What is a 'worm moon' and does it still mark the start of spring?
Wednesday, 27 March 2024 14:20
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The worm moon has risen. The final full moon of winter in the northern hemisphere appeared on March 25 and owes its name to Native Americans who noted winter's end by the trails of earthworms it illuminated on the newly thawed soil.
Common names of full moons generally come from seasonal animals, colors or crops: wolf moon, pink moon, harvest moon. But the worm moon may be losing its significance, as climate change leads to wetter summers and milder winters in much of the world. I've been an earthworm scientist for more than three decades, and, of late, I'm seeing signs of worms at the surface in months when they used to be inactive.
To track how the worm moon might be changing we can look at a particular earthworm species (Lumbricus terrestris, aka the dew worm, nightcrawler or lob worm) which is unusually easy to track. Also sometimes called the common earthworm, if you see a big worm in the garden, it's likely to be this species.
Most worms spend most of their lives underground, but the dew worm almost completely leaves its deep burrow, with tail tip left in, as it ventures on to the soil surface every night to feed on dead leaves.
NASA to launch sounding rockets into moon's shadow during solar eclipse
Wednesday, 27 March 2024 14:02 Write a comment
NASA will launch three sounding rockets during the total solar eclipse on April 8, 2024, to study how Earth's upper atmosphere is affected when sunlight momentarily dims over a portion of the planet.
The Atmospheric Perturbations around Eclipse Path (APEP) sounding rockets will launch from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia to study the disturbances in the ionosphere created when the moon eclipses the sun. The sounding rockets had been previously launched and successfully recovered from White Sands Test Facility in New Mexico, during the October 2023 annular solar eclipse.
SOHO reaches 5000 comets
Wednesday, 27 March 2024 13:00 Write a comment
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A citizen scientist digging through data from the ESA/NASA Solar and Heliospheric Observatory has found the mission’s 5000th comet.
The tiny comet – indicated between the vertical lines in the inset – belongs to the ‘Marsden group’, named after the British astronomer Brian Marsden, who first recognised the group based on SOHO observations. Marsden group comets are thought to be pieces shed by the much bigger Comet 96P/Machholz, which SOHO observes as it passes close to the Sun every 5.3 years.
This 5000th comet was discovered by Hanjie Tan, an astronomy PhD student in Prague, Czechia. Hanjie has been comet hunting
New podcast explores breakthrough ESA technology
Wednesday, 27 March 2024 12:28 Write a comment
In the first episode, published today Eike Kircher, Head of the ESA Technology Programmes Office, and Gianfranco Visentin, Head of Automation and Robotics, delve into the ambitious Star Tiger program, a project that's set to redefine space exploration and construction. Join us as we explore the insights from a panel of experts who are at the forefront of this technological marvel.
Radar journey to centre of Hera’s asteroid with Juventas CubeSat
Wednesday, 27 March 2024 11:47 Write a comment
A small, shoebox-sized spacecraft delivered to ESA’s Hera mission this week promises to make a giant leap forward in planetary science. Once deployed from the Hera spacecraft at the Didymos binary asteroid system, the Juventas CubeSat perform the first radar probe within an asteroid, peering deep into the heart of the Great-Pyramid-sized Dimorphos moonlet.
NASA optimistic about resolving Voyager 1 computer problem
Wednesday, 27 March 2024 10:20
On-orbit servicing mission planned for military satellite in 2025
Wednesday, 27 March 2024 10:00
Mars Express celebrates 25 000 orbits
Wednesday, 27 March 2024 09:00 Write a comment
ESA’s Mars Express recently looped around Mars for the 25 000th time – and the orbiter has captured yet another spectacular view of the Red Planet to mark the occasion.
Long March 6A launches second Yunhai-3 satellite
Wednesday, 27 March 2024 08:50
Navigation Training Course now open for application
Wednesday, 27 March 2024 08:01 Write a comment
ESA Academy is calling on university students to apply for the Navigation Training Course to be held from 24 to 28 June 2024 at ESA Academy’s Training and Learning Facility in ESEC-Galaxia, Belgium. This Training Course is a collaboration between ESA Education and ESA’s Directorate of Navigation. Would you like to know more about the future of satellite navigation? Apply for our course today!
Vegetation gets a boost with data from space
Wednesday, 27 March 2024 07:40 Write a comment
When it comes to predicting what our climate will be like in the future, vegetation matters. Plants and trees exert a powerful influence over both the energy cycle and the water cycle. And, crucially, it is estimated that vegetation draws down well over three billion tonnes of carbon from the atmosphere each year – this is equivalent to a third of greenhouse-gas emissions from human activity.
Accounting for vegetation growth is clearly important in the complex climate puzzle – and the release of a new satellite dataset is set to help climate modellers with the
In Orbit Aerospace wins $1.8 million AFWERX contract
Tuesday, 26 March 2024 22:56
Astrobotic hires space industry veterans to help with Griffin lander
Tuesday, 26 March 2024 22:08
Early Adopters of NASA's PACE Data to Study Air Quality, Ocean Health
Tuesday, 26 March 2024 21:04 Write a comment
From the atmosphere down to the surface of the ocean, data from NASA's PACE (Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem) satellite benefits ecosystems, human health, and underrepresented communities.
Years before the launch in February 2024, mission leaders from NASA teamed with dozens of applied scientists and environmental professionals to prepare for the many practical uses that could be Japan attempts to revive Moon lander after second lunar night
Tuesday, 26 March 2024 21:04 Write a comment
Japan's space agency said on Tuesday it will try to revive its Moon lander after a second frigid, two-week lunar night, following a surprising awakening last month.
The unmanned Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) touched down in January at a wonky angle that left its solar panels facing the wrong way.
As the sun's angle shifted, it came back to life for two days and carried out s