Eros Millions of asteroids orbit the sun between Mars and Jupiter, a band known as the asteroid belt. Most of these bodies circle our star peacefully, chugging around the solar system year after year, without incident. Not all asteroids reside in the belt, however. Some of these rocks hurtle around the sun in orbits that […]
Ceres [Editor’s Note: This article is the second in a series exploring real locations featured in a novel and television series, called The Expanse. In this sci-fi epic set in the 2300s, Earth and Mars have become independent “nations,” while millions of humans inhabit the asteroid belt, where they mine lucrative resources for the Inner
The Belt [Editor’s Note: This article is the first in a series exploring real locations featured in a novel and television series, called The Expanse. In this sci-fi epic set in the 2300s, Earth and Mars have become independent “nations,” while millions of humans inhabit the asteroid belt, where they mine lucrative resources for
Space Arrows Sagittarius is the archer of the firmaments. A sky pattern identified by the ancients, Sagittarius was one of second-century astronomer Ptomelmy’s 48 constellations. The Latin word for “archer,” the grouping is still one of the 88 significant constellations by modern standards. We often represent Sagittarius as a centaur – half human, half horse
Webb’s First Lightshow After decades of development and a half-year of space travel, the James Webb Space Telescope finally delivered the clearest images of the deep universe ever captured, as NASA released the first four pictures from the spacecraft. These photos display two points with crystal clarity: the universe is utterly gorgeous and the James
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The Moon Rocket Mystery Today’s title might sound like a Jules Verne novel, but it takes place in the present of the 21st century, not Verne’s future 21st century. On 24 June 2022, NASA released an odd press briefing. It noted how astronomers discovered a rocket heading toward the moon in late 2021. They calculated
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Uranus Rains Diamonds [This article is the third in a series on Uranus. Read Part I: The Tilting of Uranus and Part 2: Uranus Stinks to make sure you’re fully up to date with Uranus.] We have certainly learned over the years that Uranus is a weird place. Uranus tilts and Uranus stinks, but, as we
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A Big Week for Astrophotography If you’re into space porn, the past week has really been good for you. We’ve followed the James Webb Space Telescope to its new home at a Lagrange Point in the expanse since its launch on Christmas Day 2021. This incredible instrument will soon permit us to peer deeper and
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Lunar Lasers Before 13 September 1959, no human-made object had ever touched an extraterrestrial body. On that date, Luna 2, the Second Soviet Cosmic Rocket, impacted the moon. Since then, numerous other spacecraft and various humans have visited our satellite. All told, nearly 500,000 pounds of Earth stuff adorns the surface of the Moon.
Heartstrings of the Galaxy The South African Radio Astronomy Observatory spent three years pointing the MeerKAT radio telescope at the core of our galaxy. The result is a disarming, gorgeous mosaic image of the heart of the Milky Way: MeerKAT image of the Galactic centre region – SARAO Most of the stars in the Milky
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