This image taken with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope depicts the open star cluster NGC 330, which lies around 180,000 light-years away inside the Small Magellanic Cloud.
Read MoreMonth: July 2021
SpaceX rolls giant Super Heavy rocket to launch pad for testing (video)
SpaceX is getting ready to test its giant new rocket for the first time. The first true Super Heavy booster was rolled out of its high bay to a launch pad Thursday (July 1) at SpaceX’s Starbase site in South Texas. The 230-foot-tall (70 meters) Super Heavy is the first stage of SpaceX’s fully reusable Starship transportation system, which the company is developing to help humanity colonize Mars, among other tasks. The upper stage is a 165-foot-tall (50 m) spacecraft called Starship, a prototype of which aced a 6.2-mile-high (10…
Read MoreQueen Elizabeth II reviews Spire’s Earth-observing satellites in Glasgow (photos)
Queen Elizabeth II got a first-hand look at the benefits of satellite data in the battle against climate change during a visit to the Glasgow home of the Earth imagery company Spire this week. The visit, which took place during a string of engagements in Scotland by the Queen, saw the monarch accompanied by her daughter Princess Anne, according to a statement released by Spire. The two spoke to Spire’s vice president of engineering and space services Joel Spark, to learn how data from Spire’s constellation of more than 110…
Read MoreSpace miners may use rockets to harvest the moon’s water ice (video)
Rockets may help humanity explore the solar system in more ways than one. Three companies — Masten Space Systems, Lunar Outpost and Honeybee Robotics — are developing a new system that would use rockets to mine water ice on the moon. Water ice is thought to be abundant in the moon’s polar regions, especially on the permanently shadowed floors of some craters. Harvesting this resource is crucial to establishing a permanent human presence on the moon, NASA officials and exploration advocates say, and not just because it will help keep…
Read MoreThis Week’s Sky at a Glance, July 2 – 10
Bright Venus and faint little Mars close in on each other low in the western twilight. Scorpius, laden with interesting stars and deep-sky targets, is highest in the south right after dark. Sagittarius, even richer, follows behind. Saturn and Jupiter rise in late evening. The post This Week's Sky at a Glance, July 2 – 10 appeared first on Sky & Telescope.
Read MoreNoctilucent Cloud Show, a Mercurial Nova, and More
Summer only lasts so long. Like everything, it’s transient. That will be our theme as we explore wispy noctilucent clouds, a nova that can’t sit still, and a supernova in NGC 5427 in Virgo. The post Noctilucent Cloud Show, a Mercurial Nova, and More appeared first on Sky & Telescope.
Read MoreFreeze Drying, Oral Health Experiments Make Speedy Return from Space Station Aboard SpaceX Dragon
A suite of International Space Station scientific experiments soon journey back to Earth aboard the 22nd SpaceX commercial resupply services mission for NASA.
Read MoreReturn of the Star Parties
As many states roll back COVID restrictions, stargazers across the continent are excited to meet up with old and new friends at their favorite observing sites. The post Return of the Star Parties appeared first on Sky & Telescope.
Read MoreChandra Turns Up the Heat in the Milky Way Center
This 2004 image was produced by combining a dozen Chandra observations made of a 130 light-year region in the center of the Milky Way.
Read MoreJuly: Inner Planets Rule!
True darkness is fleeting in July, especially at higher latitudes. So make the most of the darkness you have, by downloading our narrated Sky Tour podcast to “what’s up” in the night sky. The post July: Inner Planets Rule! appeared first on Sky & Telescope.
Read More