On Episode 97 of This Week In Space, Tariq and Rod discuss the Europa Clipper mission with project scientist Erin Leonard. The moons of the outer solar system have become one of the primary targets of robotic exploration. Previous probes have detected what might be warm, salty oceans below the ice crusts of Saturn’s moon Enceladus and Jupiter’s Europa. NASA’s Europa Clipper will soon be bound for that cold, mysterious world. And Leonard joins us to discuss what to expect and what the hopes for life miles below the ice…
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Our solar system
See SpaceX’s breathtaking launch of NASA’s PACE satellite (photos)
The SpaceX launch of NASA’s newest Earth observation satellite put on a stunning show for photographers. NASA’s PACE mission (short for Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem) lifted off atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Feb. 8, 2024 at 1:33 a.m. EST (0633 GMT). The nighttime launch provided a perfect opportunity for some gorgeous launch photography, as the following snapshots show. Related: SpaceX launches NASA’s PACE satellite to study Earth’s oceans, air and climate (video) Once operational, PACE will…
Read MoreHubble Space Telescope tells a starry ‘tail’ of 12 mingling galaxies
The Hubble Space Telescope has stepped on the tails of 12 interacting galaxies and found them to be studded with the shining diamonds of young star clusters —scientists compare the phenomena to cosmic “strings of pearls.” When spiral galaxies interact, either through direct collision or close encounter, their spiral arms unravel. The gravitational force that a galaxy wields is vast, so when two galaxies become close, the gravitational tides that are raised tug on those spiral arms, pulling them out to form long “tails” that can stretch for many tens…
Read MoreCelestron AstroMaster LT 70AZ beginner telescope is now under $60
The Celestron AstroMaster LT 70AZ refractor telescope is an ideal choice for beginner astronomers and is now on offer for under $60. That’s a saving of over $70 and means those looking to take their first steps into astronomy have a reliable option at a low-risk price. You can get the Celestron AstroMaster LT 70AZ right now for just $59 at Walmart. This telescope offers an all-in-one kit with a discount on an already low price point, so if you’re in the market for someone without much experience, you can’t…
Read MoreThis colossal ‘Martian sunspot’ is so big it was seen from Mars. Now it’s facing Earth (photo & video)
A sunspot so large it was seen from the surface of Mars is now facing Earth. The gargantuan sunspot group AR3576 from end to end stretches for more than 124,274 miles (200,000 kilometers) and contains at least four dark cores each larger than Earth, according to Spaceweather.com. It was imaged by NASA’s Perseverance Rover from the surface of Mars just last week. The sunspot is so big it can be seen from Earth without the need for complex viewing equipment. Just don a pair of certified eclipse glasses and look…
Read MoreWatch terrifying aliens invade Earth in new trailer for ‘A Quiet Place: Day One’ (video)
The long lost art of whispering will certainly be resurrected by panicked survivors in the crazy apocalyptic world of “A Quiet Place: Day One” as this newly-released trailer demonstrates. Paramount’s harrowing preview just crept up on us for the official prequel to 2018’s hit sci-fi thriller, “A Quiet Place,” where audiences followed the Abbott family as they battled against blind alien invaders with hyper-sonic hearing abilities which enabled them to hunt prey by listening for loud lifeforms. This startling origin story hails from filmmaker John Krasinksi, who directed the original…
Read MoreGeminid meteors may be 10 times older than thought, simulations of oddball asteroid Phaethon suggest
The rocks making up the Geminid meteor shower that occurs towards the end of every year may have been born through a chaotic event 18,000 years ago, a new study suggests — potentially making the meteoroids about 10 times older than previously estimated. The Geminid shower is named after the constellation Gemini — the position in the sky from which the meteors seem to appear. But the meteors actually originate from 3200 Phaethon, a bizarre blue asteroid that swings along a watermelon-shaped orbit to come within just 0.14 astronomical units…
Read MoreHere’s what it’s like taking a VR spacewalk with the Canadian Space Agency
MONTREAL, CANADA — My moonwalk was missing the most important thing. I, untrained as a spacewalking astronaut, felt literally lost in space as I fumbled around NASA‘s Gateway station circling the moon. I could see the Earth. Canadarm3 was doing its robotic arm thing right in front of me. I could even peek inside the empty crew modules. Then I finally looked down. There it was. Craters. Lumpy shadows. Goosebumps. The moon in the closeness I had wanted to see since I was a child. Though simulated, the sensation of…
Read MoreDark matter could be gently wobbling space-time around us — and scientists may finally know how to detect it
Scientists may soon be able to detect the most mysterious entity in the universe using a fleet of next-generation satellites, a new theoretical study suggests. Dark matter — a poorly understood substance that does not emit, absorb or reflect light but exerts a clear gravitational influence on other matter — dominates the universe. Despite being more than five times more abundant in space than ordinary matter, dark matter’s composition and properties remain entirely unknown. To address this problem, Hyungjin Kim a theoretical physicist at the German Electron Synchrotron (DESY) accelerator center, proposed searching…
Read MoreSaturn’s ‘Death Star’ moon Mimas may have an ocean scientists never believed could exist
Astronomers have discovered that a tiny moon of Saturn, named Mimas, may harbor a hidden liquid ocean beneath its thick icy shell and may thus have the conditions for habitability. This shocking finding radically changes the definition of what an ocean moon can be, and could ultimately redefine our search for alien life on moons in the solar system. That’s because, at first appearance, Mimas — nicknamed the ‘Death Star‘ because a large crater means it resembles the Empire’s space station in Star Wars — doesn’t look like the kind…
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