Space, features and articles | Educational Science

Dec 31, 2023

'Mind-blowing' James Webb telescope images reveal 19 spiral galaxies in the greatest detail ever seen

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has revealed images of 19 Milky Way-like spiral galaxies, showing stars, gas and dust in stunning detail. The images show the galaxies at the smallest scales ever observed outside our own galaxy. Webb's new images are extraordinary, Janice Lee, a scientist at the Space...

Feb 19, 2024

Brightest black hole ever discovered devours a sun's-worth of matter every day

Scientists have spotted the brightest and fastest-growing quasar ever seen — a monster black hole that's devouring a sun's-worth of material every day. The brightly burning object, named J0529-4351, weighs between 17 billion and 19 billion solar masses and is located 12 billion light-years from Earth — meaning it dates...

Feb 26, 2024

1st US spacecraft on moon in 50 years could be dead by Tuesday after face-plant landing

Update: On Monday (Feb. 26) officials with Intuitive Machines said that the Odysseus lander is expected to run out of power and shut down by Tuesday morning, several days short of the week of operations that was previously expected. The lander was not designed to survive lunar night, and may...

Feb 28, 2024

Russian satellite narrowly avoids collision with US spacecraft, and NASA could do nothing to stop it

An active NASA spacecraft has survived a near-miss with a defunct Russian satellite in low Earth orbit. NASA's Thermosphere Ionosphere Mesosphere Energetics and Dynamics (TIMED) mission spacecraft and Russia's Cosmos 2221 satellite were due to closely pass each other at around 1:30 am EST on Feb. 28, at an altitude...

Mar 15, 2024

Astronomers reveal one of the most detailed pictures of an exploded star ever taken

This billowing mass of dust filaments and gas tendrils stretching across 100 light-years of space like delicate lace is the Vela supernova remnant — scattered ashes of a star that exploded about 11,000 years ago. The image was acquired by the Dark Energy Camera (DECam), which is mounted on the...

Mar 15, 2024

Gargantuan volcano on Mars found hidden 'in plain sight,' and it could hold potential signs of life

Scientists have discovered a giant volcano on Mars that has been hidden in plain sight for more than 50 years. The volcano is around 280 miles (450 kilometers) wide and more than 29,600 feet (9,000 meters) high. It is located in the eastern part of Mars' Tharsis volcanic province near...

Mar 15, 2024

NASA's Voyager 1 sends readable message to Earth after 4 nail-biting months of gibberish

After a nail-biting four months, NASA has finally received a comprehensible signal from its Voyager 1 spacecraft. Since November 2023, the almost-50-year-old spacecraft has been experiencing trouble with its onboard computers. Although Voyager 1, one of NASA's longest-lived space missions, has been sending a steady radio signal to Earth, it...

Mar 16, 2024

Why aren't all orbits circular?

Many maps of the solar system make it look as though everything in space moves in perfect, concentric circles. Planets orbit the sun, and moons orbit the planets. So that must be the case for everything in space, right? Not quite. Orbits form all sorts of shapes. Planets and other...

Mar 17, 2024

Have all 8 planets ever aligned?

As the solar system's planets rove around the sun, sometimes a few will appear to line up in the sky. But have all eight planets ever truly aligned? The answer depends on how generous you are with the definition of align for the solar system's planets: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars,...

Mar 17, 2024

Space photo of the week: James Webb telescope snaps stunning 'tapestry of star birth' peppered with cavernous galactic voids

What it is: Star-forming region NGC 604. When it was published: March 9, 2024. Where it is: 2.73 million light-years from Earth. Why it's so special: The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) recently captured two highly detailed photos of the gigantic star-forming region NGC 604: one using its Near-Infrared Camera...

Mar 18, 2024

Explosive, green 'devil comet' has hidden spiral swirling around its icy heart, photo trickery reveals

The explosive, city-size devil comet that is due to fly past Earth later this year has a hidden spiral of light surrounding its gigantic icy heart, new images show. This glowing green swirl would likely have remained undetected without a bit of photo wizardry. The comet, named 12P/Pons-Brooks (12P), is...

Mar 18, 2024

How total solar eclipses help us measure ancient history

In 648 BCE, the Greek poet Archilochus wrote that, nothing can be surprising any more or impossible or miraculous, now that Zeus, father of the Olympians has made night out of noonday, hiding the light of the gleaming Sun. Total solar eclipses have fascinated and terrified people for centuries. Today,...

Mar 18, 2024

'Potentially hazardous' asteroid Bennu contains the building blocks of life and minerals unseen on Earth, scientists reveal in 1st comprehensive analysis

TEXAS — Nearly four years after NASA's OSIRIS-Rex spacecraft collected a sample from an asteroid, scientists are finally revealing the intriguing composition of the space rock. Among them, the near-Earth asteroid, known as Bennu, contains a surprising reservoir of a mineral called magnesium phosphate. These bright-white particles sprinkled in a...

Mar 18, 2024

Betelgeuse's mysterious spin could be a cosmic illusion caused by its enormous 'boiling' surface

Scientists may have finally solved the mystery of why the gigantic, dying star Betelgeuse appears to be spinning faster than is theoretically possible. What scientists previously interpreted as rapid rotation may actually be an optical illusion caused by the behemoth's boiling surface, a new study argues. Betelgeuse is a red...

Mar 18, 2024

Speck of light spotted by Hubble is one of the most enormous galaxies in the early universe, James Webb telescope reveals

What was little more than a speck of light for the Hubble Space Telescope has been revealed as one of the oldest galaxies ever discovered — and the finding owes itself to none other than Hubble's younger sibling: The James Webb Space Telescope. The James Webb Space Telescope international Glass...