimuli.

[Physics 18, s4] Published Wed Jan 15, 2025

From magnification to light-gathering, here’s how to make the decision between buying a telescope or a monocular for stargazing and astronomy.

© Jamie Carter

A composition photo of images taken during the lunar occultation on Jan. 4 captures the progression of the moon moving in front of Saturn, briefly hiding it from viewers on Earth.

© Gianluca Masi/The Virtual Telescope Project

In its final episode, Skeleton Crew sticks the landing with lots of action and some genuinely tense moments, but its answers are limited.

© Disney

On Tuesday, at the 245th meeting of the American Astronomical Society, astronomers revisited some recent mysteries. Dale Kocevski, from Colby College in Maine, spoke during a press conference about the Little Red Dots (LRDs) found in data from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). These are the same as the “universe-breaking” galaxies first reported roughlyContinue reading "The early universe’s ‘Little Red Dots’ are still a big mystery"

The post The early universe’s ‘Little Red Dots’ are still a big mystery appeared first on Astronomy Magazine.

A massive white dwarf and a sun-like "blue lurker" star tell a remarkable story of what was once a triple-star system in the M67 cluster.

© NASA, ESA, Leah Hustak (STScI)

Many know the Great Orion Nebula (M42) in Orion’s Sword as a bright diffuse nebula — a glowing cloud of cosmic gas illuminated by the Trapezium star cluster. But the Orion Nebula also has a dark side, formed by its lanes and clouds of dust. They frequently avoid scrutiny, as the surrounding brightness tends toContinue reading "Observe the dark side of the famous Orion Nebula"

The post Observe the dark side of the famous Orion Nebula appeared first on Astronomy Magazine.

As we approach solar maximum, something strange is happening to the sun's magnetic field. We explore this flip in polarity in more detail and look at the effects it could have on Earth.

© Created in Canva by Daisy Dobrijevic

Hot Jupiters may not be the lonely giants scientists once thought they were.

© Robert Lea (created with Canva)

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket just launched lunar landers built by Firefly Aerospace and Tokyo-based company ispace. What's next for the two craft?

© NASA

SpaceX is set to launch the seventh test flight of its Starship megarocket on Thursday (Jan. 16) at 5 p.m. EST (2200 GMT), and you can watch the action live.

© Elon Musk via X

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched lunar landers for Firefly Aerospace and the Japanese company ispace early this morning (Jan. 15).

© NASA

The moon is about to gain its first tiny house. Launching on a Japanese lunar lander is the "Moonhouse," a project by Mikael Genberg 25 years in the making.

© The Moonhouse

NASA is sending a suite of science and technology demonstrations on Firefly Aerospace's Ghost Riders in the Sky mission to the surface of the moon.

© Firefly Aerospace

In 2018, a distant black hole threw a fit. The 1.4-million-solar-mass black hole at the center of the galaxy 1ES 1927+654 some 270 million light-years away suddenly began spewing radiation, flaring in optical, ultraviolet, and X-ray light.  Then, astronomers watched as the so-called X-ray corona of high-energy particles close in to the black hole vanishedContinue reading "Supermassive black hole births jets, hosts orbiting white dwarf, all while astronomers watch"

The post Supermassive black hole births jets, hosts orbiting white dwarf, all while astronomers watch appeared first on Astronomy Magazine.

The Rubin Observatory will eventually hold the world's largest digital camera. It's therefore a good sign it has aced its first image test.

© Vera C. Rubin Observatory/NSF–DOE

Tokyo-based company ispace's Resilience lunar lander will launch atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket early Wednesday (Jan. 15). Here's what the spacecraft is carrying.

© ispace

The Nocs Field Tube 8x32 is weatherproof and offers excellent views of the moon and planets. It's a great companion for the great outdoors.

© Jamie Carter

Author(s): Charles Day

The discovery of an isotope, rutherfordium-252, whose ground state forestalls fission for just 60 nanoseconds, could help theorists understand the cosmic synthesis of superheavy elements.

[Physics 18, 8] Published Tue Jan 14, 2025

Feeding supermassive black holes are more common in the cosmos than previously suspected. What could possibly hide such ravenous cosmic titans?

© Robert Lea (created with Canva)

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will launch moon landers built by Firefly Aerospace and the Japanese company ispace early Wednesday (Jan. 15), and you can watch it live.

© Firefly Aerospace

People across the world captured awesome views of a large Full Wolf Moon and a mini Mars.

© Peter Zay/Anadolu via Getty Images

The James Webb Space Telescope has spotted one of the earliest and most distant supernovas, marking the death of a stellar monster 20 times the mass of the sun.

© Robert Lea (created with Canva)/NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, JADES Collaboration

The DJI Flip is a sub-250 g drone with multiple control options and the ability to capture 4K 60 FPS video and 12MP/48MP photos.

© Future/James Abbott

Jets from a distant galaxy could offer fresh clues to how galaxies and their black holes evolve over eons.

© NASA, ESA, Joseph DePasquale (STScI), Kristina Nyland (U.S. Naval Research Laboratory

Author(s): Martin Rodriguez-Vega

Researchers have measured graphene’s plasmon spectrum using a novel electron-based spectroscopy technique.

[Physics 18, s9] Published Tue Jan 14, 2025

The Panasonic Lumix S5IIx is an impressive full-frame camera that doesn't cost the earth and delivers impressive features and performance.

© James Abbott

A strange break in a stream of stars in the Milky Way could be the result of dark matter, but only if the dark matter is hot and self-interacting.

© Robert Lea (created with Canva)

Visiting Antarctica — and, in particular, Ukraine's Vernadsky Research Base on the continent's peninsula — was a lifelong dream of two Ukrainian soldiers.

©  Tyler Brower

Firefly Aerospace's soon-to-launch Blue Ghost moon lander will help NASA better understand our home planet, and how it responds to space weather.

© Firefly Aerospace

Despite the evacuation of its Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena, no space mission data has been lost, NASA says.

© Nola Taylor Redd

SpaceX launched 131 satellites to orbit today (Jan. 14) from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, on a rideshare mission called Transporter 12.

© SpaceX

Astronauts placed six different American flags on the moon during the Apollo program. What became of those flags in the years since, and why were they controversial?

© NASA

The European Space Agency has released an audio-visual representation of solar activity over the last three years, using data from the Solar Orbiter probe.

© ESA & NASA/Solar Orbiter/EUI & STIX, Klaus Nielsen (DTU Space/Maple Pools)

In what appears to be a jab at NASA, Rocket Lab this week unveiled its own plan to return rock and dust samples the space agency has been collecting from Mars’ Jezero Crater since 2021. NASA earlier this week said it needs more time to determine the path forward for its Mars Sample Return program, punting aContinue reading "Rocket Lab takes jab at NASA with release of Mars sample return plan"

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A total lunar eclipse will be seen across North America on the night of March 13-14, 2025, while parts of Europe will get a brief view.

© Westend61 via Getty Images

Could a telescope be vibrated with the right frequency to counter the atmospheric twinkle of stars? Robert ByerlyWindsor, California Yes, it can! This is one facet of adaptive optics, which astronomical observatories can use to compensate for distortions in astronomical images caused by our atmosphere. Let’s set the stage first: Stars twinkle because on Earth,Continue reading "How does adaptive optics work?"

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At public stargazes and evenings with friends at the telescope, we love to set our eyes on the wonders of Saturn and Jupiter at every opportunity. Year-round, whenever they’re above the horizon, they never cease to amaze. Mars, on the other hand, is easy to underappreciate because it appears small for much of the year,Continue reading "See mighty Mars at opposition"

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Scientists from around the world are gathered in Maryland this week for the so-called "Super Bowl of astronomy." the 245th Meeting of the American Astronomical Society.

© NASA/ESA/STScI

In this episode, Dave Eicher invites you to go out and watch the Full Moon pass in front of the Red Planet. Astronomers call such an event an occultation. Pretty much anyone in the continental U.S. with a clear sky will be able to see this rare happening. The next time residents of the U.S.Continue reading "This Week in Astronomy with Dave Eicher: The Moon covers Mars"

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The weird outbursts of a distant supermassive black hole may be caused by a death-defying white dwarf walking a cosmic tight rope around it.

© NASA/Sonoma State University, Aurore Simonnetitalic, 

A recap of Apple TV+'s "Silo" Season 2 Episode 9, "The Safeguard"

© Apple TV+

On Jan. 15, Mars will reach a point in its orbit that astronomers call opposition. That evening, Mars will lie opposite the Sun from our perspective. It will rise at sunset, reach its highest point at midnight, and set at sunrise.  No matter when you go out, Mars will be somewhere in the sky. AndContinue reading "Mars at opposition: See the Red Planet all night long"

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Author(s): Dominik Dold

By incorporating electrical pulses with shapes similar to those of the spikes from biological neurons, researchers improved the ability to train energy-efficient types of neural networks.

[Physics 18, 5] Published Mon Jan 13, 2025

The International Space Station is always falling, yet it never crashes to Earth or burns up in our atmosphere. How is this possible?

© NASA

China's Chang'e 7 moon-landing mission will apparently include a flag that can flutter in the moon's thin and tenuous atmosphere.

© CNSA/CCTV

SpaceX launched 21 more of its Starlink internet satellites from Florida's Space Coast this morning (Jan. 13).

© Future/Josh Dinner

Osama Fathi, taken from the Black Desert, Egypt Jupiter and the Geminid meteors highlight this winter skyscape above a mudbrick dovecote in Egypt’s Black Desert. The shot was taken Dec. 8, 2024 with an astromodified Nikon mirrorless camera and lens at 24mm. The imager took a 6-minute sky exposure, a 30-second foreground exposure, and aContinue reading "A Geminid spectacular"

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Blue Origin called off the debut launch of its powerful New Glenn rocket this morning (Jan. 13) due to a technical issue.

© Blue Origin

China's state-owned main space contractor tested five different rocket engines on one day last week in preparation for future missions and projects.

© CCTV

Lunar landers from Firefly Aerospace and Japanese company ispace will lift off atop the same SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket this week, kicking off a busy year of moon missions.

© SpaceX

The three astronauts aboard China's Tiangong space station have been getting some assistance from an "intelligent" robot named Xiao Hang.

© CCTV

Astronomers are now confident the Event Horizon Telescope can help them decode elusive origins of black hole jets.

© Chalmers University of Technology | 3dVision | Johan Bournonville | Anne-Kathrin Baczko

Bob Fera/Steve Mandel, taken from ObsTech El Sauce Observatory, Chile NGC 1512 is a barred spiral galaxy with a unique double ring roughly 33 million light-years distant in the southern constellation Horologium. Ultraviolet space telescope views reveal the full extent of the spiral arms, and how distorted they are by the galaxy’s gravitational tango withContinue reading "More than a spiral"

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The Ruko U11MINI is a lightweight beginner drone with a multitude of plus and minus points that don't make it the most straightforward option.

© James Abbott

A recap of a "Dune: Prophecy" season finale press conference held in late December

© HBO/MAX

On Jan. 13, the Full Moon will pass in front of Mars during an event astronomers call an occultation. And pretty much anyone in the U.S. with binoculars and a clear sky that night will be able to see it. Every Full Moon rises at sunset because it lies in the opposite direction of theContinue reading "Watch the Full Moon cover Mars on Monday"

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On Episode 143 of This Week In Space, Rod and Tariq are joined by Leonard David to talk about what 2025 has in store for SpaceX's Starship plans.

© TWiT

Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn shine in a January planet alignment, NASA says.

© NASA/JPL-Caltech

SpaceX just stacked its Starship megarocket to prepare for the vehicle's seventh test flight, which is scheduled for Jan. 13.

© SpaceX

Satellite images show destruction caused by huge, fast-moving fires raging this week in Southern California.

© Planet Labs PBC

The powerful Eaton fire has not reached the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, NASA's lead center for robotic planetary exploration.

© NASA/JPL-Caltech

On the night of Jan. 13, the full moon will appear to pass in front of Mars, resulting in an occultation visible from the United States, much of southern and eastern Canada, and West Africa.

© NASA/JPL

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and the historic Mount Wilson Observatory in California appear to be unscathed by the Eaton fire burning through Pasadena and Altadena — for now. However, over 150 JPL employees have lost their homes, said the center’s director Laurie Leshin in a post on X on Friday morning. “Significant devastation inContinue reading "Jet Propulsion Lab and Mount Wilson Observatory closed amid Eaton fire"

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SpaceX's seventh Starship test flight will now launch no earlier than Thursday, Jan. 16, at 5 p.m. EST (2200 GMT).

© SpaceX

Mars will be at perigee, its closest point to Earth, on Sunday, Jan. 12, appearing bigger and brighter in the sky. Here’s how to view the Red Planet at its best for 2025.

© Chris Vaughan/Starry Night

BepiColombo, the current spacecraft studying Mercury, is a joint mission of the European Space Agency and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. Launched October 20, 2018, it’s actually two satellites in one, the Mercury Planetary Orbiter and the Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter, and it will reach its destination in November 2026. To reach its final position, however,Continue reading "BepiColombo nabs its best views yet of Mercury"

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LignoSat's six-month mission will demonstrate whether wood could help reduce the environmental impact of spaceflight in the future.

© NASA/ISS Research via X

Scientists want to know if a tidal disruption event that exploded twice is the result of a star abandoning its binary partner, allowing it to be devoured by a supermassive black hole.

© Robert Lea (created with Canva)

The Panasonic Lumix GH7 is Panasonic's flagship G-series camera with features and functionality covering both professional photo and video capture.

© James Abbott

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched 21 Starlink satellites from Florida today (Jan. 10). It was the 25th mission for the rocket's first stage, a new record.

© SpaceX

The spacecraft themselves continued to operate normally in Earth orbit during the outage and "no science data has been lost."

© SDO