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Latest by G. Torbet

Webb’s NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) captured this detailed image of SN 1987A (Supernova 1987A). At the center, material ejected from the supernova forms a keyhole shape. Just to its left and right are faint crescents newly discovered by Webb. Beyond them an equatorial ring, formed from material ejected tens of thousands of years before the supernova explosion, contains bright hot spots. Exterior to that is diffuse emission and two faint outer rings. In this image blue represents light at 1.5 microns (F150W), cyan 1.64 and 2.0 microns (F164N, F200W), yellow 3.23 microns (F323N), orange 4.05 microns (F405N), and red 4.44 microns (F444W).

This famous supernova remnant is hiding a secret

Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope have peered into the famous SN 1987A supernova remnant and found something special inside.
Intuitive Machines' Odysseus lander heads to the moon.

U.S. spacecraft lands on the moon for the first time in over 50 years

NASA and the company Intuitive Machines have made a historic landing on the moon, the first landing there by a commercial entity.
Members of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-8 from right to left, NASA astronauts Jeanette Epps, mission specialist; Matthew Dominick, commander; Michael Barratt, pilot; and Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Grebenkin, mission specialist; participate in the Crew Equipment Interface Test at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on Friday, Jan. 12, 2024.

Crew-8 astronauts head into quarantine ahead of Space Station launch

The next set of astronauts due to visit the International Space Station, Crew-8, have entered quarantine ahead of their launch scheduled for early March.
Artist’s impression showing the record-breaking quasar J059-4351.

Nightmare black hole is the brightest object in the universe

A monster black hole has been discovered, and it devours the equivalent mass of our sun every single day.
In an ejection that would have caused its rotation to slow, a magnetar is depicted losing material into space in this artist’s concept. The magnetar’s strong, twisted magnetic field lines (shown in green) can influence the flow of electrically charged material from the object, which is a type of neutron star.

Astronomers are figuring out what causes incredibly bright flashes in space

Some of the oddest cosmic phenomena are short but powerful flashes called fast radio bursts. Now astronomers have observed one before and after it occurred,
The CHAPEA mission 1 crew (from left: Nathan Jones, Ross Brockwell, Kelly Haston, Anca Selariu) exit a prototype of a pressurized rover and make their way to the CHAPEA facility ahead of their entry into the habitat on June 25, 2023.

NASA is looking for volunteers for yearlong simulated Mars mission

If you've ever wanted to visit Mars, then NASA has an offer for you. The agency is running a simulated mission to Mars, and it's looking for volunteers.
This image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope is a relatively close star-forming region known as IRAS 16562-3959.

Hubble spots a massive star forming amid clouds of dust and gas

A stunning new image from the Hubble Space Telescope shows the birth of a new, massive star at around 30 times the mass of our sun.
A view of eight sample trays containing the final material from asteroid Bennu. The dust and rocks were poured into the trays from the top plate of the Touch-and-Go Sample Acquisition Mechanism (TAGSAM) head. 51.2 grams were collected from this pour, bringing the final mass of asteroid sample to 121.6 grams.

NASA has collected a whopping 121 grams of sample from asteroid Bennu

NASA has revealed that its OSIRIS-REx mission delivered 121 grams of material from asteroid Bennu, which is more than twice the mission's goal of 60 grams.
Illustration of a cloudy exoplanet and a disk of debris orbiting a white dwarf star.

James Webb photographs two potential exoplanets orbiting white dwarfs

The James Webb Space Telescope recently imaged two potential exoplanets orbiting around small, cold cores of dead stars called white dwarfs.
The Nova-C lunar lander is encapsulated within the fairing of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in preparation for launch, as part of NASA’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative and Artemis campaign.

How to watch NASA and SpaceX launch a private lunar lander mission this week

This week, Intuitive Machines will launch its first lunar lander to deliver science payloads to the surface of the moon.
An artist's rendition of the NEOWISE spacecraft shows it in orbit above the earth.

One last orbit: how and why NASA kills its own spacecraft

Every mission has an ending, and when NASA spacecraft meet theirs, many will go out in a carefully choreographed blaze of glory.
Galaxy AM 1054-325 has been distorted into an S-shape from a normal pancake-like spiral shape by the gravitational pull of a neighboring galaxy, seen in this Hubble Space Telescope image. A consequence of this is that newborn clusters of stars form along a stretched-out tidal tail for thousands of light-years, resembling a string of pearls. They form when knots of gas gravitationally collapse to create about 1 million newborn stars per cluster.

Hubble spies baby stars being born amid chaos of interacting galaxies

Amid swirling gas and dust pulled by gravitational forces of interacting galaxies, there can be bursts of star formation, creating new generations of stars.
An illustration of Mimas orbiting Saturn.

Saturn’s tiny moon, Mimas, hosts an unexpected ocean beneath an icy shell

Researchers have found evidence of an ocean beneath the icy shell of Saturn's small moon Mimas, making it a prime candidate for habitability research.
Now that Goldstone’s experimental hybrid antenna has proved that both radio and laser signals can be received synchronously by the same antenna, purpose-built hybrid antennas (like the one depicted here in an artist’s concept) could one day become a reality.

NASA talks to spacecraft using both radio and laser communications on one dish

NASA's Deep Space Network, which receives signals from deep space, is experimenting with a hybrid antenna that can receive both radio and laser signals.
NASA’s Plankton, Aerosol, Climate, ocean Ecosystem (PACE) satellite launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket at 1:33 a.m. EST, Feb. 8, 2024, from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. From its orbit hundreds of miles above Earth, PACE will study microscopic life in the oceans and microscopic particles in the atmosphere to investigate key mysteries of our planet’s interconnected systems.

NASA launches PACE satellite to observe Earth’s oceans and atmosphere

NASA has launched its latest Earth-monitoring mission, a satellite that studies the atmosphere and the oceans, as well as their relationship to climate change.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with NASA’s PACE (Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem) spacecraft encapsulated atop is raised to a vertical position at Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on Monday, Feb. 5, 2024. Liftoff of the PACE mission is set for no earlier than 1:33 a.m. EST on Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2024.

How to watch NASA launch its newest ocean and atmosphere observation satellite tonight

NASA's newest mission to observe Earth's atmosphere and oceans, and how these interact with the changing climate, is launching tonight. Here's how to watch.
The SpaceX Dragon Freedom spacecraft carrying four Axiom MIssion 3 astronauts is pictured docked to the space station on Jan. 20, 2024.

How to watch Axiom-3 depart from the ISS on Wednesday

On Wednesday the Axiom-3 crew will depart the International Space Station (ISS), marking the end of the first all-European private mission to the station.
This illustration shows one way that planet TOI-715 b, a super-Earth in the habitable zone around its star, might appear to a nearby observer.

Astronomers discover a super-Earth located in the habitable zone

Astronomers have discovered a type of exoplanet called a "super-Earth" located in the habitable zone of its small star - and it's right in our cosmic backyard.
unistellar telescope

The 5 best telescopes for viewing planets in 2024

We've put together a list of some of the best telescopes for viewing planets and galaxies to help you find the telescope that's right for you.
unistellar

The 5 best telescopes for astrophotography in 2024

If you're interested in both observing and photographing the sky, we've rounded up suggestions for five of the best telescopes for astrophotography.
Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC), Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) mosaic of the Wiechert cluster of lobate scarps (left pointing arrows) near the lunar south pole. A thrust fault scarp cut across an approximately 1-kilometer (0.6-mile) diameter degraded crater (right pointing arrow).

The moon is shrinking, causing moonquakes at the lunar south pole

New research from NASA suggests that the shrinking of the moon over time is causing moonquakes and the formation of faults near its south pole.
The Jezero Crater on Mars, showing a delta where an ancient lake was once located.

Yes, Perseverance is exploring an ancient lake bed but no, it hasn’t found signs of life (yet)

A new study shows exciting results about the Jezero Crater on Mars, but Perseverance hasn't yet found evidence of life on the red planet.
This collection of 19 face-on spiral galaxies from the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope in near- and mid-infrared light is at once overwhelming and awe-inspiring. Webb’s NIRCam (Near-Infrared Camera) captured millions of stars in these images. Older stars appear blue here, and are clustered at the galaxies’ cores. The telescope’s MIRI (Mid-Infrared Instrument) observations highlight glowing dust, showing where it exists around and between stars – appearing in shades of red and orange. Stars that haven’t yet fully formed and are encased in gas and dust appear bright red.

See 19 gorgeous face-on spiral galaxies in new James Webb data

A stunning new set of images from the James Webb Space Telescope shows the variety of forms that exist within spiral galaxies like our Milky Way
Unistellar eQuinox 2 smart telescope in use

The 5 best telescopes for beginners in 2024

Telescopes can be rather pricy, but knowing the exact model and accessories you need can save you valuable time and money. Here are our six favorite telescopes.
This landscape of “mountains” and “valleys” speckled with glittering stars is actually the edge of a nearby, young, star-forming region called NGC 3324 in the Carina Nebula. Captured in infrared light by NASA’s new James Webb Space Telescope, this image reveals for the first time previously invisible areas of star birth.

The 60 best space photos of all time from Nasa, Hubble, and more

From views of Mars to glimpses of distant galaxies, from the Perseverance rover to the James Webb Space Telescope, here are 60 of the best space photos.
CSIRO's ASKAP antennas at the Murchison Radio-astronomy Observatory in Western Australia, 2010.

What it takes to build a next-generation observatory

From rats to snow, building massive scientific instruments in harsh environments requires money, brilliant engineering, and good old-fashioned human sweat.
This is an artist’s conception of the exoplanet GJ 9827d, the smallest exoplanet where water vapour has been detected in its atmosphere. The planet could be an example of potential planets with water-rich atmospheres elsewhere in our galaxy. It is a rocky world, only about twice Earth’s diameter. It orbits the red dwarf star GJ 9827. Two inner planets in the system are on the left. The background stars are plotted as they would be seen to the unaided eye looking back toward our Sun, which itself is too faint to be seen. The blue star at upper right is Regulus, the yellow star at bottom centre is Denebola, and the blue star at bottom right is Spica. The constellation Leo is on the left, and Virgo is on the right. Both constellations are distorted from our Earth-bound view from 97 light-years away.

Small exoplanet could be hot and steamy according to Hubble

Hubble recently identified water vapor in the atmosphere of a small, hot exoplanet.
This map shows the location where the small asteroid 2024 BX1 harmlessly impacted Earth’s atmosphere over Germany, about 37 miles (60 kilometers) west of Berlin, on Jan. 21. A NASA system called Scout predicted the impact time and site within 1 second and about 330 feet (100 meters).

NASA automated system predicts asteroid impact over Germany

NASA recently predicted the impact of a small asteroid which burned up in the atmosphere over Germany, using its impact prediction system, Scout.
NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter unlocked its rotor blades, allowing them to spin freely, on April 7, 2021, the 47th Martian day, or sol, of the mission.

NASA says goodbye to Mars helicopter Ingenuity after an incredible 72 flights

The plucky helicopter Ingenuity has finally come to the end of its mission on Mars due to damage to one of its rotors that occurred during a recent landing.
This new NASA Hubble Space Telescope image showcases a resplendent pair of galaxies known as Arp 140.

Hear the otherworldly sounds of interacting galaxies with this Hubble sonification

Hubble scientists have created a sonification of interacting galaxy pair Arp 140, translating the colors and brightness of the image into sound.
This image from the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope features an H II region in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), a satellite galaxy of our Milky Way. This nebula, known as N79, is a region of interstellar atomic hydrogen that is ionised, captured here by Webb’s Mid-InfraRed Instrument (MIRI).

James Webb snaps a stunning stellar nursery in a nearby satellite galaxy

A stunning new image from the James Webb Space Telescope shows a star-forming region in the nearby galaxy of the Large Magellanic Cloud.
This NASA Hubble Space Telescope image is of the small galaxy known as UGC 5189A.

Hubble captures an exceptionally luminous supernova site

This week's image from the Hubble Space Telescope shows the aftermath of an epic explosion in space, caused by the death of a massive star.
The Ingenuity helicopter is pictured on the surface of Mars.

NASA regains communications with Mars helicopter Ingenuity

Just a few days after losing contact with the Mars helicopter Ingenuity, NASA has announced that it has regained communications with the plucky helicopter.
An illustration of a black hole.

Scientists want your help to search for black holes

Black Hole Hunter invites members of the public to search through data collected by the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite to look for signs of a black hole.