Should the Next Big Observatories Be Built on the Moon?
As the next round of giant observatories nears completion, astronomers are starting to ponder what comes next. One exciting location…
DART Had a Surprising Impact on its Target
After NASA's DART mission slammed into asteroid Dimorphous in September 2022, scientists determined the impact caused tons of rock to…
Follow the Fall 2023 Return of Comet 103P Hartley
Catch periodic cosmic interloper 103P Hartley while you can.
Mars Doesn’t Have as Many Minerals as Earth
Earth and Mars are very much alike, but also very different. Among other things, scientists find that Earth is much…
Did a Comet Airburst Destroy a Native American Community?
In 1908, when an object entered the Earth’s atmosphere above the Podkamennaya Tunguska River, it flattened 80 million trees over…
Another New Way to Measure Distance in the Universe: Baryon Acoustic Oscillations
A team of astronomers have developed a new technique that relies on Baryon Acoustic Oscillations to measure cosmic distances.
A Last-Minute Addition to the Solar Orbiter Allows it to See More Deeply into the Sun’s Atmosphere
Spacecraft instruments are highly specialized and can take years to design, build, and test. But a last-minute hack to one…
The Most Distant Galactic Field Lines Ever Seen
Galaxies are surrounded by magnetic field lines, spanning tens of thousands of light-years. These magnetic fields have previously been measured…
China Reveals Its Lunar Lander Design
China has released artist renditions of the spacecraft and lander module that will send the first taikonauts to the Moon.
What’s the Bare Minimum Number of People for a Mars Habitat?
A recent preprint paper examines the minimum number of people required to maintain a feasible settlement on Mars while accounting…