The luminous, hot star Wolf-Rayet 124 (WR 124) as seen by the James Webb Space Telescope. (Image credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Webb ERO Production Team) Every star ages, but astronomers rarely get to watch it happen in real time. Now, they’ve gotten a front-row seat to the aging of an unusually chaotic star — and found that it’s headed toward a spectacularly violent death. The star, located in the nearby Triangulum galaxy (also known as Messier 33), is in the middle of a transition into a class of highly…
Read MoreMonth: June 2023
Catch a glimpse of the half-lit moon in its third quarter phase today
The moon will be half-lit tonight as it reaches its third quarter phase. This phase, also known as the last quarter, marks the halfway point between the full moon and the next new moon which will occur on June 18. From New York City, the half moon will rise early in the first hours after midnight on Saturday (June 10) and will unfortunately set around midday, making this third quarter moon best for morning observations. The new moon will be joined in the sky by the ringed gas giant Saturn…
Read MoreHow do Mars rocks and riverbeds get their names? NASA explains (video)
NASA’s Mars rovers Curiosity and Perseverance are exploring uncharted territory — which means their mission teams have to come up with lots of names to fill the new maps they’re putting together. Monikers have been supplied for thousands of sizable geological features on Mars, like hills, mountains, dry river beds and craters, as happens here on Earth as well. But NASA scientists also name much more diminutive features on the Red Planet, christening objects from large boulders down to tiny pebbles. Naming a pebble here on Earth would be seen…
Read MoreChina wants to launch a moon-orbiting telescope array as soon as 2026
China wants to put a small constellation of satellites in orbit around the moon to create a radio telescope that would open a “new window” into the universe. The array would consist of one “mother” satellite and eight mini “daughter” craft. The mother would process data and communicate with Earth, and the daughters would detect radio signals from the farthest reaches of the cosmos, Xuelei Chen, an astronomer at the China National Space Administration (CNSA), said at the Astronomy From the Moon conference held earlier this year in London. Putting…
Read More‘Marvel Anatomy’ takes you inside your favorite aliens and superheroes
“Marvel Anatomy: A Scientific Study of the Superhuman” showcases more than 100 revealing portraits of some of Marvel’s brightest and baddest comic book characters fortified with illuminating insights into these extraordinary icons’ unnatural powers. Last fall, Insight Editions published the cross-section collection wrapped in a Black Panther storyline and bolstered by superb medical illustrations from artist Jonah Lobe (“Skyrim,” “Fallout”). Now a new 232-page hardcover Collector’s Edition of this eye-opening examination of Marvel’s mighty roster of caped heroes and vile villains just dropped this week with a $200 pricetag worth…
Read MoreNASA astronauts deploy 5th roll-out solar array on spacewalk outside space station (video)
Two NASA astronauts successfully installed and deployed a new solar array outside the International Space Station (ISS) during the latest in a series of spacewalks focused on upgrading the orbiting laboratory’s power supply. Stephen Bowen and Warren “Woody” Hoburg, crewmates on the station’s current Expedition 69 mission, spent 6 hours and 3 minutes performing the extravehicular activity (EVA) on Friday (June 9). The two switched their spacesuits to battery power and began their exit from the U.S. Quest airlock at 9:25 a.m. EDT (1325 GMT). As on past spacewalks (with…
Read MoreSpace Station Science Highlights: Week of June 5, 2023
Crew members aboard the International Space Station conducted scientific investigations during the week of June 5 that included measuring particles in the station’s air, using code written by students to control free-flying robots, and growing protein crystals that could be used to develop new pharmaceuticals.
Read MoreSystems Engineering Supervisor Amy Lendian
“So here I am, a transgender woman, an engineer, working at Kennedy Space Center, and I get to work around these really smart, wonderful people, supporting the Artemis mission, sitting in the control room during the launch.” — Amy Lendian, Systems Engineering Supervisor, Amentum Spaceport, NASA’s Kennedy Space Center
Read MoreHubble Observes a Cosmic Sea Creature
The jellyfish galaxy JO206 trails across this image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope.
Read MoreGalaxy group blasts out record-breaking tail of hot gas after gobbling up neighbor (video)
A monstrously large cluster of galaxies is devouring a nearby smaller galactic grouping, causing it to blast out a record-breaking tail of hot gas from its rear. At 1.5 million light-years-long, the tail is the largest tendril of gas ever seen emerging from a galactic group. Astronomers had previously seen the tail behind NGC 4839 but had estimated it to be just around one million light-years long, a size more in keeping with the gas tails seen around other similar events that tend to be between 800,000 and one million…
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