Wellesley MA (SPX) Dec 13, 2024
Stunning new photographs by a Wellesley College-led team of astronomers have revealed a newly forming galaxy that looks remarkably similar to a young Milky Way. The extraordinary images - taken with NASA's James Webb Space Telescope - show a galaxy that glitters with 10 distinct star clusters that formed at different times, much like our own Milky Way. Cocooned in a diffuse arc, and

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Dec 13, 2024
NASA's Juno mission to Jupiter has unveiled that volcanoes on Jupiter's moon Io are powered by localized magma chambers rather than a global magma ocean. This discovery resolves a decades-old mystery regarding the geological origins of Io's extreme volcanic activity. The findings were detailed in a study published on Dec. 12 in Nature and discussed during a media briefing at the American G

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Dec 13, 2024
NASA's Lucy spacecraft executed a critical gravity assist maneuver on Dec. 12, 2024, skimming just 220 miles (360 kilometers) above Earth's surface. This close approach, occurring at 11:15 p.m. EST, propels the spacecraft on a new trajectory through the asteroid belt and toward the Jupiter Trojan asteroids - objects never previously visited by any spacecraft. The maneuver marks Lucy's seco

Washington DC (SPX) Dec 16, 2024
If you thought the dust bunnies under your sofa were an issue, imagine trying to combat dust on the Moon. Dust is a significant challenge for astronauts living and working on the lunar surface. So, NASA is developing technologies that mitigate dust buildup enabling a safer, sustainable presence on the Moon. A flight test aboard a suborbital rocket system that will simulate?lunar gravity is

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Dec 13, 2024
NASA is advancing its Uncrewed Aircraft Systems Traffic Management Beyond Visual Line of Sight (UTM BVLOS) initiative to meet the global surge in drone usage for various applications. Drones, or uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS), are increasingly used for services ranging from package delivery to emergency response operations such as search and rescue. Presently, these flights are largely re

London, UK (SPX) Dec 13, 2024
For decades, scientists have debated the source of unusual star movements in Omega Centauri, the Milky Way's largest star cluster. Recent research, incorporating new pulsar data, provides clarity, suggesting that a cluster of stellar-mass black holes, rather than a single intermediate-mass black hole (IMBH), is responsible. Omega Centauri, home to nearly ten million stars, is located in th

Paris, France (SPX) Dec 13, 2024
Space42's latest telecommunications satellite, Thuraya 4, designed and built by Airbus, has arrived at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. It is set to launch into orbit aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket later this month. The satellite was transported from Toulouse, France, using an Airbus BelugaST (A300-600ST) aircraft. Thuraya 4, a geostationary satellite, will enhance connectivity across

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Dec 13, 2024
Seaspan Corporation, a global leader in independent containership leasing, has entered an agreement with KVH Industries to equip its fleet with OneWeb's advanced low-earth orbit (LEO) satellite technology. This initiative underscores Seaspan's commitment to delivering shore-like internet capabilities at sea as part of its broader digital transformation strategy, complementing the fleet's existin

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Dec 13, 2024
WASP-69 b, a hot Jupiter exoplanet, is shedding its atmosphere over time, releasing hydrogen and helium particles due to intense stellar radiation. Unlike uniform atmospheric loss, these gases are shaped into a tail-like structure by the stellar wind emitted from the planet's host star. Hot Jupiters are gas giants that orbit close to their stars, making them vulnerable to a process known a