Space

Space and science coverage including asteroids, galaxies, planets, NASA and SpaceX launches.

Yep, a space rock definitely hit the Moon during January’s lunar eclipse

May 1st, 2019

Back in January skywatchers were treated to a gorgeous lunar eclipse that was visible across multiple continents. It made headlines as the “Super Blood Wolf Moon,” which is just a bunch of silly nicknames packed together, but the event was truly special for one specific reason: a meteoroid struck the Moon just as everyone was …

Science

Pluto’s atmosphere might be dying right before our eyes

April 29th, 2019

Mike Wehner

Pluto, the once-planet and now-dwarf-planet, is an incredibly hostile world as far as life is concerned. Pluto, which sits near the edges of the solar system, far from the Sun, is incredibly frigid. Its thin atmosphere, which consists mostly of nitrogen, has persisted despite the rock-bottom temperatures, but new research suggests that trend may changing, …

Science

China pledges to have the first Moon base within a decade

April 25th, 2019

Mike Wehner

The Chinese space agency has spent the first few several months of 2019 exploring the far side of the Moon after being the first nation to successfully perform a soft landing on the half of Earth’s neighbor that we never get to see. It deployed a rover — which is likely nearing the end of …

Science

The Universe is getting bigger at a faster rate than scientists predicted

April 25th, 2019

Mike Wehner

The Universe is growing. Scientists have known as much for decades, but the rate at which it is getting bigger has been the topic of debate, with different measurements pointing to different rates of growth. Now, in an attempt at ruling out anomalies in the data, researchers have solidified their findings and published them in …

Science

This is our first look at the hole Japan blasted into an asteroid

April 25th, 2019

Mike Wehner

Earlier this month, Japan’s space agency JAXA launched an explosive projectile at the space rock known as Ryugu from its Hayabusa2 asteroid probe. Japan wanted to blow a crater into the surface of the rock in order to collect some samples of the material lying underneath, and early observations suggested it nailed its mark as …

Science

Young stars love to destroy planet atmospheres, new study suggests

April 24th, 2019

Mike Wehner

New exoplanet discoveries have been piling up fast in recent years, and whenever astronomers confirm the existence of another planet there’s always an immediate interest in whether or not that planet could support life. For many newly-discovered worlds the answer is a firm “no.” They’re either too hot, too cold, or they’re just big balls …

Science

Hubble enjoyed a colorful view of the Southern Crab Nebula to celebrate 29 years in space

April 24th, 2019

Mike Wehner

The Hubble Space Telescope has provided mankind with some of the most incredible views of space that we’ve ever seen. It’s shown us breathtaking images of distant objects and structures for nearly three decades, and to celebrate the 29th anniversary of its launch NASA took the time to show us some of the best galactic …

Science

NASA’s InSight lander may have just captured a ‘Marsquake’ for the first time

April 23rd, 2019

Mike Wehner

NASA’s Mars rovers have provided breathtaking images from the surface of Mars for many years, but listening to Mars is a whole other story. The InSight lander, which touched down on Mars in late 2018, is designed to listen closely to the inner workings of the planet, and it may have just nailed a huge …

Science

SpaceIL’s lunar lander crashed because of ‘manual command’

April 23rd, 2019

Mike Wehner

It’s now been a couple of weeks since Israel’s first attempt to land on the Moon was met with disaster at the last possible moment. The SpaceIL Beresheet lander crashed onto the Moon after what appeared to be some kind of engine failure in the final moments of approach, but new information is coming to …

Science

NASA plans to study this galactic ‘jellyfish’ with its new James Webb Space Telescope

April 22nd, 2019

Mike Wehner

Galaxies come in many different shapes and sizes, but you’d be hard pressed to find one more interesting than ESO 137-001. What the galaxy lacks in a flashy name it more than makes up for with an eye-catching appearance, looking like some kind of massive jellyfish floating through space. A blurry spiral trailed by long …