Copernical Team
Catch a partial lunar eclipse during September's supermoon
Get ready for a partial lunar eclipse and supermoon, all rolled into one.
The spectacle will be visible in clear skies across North America and South America Tuesday night and in Africa and Europe Wednesday morning.
A partial lunar eclipse happens when the Earth passes between the sun and moon, casting a shadow that darkens a sliver of the moon and appears to take a bite out of it.
Since the moon will inch closer to Earth than usual, it'll appear a bit larger in the sky. The supermoon is one of three remaining this year.
"A little bit of the sun's light is being blocked so the moon will be slightly dimmer," said Valerie Rapson, an astronomer at the State University of New York at Oneonta.
The Earth, moon and sun line up to produce a solar or lunar eclipse anywhere from four to seven times a year, according to NASA.
Tech billionaire returns to Earth after first private spacewalk
A billionaire spacewalker returned to Earth with his crew on Sunday, ending a five-day trip that lifted them higher than anyone has traveled since NASA's moonwalkers.
SpaceX's capsule splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico near Florida's Dry Tortugas in the predawn darkness, carrying tech entrepreneur Jared Isaacman, two SpaceX engineers and a former Air Force Thunderbird pilot.
They pulled off the first private spacewalk while orbiting nearly 460 miles (740 kilometers) above Earth, higher than the International Space Station and Hubble Space Telescope.
Historic private astronaut mission splashes down off Florida
The SpaceX Polaris Dawn mission, which made history when its crew conducted the first spacewalk by non-government astronauts, splashed down off the coast of Florida early Sunday. The Dragon spacecraft landed in the ocean at 3:37 am (0737 GMT), a webcast of the splashdown showed, with a recovery team deploying in the pre-dawn darkness to retrieve the capsule and crew. The four-member team
NASA conducts key telemedicine and health research with Polaris Dawn Crew
NASA is set to gain significant new insights through a range of experiments aboard a commercial spaceflight, reinforcing the agency's scientific efforts as it aims for deeper space exploration to the Moon, Mars, and beyond. These experiments are part of the Polaris Dawn mission, which launched earlier today aboard SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft and Falcon 9 rocket. The Polaris Dawn crew
Satellogic chosen for NASA's SmallSat Data Acquisition Program
Satellogic Inc. (NASDAQ: SATL), a provider of sub-meter resolution Earth observation data, has been selected as one of eight companies awarded a contract in NASA's Commercial SmallSat Data Acquisition (CSDA) Program. The On-Ramp1 Multiple Award contract, which holds a cumulative maximum value of $476 million, was announced on September 6, 2024. This selection reflects Satellogic's dedication to
Astronomers capture detailed motion of gas bubbles on a star's surface
For the first time, astronomers have captured highly detailed images of a star, other than our Sun, that reveal the movement of bubbling gas on its surface. These observations were made using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in July and August 2023. The star, R Doradus, is located around 180 light-years away from Earth in the constellation Dorado. The images show enormous,
Inouye Solar Telescope maps magnetic fields in the Sun's corona
The U.S. National Science Foundation's (NSF) Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope, operated by the NSF's National Solar Observatory (NSO), has successfully mapped the magnetic fields in the solar corona for the first time. The solar corona, visible during a total solar eclipse, is the outermost layer of the Sun's atmosphere. This achievement is expected to significantly improve our ability to unders
JunoCam identifies new volcanic feature on Io
NASA's Juno mission has detected a new volcanic feature on Jupiter's moon Io, known for being the most geologically active body in the Solar System. Close-up images captured by JunoCam, marking the first such views of Io in over 25 years, show a fresh volcano with extensive lava flows and volcanic deposits across a 180-kilometre by 180-kilometre region. These findings were presented at the Europ
NASA recreates Mars' Spider formations in lab for the first time
NASA scientists have successfully recreated the mysterious spider-shaped formations found on Mars, providing new insights into how these unique geologic features form. The laboratory experiments were conducted under simulated Martian conditions, helping to confirm a theory that these "spiders" are carved by processes involving carbon dioxide ice. First discovered in 2003 through orbiter im
Rosetta's influence: How has it inspired you?
It's been ten years since the European Space Agency's (ESA) Rosetta mission reached Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. In the past decade, the mission's scientific achievements have significantly contributed to unraveling the mysteries of comets and deepened our understanding of the Solar System's origins. However, the mission has also impacted people beyond the realm of science. To mark thi