This billowing mass of dust filaments and gas tendrils stretching across 100 light-years of space like delicate lace is the Vela supernova remnant — scattered ashes of a star that exploded about 11,000 years ago. The image was acquired by the Dark Energy Camera (DECam), which is mounted on the Victor M. Blanco 4-Meter Telescope at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile. DECam was originally designed to conduct a survey of distant galaxies to measure the strength of dark energy as it accelerates the universe’s expansion and draws those…
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Our solar system
Water-themed plaque to fly on Europa Clipper to Jupiter’s icy ocean moon
A NASA spacecraft dedicated to studying a small ocean world will carry with it a metal plaque etched with the ripples created by the many ways humans say “water.” The Europa Clipper Vault Plate was revealed by NASA on Friday (March 8) at the opening session of the South by Southwest (SXSW) conference in Austin, Texas. Lori Glaze, NASA’s director of planetary science, joined U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón on stage to discuss the intersection of space and art, as well as again hear Limón recite her ode, “In Praise…
Read MoreSpaceX stacks Starship ahead of 3rd test flight (photos)
SpaceX’s latest Starship megarocket is poised for its highly anticipated liftoff. SpaceX has stacked the 400-foot-tall (122 meters) vehicle on the pad at its Starbase site in South Texas, the company announced via X today (March 12). That post also included two photos of the newly stacked Starship, the biggest and most powerful rocket ever built. Stacking is a big step toward launch, which SpaceX has said could occur as soon as Thursday (March 14). Related: SpaceX fuels up massive Starship megarocket in test for 3rd launch (photos) Another shot…
Read MoreA rare nova ignites a ‘new star’ in the sky this year. Here’s how to see it
A nova outburst visible to the naked eye is expected to decorate the night sky this year, offering a rare skywatching opportunity. The star system offering us this opportunity is known as T Coronae Borealis (T CrB). It’s located some 3,000 light-years away from Earth and consists of a red giant star and a white dwarf that orbit each other. When the white dwarf steals enough stellar material from its red giant companion, it ignites a brief flash of nuclear fusion on its surface, triggering what is known as a…
Read MoreWatch Rocket Lab launch a commercial radar-imaging satellite on March 12
Rocket Lab will launch a commercial radar-imaging satellite on Tuesday morning (March 12), and you can watch the action live. An Electron rocket topped with one of Japanese company Synspective’s Strix-3 satellites is scheduled to lift off from Rocket Lab‘s New Zealand launch site on Tuesday during an hour-long window that opens at 10:13 a.m. EDT (1413 GMT; 3:13 a.m. local New Zealand time on March 13). You can watch the event here at Space.com, courtesy of Rocket Lab, or directly via the company’s website. Coverage is expected to start…
Read MoreWatch SpaceX’s Crew-7 astronaut mission for NASA return to Earth March 12 in this free livestream
The four astronauts of SpaceX’s Crew-7 mission will return to Earth early Tuesday morning (March 12), and you can watch their homecoming live. Crew-7’s Dragon capsule, named Endurance, undocked from the International Space Station on Monday (March 11) after the astronauts’ 6.5-month stay on the orbiting laboratory. If all goes according to plan, the spacecraft will splash down off the coast of Florida on Tuesday around 5:50 a.m. EDT (0950 GMT). You can watch the reentry and recovery activities here at Space.com, courtesy of NASA TV. Coverage will begin at…
Read MoreNASA gets $25.4 billion in White House’s 2025 budget request
NASA won’t be getting a big budget boost next year. The White House allocated $25.4 billion to NASA in its federal budget request for fiscal year 2025, which was released today (March 11). That’s a 2% increase over the $24.9 billion the agency is getting for fiscal 2024, an amount that was enacted by Congress just last Friday (March 8). That enacted amount is a substantial cut from the $27.2 billion that the White House requested for the current fiscal year. So there’s certainly no guarantee NASA will get the…
Read MoreSpaceX to launch 23 Starlink satellites from California tonight in 2nd leg of spaceflight doubleheader
SpaceX will launch 23 more of its Starlink internet satellites from California tonight (March 10), in the second leg of a planned spaceflight doubleheader. A Falcon 9 rocket carrying the Starlink spacecraft is scheduled to lift off from Vandenberg Space Force Base during a 3.5-hour window that opens tonight at 10:13 p.m. EDT (0213 GMT on March 11). It will be the second Starlink mission in a little over three hours, if all goes according to plan; the company earlier launched 23 of the broadband craft from Florida’s Space Coast…
Read MoreSpaceX launches 23 Starlink satellites from Florida
SpaceX launched 23 of its Starlink internet satellites from Florida on Sunday (March 10). A Falcon 9 rocket carrying the Starlink spacecraft lifted off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 7:05 p.m. EDT (2305 GMT). Related: Starlink satellite train: How to see and track it in the night sky The first stage of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lands on the droneship “Just Read the Instructions” stationed in the Atlantic Ocean on Sunday, March 10, 2024. (Image credit: SpaceX via X) The Falcon 9’s first stage came back to…
Read MoreBenro Rhino 24C Two Series travel tripod and VX25 head review
Unless you’re lucky enough to live near a dark sky site, most astrophotography sessions involve traveling to those dark sky areas — this could be by car, airplane, train or hiking. Having a lightweight, reliable travel tripod is essential. If this sounds like something you’re missing, let us introduce you to the Benro Rhino travel tripod. Specifications Weight: 3.8 lbs / 1.74kgMaximum payload: 39.7 lbs / 18kgMaximum Height: 66.3-inches / 1.69mFolded length: 19.3-inches / 490mmLeg sections: 4Head: Ball-headAccessory mounts: 3Feet: Rubber or spiky It’s compact and lightweight, made of excellent…
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