Planets Galore: How to See Uranus, Mercury, Jupiter and Mars
Sometimes a whole bunch of different sky events happen over a very short period, giving skywatchers a chance to witness many unusual events in a few days. The next week or two is a case in point, with Uranus, Mercury, Jupiter and Mars are making notable appearances in the night sky. First, the planet Uranus […]
China's Space Station Planners Put Out Welcome Mat
JERUSALEM — China is soliciting international participation in its future manned space station in the form of foreign modules that would attach to the three-module core system, visits by foreign crew-transport vehicles for short stays and the involvement of non-Chinese researchers in placing experiments on the complex, the chief designer of China’s manned space program […]
Did Comets Spark Alien Life in Europa's Oceans?
Artist’s impression of an impact event on Jupiter’s moon Europa.Credit: NASA/JPL-CALTECH If alien life swims in the ocean beneath Europa’s icy surface, it might have got its start from comets cracking the icy shell to deliver vital pre-life ingredients, say researchers. New simulations show that a specific family of comets have the mass, velocity and […]
Amazing Jupiter Video Shows Slowing Shrinkage of the Great Red Spot
Jupiter’s trademark Great Red Spot may be shrinking, but it’s not going down without a fight. Amazing new maps of the Jupiter by the Hubble Space Telescope reveal that the Great Red Spot, a massive storm about twice the diameter of Earth, is slowing the speed at which it shrinks. The Jupiter maps, first in […]
Inky Coalsack Nebula Smudges Milky Way in Striking New Views
The enormous, inky smudges of the Coalsack nebula blot out a patch of the brilliant Milky Way in a new image from the European Southern Observatory (ESO) — but someday, that murky realm will burst into light. You can see a video tour of the Coalsack nebula here , incorporating the new image. The view […]
NASA Picks New Rocket Rides to Launch Small Satellites
NASA has approved a mission called Lunar IceCube, which will send a 6U cubesat to hunt for water ice on the moon.Credit: Morehead State University Tiny satellites won’t have to hitchhike their way to space for much longer. NASA has awarded a total of $17.1 million to three companies to launch miniscule cubesats, which to […]
At Icy Saturn Moon Enceladus, Cassini Begins Final Close Encounters
An artist’s illustration of NASA’s Cassini spacecraft flying by Saturn’s icy moon Enceladus. Cassini is making its final close flybys of Enceladus in 2015.Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech NASA’s Cassini spacecraft has spent a decade studying Saturn and its family of moons. With the mission set to end in 2017, the probe has been busy gathering as much […]
Jupiter's Great Red Spot Is Shrinking
Capturing one full 10 hour planetary rotation with the Hubble Space Telescope shows changes in the gas giant’s atmosphere. Seeing such worlds transform over many years teaches us how dynamic planets work. They are also simply beautiful, natural works of art. Credit: Space.com / NASA / ESA / STScI To source
Coronal Hole Front and Center
The dark area across the top of the sun in this image is a coronal hole, a region on the sun where the magnetic field is open to interplanetary space. To source
Coronal Hole Front and Center
The dark area across the top of the sun in this image is a coronal hole, a region on the sun where the magnetic field is open to interplanetary space. To source
Sooty Cosmic Cloud Will Ignite Bright Stars
RECOMMENDED VIDEOS FOR YOU SHOWS AUTHOR BIO Dave Brody Dave Brody has been a writer and Executive Producer at SPACE.com since January 2000. He created and hosted space science video for Starry Night astronomy software, Orion Telescopes and SPACE.com TV. A career space documentarian and journalist, Brody was the Supervising Producer of the long running […]
Jupiter's changing spot
Looking into Jupiter’s turbulent atmosphere and its famous Great Red Spot with the Hubble telescope To source
Colliding Galaxies Shock Particle Cloud Back to Life
Astronomers have found evidence that a collision between two galaxy clusters sent shock waves through a once brightly radiating cloud of electrons, bringing the cloud back to life. Scientists are referring to the resurrected cloud as a “radio phoenix,” named after the mythical bird that is reborn from its ashes, because the high-energy electrons within […]