Cheops
Dwarf Planet Quaoar has a Ring
Quaoar is one of about 3,000 dwarf planets in our Solar System's Kuiper Belt. Astronomers discovered it in 2002. It's…
Archeologists are Planning to Scan the Great Pyramid of Giza With Cosmic Rays With Such Detail, They Should see Every Hidden Chamber Inside
The Great Pyramid of Giza might be the most iconic structure humans ever built. Ancient civilizations constructed archaeological icons that…
Extreme Tidal Forces Have Deformed an Exoplanet
What an exoplanet shaped like a rugby ball tells us about its composition.
Cheops Finds a World That’s Utterly Alien From Anything We Have in the Solar System
The ESA's CHEOPS (Characterizing Exoplanets Satellite) mission has announced its first discovery. It's called WASP-189 b, and it's a blistering…
Astronomers Estimate There Are 6 Billion Earth-Like Planets in the Milky Way
Six billion Earth-like planets in the Milky Way? If true, that's astounding. But the number needs some context. The Milky…
Here are the First Pictures from CHEOPS
The CHEOPS spacecraft is taking the first tentative steps in its mission. Back on January 29th, the spacecraft opened the…
CHEOPS Just Opened Its Eyes to Start Studying Known Exoplanets, We Should See the First Picture in a Few Weeks
The CHEOPS (CHaracterising ExOPlanets Satellite) spacecraft just opened the cover on its telescope. The spacecraft was launched on December 18th 2019 and…
ESA’s CHEOPS Just Launched. We’re About to Learn a LOT More About Exoplanets
The CHEOPS mission is underway. On December 18th, the exoplanet-studying spacecraft launched from Europe's Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana aboard…
The First Images Are In from Rosetta’s Valentine’s Day Comet Flyby
On Saturday, Feb. 14, the Rosetta spacecraft swooped low over the surface of comet 67P/C-G in the first dedicated close pass…
Rosetta Gets a Peek at Comet 67P’s “Underside”
A particularly dramatic view of comet 67P/C-G due to the angle of solar illumination, this is a mosaic made from…