Space

Are there liquid water brines on Mars? New study casts doubt

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View larger. | An example of weird, dark streaks called recurring slope lineae on the slopes of Mars’ Horowitz crater. Do liquid water brines form these streaks? A new study suggested brines on Mars are less likely to occur than scientists thought. Image via NASA/ JPL-Caltech/ University of Arizona. 2025 EarthSky lunar calendar is available … Read more

SpaceX’s big year: The new records Elon Musk’s space company set in 2024

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SpaceX had a pretty good 2024. Elon Musk’s company broke its own record for most launches in a single year, continued pushing the boundaries of rocket reuse and made serious strides toward getting Starship, its next-generation megarocket, up and running. Oh, and Musk has apparently entered the inner circle of President-elect Donald Trump, wielding political … Read more

Io’s raging volcanoes are self-powered

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View larger. | NASA’s Juno spacecraft captured this view of Io on December 30, 2023. A new NASA study suggested Io doesn’t have a global subsurface ocean of magma. Rather, each of Io’s raging volcanoes is self-powered with its own magma pool. Image via NASA/ JPL-Caltech/ SwRI/ MSSS/ Gerald Eichstädt. Jupiter’s moon Io is the … Read more

Exoplanet TRAPPIST-1 b might have a hazy atmosphere

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View larger. | Artist’s illustration of TRAPPIST-1 b as it is about to pass behind its red dwarf star. A new study suggested that TRAPPIST-1 b is either airless but very geologically active, or has a hazy carbon dioxide atmosphere. Image via Thomas Müller (HdA/ MPIA/ Max Planck Society). TRAPPIST-1 b is the innermost rocky … Read more

Asteroid-comet chimera Chiron has an unusual ice mix, James Webb Space Telescope finds

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The James Webb Space Telescope has discovered that the centaur called 2060 Chiron is an oddball. The object, which is a minor body that orbits the sun in the expanse between Jupiter and Neptune, has a mixture of ices and gases that make it stand out from other objects in the distant outer solar system. … Read more

NASA delays Artemis missions again. What could this mean for the moon, Mars and space leadership?

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NASA’s first two crewed Artemis moon missions have been pushed back to 2026 and 2027, respectively, and the move could have big ramifications for the agency’s Artemis program and competition with China for leadership in space. Artemis 2, which will send a crew of three Americans and a Canadian astronaut around the moon, was due … Read more

Best of Hubble and Webb

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The European Space Agency (ESA) has announced its 2025 calendar, featuring the best images from the Hubble and Webb telescopes from the past year. And it’s free for you to download! Via ESA/Hubble, ESA/Webb. Reposted from ESA. ESA announces free Hubble and Webb 2025 calendar To celebrate another year of exciting images and discoveries from … Read more