NEW ORLEANS — Scientists continue to advance the process of updating the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Space Weather Scales, with the next steps expected to be taken as early as this year. Just like there’s a classification system for hurricanes and tornadoes, space weather storms that develop and pose threats to Earth have … Read more
Canadian artist Gustav Hahn painted his impression of what the 1913 Great Meteor Procession looked like. Image via Gustav Hahn/ Wikimedia Commons (public domain). February 9, 1913: the Great Meteor Procession An odd and still-unexplained parade of meteors on this date dazzled viewers in Canada, the northeastern United States and ships in the Atlantic all … Read more
View larger. | NASA’s Voyager 2 spacecraft captured this view of Uranus’ moon Ariel on January 24, 1986. We can clearly see various canyons and grooves. Image via NASA/ Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Uranus’ moon Ariel might have a subsurface ocean, a study found last year. The ocean could be ancient or it could still exist … Read more
The colored dots represent different superstructures out to 800 million light-years (250 megaparsecs) from Earth. The red dots denote Quipu, the largest structure in the universe. Yellow is Sculptor-Pegasus superstructure, green is Serpens-Corona Borealis, purple is Hercules and blue is Shapley. Image via Böhringer et al. Astronomy and Astrophysics, 2025. Used with permission. Quipu is … Read more
In the more than 60 years since the Space Age began, humans have sent more than 6,740 rockets to space. According to the ESA’s Space Debris Office, this has resulted in 56,450 objects in orbit; about 36,860 of these objects are regularly tracked and maintained in a catalog, while 10,200 are still functioning. The rest … Read more
Vast Space is taking big steps toward putting the first commercial space station in orbit. The California-based startup recently completed a major testing milestone for the qualification vessel of its upcoming Haven-1 station, a benchmark Vast also used to reevaluate the launch date for the company’s first flight-ready module. “With the completion of our primary … Read more
How easy is it to see Earth’s civilization? Could an alien civilization with technology like ours detect us looking back at them? What would aliens see? And from how far away could they see it? Knowing how easy Earth and earthlings are to spot might simplify work for scientists looking for alien life. The SETI … Read more
What if Bennu hit Earth? The asteroid has a 1-in-2,700 chance of hitting our planet in 2182. On February 5, 2025, scientists in South Korea said they’ve simulated what might happen to Earth if we end up on the losing side of those odds. Image via Myshoun/ Pixabay. What if Bennu hit Earth? Asteroid Bennu … Read more
This ringed galaxy with 9 rings – known previously as LEDA 1313424 – has been nicknamed the Bullseye. It has 6 more rings than any other known galaxy. Researchers said on February 4, 2025, that a small galaxy dove through the heart of the Bullseye some 50 million years ago. The collision resulted in these … Read more
EarthSky’s Deborah Byrd interviewed asteroid expert Dr. Richard Binzel of MIT – inventor of the Torino Scale – about asteroid 2024 YR4. Increasing odds of impact Asteroid 2024 YR4 still sits at a 3 on the Torino scale, but its odds of hitting Earth have inched up. Keep in mind that those odds are still … Read more