Space news stories

The ‘Beaver Blood Moon’ rises (and eclipses) on Nov. 8. Here’s how to watch.
7th November 2022 | livescience.com | Humans, Space

Sky watchers in North America who get an early start on Tuesday will also be treated to a total lunar eclipse — the last one for the next three years — with the moon falling into the darkest part of Earth’s shadow around 5:17 a.m. EST (9:17 a.m. UTC).

The Moon Had Volcanoes Much More Recently Than We Thought, Says New Study
7th November 2022 | sciencealert.com | Ancient, Space

The analysis of these rocks revealed a great deal about the Moon’s composition, formation, and geological history. In particular, scientists concluded that the rocks were formed from volcanic eruptions more than 3 billion years ago.

Revealed: oldest star clusters in the universe
3rd November 2022 | eurekalert.org | Ancient, Humans, Space, Tech

A team of Canadian astronomers, including experts from the Dunlap Institute for Astronomy & Astrophysics in the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Arts & Science, have used the James Webb Telescope (JWST) to identify the most distant globular clusters ever discovered – dense groups of millions of stars that may be relics containing the first and oldest stars in the universe.

Huge ‘planet killer’ asteroid discovered – and it’s heading our way
2nd November 2022 | theguardian.com | Humans, Space, Tech

With a diameter of 1 to 2km, space rock named 2022 AP7 crosses our orbit but has ‘no chance’ of hitting Earth

Ray of joy: Nasa captures image of the sun ‘smiling’
31st October 2022 | theguardian.com | Humans, Space, Tech

The agency released the image on Wednesday on Twitter, writing: “Today, Nasa’s Solar Dynamics Observatory caught the sun ‘smiling.’ Seen in ultraviolet light, these dark patches on the sun are known as coronal holes and are regions where fast solar wind gushes out into space.”

NASA’s InSight Mars Lander Detects Stunning Meteoroid Impact on Red Planet
28th October 2022 scitechdaily.com | Humans, Space, Tech

Last December 24, NASA’s InSight lander recorded a magnitude 4 marsquake. However, scientists only learned the cause of that quake later: a meteoroid impact estimated to be one of the biggest seen on Mars since NASA began exploring the cosmos.

Traces of ancient ocean discovered on Mars
28th October 2022 phys.org | Ancient, Space

A recently released set of topography maps provides new evidence for an ancient northern ocean on Mars. The maps offer the strongest case yet that the planet once experienced sea-level rise consistent with an extended warm and wet climate, not the harsh, frozen landscape that exists today.

Why Is The Milky Way Wobbling? How Cosmic Ripples Reveal An Ancient Galactic Collision Ripping Apart An Iconic Constellation
27th October 2022 | forbes.com | Ancient, Space

It’s Milky Way season. If you ever wanted to see the arc of our galaxy stretching across the night sky, get yourself to a dark sky destination away from light pollution in the next couple of weeks, and you’ll get a great view as soon as it gets dark.

Asteroid that wiped out dinosaurs triggered global mega-tsunami
26th October 2022 | theguardian.com | Ancient, Animal Life, Earth, Space

It is no surprise that a 14km-wide asteroid slamming into the Gulf of Mexico would generate one hell of a tsunami, but this is the first time anyone has worked out how big and how far-reaching it would have been.

World’s oldest complete star map, lost for millennia, found inside medieval manuscript
23rd October 2022 | livescience.com | Ancient, Humans, Space

The map segment, which was found beneath the text on a sheet of medieval parchment, is thought to be a copy of the long-lost star catalog of the second century B.C. Greek astronomer Hipparchus, who made the earliest known attempt to chart the entire night sky.

Astronomers Have A New Theory Why Uranus Spins On Its Side
19th October 2022 discovermagazine.com | Ancient, Space, Weird

One of the most bizarre phenomena in our Solar System is the strange way that Uranus spins on its side. That’s a puzzle because all the other planets spin upright. What could have happened to make Uranus so different, particularly from its neighbor Neptune, which formed at the same time in similar circumstances?

This Unusual Asteroid Keeps Spinning Faster, And We Don’t Know Why
19th October 2022 | sciencealert.com | Humans, Space

The near-Earth asteroid responsible for the spectacular annual Geminids meteor shower has been caught doing something really unexpected.

Astronomers baffled by black hole burping out spaghettified star years after eating it
14th October 2022 | livescience.com | Space, Weird

Astronomers don’t have an explanation for a black hole burping out a shredded star, but they suspect it could be more common than once thought.

James Webb telescope captures ‘cosmic fingerprint’ formed by two giant stars
13th October 2022 | theguardian.com | Ancient, Space

Astronomers have captured a striking image of 17 concentric dust rings resembling a cosmic fingerprint in the latest observations from the James Webb space telescope.

Nasa’s Dart spacecraft ‘changed path of asteroid’
12th October 2022 | bbc.co.uk | Humans, Space, Tech

The American space agency says its recent attempt to deflect the path of an asteroid was successful. Scientists have now confirmed the orbit of a 160m-wide (520ft) space rock known as Dimorphos was altered when the Dart probe struck it head on last month.

 

Orionid meteor shower 2022: How to see dust from Halley’s comet
12th October 2022 | sciencefocus.com | Humans, Space

Nature’s firework display is lighting up the night skies, here’s how you can maximise your chances of spotting an Orionid.

News stories covering Space, from the macro to the micro, including Space exploration, quantum physics and quantum weirdness.