Copernical Team
Black holes
Write a comment
What are black holes? How do they form and evolve? What effect do they have on their surroundings and the rest of the Universe – and why should we care about them?
Cosmic Kiss mission overview
Write a comment
Video:
00:04:00
German ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer has almost completed his first stay aboard the International Space Station ISS.
Named Cosmic Kiss, the mission began with the third crewed launch of the SpaceX Crew Dragon on 11 November 2021 when Matthias flew to the ISS alongside @NASA astronauts Kayla Barron, Raja Chari and Tom Marshburn, collectively known as Crew-3.
Matthias has now spent around six months in orbit, working on over 35 European and many more international science experiments and taking part in operational procedures. He has also become the 12th ESA astronaut to conduct a spacewalk, or Extra-Vehicular Activity (EVA).
Week in images: 25-29 April 2022
Write a comment
Week in images: 25-29 April 2022
Discover our week through the lens
Heatwave across India
Write a comment
Image:
India is currently facing a prolonged heatwave, with temperatures exceeding 42°C in numerous cities across the country. This map, generated using data from Copernicus Sentinel-3, shows the land surface temperature on 29 April. Earth from Space: Mount Aso, Japan
Write a comment
Mount Aso, the largest active volcano in Japan, is featured in this image captured by the Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission.
Fireball spotted over southern Mississippi, NASA confirms
Write a comment
A loud boom prefaced a streaking fireball spotted in three Southern states, scientists confirmed Thursday.
More than 30 people in Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi reported seeing the exceptionally bright meteor in the sky around 8 a.m. Wednesday after hearing loud booms in Claiborne County, Mississippi, and surrounding areas, NASA reported. It was first spotted 54 miles (87 kilometers) above the Mississippi River, near Alcorn, Mississippi, officials said.
"This is one of the nicer events I have seen in the GLM (Geostationary Lightning Mappers) data," said Bill Cooke, lead of NASA's Meteoroid Environments Office at Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.
The object, which scientists called a bolide, moved southwest at a speed of 55,000 miles per hour (88,500 kilometers per hour), breaking into pieces as it descended deeper into Earth's atmosphere. It disintegrated about 34 miles (55 kilometers) above a swampy area north of the unincorporated Concordia Parish community of Minorca in Louisiana.
One witness told the Vicksburg Post that she heard a loud noise and then looked up and saw an "orange fireball the size of a basketball, with a white tail behind it," heading west toward the Mississippi River.
The Claiborne County Emergency Management Agency posted a statement on Facebook confirming the reports and noting that Grand Gulf Nuclear Station was not involved.
Scientists study microorganisms on Earth to gain insight into life on other planets
Write a comment
In Oman, on the Persian Gulf, there is a large slab of ancient seafloor - including ultramafic rocks from Earth's upper mantle - called the Samail Ophiolite. These unique rocks not only provide valuable information about the ocean floor and Earth's upper mantle, they may also hold clues to life on other planets.
To find these clues, a team of scientists from Arizona State University, who a Origin of complex cells started without oxygen
Write a comment
Since the 1960s, many experts have argued that the emergence of eukaryotes (cells containing a clearly defined nucleus) happened in response to the oxygenation of Earth's surface environment.
But a team led by the universities of Stanford and Exeter say recent advances in the Earth and life sciences challenge this view.
Their review says these breakthroughs "decouple" the emergence o Enigmatic Rock Layer in Mars' Gale Crater Awaits Measurements by the Curiosity Rover
Write a comment
Scientists have been studying the sediments within Mars' Gale crater for many years using orbital data sets, but thanks to the Curiosity rover driving across these deposits we can also obtain up-close observations and detailed measurements of the rocks, similar to field work done by geologists on Earth.
A new paper led by Planetary Science Institute Senior Scientist Catherine Weitz takes a Revenge of the Wheels Sol 3458
Write a comment
While angular, pointy rocks have damaged the rover's wheels since early in the MSL mission, sometimes the wheels damage rocks as the rover drives over them. As seen especially at the upper left side of this image, the bedrock was scraped and fractured by the rover during the Sol 3456 drive.
Unfortunately, that drive did not complete as planned, but the tactical team took advantage of the s