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Saturn makes closest approach to Earth. What to know for Saturn season

Saturn makes closest approach to Earth. What to know for Saturn season

Saturn will soon make its closest approach to the Earth for the year. This event will happen on Oct. 4 when Saturn will be 784 million miles away.

James Webb Space Telescope Reveals Mysterious Changes in Chariklo's Rings

James Webb Space Telescope Reveals Mysterious Changes in Chariklo's Rings

New observations from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) indicate mysterious changes in the rings surrounding Chariklo, a 'centaur' object located between Saturn and Uranus. Chariklo, approximately 400 miles in diameter, is a unique celestial body exhibiting characteristics of both asteroids and comets. Its rings were first discovered in 2013, marking it as the first small solar system body known to possess such a feature. Subsequent ground-based observations were made in 2014 and 2017. However, a JWST study published on September 9 in the journal Science Advances, based on 2022 observations, revealed significant differences over the past decade. Specifically, the inner ring of Chariklo shows a significantly higher opacity, while the outer ring exhibits lower opacity, a finding that challenges previous understandings of these ring systems.

NASA's LRO Discovers 'Once-in-a-Century' Moon Crater, Reveals Surface Changes

NASA's LRO Discovers 'Once-in-a-Century' Moon Crater, Reveals Surface Changes

NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) has identified the largest newly formed crater ever found in the solar system on the Moon’s eastern edge. Named McGetchin crater after pioneering lunar scientist Tom McGetchin, it formed between April 11 and May 22, 2024, when a comet or asteroid, estimated to be the size of a three- to six-story building, impacted the lunar surface. The crater measures 728 feet wide and 141 feet deep. Robert Wagner, an image-processing specialist with Intuitive Machines working with LROC data, discovered the crater during a routine data-quality check by comparing before and after images of the Moon. Scientists estimate that an impact of this magnitude occurs on the Moon approximately once a century or even less frequently. Further observations using LRO’s thermal instrument, Diviner, revealed a 4-mile-wide area around the crater that is about 16 degrees Fahrenheit cooler at night than its surroundings. This cooling effect is attributed to the impact fluffing up the regolith, makin...

Hubble Space Telescope's Orbit Decaying, Faces Uncontrolled Reentry Risk

Hubble Space Telescope's Orbit Decaying, Faces Uncontrolled Reentry Risk

The Hubble Space Telescope's orbit is steadily decaying due to atmospheric drag, raising concerns about an uncontrolled reentry into Earth's atmosphere. Unlike many modern spacecraft, Hubble was not designed with station-keeping thrusters or the ability to steer itself for a controlled deorbit. The drag on the telescope, which is roughly the size of a school bus, is influenced by solar activity; increased solar extreme ultraviolet and 10.7 cm radio flux cause the thermosphere to swell, increasing density at Hubble's altitude and accelerating its descent. While the telescope has undergone reboosts in the past by Space Shuttles, the last such mission was in 2002. NASA has not approved further reboosts, despite proposals such as one involving a Crew Dragon. The current rate of decay suggests an uncontrolled reentry could occur within the next decade if no action is taken. The website 'Hubble Reentry Tracker' monitors the telescope's altitude daily, providing real-time data on its orbital decay.

NASA spacecraft discovers a huge new crater on the moon

NASA spacecraft discovers a huge new crater on the moon

Scientists have discovered a crater on the moon that's bigger than the Roman Colosseum, the result of a powerful impact two years ago

New Research Indicates Mercury Has Shrunk More Than Previously Estimated

New Research Indicates Mercury Has Shrunk More Than Previously Estimated

Recent studies, utilizing improved maps and data from the MESSENGER mission, suggest that the planet Mercury has contracted significantly more than earlier estimates. The new data indicates a shrinkage of up to 14.5 miles in diameter, which is 10 to 30 percent greater than previous figures ranging from 2.5 to 10 miles. This contraction is primarily attributed to the ongoing cooling of Mercury's interior, specifically its iron core. As the core cools, the entire planet uniformly contracts, causing the outer rocky layers to buckle, crumple, and crack, forming tectonic features like scarps and ridges across its surface. The previous underestimation of shrinkage was partly due to Mercury's rough terrain, where impact debris obscured some of these contraction features. Lead author Gaku Nishiyama, a planetary scientist at the German Aerospace Center (DLR) Institute of Space Research, and his team compared global maps of Mercury’s surface roughness with maps of its contraction structures to arrive at these update...

A new discovery could rewrite how Earth was born

A new discovery could rewrite how Earth was born

A surprising new study challenges long-held theories about Earth's formation, suggesting our planet was built entirely from local, inner Solar System materials.

Starship is due to fly again from Texas as SpaceX eyes major milestone

Starship is due to fly again from Texas as SpaceX eyes major milestone

The primary objective of SpaceX's next Starship flight is for the world's largest rocket to reach orbit for the first time in three years of tests.

Hubble Telescope Discovers First Extragalactic Globular Cluster Stellar Stream, Aids Dark Matter Mapping

Hubble Telescope Discovers First Extragalactic Globular Cluster Stellar Stream, Aids Dark Matter Mapping

The Hubble Space Telescope has provided the strongest evidence to date for a globular cluster stellar stream located beyond the Milky Way galaxy. This discovery involves a narrow ribbon of stars observed next to the ultra-diffuse galaxy UGC 9050-Dw1, situated approximately 115 million light-years away. Researchers, led by Julie Kiel Holm, described this feature, named Oyashio, in a peer-reviewed Nature paper. The stream appears to originate from a compact object, likely a globular cluster being torn apart by the host galaxy's tidal forces. The observation was independently confirmed using images from both the Hubble Space Telescope and the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope. This finding is significant because streams created by disrupted globular clusters are much narrower than those from dwarf galaxies, providing a unique 'test particle' to study the gravitational fields of distant galaxies.

James Webb Space Telescope Detects Changes in Chariklo's Rings, Prompting Reevaluation of Ring Stability Theories

James Webb Space Telescope Detects Changes in Chariklo's Rings, Prompting Reevaluation of Ring Stability Theories

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has observed significant changes in the two rings surrounding Chariklo, a small celestial body orbiting the Sun between Saturn and Uranus. According to observations reported by Space.com, the inner ring of Chariklo has become noticeably more opaque, while its outer ring has simultaneously become less opaque. Chariklo, approximately 250 kilometers in diameter, is classified as a centaur and is unique for possessing a ring system despite its small size. A team of scientists, led by researchers from the Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia IAA-CSIC, initiated these observations with the Webb telescope in October 2022. The astronomers utilized the stellar occultation method, which involves measuring the dimming of a star's light as Chariklo passes in front of it, to gather detailed data. These recent findings were then compared with previous stellar occultation observations conducted over the past decade.

New Study Suggests Mercury Shrank Significantly More Than Previously Estimated

New Study Suggests Mercury Shrank Significantly More Than Previously Estimated

A new study indicates that Mercury, the smallest planet in our solar system, may have shrunk by as much as 7.2 miles (11.6 kilometers) in radius, which is up to 30% more than previous estimates. Scientists, led by Dr. Gaku Nishiyama of the German Aerospace Center (DLR), suggest that Mercury's heavily cratered surface has concealed a substantial portion of the faults created as the planet cooled and contracted over billions of years. The study, published in Geophysical Research Letters, found that tectonic structures, which are indicators of planetary contraction, were preferentially identified in smoother terrains, while rougher, heavily cratered regions contained fewer detectable structures. This suggests that older structures might have been hidden under impact material or become difficult to discern against the rough topography, leading to an underestimation of the planet's overall shrinkage.

Mercury Shrinking Faster Than Previously Estimated, New Research Reveals

Mercury Shrinking Faster Than Previously Estimated, New Research Reveals

New research from scientists at the German Aerospace Center’s (DLR) Institute of Space Research indicates that the planet Mercury is shrinking at a faster rate than previously estimated. The planet, already the smallest in our solar system, has lost up to 14.5 miles in total diameter since its formation billions of years ago. This revised rate is 10 to 30 percent more than earlier calculations. Scientists suggest that debris from impact craters may have obscured the true extent of this accelerated shrinking. The process is largely attributed to Mercury losing heat, causing its outer layer of hard rock to resist deflation and form cracks and wrinkles on its surface. These surface features, including steep cliffs (scarps) and ridges, have made it challenging to accurately assess the overall shrinkage. By aggregating previous maps of Mercury's surface, the team found that rougher areas had fewer wrinkles, implying that impact debris was concealing shortening structures. The European Space Agency and Japan Aer...