In late November 2023, Hawaii’s highest peaks retained remnants of snow following a winter storm that inundated the islands with over a foot of precipitation. A Kona low, characterized by low pressure over the Pacific Ocean, unleashed abundant moisture across Hawaii from November 29 to December 1, 2023, leading to substantial rainfall. The Big … Read more
Mars, often considered a promising candidate for extraterrestrial life, has long guarded its secrets despite extensive investigations. The Perseverance rover, currently exploring an ancient Martian crater once submerged in water, is at the forefront of this quest, diligently searching for traces of past life and collecting rock samples for potential return to Earth. While … Read more
In the dynamic landscape of Ethiopia’s Danakil Depression, the Erta Ale volcano stands as a testament to the Earth’s relentless geological forces. Nestled within the rift zone formed by the separation of three tectonic plates, Erta Ale is renowned as the “smoking mountain” and the “gateway to hell” in the local Afar language. The … Read more
NASA’s Psyche spacecraft has been achieving milestones since its departure from Earth on Oct. 13. In the latest success on Dec. 4, the mission activated Psyche’s twin cameras, marking the “first light” milestone. Positioned 16 million miles away from Earth, the spacecraft is en route to the asteroid Psyche in the Mars-Jupiter asteroid belt, … Read more
Two CubeSats are set to embark on a pioneering journey into the Solar System aboard Hera, a mission in Europe. Traditionally, deployers releasing CubeSats from their host spacecraft are ill-suited for the unique challenges of deep space. Addressing this, a collaborative effort between GSTP and ISIS Space in the Netherlands has resulted in the … Read more
The Aditya-L1 satellite, equipped with the Aditya Solar wind Particle Experiment (ASPEX) payload, has initiated its mission with promising results. ASPEX incorporates two state-of-the-art instruments – the Solar wind Ion Spectrometer (SWIS) and STEPS (SupraThermal and Energetic Particle Spectrometer). Operational since September 10, 2023, STEPS, and the recently activated SWIS as of November 2, … Read more
Undergoing a transformation into NASA’s OSIRIS-APEX, the spacecraft formerly identified as OSIRIS-REx is gearing up for a pivotal trial in its mission to asteroid Apophis. Aiming to delve closer to the Sun than ever before, the spacecraft is on the brink of exposing its components to heightened temperatures exceeding their initial design parameters. During … Read more
In this Hubble image, we glimpse the colossal galaxy cluster known as Abell 3192. Illuminated by brightly glowing galaxies, the cluster is infused with hot, X-ray-emitting gas and shrouded in an unseen halo of dark matter. The cumulative mass of this concealed material, coupled with the numerous visible galaxies, exerts a gravitational influence that … Read more
Astronomers, utilizing NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, have achieved a groundbreaking milestone by observing water and other molecules within the intensely irradiated inner regions of a disk involved in the formation of rocky planets. This extraordinary feat, part of the eXtreme Ultraviolet Environments (XUE) James Webb Space Telescope program, sheds light on the conditions … Read more
NASA’s Odyssey orbiter has treated scientists to an extraordinary perspective of Mars, capturing a captivating view of the planet’s horizon from approximately 250 miles above its surface. The meticulously planned operation, taking engineers three months to prepare, employed the THEMIS camera to unveil a panoramic snapshot of Mars’ landscape adorned with clouds and dust. Similar … Read more
NASA’s Dragonfly mission is advancing to the final mission design and fabrication stage, Phase C, in fiscal year 2024. The mission, aimed at sending a rotorcraft to investigate Saturn’s moon Titan, successfully met all criteria during the Preliminary Design Review earlier this year. Despite the postponement of formal confirmation, which includes total cost and … Read more
This month’s featured image from the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope provides a detailed glimpse of the Herbig Haro object 797 (HH 797). Herbig-Haro objects, such as HH 797, are radiant areas encircling newly formed stars, specifically protostars. These objects take shape when the stellar winds or gas jets emitted by protostars generate shockwaves … Read more
In this captivating image captured by NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, the spiral galaxy NGC 941 takes center stage, situated approximately 55 million light-years from Earth. The data for this image was collected by Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS). While NGC 941 is a visually stunning component of this celestial snapshot, the primary impetus for … Read more
The concept of heat death captivated Victorian-era physicists, serving as an early illustration of the intricate connection between everyday physics and profound cosmological themes. Analogous to dropping ice cubes into water, disrupting equilibrium, the subsequent melting and chilling reach a common temperature, albeit without a sense of progress. This principle, recognized by 19th-century thermodynamics … Read more
Recent observations using multiple NASA telescopes have captured a massive black hole in the act of tearing apart an unfortunate star that ventured too close. Situated approximately 250 million light-years away in the center of another galaxy, this event marks the fifth-closest instance of a black hole destroying a star on record. The aftermath … Read more
