Space

A joint NASA-ESA mission, the Ulysses solar probe launched Oct. 6, 1990, from the Space Shuttle Discovery. The mission was tasked with studying the solar wind, mapping the heliosphere, and becoming the first craft to study and chart the solar poles in detail. Equipped with a magnetometer, ion composition gauge, and instruments to measure radioContinue reading “Sept. 13, 1994: Ulysses at the Sun’s south pole”

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Less than two years after the successful launch of Sputnik 1, the Soviet Union put a spacecraft on the Moon. Launched Sept. 12, 1959, Luna 2 traveled over 30 hours to crash-land on the lunar surface. The impact happened at a speed of about 1.9 miles (3 kilometers) per second, and represented the first contactContinue reading “Sept. 12, 1959: Luna 2 launches”

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Launched as the International Sun-Earth Explorer-3 in 1978, a joint NASA-ESA mission, the ISEE-3 probe studied the solar wind and Earth’s magnetic field from the L1 Lagrange point. When its mission was complete in 1981, NASA proposed repurposing the craft by using it to intercept a comet; such reuse would save the money and timeContinue reading “Sept. 11, 1985: The ICE probe encounters Comet Giacobini-Zinner”

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The phenomenon of a Full Moon arises when our planet, Earth, is precisely sandwiched between the Sun and the Moon. This alignment ensures the entire side of the Moon that faces us gleams under sunlight. Thanks to the Moon’s orbit around Earth, the angle of sunlight hitting the lunar surface and being reflected back toContinue reading “2026 Full Moon calendar: When to see the Full Moon and phases”

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Rocket launches this week On Thursday, Sept. 10 at 5:00 a.m. EST, a Long March 2D rocket is set to lift off from Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northern China’s Gobi Desert carrying an undisclosed payload, according to tracking from Next Spaceflight. The rocket is operated by the state-owned space contractor China Aerospace Science andContinue reading “SpaceX closes out SES’s O3b mPower constellation”

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James Van Allen, who was born in Iowa on Sept. 7, 1914, showed talent and interest in science and math from an early age. A major in physics from Wesleyan College in 1935 was followed by a Ph.D. in nuclear physics in 1939. Before and after World War II – during which he developed antiaircraftContinue reading “Sept. 7, 1914: The birth of James Van Allen”

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The fall of 1618 was a standout when it came to notable comets, boasting three visible to the naked eye. In late August, C/1618 Q1 appeared, first spotted in the skies over Hungary. Johannes Kepler observed the comet throughout the month of September, spotting it from Linz, Austria, through a small telescope on Sept. 6.Continue reading “Sept. 6, 1618: The first comet seen through a telescope”

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NASA’s Chandra X-Ray Observatory is the agency’s flagship mission for X-ray astronomy. On Sept. 5, 2001, NASA announced that astronomers using Chandra in October of the previous year had witnessed a fast, strong X-ray flare coming from the supermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy. This black hole, named Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*)Continue reading “Sept. 5, 2001: The Milky Way has a black hole”

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Mark Johnston from Scottsdale, Arizona On Aug. 21, 2026, an unusually long-lasting M-class flare erupted from a sunspot group near the Sun’s west limb. As the flare’s stretched magnetic field lines reconnected and relaxed, they filled with hot plasma that cooled and drained along the loops, producing the glowing arcade seen here in Hydrogen-alpha (Hα)Continue reading “The aftermath of a solar flare”

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Only a little over a month after Viking 1 landed on Mars, Viking 2 followed suit. Though the two Viking landers touched down in different locations, they used identical spacecraft and had the same mission: to create global maps of Mars, observe weather patterns, investigate the surface, measure temperatures, and search for life. Viking 2Continue reading “Sept. 3, 1976: Viking 2 reaches Mars”

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On Sept. 1, 1859, amateur astronomer Richard Carrington observed a massive eruption of bright light from the Sun’s surface. It was the first recorded observation of a solar flare. Within only 17.5 hours, a coronal mass ejection (CME) – an expulsion of plasma and magnetic waves that often accompanies flares and prominences – reached Earth,Continue reading “Sept. 2, 1859: The Carrington Event peaks”

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Try and try and try as they may, scientists have yet to explain one of spaceflight’s most painfully enduring mysteries: Why do astronauts get constipated? After examining blood samples from 52 astronauts, they may have found an answer.  To learn more about how spaceflight affects digestion, researchers from the University of Copenhagen, working with NASA,Continue reading “Why do astronauts get constipated?”

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The third member of NASA’s space shuttle program, Discovery had a fraught journey to its launch. First, a test in June of 1984 found a flaw in the thermal shield; then a launch scheduled for later the same month was delayed due to a computer failure. Attempt No. 2 was halted only four seconds beforeContinue reading “Aug. 30, 1984: Space Shuttle Discovery launches”

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Looking for a sky event this week? Check out our full Sky This Week column.  August 28: Vesta stands still You may have heard of Epsilon (ε) Lyrae, the famous Double Double star in the constellation Lyra, but it’s not the only fascinating pair this constellation holds. Tonight, let’s check out another multi-star system in the Lyre:Continue reading “The Sky Today on Saturday, August 29: Double star Zeta Lyrae”

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Looking for a sky event this week? Check out our full Sky This Week column.  August 27: A deep partial lunar eclipse Asteroid 9 Metis reaches opposition at 10 A.M. EDT. It is in the constellation Aquarius and rises around sunset and sets around sunrise. However, with the bright, nearly Full Moon still nearby this evening, theContinue reading “The Sky Today on Friday, August 28: Vesta stands still”

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Looking for a sky event this week? Check out our full Sky This Week column.  August 26: Catch Barnard’s star A partial eclipse of the Moon occurs tonight, following August 12th’s total eclipse of the Sun. The deep lunar eclipse is visible across North and South America, Africa, and western Europe. The Moon rises around 7:30 P.M.Continue reading “The Sky Today on Thursday, August 27: A deep partial lunar eclipse”

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Looking for a sky event this week? Check out our full Sky This Week column.  August 25: Messier 73 One of the most famous stars in the sky lies in Ophiuchus the Serpent-bearer, still high in the west and southwest (it’s a big constellation) two hours after sunset. In its northeastern corner is Barnard’s star — althoughContinue reading “The Sky Today on Wednesday, August 26: Catch Barnard’s star”

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Looking for a sky event this week? Check out our full Sky This Week column.  August 24: Iapetus at eastern elongation Charles Messier’s famous list of non-cometary objects largely contains star clusters, nebulae, and galaxies — faint fuzzies it could be easy to confuse for a cometary nucleus in a telescope of the type the comet-hunter wasContinue reading “The Sky Today on Tuesday, August 25: Messier 73”

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On Aug. 8 and Aug. 23, 1991, scientists from CalTech and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory turned the 70-meter dish antenna at the Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex on Mercury. The goal was to produce a radar map of the portions of Mercury not photographed by Mariner 10 during its 1974-75 flybys. But to the researchers’Continue reading “Aug. 23, 1991: Water on Mercury”

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On Aug. 20, 1977, Voyager 2 launched from Cape Canaveral and began its epic journey to the outer planets – and beyond. Twelve years later, the spacecraft photographed Neptune as it approached the ice giant. Two days after that, on Aug. 22, 1989, NASA announced that Neptune had a ring system; the images had revealedContinue reading “Aug. 22, 1989: Voyager 2 reveals Neptune”

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On Aug. 12, a total solar eclipse crossed Iceland and Spain — the first time totality has touched European soil since 1999, and the first time it’s crossed Iceland since 1954. Clouds spoiled the view for many in Iceland, but skies cleared for eclipse chasers in Spain. There, totality fell almost at sunset: some viewersContinue reading “Our favorite reader images of the 2026 total eclipse”

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Marco Meniero, taken from Pisa, Italy A total solar eclipse crossed Greenland, Iceland, and Spain on Aug. 12, 2026; from Pisa, Italy, only a partial eclipse was visible, reaching about 94 percent obscuration as the Sun set behind the domes of the city’s cathedral complex in Piazza dei Miracoli. The photographer shot the single 0.3-secondContinue reading “A leaning tower with a view”

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On Aug. 19, 1646, John Flamsteed was born in Derbyshire, England. Though he left school early due to illness and family obligations, he studied astronomy independently and eventually attended Cambridge University. European maritime trade was rapidly expanding during his lifetime, yet sailors still struggled with the longitude problem – north-south distance was easy to calculateContinue reading “Aug. 19, 1646: The birth of John Flamsteed”

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Alessandro Carrozzi, taken near Palencia, Spain The Sun’s corona glows in all its glory in this high-dynamic range image taken during totality on Aug. 12. Bright prominences are visible at the Sun’s limb, as well as faint outer structures formed by the solar wind streaming out along magnetic field lines. Earthshine is also apparent, dimlyContinue reading “The corona from Spain”

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Rocket launches this week On Tuesday, Aug. 18, Chinese aerospace firm LandSpace is targeting 7:35 p.m. EDT for the second flight of its Zhuque-3 rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in China, according to tracking from Next Spaceflight. The launch was scrubbed last week after a Long March 7A rocket exploded hours before Zhuque-3’sContinue reading “More Starlink satellites and two big launches for China”

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In March of 1899, William Pickering discovered Phoebe, a moon of Saturn, on photographic plates taken on Aug. 16, 1898, by DeLisle Stewart. It was the first moon to be discovered photographically, rather than observationally, and over a hundred years later, it would be the first target of the Cassini spacecraft. Phoebe orbits at aContinue reading “Aug. 16, 1898: Phoebe makes an appearance”

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On Aug. 15, 1977, a narrowband radio signal was detected by the Big Ear Radio Telescope at Ohio State. The signal was powerful, lasted for 72 seconds, and was picked up on only 1 of 50 possible channels. It also showed a distinct pattern – starting low, growing, and then decreasing again – suggesting itContinue reading “Aug. 15, 1977: The Wow! Signal arrives”

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