This schematic drawing shows how a “metasurface” can generate and focus radially polarized light.Credit: Amir Arbabi/Faraon Lab/Caltech Researchers have created the first ultrathin, flat lens able to focus light just as well as its curved counterparts, potentially enabling big breakthroughs in camera and microscope technology. “These flat lenses will help us to make more-compact and […]
The icy south pole of Mars takes center stage in this amazing close up from a larger photo of the Martian south pole and cratered Hellas Basin region captured by the European Space Agency’s Mars Express orbiter.Credit: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO A newly released photo provides a great look at Mars’ seldom-seen South […]
Imagine beaming a light across millions of kilometres of empty space, all the way back to Earth. ESA’s proposed Asteroid Impact Mission is intended to do just that: demonstrate laser communications across an unprecedented void. To source
The James Webb Space Telescope is scheduled to launch in October of 2018.Credit: NASA Researchers have a new way to rank the life-hosting potential of alien worlds. The “habitability index” metric could help guide the operations of future observatories, such as NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), that will scan exoplanet atmospheres for signs of […]
Human spaceflight and operations image of the week: Nalla, a female peregrine falcon, persuades other birds to nest away from our beautiful deep-space tracking dish To source
A three-hour drive provided an amazing shot of a dazzling meteor for one dedicated astrophotographer. Photographer Thomas Milan took this image of a meteor among the Milky Way stars from Castlepoint, one of his favorite dark sky locations in New Zealand. The photo was captured during the annual Perseid meteor shower in August. “This photo shows […]
Astrophotographer Matt Smith captured this image of the Milky Way near Batesville in South Texas on May 25, 2015.Credit: Matt Smith The Milky Way illuminates a pump jack working at night in Texas. While oil fields through the state are well lit, this landscape shot captures the spectacular night sky. Astrophotographer Matt Smith captured this […]
Uhura flies again: “Star Trek” actress Nichelle Nichols had the chance last month to ride aboard NASA’s Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy, a telescope-bearing Boeing 747 airplane. Nichols, best known for her role as Lt. Uhura on the original “Star Trek,” joined scientists and educators on board the high-flying telescope, called SOFIA. A recent NASA […]
Josh Brost of SpaceX said early reports on the cause of the June 28 Falcon 9 failure — that a strut holding down a helium bottle inside a propellant tank in the rocket’s upper stage broke — “have born out.” – See more at: http://spacenews.com/spacex-wrapping-up-falcon-9-failure-investigation/#sthash.3Bw2hw5u.dpufCredit: NASA TV LAS CRUCES, N.M. — SpaceX expects to complete […]
L to R: Bob Cabana, center director; Jim Green, Ph. D., NASA Planetary Science Division director; Mackenzie Davis, an actress who portrays Mindy Park in “The Martian”; Nicole Stott, a retired NASA astronaut and Chiwetel Ejiofor, an actor who portrays Vincent Kapoor in “The Martian.”Credit: NASA CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. ─ More than 10,000 students from […]
6-year-old Zadie and her father, Tariq, (who happens to be Space.com’s Managing Editor) build LEGO’s 70816 kit; a nice 5-hour rainy day project, here time-lapsed with commentary plus a music video. Spaceship, Spaceship, Spaceship! Credit: @DavidSkyBrody, Producer To source
Space Science Image of the Week: ESA’s BepiColombo, a mission to explore planet Mercury, seen in a different light To source
Artist’s illustration of a supermassive black hole at the heart of a galaxy.Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech If you could hear the stuff that swirls around black holes, superdense white dwarfs and young stars, what would it sound like? Probably like the empty spaces on the radio dial, researchers say. Simone Scaringi, a postdoctoral researcher at the Max […]