Matt Williams
Next Generation Ion Engines Will Be Extremely Powerful
During the Space Race, scientists in both the United States and the Soviet Union investigated the concept of ion propulsion.…
Hubble Has Accidentally Discovered Over a Thousand Asteroids
The venerable Hubble Space Telescope is like a gift that keeps on giving. Not only is it still making astronomical…
Will We Know if TRAPPIST-1e has Life?
The search for extrasolar planets is currently undergoing a seismic shift. With the deployment of the Kepler Space Telescope and…
The Solar Wind is Stripping Oxygen and Carbon Away From Venus
The BepiColombo mission, a joint effort between JAXA and the ESA, was only the second (and most advanced) mission to…
You Can't Know the True Size of an Exoplanet Without Knowing its Star's Magnetic Field
In 2011, astronomers with the Wide Angle Search for Planets (WASP) consortium detected a gas giant orbiting very close to…
Stellar Winds Coming From Other Stars Measured for the First Time
An international research team led by the University of Vienna has made a major breakthrough. In a study recently published…
Formation-Flying Spacecraft Could Probe the Solar System for New Physics
It's an exciting time for the fields of astronomy, astrophysics, and cosmology. Thanks to cutting-edge observatories, instruments, and new techniques,…
Here's the Total Solar Eclipse, Seen From Space
On Monday, April 8th, people across North America witnessed a rare celestial event known as a total solar eclipse. This…
The World's Largest Digital Camera is Complete. It Will Go Into the Vera Rubin Observatory
The Vera C. Rubin Observatory, formerly the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST), was formally proposed in 2001 to create an…
Webb Sees a Galaxy Awash in Star Formation
Since it began operations in July 2022, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has fulfilled many scientific objectives. In addition…