outer space

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Coming in June, a Comet That Will Delight 'Star Wars' Fans

The unique shape of Comet 12/P Pons-Brooks resembles the Millennium Falcon

(Newser) - A comet uniquely shaped like Han Solo's ship, the Millennium Falcon, is due to swerve near Earth this spring, and if the weather cooperates, Star Wars fans won't have to travel to a galaxy far, far away to catch a glimpse of it. Per NBC News , Comet 12/P...

Not Quite a Star, Not Quite a Planet, but Hotter Than the Sun

Scientists discover brown dwarf that's up to 90 times the size of Jupiter, nearly 14K degrees

(Newser) - Israeli researchers have stumbled on a celestial object that "is seriously confronting our notions of what's possible in the universe." That's per Science Alert , which reports on the discovery of a sweltering brown dwarf —an object that falls somewhere between planet and star, but which...

Virgin Galactic Space Tourist Bought His Ticket in 2005

The price has gone up since then

(Newser) - Virgin Galactic rocketed to the edge of space with its first tourists Thursday, including a former British Olympian who bought his ticket 18 years ago and a mother-daughter duo from the Caribbean. The space plane glided back to a runway landing at Spaceport America in the New Mexico desert, after...

Break Out the Lawn Chairs— It's Strawberry Moon Time

Saturday night, just before midnight, is when last full moon of spring will be at its peak

(Newser) - The last full moon of spring has arrived. CBS News reports that the so-called strawberry moon will grace the skies this weekend, with peak illumination on Saturday at 11:42pm ET, per NASA . Space.com notes that this particular incarnation of the moon often gives off a "warmer" light...

Spacecraft Starts Long Trip to Explore Jupiter's Moons

Mission seeks to determine whether underground oceans could support life

(Newser) - A European spacecraft rocketed away Friday on a decadelong quest to explore Jupiter and three of its icy moons that could hold buried oceans. The journey began with a perfect liftoff by the Ariane rocket from French Guiana on the coast of South America. But there were tense minutes later...

Scientists Do 180 Away From 'Weird' Theories on 'Oumuamua

They're going back to positing that interstellar visitor was a comet, albeit with gas, dust trapped

(Newser) - Was it an asteroid , a comet , a chunk of a distant planet , or an alien artifact ? All of these possibilities have been floated since the mysterious 'Oumuamua, our first known interstellar visitor, sped through our solar system in 2017. A 2021 study suggested what was previously thought to...

Here's Visual Proof That Our Asteroid Slam Worked

DART's collision with Dimorphos asteroid confirmed by 6.2K-mile-long debris trail

(Newser) - Astronomers know for certain that NASA's DART spacecraft slammed into a distant asteroid in a test of whether Earth-threatening space rocks might be diverted, because that asteroid is spewing a whole lot of rock and dust. Two days after the Sept. 26 Double Asteroid Redirection Test, a telescope in...

NASA Releases Staggering Photos of Neptune

Our most distant planet's rings are crisp

(Newser) - If you picture Neptune as a blue ring-less planet, new images released Wednesday from NASA's James Webb Space Telescope are about to set you straight. The images show what CNN refers to as the planet's "crisp, narrow rings." As Heidi Hammel of the Webb project says,...

An Astronomer Is Hunting for Treasure on the Ocean Floor
Astronomer Thinks Something
Alien Sits on Ocean Floor
in case you missed it
Sep 4, 2022 8:30 AM CDT

Astronomer Thinks Something Alien Sits on Ocean Floor

Avi Loeb hopes to find pieces of a 2014 meteor, confirm whether it's interstellar

(Newser) - We'll preface this by saying Avi Loeb has more skeptics than supporters. But he also has an intriguing theory. The professor at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics thinks it's possible there is alien technology sitting on the ocean floor, or at least something interstellar. And he's determined...

Rare Planetary Event to Grace Night Skies in June
Ever See 5 Planets
Lined Up Before?
Here's Your Chance
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Jun 11, 2022 6:30 AM CDT

Ever See 5 Planets Lined Up Before? Here's Your Chance

Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn will all be aligned in June

(Newser) - Get ready for a planetary sky show not seen since "Hey Ya!" topped the charts and Mark Zuckerberg was launching Facebook out of his college dorm room. Throughout the month of June, those on the US mainland will be able to see, sans telescope, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter,...

Milky Way&#39;s Black Hole Is Unveiled
Milky Way's
Black Hole
Is Unveiled
May 12, 2022 10:04 AM CDT

Milky Way's Black Hole Is Unveiled

Astronomers offer first look at 'gentle giant' Sagittarius A*

(Newser) - The world got a look Thursday at the first wild but fuzzy image of the supermassive black hole at the center of our own Milky Way galaxy, per the AP . Astronomers believe nearly all galaxies, including our own, have these giant black holes at their center, where light and matter...

NASA Spacecraft Officially &#39;Touched&#39; the Sun
'Humanity Has
Touched the Sun' 
Dec 15, 2021 8:04 AM CST

'Humanity Has Touched the Sun'

Scientists confirm the Parker Solar Probe flew through the corona

(Newser) - A NASA spacecraft has officially "touched" the sun, plunging through the unexplored solar atmosphere known as the corona. The Parker Solar Probe actually flew through the corona in April during the spacecraft’s eighth close approach to the sun. Scientists said it took a few months to get the...

NASA's Lucy Is Now in the Sky, With Diamonds

Spacecraft is on 12-year mission to explore Jupiter's Trojan asteroids

(Newser) - A NASA spacecraft named Lucy rocketed into the sky with diamonds Saturday on a 12-year quest to explore eight asteroids. Seven of the mysterious space rocks are among swarms of asteroids sharing Jupiter's orbit, thought to be the pristine leftovers of planetary formation. An Atlas V rocket blasted off...

Richard Branson Got to Space. Now Comes the Hard Part
Richard Branson Got to Space.
Now Comes the Hard Part
the rundown
Jul 12, 2021 10:55 AM CDT

Richard Branson Got to Space. Now Comes the Hard Part

Entrepreneur has to show space tourism is a viable business

(Newser) - Richard Branson blasted off into space on Sunday and returned safe and sound, but the Wall Street Journal reports that perhaps a bigger challenge for Branson's Virgin Galactic company still lies ahead: Can it make space tourism a viable business? Jeff Bezos, of course, hopes to do the same...

2 Dueling Views on Jeff Bezos&#39; Space Trip
Is Bezos
a Hero
or a Jerk?
2 Views
OPINION
Jun 8, 2021 11:50 AM CDT

Is Bezos a Hero or a Jerk? 2 Views

One writer thinks his space trip shows integrity, another the exact opposite

(Newser) - Jeff Bezos, conqueror of retail sales on Earth, is venturing into space next month on the first manned voyage of his Blue Origin company. As you might expect, this generated all kinds of opinions, and below are one each from the yea and nay camps:
  • Bravo: At Time , Jeffrey Kluger
...

We've Been Launching Jellyfish Into Space for Years

As well as spiders, frogs, and mouse sperm, per this odd list

(Newser) - Why in the world would we launch mouse sperm into space? And no, "why not?" isn't the answer we're looking for. Astronomy.com has the more valid one: We want to learn how different objects and items react once they've left Earth's atmosphere. The site...

Russia Plans to Build Its Own Space Station

If all goes well, nation would ditch ISS by 2025, have its own version by 2030

(Newser) - Relations on Earth between Russia and the West are strained at the moment, with the country mired in controversy over the health status of dissident Alexei Navalny and the buildup of Russian forces at the Ukraine border. Now, there could soon be a distancing in outer space, too: The head...

Scott Kelly's Body Endured Another Surprise in Space

Astronaut's heart didn't have to work as hard in zero gravity and so it shrank 27%, scientists say

(Newser) - They called it the "perfect nature versus nurture" experiment : Astronaut Scott Kelly was sent to the International Space Station for nearly a year, while his identical twin, astronaut and now Sen. Mark Kelly, remained on Earth. When Scott Kelly came back home in March 2016, scientists compared his DNA...

Want to Go on SpaceX Flight to the Moon? He's Paying

Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa launches contest for 8 to ride with him to lunar orbit in 2023

(Newser) - It's a Frank Sinatra song come to life, courtesy of a billionaire. In 2018, tycoon and art collector Yusaku Maezawa, founder of Japanese online fashion mall Zozotown, was announced as the first signed passenger aboard SpaceX's Starship rocket, set to fly to the moon sometime in 2023. At...

Child Cancer Survivor Will Be Youngest American in Space

Physician Hayley Arceneaux, 29, to orbit Earth in SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket later this year

(Newser) - Later this year, a big first in space travel is on the calendar: the first manned mission around Earth, courtesy of SpaceX, with not a single professional astronaut on board. The trip was made possible by billionaire Jared Isaacman, who the New York Times notes bought the Falcon 9 rocket...

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