Universe Today
Weekly Space Hangout – Feb. 5, 2016: Dr. Or Graur
What Are The Constellations?
Humans have been looking up at the stars and finding patterns for millennia. Today, there are 88 recognized constellations, each with their own story.
Continue reading
Jupiter Not the Planetary Protector We Thought it Was?
Far from being a deflector shield that protected Earth from comets, a new study shows that Jupiter may have directed planetesimals, with their payload of life-friendly chemicals, into Earth itself.
Continue reading
First Atlas Launch of 2016 Set For Blastoff with Air Force GPS Satellite on Feb. 5 - Watch Live
CAPE CANAVERAL AIR FORCE STATION - The first launch of 2016 from Cape Canaveral, Florida, is poised for blastoff on Friday, Feb. 5, and features a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket carrying a US Air Force payload that will fortify the GPS constellation of navigation satellites that is critically important to military and civilian users on a 24/7 basis.
Continue reading
What Are Alien Megastructures?
The Highest-Resolution Image Ever Seen in Astronomy
This image of a jet of material streaming out of a black hole 900 million light years from Earth, required 16 telescopes working together to capture.
Continue reading
China Shares Stunning New Moon Photos With the World
China has released hundreds of photos from Chang'e 3 lunar lander and Yutu rover.
Continue reading
50 Years Ago We Got Our First Picture from the Moon
Astronomy Cast Ep. 401: Predictions for 2016 and Beyond
A Challenge in Visual Athletics: Hunting the Gegenschein
Hunting the elusive counter glow known as the gegenschein takes sharp eyes, dark skies, persistence and patience. This weekend provides an excellent chance to check this one off your astronomical life list, as the Moon heads toward New phase. Here are our tips on sighting the gegenschein, along with facts, history and more.
Continue reading
Saturn's Rings Continue to Surprise Scientists
A Cataclysmic Collision Formed the Moon, but Killed Theia
The Moon is the first object in space that fascinate us Earthlings, and wondering how it got there is a compelling question.
Continue reading
NASA's Orion Crew Module Backbone Arrives at KSC Aboard Super Guppy for Exploration Mission-1
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER - Looking amazingly like a fish flying across the skies high above the Florida space coast, NASA's unique Super Guppy aircraft loaded with the structural backbone for NASA's next Orion crew module, swooped in for a landing at the Kennedy Space Center on Monday afternoon, Feb. 1.
Continue reading
Carnival of Space #442
Massive Ariane 5 To Launch Giant NextGen Telescope In Dynamic Deployment To L2
The Ariane 5 rocket will carry the James Webb Space Telescope into orbit and send it on its way to L2.
Continue reading
Messier 1 (M1) - The Crab Nebula
The Crab Nebula, or Messier 1 (M1) is a supernova remnant left over when a massive star detonated in 1054 A.D. It's the first of the Messier Objects.
Continue reading
Guide to the Constellations and Messier Objects by Tammy Plotner
We've decided to republish Tammy Plotner's Guide to the Messier Objects and Constellations, starting today with M1 - the Crab Nebula.
Continue reading
What is the Higgs Boson?
Flyover Video of Ceres Shows the Grandeur of Space Exploration
Wow. This video will knock your socks off ... at least it did mine. This new flyover video of Ceres was created using enhanced images taken by the Dawn spacecraft's framing camera.
Continue reading
SpaceX Crew Dragon Conducts Propulsive Hover and Parachute Drop Tests; Videos
On the road to restoring US Human spaceflight from US soil, SpaceX conducted a pair of key tests involving a propulsive hover test and parachute drop test for their Crew Dragon vehicle which is slated to begin human missions in 2017.
Continue reading
Book Review: Lunar and Interplanetary Trajectories
Robin Biesbroek's book "Lunar and Interplanetary Trajectories" will show you some of the tricks of the trade in optimizing missions, whether choosing the best launch system or balancing an orbit about a Lagrange point.
Continue reading
The Orbit of the Planets. How Long Is A Year On The Other Planets?
Here on Earth, a year lasts roughly 365.2 days. But on the other planets in our Solar System, things get a little more complicated...
Continue reading
Weekly Space Hangout – Jan. 29, 2016: Largest Solar System, Future Missions, and Remembering Our Lost Astronauts
Challenges We're Overcoming Following the Challenger Accident
Our Place in the Universe: The Most Detailed Map Yet
A new video shows us in striking detail where we live in the Universe.
Continue reading
Blue Origin Reaches Another Milestone: Reusable Rocket Launches and Lands Safely
Blue Origin reaches an historic milestone as their New Shepard rocket becomes the first successful reusable rocket.
Continue reading
Milky Way with Nearby Constellations by Matt Dieterich
Astrophotographer Matt Dieterich thoughtfully identified all the constellations in this amazing mosaic image of the Milky Way captured from Glacier National Park in Montana in May, 2016.
Continue reading
Lonely But Not Alone: A Planet Orbits its Star at 1 Trillion Kilometres
A recently discovered planet that orbits its star at 1 trillion kilometres raises questions about our understanding of solar system formation.
Continue reading
Opportunity Robustly in Action on 12th Anniversary of Red Planet Touchdown
NASA's world famous Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity continues blazing a daily trail of unprecedented science first's, still swinging her robotic arm robustly into action at a Martian "Mining Zone" on the 12th anniversary of her hair-raising Red Planet touchdown this week, a top rover scientist told Universe Today.
Continue reading
Why Do We Sometimes See a Ring Around the Moon?
Have you ever seen a ring around the Moon in the sky and wondered what causes it? This is a "moon halo", and it's caused by light passing through ice particles suspended in the high atmosphere.
Continue reading
Curiosity Sticks Her Toes in a Martian Sand Dune, Takes a Selfie
While some of us might only be dreaming of sticking our toes in the sand right about now, the Curiosity rover is actually doing so. But it's no vacation for the rover, even though she stopped to take a selfie.
Continue reading
Astronomy Cast Ep. 400: State of the Universe
How Long Would It Take To Travel To The Nearest Star?
Between existing and theoretical technology, it would take a very long time to get to Proxima Centauri, the nearest star. But it is possible...
Continue reading
Snowzilla's East Coast Blast Captured as 'Rare Thundersnow' by Scott Kelly on Station and Moonlit from Suomi Satellite
NEW JERSEY - NASA astronaut Scott Kelly captured a rare display of 'thundersnow' from space as Snowzilla's blast pummeled much of the US East Coast this weekend with two feet or more of blinding snow from the nations' capital to New York City and beyond.
Continue reading
This Road Leads to the Heart of the Milky Way
Stay on this road long enough and you'll reach the heart of the Milky Way, just 26,000 light-years to go.
Continue reading
Monster Blizzard of 2016 Strikes US East Coast, Tracked by NASA and NOAA Satellites
NEW JERSEY- The monstrous 'Blizzard of 2016' predicted by weather forecasters for days has struck a wide swath of the US East Coast from the Gulf coast to the Carolinas to New York and soon into New England, with full fury today, Friday, Jan. 22.
Continue reading
Why Haven't We Heard From All The Aliens? Because They're All Dead!
According to researchers from Australia National University, the reason humanity has found no evidence of alien life may be because it is extinct
Continue reading
Weekly Space Hangout – Jan. 22, 2016: Dr. Stuart Robbins
And Mercury Makes Five: See All Naked Eye Planets in the Sky at Once
A fine meeting of all five naked eye planets greets dawn skywatchers in early February as Mercury, Venus, Mars, Saturn and Jupiter are all visible at once. Watch as the Moon visits all five, and follow the planets through 2016.
Continue reading
NASA Completes Welding on Lunar Orion EM-1 Pressure Vessel Launching in 2018
In a major step towards flight, engineers at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans have finished welding together the pressure vessel for the first Lunar Orion crew module that will blastoff in 2018 atop the agency's Space Launch System (SLS) rocket.
Continue reading
Extinction Alert: Stephen Hawking Says Our Technology Might Wipe Us Out
Astronomers Find Theoretical Evidence for Distant Gas Giant Planet in Our Solar System
The astronomer known worldwide for vigorously promoting the demotion of Pluto from its decades long perch as the 9th Planet, has now found theoretical evidence for a new and very distant gas giant planet lurking way beyond Pluto out to the far reaches of our solar system.
Continue reading
How Long Is A Day On The Other Planets Of The Solar System?
We are all familiar with how long a day is here on Earth. But how long is a day on the other planets of our Solar System?
Continue reading
Lights Out: A Fine Occultation of Aldebaran Spans the Atlantic
Reader images of the January 19th, 2016 occultation of the bright star Aldebaran by the waxing gibbous Moon. the event was visible across North America, the northern Atlantic, and Western Europe. Readers responded with Vines, pics, videos and more!
Continue reading
First Space Zinnia Blooms and Catches Sun's Rays on Space Station
The first Zinnia flower to bloom in space is dramatically catching the sun's rays like we have never seen before - through the windows of the Cupola on the International Space Station (ISS) while simultaneously providing a splash of soothing color, nature and reminders of home to the multinational crew living and working on the orbital science laboratory.
Continue reading
What Is The Plum Pudding Atomic Model?
The Plum Pudding Model, which was devised by J.J. Thompson by the end of the 19th century, was a crucial step in the development of atomic physics
Continue reading
Watch SpaceX Falcon 9 Rocket Almost Stick Droneship Landing, then Tip and Explode; Video
SpaceX came much closer to sticking the landing of their Falcon 9 rocket on a tiny droneship at sea than initially thought, as evidenced by a dramatic video of the latest attempt to recover the booster by making a soft ocean touchdown on Sunday, Jan. 17, after successfully propelling a US-European ocean surveillance satellite to low Earth orbit.
Continue reading
Carnival Of Space #441
Watch the Moon Occult Aldebaran Tuesday Night
Don't miss a fine occultation of the bright star Aldebaran by the waxing gibbous Moon on the evening of Tuesday, January 19th, visible across North America and the UK/western Europe.
Continue reading
NASA Jason-3 Sea Level Rise Reconnaissance Satellite Successfully Blasts off on SpaceX Falcon 9; Hard Landing on Barge
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket successfully launched the NASA/NOAA/European Jason-3 sea level rise reconnaissance satellite a short while ago today, Sunday, Jan. 17, from Vandenberg Air Force Base into a polar orbit around the Earth.
Continue reading