Copernical Team
Dark matter core may drive Milky Way center
Our Milky Way galaxy may not host a supermassive black hole at its center but instead an enormous concentration of dark matter that exerts an equivalent gravitational influence on nearby stars and gas, according to new research published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. The authors argue that this invisible substance, which makes up most of the universe's mass, can account b First Crewed Moon Flyby In 54 Years: Artemis II
Almost as tall as a football field, NASAs Space Launch System rocket and capsule stack traveled slowly - just under 1 mile per hour - out to the Artemis II launchpad, its temporary home at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, on Jan. 17, 2026. That slow crawl is in stark contrast to the peak velocity it will reach on launch day, over 22,000 miles per hour, when it will send a crew of four on a j Crew-12 readies for launch
Crew-12 is scheduled to lift off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, USA, no earlier than Wednesday 11 February.
NASA confirms first flight to ISS since medical evacuation
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The dirty afterlife of a dead satellite
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Week in images: 02-06 February 2026
Week in images: 02-06 February 2026
Discover our week through the lens
Hidden mechanical energy may help sustain life on Earth
Life on Earth has traditionally been viewed as running on two main energy sources, sunlight captured by photosynthesis and chemical energy derived from reactions such as microbes feeding on reduced compounds in soils, sediments, and oceans.
A new review introduces a third, largely overlooked energy source that may help drive global biogeochemical cycles, mechanical force converted into usa One dimensional anyons offer tunable quantum statistics
Physicists have traditionally divided all elementary particles in three dimensional space into just two categories, bosons and fermions, depending on how systems of identical particles behave when the particles exchange places. In standard quantum theory, experimental observations in three dimensions point to a strict binary: when two identical particles swap positions, the combined quantum stat Sophie Adenot ready for first space mission
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ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot is preparing to launch to the International Space Station for her first space mission: εpsilon.
After years of intensive training — from emergency procedures to spacewalk simulations — the countdown has begun. Flying alongside astronauts from NASA and Roscosmos, Sophie will join an international crew living and working together in space.
Aboard the ISS, Sophie will live and work in microgravity, conducting scientific research and performing a range of European- and French-led experiments that advance knowledge for life on Earth and in space.
Join us live on YouTube to watch the launch of Sophie Adenot.
Earth from Space: Olympic view
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With the 2026 Winter Olympics officially opening today, the Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission brings us a striking view of northern Italy, highlighting several key Olympic venues.