Hey Siri: How Much Does This Galaxy Cluster Weigh
It's been nearly a century since astronomer Fritz Zwicky first calculated the mass of the Coma Cluster, a dense collection of almost 1,000 galaxies located in the nearby universe. But estimating the mass of something so huge and dense, not to mention 320 million light-years away, has its share of problems - then and now. Zwicky's initial measurements, and the many made since, are plagued by sour Gemini's GHOST captures exquisite first light observations of chemically rich star
Gemini South, one of the world's most productive and powerful optical-infrared telescopes, received a major capability boost with the successful installation of a new high-resolution spectrograph called GHOST constructed by an international consortium. This cutting-edge scientific instrument will expand our understanding of the earliest stars, the chemical fingerprints of distant planetary syste BlueWalker 3 test satellite fully assembled and shipped
AST SpaceMobile, Inc. (NASDAQ: ASTS) reports that its BlueWalker 3 test satellite has been fully assembled and left its Midland, TX headquarters and manufacturing facility.
Over the next few weeks, BlueWalker 3 will be undergoing final environmental testing at an off-site facility in California, which will provide flight data to be used during the launch at Cape Canaveral. Following this a NASA authorization included in CHIPS Act
The Senate is moving forward with a revised version of a NASA authorization bill that formally authorizes the agency’s Artemis lunar exploration effort and extends operations of the International Space Station.
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Spire adding microwave sounders to improve weather forecasts
Spire Global said July 20 it plans to improve its weather forecast services by fitting future smallsats in its fleet with microwave sounders from RAL Space, the British government’s national laboratory.
UK’s ‘Astra Carta’ movement sees space sustainability as chance to lead
The U.K. sees satellite servicing, debris removal and orbital sustainability as an opportunity to emerge as a major global space power.
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EarthCARE takes a big stretch
ESA’s upcoming EarthCARE satellite mission has just taken a big stretch. Engineers have gently unfolded this new satellite’s huge five-panel solar wing to test that it will deploy correctly once it is in space. The solar wing is a critical part of the satellite, providing the energy for EarthCARE to do its job: to quantify the role that clouds and aerosols play in heating and cooling Earth’s atmosphere.
Isar Aerospace to launch from French Guiana
European small launch vehicle developer Isar Aerospace has signed an agreement with the French space agency CNES to launch its Spectrum rocket from French Guiana.
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Solar storm to hit Earth's magnetic field on July 21
Something is happening to the sun. One of the regions of the solar atmosphere currently exhibiting sunspots caught the attention of observatories on July 11, when there was a sudden increase in ultraviolet and X-ray brightness. The next ones to notice were the amateur radio communities on either side of the Pacific Ocean, when their communications were briefly interrupted.
A solar flare—the emission of electromagnetic radiation and energetic particles located in a small region of the solar atmosphere—had just occurred. It is a region where the magnetic field is particularly strong and complex.
SPECTACULAR FILAMENT ERUPTION: A filament stretching halfway across the solar disk became unstable and erupted away from the Sun. Couple things to note: (1) A section of it twists (magnetic energy being released).
China could shift to fully reusable super heavy-launcher in wake of Starship
China’s launch vehicle makers appear to be designing a fully reusable version of the Long March 9 super heavy-lift rocket needed for future megaprojects.
