New 2-D and 3-D computer modeling of impacts on the asteroid Psyche, the largest Main Belt asteroid, indicate it is probably metallic and porous in composition, something like a flying cosmic rubble pile. Knowing this will be critical to NASA’s forthcoming asteroid mission, Psyche: Journey to a Metal World, that […]
Classifying galaxies with artificial intelligence
Astronomers have applied artificial intelligence (AI) to ultra-wide field-of-view images of the distant Universe captured by the Subaru Telescope, and have achieved a very high accuracy for finding and classifying spiral galaxies in those images. This technique, in combination with citizen science, is expected to yield further discoveries in the […]
This giant crater on Ceres with bright spots may be the most fascinating place in the solar system
For a few months in 2018, as NASA’s Dawn spacecraft used up its last drops of fuel, it gave scientists an incredibly detailed look at one of the strangest places in the solar system: Occator Crater.
Pentagon picks SpaceX, ULA to launch national security missions
The Department of Defense is sticking with SpaceX and United Launch Alliance as its two primary launch services for U.S. national security missions for the foreseeable future.
Physicists watch quantum particles tunnel through solid barriers. Here’s what they found.
The quantum world is a pretty wild one, where the seemingly impossible happens all the time: Teensy objects separated by miles are tied to one another, and particles can even be in two places at once. But one of the most perplexing quantum superpowers is the movement of particles through […]
On This Day in Space! Aug. 10, 1972: ‘Great daylight fireball’ zooms over North America
On Aug. 10, 1972, an Earth-grazing fireball burst through the sky over North America. It didn’t hit the ground, but instead it passed straight through the sky.
Mysterious ‘fast radio burst’ detected closer to Earth than ever before
Thirty thousand years ago, a dead star on the other side of the Milky Way belched out a powerful mixture of radio and X-ray energy. On April 28, 2020, that belch swept over Earth, triggering alarms at observatories around the world.
‘Star Trek: Lower Decks’ warps into the animated comedy frontier with ‘Second Contact’
“Star Trek” has a new animated series — only the second ever for the franchise — that warped onto television Aug. 6 to join the acclaimed collection of shows that currently includes “Star Trek: Discovery” and “Star Trek: Picard”.
SpaceX’s toasted Crew Dragon returns home after historic NASA astronaut splashdown
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule cruised into its home port Friday evening (Aug. 7), secured to one of the company’s recovery vessels.
Arecibo Observatory weathers Tropical Storm Isaias to track potentially dangerous asteroid
A famed radio telescope overcame Tropical Storm Isaias to determine the threat level of a space rock zooming by Earth. In both cases, happily, everything worked out just fine.