A composite image of Pluto created using data from NASA’s New Horizons mission. (Image credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute) Pluto is geologically alive. Bizarre geometric shapes first spotted on the dwarf planet’s surface in 2015 are indications that a process called sublimation is ongoing, a new study suggests. A fresh model indicates that the polygonal nitrogen ice on Pluto — spotted by NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft during a flyby — froze directly from vapor, rather than passing through a liquid state in between. Lead author Adrien…
Read MoreMonth: December 2021
This Week’s Sky at a Glance, December 17 – 25
Dramatic Venus is becoming a dramatically thinner, larger crescent the southwestern twilight. A few people can even resolve the crescent naked-eye. Saturn and Jupiter stay lined up behind it. And the bright winter constellations officially come into their own with the turning of the solstice. The post This Week's Sky at a Glance, December 17 – 25 appeared first on Sky & Telescope.
Read MoreTwo Astronauts Receive Assignments for NASA’s SpaceX Crew-6 Mission
NASA has assigned two crew members to launch on the agency’s SpaceX Crew-6 mission – the sixth crew rotation flight aboard a Crew Dragon spacecraft to the International Space Station.
Read MoreReflections of Starlight
This Hubble Space Telescope image captures a portion of the reflection nebula IC 2631, which contains a protostar, the hot, dense core of a forming star that is accumulating gas and dust.
Read MoreLong Focal Length Telescopes for Astrophotography
Long focal length scopes are usually discouraged for beginner deep sky astrophotography, but solar system imagers need that extra focal length reach. The post Long Focal Length Telescopes for Astrophotography appeared first on Sky & Telescope.
Read MoreHoliday sale: Save up to 39% on All About Space magazine, plus read a free issue here
Hey Space fans! If you love Space.com, then do we have a special treat for you. Our sister publication All About Space is offering a free look at their print magazine and savings of up to 39% on subscriptions in our Christmas sale. All About Space is a monthly magazine dedicated to bringing the wonder of space down to Earth. In addition to in-depth articles (including some by our own Space.com team), you’ll find detailed maps, space offers and dazzling images and illustrations of space discoveries and missions. Get Christmas all wrapped…
Read MoreNASA’s Perseverance rover finds organic chemicals on Mars
NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover has found life’s building blocks on the Red Planet. Perseverance has identified carbon-containing organic chemicals in some of the rocks it has examined on the floor of Mars’ Jezero Crater, mission team members announced on Wednesday (Dec. 15). To be clear: This is not a detection of Mars life. Organics can be produced by both biological and non-biological means, and more work is needed to figure out what processes generated the Jezero compounds. Related: NASA’s Perseverance rover mission to Mars in photos Perseverance won’t have to…
Read MoreNASA’s Mars helicopter Ingenuity passes 30 minutes of total air time
The first Martian drone has reached the 30 minute air time mark. After a 117-second Mars sortie on Dec. 5, the total flight time for the Ingenuity helicopter is 30 minutes and 48 seconds after 17 total flights, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory said in a statement on Wednesday (Dec. 15). There was a delay in releasing the results due to a technical glitch, JPL noted, due to an “unexpected cutoff to the in-flight data stream as the helicopter descended toward the surface at the conclusion of its flight.” Related: Watch…
Read MoreWhat Will the James Webb Space Telescope Uncover?
The soon-to-be-launched James Webb Space Telescope should shed light on exoplanet atmospheres and peer back to the universe’s first stars. The post What Will the James Webb Space Telescope Uncover? appeared first on Sky & Telescope.
Read MoreEugene Parker Watches the Liftoff of the Mission Named in His Honor
Dr. Eugene Parker (seated), a pioneer in heliophysics, watches the liftoff of the mission named in his honor.
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