• Artemis 1: Ready for Launch

    Even after thunderstorms threatened the Artemis I launchpad over the weekend, everything is still a go for tomorrow’s scheduled launch at 8:33 am EDT of NASA’s Space Launch System rocket. This NASA video shows you the entire plan for the Artemis I unmanned mission around the Moon. A few mission facts from the NASA site…

  • KSC: 60 Years and Going Strong

    With the Artemis I mission ready to go on Monday, it is worth taking a moment to remember the Kennedy Space Center’s (KSC) 60th anniversary. As shown in the NASA graphic below, the KSC has been very busy over the years and has much more to do. This NASA site has more information and memories.…

  • Exoplanet WASP-39b Found to Have Carbon Dioxide in its Atmosphere

    Yesterday, the University of Maryland reported that the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has detected carbon dioxide in the atmosphere of exoplanet WASP-39b, a gas giant about 700 light-years away. This is the first time carbon dioxide has been detected on a planet outside of our solar system. Eliza Kempton, an associate professor of astronomy at the…

  • Pic of the Week: A New View of Jupiter

    This week’s image once again comes from the new James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), but instead of peering outside of our solar system, it is looking around closer to home. The image above of Jupiter is an amazing shot that shows the planet in all its glory – violent storms, glowing auroras, delicate rings, and…

  • A Day in Astronomy: The End of Pluto as a Planet

    On this day in 2006, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) approved a new definition of “planet” that excluded Pluto. The vote at the IAU approved the following definition of a planet: is in orbit around the Sun, has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a hydrostatic equilibrium (nearly round) shape, and has…

  • More on Black Holes

    The earlier article on a black hole binary system was pretty amazing, yet the video accompanying the story was created to demonstrate the phenomena. I found an even more amazing real video of stars orbiting the supermassive black hole at the center or the Milky Way galaxy. You can see the 20-year time-lapse video here…

  • Space Adventures with Exotopia

    The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) Institute has devised a fun way to ponder extraterrestrial life elsewhere in the galaxy. The adventure, Exotopia, allows you to follow a fictional exoplanet voyage for 30 days utilizing real SETI scientific data. The specially-crafted narrative includes unique digital art along the way illustrating the adventure. You can learn…

  • Space Stories: Black Holes, X-Rays, and Exploding Stars

    Here are some recent stories of interest. —SciTechDaily.com: “Astronomers Have Discovered an Especially Sneaky Black Hole“ VFTS 243 is a binary system, which means it is composed of two objects that orbit a common center of mass. The first object is a very hot, blue star with 25 times the mass of the Sun, and the second…

  • JWST Image: Swirling Galaxy

    Here is another recent images from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). This one is a unique close-up view of a spiral galaxy looking from above (or below) rather that from the side. It is NGC 628, which is about 32 million light years away. You can see more such JWST images by visiting the…

  • Space Mission: Preparing for a Launch to Europa in 2024

    Earlier this year, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory started assembling the Europa Clipper spacecraft so it is ready for its launch in 2024 (you can find the latest update here). Once it arrives at Jupiter, the spacecraft will have at least 50 flybys to study the Jovian moon and learn more about its inside, outside, and…