1+ week, 3+ hour ago   (368+ words) Astronomy Magazine Wouldn’t a free-floating planet eventually cross paths with a star or even a black hole and start revolving around it? Free-floating planets (FFPs) or rogue planets are bodies that move through space by themselves, not locked into an…...

1+ week, 1+ day ago   (230+ words) Astronomy Magazine The fall of 1618 was a standout when it came to notable comets, boasting three visible to the naked eye. In late August, C/1618 Q1 appeared, first spotted in the skies over Hungary. Johannes Kepler observed the comet throughout the…...

1+ week, 4+ day ago   (316+ words) According to a new study, bacteria and fungi shed by humans could survive on the lunar surface for up to a week or longer. “[W]e were actually very surprised when we mapped the lunar poles,” Stefano Bertone, co-author and…...

1+ week, 6+ day ago   (709+ words) The journey of a million miles began with a successful launch Sunday morning. NASA’s next-generation observatory, the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, took off from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Aug. 30 at 7:26 a.m. EDT. “Roman is on her way,…...

1+ week, 6+ day ago   (290+ words) Alison earned her bachelor’s degree in physics and master’s degree in earth, atmospheric, and planetary science from MIT. During this time, she completed several years of research in the field of planetary science, working on research topics that ranged from…...

2+ week, 7+ hour ago   (215+ words) August 30: The Moon, Neptune, and Saturn In the evening sky, blazing Venus is less than 2° southwest of Spica, the brightest star in Virgo the Maiden. Over the course of the next two days, Venus will appear to slide to the…...

2+ week, 6+ day ago   (366+ words) On Monday, Aug. 24, state-owned firm, China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC), is targeting 11:20 p.m. EDT for a Long March 6C launch from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in northeastern China, according to tracking from Next Spaceflight. The Long March 6C is a…...

3+ week, 6+ day ago   (218+ words) August 17: Mars at Gemini’s feet Although NGC 6939 is an open cluster and these groups are young, it’s one of our galaxy’s older such clusters, at some 1 billion to 2 billion years old. It can be viewed in binoculars, but larger apertures…...

3+ week, 6+ day ago   (281+ words) Contributing Editor Richard Talcott brings to the magazine a lifelong interest in the science of astronomy as well as observing the night sky. He graduated from Marietta College in Marietta, Ohio, in 1976 with a degree in mathematics. After attending graduate…...

4+ week, 9+ hour ago   (321+ words) During a slingshot maneuver, the planet and spacecraft draw close enough together for an exchange of energy to occur. If a satellite’s velocity increases as it approaches a planet during a slingshot maneuver, why does it not decrease by the…...