space

‘World’s Clearest Picture Of The Moon’s Craters’ Is Captured By A Californian Astrophotographer

A photographer has taken the world’s clearest pictures of the moon’s craters by combining multiple shots of the lunar line where light meets dark. Californian-based astrophotographer Andrew McCarthy stacked thousands of pictures together over lunar phases to show the moon’s surface in all its glory. The lunar enthusiast took two weeks’ worth of frames of the waxing moon – as the am

Solar Winds Hitting Earth Are Hotter Than They Should Be, And We May Finally Know Why

Our planet is constantly bathed in the winds coming off the blistering sphere at the centre of our Solar System. But even though the Sun itself is so ridiculously hot, once the solar winds reach Earth, they are hotter than they should be - and we might finally know why. We know that particles making up the plasma of the Sun's heliosphere cool as they spread out. The problem is that they seem to

Mesmerising Video Shows The View if You Could See Earth And The Moon at The Same Time

As humans stuck on an orbiting planet, we're somewhat limited by our point of view. Looking up at the night sky, we can see our closest neighbour, the Moon, shining back at us, but have you ever wondered what we must look like from our satellite? Planetary scientist James O'Donoghue has now held up a mirror for us all to see the truth. Using real NASA imagery and positional data along with l

Astronomers Find a Beautiful Six-Planet System in Almost Perfect Orbital Harmony

By now, we have discovered hundreds of stars with multiple planets orbiting them scattered throughout the galaxy. Each one is unique, but a system orbiting the star HD 158259, 88 light-years away, is truly special. The star itself is about the same mass and a little larger than the Sun - a minority in our exoplanet hunts. It's orbited by six planets: a super-Earth and five mini-Neptunes. Aft

Astronomers Find First-Ever Collision of Black Holes With a Strange Mass Discrepancy

Just over a year ago, on 12 April 2019, the LIGO-Virgo collaboration made a detection of gravitational waves, rippling out across space-time from the epic collision of two black holes from 2.4 billion light-years away. By now, marvellously, this is nothing out of the ordinary in and of itself. But, as astronomers have now revealed, the actual GW 190412 collision was something we have never seen

Here’s How NASA Staff Are Operating The Mars Curiosity Rover From Home

In the midst of the current coronavirus pandemic, many of us find ourselves adjusting to working from home, with all the distractions of kids, pets, unfinished DIY projects and Netflix specials to contend with. This move to WFH has touched every business and industry where such a shift is possible, and luckily that includes the team responsible for the Mars Curiosity rover, which normally opera

Here’s How You Can Catch The Peak of The Lyrids Meteor Shower This Week

Stuck at home with clear skies? We're all in a similar situation, as the ongoing pandemic sees most of the worldwide amateur astronomy community observing from home or from their backyard. One astronomical sure-fire event coming up this week requires no special equipment, just a set of working 'Mk-1 eyeballs' and a clear sky: the April Lyrids. These springtime meteors get their name from the

The Composition of Interstellar Comet 2I/Borisov Is Much More Alien Than We Thought

When the first known comet from interstellar space was spotted traversing the Solar System in late August of last year, astronomers snapped to attention. 2I/Borisov was an extraordinarily rare opportunity to study the formation of comets around other stars. In those initial measurements, 2I/Borisov seemed a heck of a lot like comets from the outer Solar System. But a new analysis has revealed t

This Video of Bullets Hitting ‘Unbreakable’ Prince Rupert’s Drops Will Blow Your Mind

For those of you who aren't familiar with the Prince Rupert's drop, this weird, scientific enigma is a seemingly simple glass object created by dripping molten glass into very cold water. That process creates all kinds of crazy physical properties, which we'll go into later, but the end result is a teardrop-shaped piece of glass that's practically unbreakable at its bulbous 'drop' end, but will

NASA Released 30 Amazing High-Def Photos Of The Largest Planet In Our Solar System—Jupiter

With all of the worrying things happening here, on earth, one way to take your mind off them is to look at the beauty of the cosmos. Luckily, NASA is still out there exploring outer space and providing us with the latest wonders. Recently The National Aeronautics and Space Administration released the brand new imagery of Jupiter. The captivating display of the stormy southern hemisphere of the pla