“The Value of the Moon: How to Explore, Live and Prosper in Space Using the Moon’s Resources.” Credit: Paul Spudis/Smithsonian Books Should NASA, along with other spacefaring nations and private companies, try to establish a continuous human presence on the moon? Should the moon take priority over a human mission to Mars? In his new […]
An artist’s conception depicts Kepler-62e, a super-Earth planet in the habitable zone of a star smaller and cooler than the sun, located about 1,200 light-years from Earth in the constellation Lyra. Credit: NASA/Ames/JPL-Caltech. Kepler-62e is an exoplanet believed to be a water world, orbiting at about the equivalent distance of Mercury in its planetary system […]
Artist’s illustration of NASA’s planet-hunting Kepler observatory in space. Credit: NASA NASA officials will announce the planet-hunting Kepler space telescope’s latest discoveries at a news conference today (May 10). It’s unclear what, exactly, Kepler has found; a media advisory about the news conference didn’t give any specific clues. You can find out by listening to […]
An artist’s conception shows the MESSENGER spacecraft in orbit around Mercury. Credit: NASA MESSENGER was the first orbital mission around Mercury. More properly known as the MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging mission, the more than 1,000-pound spacecraft checked out the sun’s closest planetary neighbor and beamed back pictures as well as information about […]
Mercury will cross the sun’s face from Earth’s perspective Monday (May 9) for the first time since 2006, and the last until 2019. <img class=”pure-img” big-src=”http://www.space.com/images/i/000/055/327/original/Widget-Solar-Filter.jpg?1462779493?interpolation=lanczos-none&downsize=*:1400″ src=”http://www.space.com/images/i/000/055/327/i01/Widget-Solar-Filter.jpg?1462779493?interpolation=lanczos-none&downsize=192:*” alt=”Safely observe this transit with high quality solar filters. Shop now! “/> Credit: Space.com Store You can watch the 7.5-hour Mercury transit first-hand through a telescope, provided you […]
“The Value of the Moon: How to Explore, Live and Prosper in Space Using the Moon’s Resources.” Credit: Paul Spudis/Smithsonian Books Paul D. Spudis is a senior staff scientist at the Lunar and Planetary Institute in Houston, Texas. His research focuses on the processes of impact and volcanism on the planets and studies of the […]
This scarf lets you wrap yourself in a piece of space-exploration history with the very first color image taken of Earth from space. It is part of a series of scarves made using freely available NASA photos. Credit: Slow Factory Want to wrap yourself in the cosmos? Now you can: The newest collection of limited-edition silk […]
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NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory took this image near the end of the May 9 Mercury Transit. Mercury is visible on the sun’s far right. Credit: NASA/SDO, HMI, and AIA science teams Citizen skywatchers, amateur astronomers and scientists alike looked skyward today (May 9) to see Mercury pass across the face of the sun, an event […]
The MODIS instrument aboard NASA’s Terra satellite captured this image of the Fort McMurray wildfire on May 8, 2016. Credit: NASA Goddard MODIS Rapid Response Team Newly released satellite images capture the massive scale of the wildfire rampaging through Canada’s Alberta province. The Fort McMurray wildfire has consumed a huge swathe of Alberta forest, and […]
Tomorrow, (May 9) Mercury will pass directly across the face of the sun — an event that won’t happen again until 2019. If you’re not able to watch the event live, there are a multiple ways to follow the action online. <img class=”pure-img” big-src=”http://www.space.com/images/i/000/055/325/original/Widget-Solar-Filter.jpg?1462720692?interpolation=lanczos-none&downsize=*:1400″ src=”http://www.space.com/images/i/000/055/325/i01/Widget-Solar-Filter.jpg?1462720692?interpolation=lanczos-none&downsize=192:*” alt=”Safely observe this transit with high quality solar filters. Shop […]
This photo of the November 2006 transit of Mercury shows the rocky planet as a clean-edged disc in the lower hemisphere of the sun. Sunspots can also be seen near the right and left edges of the sun. Credit: TheBrockenInAGlory Amateur astronomer and retired chemistry teacher Patricia Totten Espenak has published a book about the […]
Mercury’s rare passage across the face of the sun on Monday, May 9, should be an exciting event for skywatchers and scientists alike. The planet’s pass across Earth’s nearest star may provide information about its thin atmosphere, assist in the hunt for worlds around other stars, and help NASA hone some of its instruments. <img […]