<![CDATA[ Latest from Space.com in Earth ]]>

<![CDATA[ Latest from Space.com in Earth ]]> https://www.space.com Thu, 24 Jul 2025 21:00:00 +0000 en <![CDATA[ Weird space weather seems to have influenced human behavior on Earth 41,000 years ago – our unusual scientific collaboration explores how ]]> This article was originally published at The Conversation. The publication contributed the article to Space.com's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights.

Our first meeting was a bit awkward. One of us is an archaeologist who studies how past peoples interacted with their environments. Two of us are geophysicists who investigate interactions between solar activity and Earth’s magnetic field.

When we first got together, we wondered whether our unconventional project, linking space weather and human behavior, could actually bridge such a vast disciplinary divide. Now, two years on, we believe the payoffs – personal, professional and scientific – were well worth the initial discomfort.

Our collaboration, which culminated in a recent paper in the journal Science Advances, began with a single question: What happened to life on Earth when the planet’s magnetic field nearly collapsed roughly 41,000 years ago?

Weirdness when Earth’s magnetic shield falters

This near-collapse is known as the Laschamps Excursion, a brief but extreme geomagnetic event named for the volcanic fields in France where it was first identified. At the time of the Laschamps Excursion, near the end of the Pleistocene epoch, Earth’s magnetic poles didn’t reverse as they do every few hundred thousand years. Instead, they wandered, erratically and rapidly, over thousands of miles. At the same time, the strength of the magnetic field dropped to less than 10% of its modern day intensity.

So, instead of behaving like a stable bar magnet – a dipole – as it usually does, the Earth’s magnetic field fractured into multiple weak poles across the planet. As a result, the protective force field scientists call the magnetosphere became distorted and leaky.

The magnetosphere normally deflects much of the solar wind and harmful ultraviolet radiation that would otherwise reach Earth’s surface.

So, during the Laschamps Excursion when the magnetosphere broke down, our models suggest a number of near-Earth effects. While there is still work to be done to precisely characterize these effects, we do know they included auroras – normally seen only in skies near the poles as the Northern Lights or Southern Lights – wandering toward the equator, and significantly higher-than-present-day doses of harmful solar radiation.

A series of green northern lights illuminate the night sky in snowy Alaska — The northern lights are seen above Bear Lake, Alaska (Image credit: United States Air Force photo by Senior Airman Joshua Strang)

The skies 41,000 years ago may have been both spectacular and threatening. When we realized this, we two geophysicists wanted to know whether this could have affected people living at the time.

The archaeologist’s answer was absolutely.

Human responses to ancient space weather

For people on the ground at that time, auroras may have been the most immediate and striking effect, perhaps inspiring awe, fear, ritual behavior or something else entirely. But the archaeological record is notoriously limited in its ability to capture these kinds of cognitive or emotional responses.

Researchers are on firmer ground when it comes to the physiological impacts of increased UV radiation. With the weakened magnetic field, more harmful radiation would have reached Earth’s surface, elevating risk of sunburn, eye damage, birth defects, and other health issues.

In response, people may have adopted practical measures: spending more time in caves, producing tailored clothing for better coverage, or applying mineral pigment “sunscreen” made of ochre to their skin. As we describe in our recent paper, the frequency of these behaviors indeed appears to have increased across parts of Europe, where effects of the Laschamps Excursion were pronounced and prolonged.

An illustration of a group of Neanderthals in the wild under a night sky — Neanderthals would have dealt with space weather, much as we do today. (Image credit: athree23 via Wikimedia Commons)

At this time, both Neanderthals and members of our species, Homo sapiens, were living in Europe, though their geographic distributions likely overlapped only in certain regions. The archaeological record suggests that different populations exhibited distinct approaches to environmental challenges, with some groups perhaps more reliant on shelter or material culture for protection.

Importantly, we’re not suggesting that space weather alone caused an increase in these behaviors or, certainly, that the Laschamps caused Neanderthals to go extinct, which is one misinterpretation of our research. But it could have been a contributing factor – an invisible but powerful force that influenced innovation and adaptability.

Cross-discipline collaboration

Collaborating across such a disciplinary gap was, at first, daunting. But it turned out to be deeply rewarding.

Archaeologists are used to reconstructing now-invisible phenomena like climate. We can’t measure past temperatures or precipitation directly, but they’ve left traces for us to interpret if we know where and how to look.

But even archaeologists who’ve spent years studying the effects of climate on past behaviors and technologies may not have considered the effects of the geomagnetic field and space weather. These effects, too, are invisible, powerful and best understood through indirect evidence and modeling. Archaeologists can treat space weather as a vital component of Earth’s environmental history and future forecasting.

An infographic showing the effects of space weather on Earth, affecting various infrastructures we take for granted. (Image credit: ESA/Science Office,CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO)

Likewise, geophysicists, who typically work with large datasets, models and simulations, may not always engage with some of the stakes of space weather. Archaeology adds a human dimension to the science. It reminds us that the effects of space weather don’t stop at the ionosphere. They can ripple down into the lived experiences of people on the ground, influencing how they adapt, create and survive.

The Laschamps Excursion wasn’t a fluke or a one-off. Similar disruptions of Earth’s magnetic field have happened before and will happen again. Understanding how ancient humans responded can provide insight into how future events might affect our world – and perhaps even help us prepare.

Our unconventional collaboration has shown us how much we can learn, how our perspective changes, when we cross disciplinary boundaries. Space may be vast, but it connects us all. And sometimes, building a bridge between Earth and space starts with the smallest things, such as ochre, or a coat, or even sunscreen.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

]]> https://www.space.com/astronomy/earth/weird-space-weather-seems-to-have-influenced-human-behavior-on-earth-41-000-years-ago-our-unusual-scientific-collaboration-explores-how A2cYMyPrHv3uAiL5RdcnXg Thu, 24 Jul 2025 21:00:00 +0000 <![CDATA[ Satellite data reveals 2023 was record-breaking for marine heatwaves — are we at a 'climate tipping point?' ]]> A recent study that tapped into satellite data has revealed that 2023 marked an unprecedented year for marine heatwaves, with record-breaking levels of duration, reach and intensity observed across the world's oceans.

The study's scientists say tackling this growing climate threat will require better forecasting tools, smarter adaptation strategies, and faster action toward curbing climate change, which is primarily driven by human activities like burning coal for cheap power.

"The North Atlantic [marine heatwave], lasting 525 days, revealed the scale of persistent ocean warming," wrote the research team in the paper published in the journal Science, "whereas the Southwest Pacific [heatwave] surpassed previous records with its extensive spatial coverage and prolonged persistence. In the Tropical Eastern Pacific, [marine heatwaves] peaked at 1.63°C during El Niño development, and the North Pacific sustained an ongoing anomaly over 4 years."

These prolonged periods of abnormally high sea surface temperatures can severely disrupt marine ecosystems, often triggering mass coral bleaching events and ecological stress. Beyond environmental consequences, the impacts ripple into human systems — reducing fishery yields, straining aquaculture and affecting industries that rely on stable ocean conditions.

While the impacts of marine heatwaves are increasingly clear, the processes that drive their onset, persistence and intensification remain only partially understood, though experts have indeed connected them to regional climate shifts as well as global warming.

A climate tipping point?

In their analysis, the researchers based in China explored the regional forces behind these extreme ocean warming events, linking them to broader disruptions in Earth's climate system. To do this, they looked to high-resolution ocean data from the ECCO2 (Estimating the Circulation and Climate of the Ocean, Phase II) reanalysis project as well as satellite-based OISST (Optimum Interpolation Sea Surface Temperature) measurements.

They also incorporated a mixed-layer heat budget to help track where heat in the upper ocean is coming from and where it's going. The goal was to understand how different physical processes contribute to the extreme warming observed.

"This comprehensive approach leverages the strengths of ECCO2's capabilities and OISST's observational accuracy, providing critical insights into the variability and mechanisms sustaining [marine heatwaves] across different regions," they wrote.

They report that several key phenomena were contributing to 2023's record-breaking year. In the North Atlantic, fewer clouds let more sunlight reach the ocean surface, warming the water. At the same time, weaker winds led to a thinner surface layer, which made the ocean heat up more quickly. Together, these changes caused a noticeable rise in sea surface temperatures. In the Southwest Pacific, a similar story played out — less cloud cover meant more solar heating, and changes in wind patterns further helped trap that heat at the surface.

Two people sit in a rowboat near an island in a black and white photo — Visitors row near northern Fiji in the south Pacific. (Image credit: Buddy Mays / Getty Images)

In the North Pacific, stronger sunlight and less heat escaping from the ocean led to steady warming, with these factors accounting for most of the temperature rise. Some additional warming came from deeper waters being pushed upward. In the Tropical Eastern Pacific, marine heatwaves were mainly driven by changes linked to El Niño, which moved warm water around.

Their findings highlight how local ocean-atmosphere dynamics are being reshaped by global warming — potentially setting off feedback loops that could make such events more frequent and severe. Worryingly, these patterns may be early indicators of a 'climate tipping point,' the scientists say, where interconnected systems begin to shift rapidly and irreversibly.

"These events can stress ecosystems beyond recovery thresholds, potentially triggering coral reef collapse, reducing species richness, increasing mortality rates, and causing redistribution of fish species, which has already led to the decline of key fisheries, such as the Pacific cod fishery," wrote the scientists.

— Climate change is officially the leading threat to imperiled species in the United States

— How climate change could make Earth's space junk problem even worse

Since nearly 90% of the excess heat trapped by Earth's climate system ends up in the ocean, understanding what’s driving these record-breaking marine heatwaves is more important than ever. Protecting marine ecosystems, coastal economies, and the communities that depend on them must be a global priority as ocean heatwaves continue to intensify.

]]> https://www.space.com/astronomy/earth/satellite-data-reveals-2023-was-record-breaking-for-marine-heatwaves-are-we-at-a-climate-tipping-point qmevHsUX9fJPKBuhhd7YS8 Thu, 24 Jul 2025 18:30:58 +0000 <![CDATA[ 'The ocean is no longer too big to watch': How AI and satellite data are helping rid Earth's seas of illegal fishing ]]> Satellite radar imagery, in conjunction with artificial intelligence (AI), has tracked down illegal fishing to show that efforts to protect the ocean's biodiversity are working.

Of 1,380 Marine-Protected Areas (MPAs) focused on in a new study, 78.5% had no commercial fishing activity at all, according to the satellite images, which are able to record fishing trawlers that are running "dark."

"The ocean is no longer too big to watch," Juan Mayorga, who is a scientist with National Geographic Pristine Seas and a co-author of the study, said in a statement. "With cutting-edge satellites and AI, we're making illegal fishing visible and proving that strong marine protections work."

Intensive fishing is hugely damaging to ocean ecosystems, with many fish stocks beginning to dwindle. In an effort to save some of these ecosystems, more than 16,600 MPAs have been established around the world. Those in territorial waters are managed by the governments of those territories, while those in international waters are maintained either by collaborations between nations, or by UNESCO (the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization).

Different MPAs operate under different rules depending upon which nation they belong to. Some ban fishing all year around, while others prohibit it at certain times of year such as breeding times, or permit fishing just for local communities rather than commercial trawling.

Now, the new data shows that MPAs are doing the job that they were designed to do.

"We found that MPAs with strict legal fishing bans work better than critics claim," study lead author Jennifer Raynor, a professor of natural resource economics at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, said in another statement.

Ships are meant to be detectable by a GPS-based transponder, which is monitored by Automatic Identification Systems, or AIS. However, the AIS service is not 100% reliable; for example, there are areas of poor reception in Southeast Asia, while vessels conducting illegal fishing will often run dark with their transponder switched off.

Enter the satellite imagery, principally from the European Space Agency's family of Sentinel 1 Earth-observation satellites. These satellites are armed with synthetic aperture radar, which means that they can cover large swathes of the surface relatively quickly. By analyzing the satellite images with AI algorithms developed by the non-profit Global Fishing Watch, Raynor and her team were able to identify any sea vessel larger than 15 meters (49 feet).

The researchers found that MPAs are successfully deterring illegal fishing. Of the 1,380 MPAs included in the study, 78.5% experienced no commercial fishing activity, and where illegal fishing was detected, it averaged less than 24 hours per year for 82% of MPAs.

side-by-side black and white satellite-like images of the same patch of ocean, with fishing activity highlighted by yellow dots. the activity is much higher in the left-hand frame — A side-by-side comparison of fishing vessel data in the Great Barrier Reef detected via AIS (left) and those detected by synthetic aperture radar, or SAR (right), techniques. (Image credit: Jennifer Raynor)

The bad news is that some MPAs are still being heavily fished. These include the Chagos Marine Reserve in the Indian Ocean and the MPA around the South Georgia and South Sandwich islands, which is managed by the United Kingdom. Sadly, the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park off the coast of Australia is also still heavily fished. Each of these MPAs suffered approximately 900 hours of illegal fishing every year.

The study found that the AIS system was missing 90% of this illegal fishing, and it was only the use of satellite imagery and AI that identified how much illegal fishing was ongoing in these regions.

"No single dataset can solve the challenge of monitoring fishing activity at sea; each has its blind spots," said Mayorga. "But when we combine them, their power emerges. By fusing AIS tracking with satellite radar imagery and AI, we are now much closer to the full picture of human activity across the ocean. That's especially important in the crown jewels of the ocean — the world's most strongly protected areas — where the stakes for enforcement and biodiversity are highest."

— Satellites reveal 75% of world's industrial fishing vessels are 'hidden'

— Why we're one step closer to understanding how Earth got its oceans

The combined information from AIS and Sentinel-1 can better help law enforcement track down illegal fishing by targeting ships running dark in MPAs.

"This is critical for reaching the Global Biodiversity Framework's 30 by 30 target, which aims to protect 30% of oceans by 2030," said Raynor. "MPAs can help regenerate fish populations, which creates strong incentives for illegal fishing, and yet that activity was mostly absent. This is good news for marine conservation."

The study was published on July 24 in the journal Science.

]]> https://www.space.com/space-exploration/satellites/how-satellites-and-ai-are-helping-protect-earths-oceans-from-illegal-fishing C32BDEkZ3TqCMCCetAkNmU Thu, 24 Jul 2025 18:00:00 +0000 <![CDATA[ 2 Earth weather satellites accidentally spy on Venus ]]> In a serendipitous turn of events, scientists have discovered that Japan's Himawari-8 and Himawari-9 weather satellites, designed to monitor storms and climate patterns here on Earth, have also been quietly collecting valuable data on Venus for nearly a decade.

Although meteorological satellites orbit Earth and scan the skies around it, their imaging range extends into space, allowing them to occasionally catch glimpses of other celestial neighbors, such as the moon, stars and other planets in our solar system.

"This started by chance," explained Gaku Nishiyama, a postdoctoral researcher at the German Aerospace Center (known by its German acronym, DLR) in Berlin in an interview with Space.com. "One of my best friends, who has a Ph.D. in astronomy and is a certified weather forecaster in Japan, found lunar images in Himawari-8/9 datasets and asked me to look."

At the time, Nishiyama was focused on lunar science, and he began using the Himawari-8 and Himawari-9 weather satellites — which launched in 2014 and 2016, respectively — in an unconventional way: as space telescopes. By analyzing the light the moon emitted in infrared wavelengths, he and his team were able to test the satellites' ability to capture temperature variations across the moon's surface as well as determine its physical properties.

"During this lunar work, we also found other solar-system bodies, namely Mercury, Venus, Mars, and Jupiter, in the datasets. We were interested in what phenomena were recorded there," Nishiyama explained.

To spot Venus in the Himawari data, the team used the precise imaging schedule and position of the satellites. "Because we know almost exactly when and where Himawari is looking," Nishiyama said, "we can roughly predict where Venus will appear in each image. From there, we isolate the pixels corresponding to Venus."

Nishiyama and his colleagues were analyzing subtle changes in the intensity of light Venus was emitting. Such data allows scientists to track how a celestial body's brightness varies over time, which in turn reveals details about it.

The Himawari satellites ended up capturing one of the longest multiband infrared records of Venus ever assembled. This unique dataset revealed subtle, year-to-year changes in the planet's cloud-top temperatures, as well as signs of phenomena called thermal tides and Rossby waves.

"Thermal tides are global-scale gravity waves excited by solar heating in the cloud layers of Venus," Nishiyama explained. "When the atmosphere is stratified, like on Venus (i.e., a warm upper layer atop a cold lower layer), a restoring force acts upon heated air parcels, and the resulting vertical oscillations propagate as gravity waves. Rossby waves [also seen in Earth's oceans and atmosphere] are also a global-scale wave caused by variations in the Coriolis force with latitude.

"Both types of waves are crucial for transporting heat and momentum through Venus' atmosphere," he continued. "Tracking how these waves change over time helps us better understand the planet's atmospheric dynamics, especially since other data, like wind speeds and cloud reflectivity, have shown variations that play out over several years.

"Specifically, we succeeded in detecting variations in temperature fields caused by Rossby waves at various altitudes for the first time, which is important to understanding the physics behind the years-scale variation of the Venus atmosphere," said Nishiyama.

These new observations help fill a crucial gap in our understanding of Venus' dynamic upper atmosphere and open a new frontier in planetary monitoring from Earth orbit. The team's findings also challenge the calibration of key instruments on dedicated Venus spacecraft, like the LIR camera aboard Japan's Akatsuki Venus orbiter.

"To understand the atmospheric structure of Venus, determination of temperature at infrared wavelengths is crucial," said Nishiyama. "LIR was expected to provide accurate temperature information; however, LIR has faced several issues in instrument calibration."

Comparing images taken by LIR and Himawari satellites at the same time and under identical geometric conditions, the team found discrepancies and suspects that LIR may be underestimating Venus' radiance. "Our comparison between Himawari and LIR sheds light on how to recalibrate the LIR data, leading to a more accurate understanding of Venus' atmosphere," Nishiyama said.

— Venus facts: Everything you need to know about the 2nd planet from the sun

— Mesmerizing satellite video captures magical view of Earth

The team is also hopeful that Himawari will complement data from missions such as Akatsuki and BepiColombo, a joint Japanese-European mission that's currently establishing itself in orbit around Mercury. Nishiyama explained that, compared to Akatsuki, Himawari covers a wider range of infrared wavelengths and provides information across various altitudes. In contrast to BepiColombo, which observed Venus only during a flyby, Himawari can monitor the planet over a much longer timescale.

"Earth-observing satellites [like Himawari] are generally calibrated so accurately that they can provide reference data for instrument calibrations in future planetary missions," he said. "Unlike meteorological observation on the Earth, there are often time gaps between planetary missions. Since meteorological satellites continue observation from space for decadal timescales, these satellites can supplement data even when there are no planetary exploration spacecraft orbiting around planets."

Nishiyama said that the team has already archived other solar-system bodies, which are now being analyzed. "We believe that continuing such activities will further expand our horizon in the field of planetary science," he concluded.

The team reported their findings last month in the journal Earth, Planets and Space.

]]> https://www.space.com/astronomy/venus/2-earth-weather-satellites-accidentally-spy-on-venus NTkTw4zEWmyM3VPufcWbtf Wed, 23 Jul 2025 21:00:00 +0000 <![CDATA[ Rare sight from space: Snow dusts the dry Atacama Desert | Space photo of the day for July 23, 2025 ]]> On June 25 2025, snow fell on the Atacama Desert, the driest place on Earth. The unexpected storm swept through the high plains (the Altiplano and Chajnantor Plateau), blanketing terrain normally devoid of moisture.

What is it?

The Atacama Desert is situated in an area that makes it nearly impossible to receive storms like it recently did. This is due to the Chilean Andes mountain range, which creates a rain shadow over the area.

However, sometimes a cold-based cyclone penetrates the area, bringing precipitation as either snow or rain. In the case of the June 2025 snowfall, meteorologists said it was the first snow in the region for over a decade.

Where is it?

The Atacama Desert is found between the Andes Mountains and the coasts of Chile and Peru to the west.

A zoomed out map of the Atacama desert in Chile shows snow dotting hills and valleys. — A view of the Atacama Desert from space, with rare snow dusting the region. (Image credit: NASA/Wanmei Liang/USGS/MODIS/NASA EOSDIS LANCE and GIBS/Worldview.)

Why is it amazing?

This image was taken by the MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) instrument on NASA’s Terra satellite from low Earth orbit. It shows how the snow blanketed the Chilean landscape.

While telescopes in the upper mountains like the Southern Astrophysical Research (SOAR) Telescope received minimal snow, others lower down like the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) received more, forcing it into "survival mode" and temporarily suspending all scientific research.

Want to learn more?

You can read more about telescopes in Chile along with the research happening at ALMA.

]]> https://www.space.com/astronomy/earth/rare-sight-from-space-snow-dusts-the-dry-atacama-desert-space-photo-of-the-day-for-july-23-2025 bp83tXxADwJnu4SXaZLTdV Wed, 23 Jul 2025 12:30:00 +0000 <![CDATA[ When did our solar system's planets form? Discovery of tiny meteorite may challenge the timeline ]]> A tiny meteorite is rewriting what scientists thought they knew about the origins of our solar system.

New evidence found in shavings from a meteorite known as Northwest Africa 12264 — a 50-gram (1.8 ounces) piece of space rock that is believed to have formed in the outer solar system — suggests that rocky planets like Earth and distant icy bodies may have formed at the same time. This challenges the long-standing belief that planets closer to the sun formed before those in the outer solar system, the ones that lie beyond the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.

Planets form within the rotating disks of gas and dust that surround young stars, where particles collide and stick together through a process known as accretion. As developing rocky planets heat up, they begin to differentiate, forming separate internal layers known as the core, mantle and crust.

Scientists have thought that our solar system's inner rocky planets — Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars —formed first (around 4.566 billion years ago), while gas giants and icy bodies in the outer solar system came together slightly later (4.563 billion years ago), due to the colder temperatures at a greater distance from the sun. Rocky planets farther out were also thought to form more slowly because their higher water and ice content would have delayed internal heating and core development.

Analyzing the composition of the meteorite (which was purchased from a dealer in Morocco in 2018) revealed a ratio of chromium and oxygen that indicates it came from the outer part of the solar system. Using precise isotopic dating methods, the researchers found that the rock formed 4.564 billion years ago — just two to three million years after the solar system’s earliest solid materials.

Three different colored photos showing a chemical composition of a meteorite — Three comparisons of the chemical composition of the meteorite. (Image credit: Communications Earth & Environment (2025).)

Until now, such early formation was thought to be limited to bodies from the inner solar system, according to a statement announcing the new study.

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Evidence that rocky planets beyond Jupiter formed as rapidly, and at the same time, as the inner planets could transform our understanding of how planets take shape — not only in our solar system, but in planetary systems throughout the universe, the researchers said.

Their findings were published on July 4 in the journal Communications Earth & Environment.

]]> https://www.space.com/astronomy/solar-system/when-did-our-solar-systems-planets-form-discovery-of-tiny-meteorite-may-challenge-the-timeline qRg9AumGE3YZTdfWkcfJqM Mon, 21 Jul 2025 17:00:00 +0000 <![CDATA[ ESA selects 5 rocket companies for European Launcher Challenge ]]> The European Space Agency (ESA) has taken a step toward diversifying its access to space.

ESA has chosen five rocket companies to pass through to the next round of its competition to encourage and support the development of new launch vehicles.

The agency announced on July 7 that it had selected German companies Isar Aerospace and Rocket Factory Augsburg (RFA), Maiaspace from France, Spain's PLD Space and Orbital Express Launch, or Orbex, which is based in the United Kingdom, to proceed to the next stage of its European Launcher Challenge.

The European Launcher Challenge (ELC) is a new scheme to promote new small and medium-sized launch vehicles and boost competitiveness in Europe, which for decades has relied on large Ariane rockets.

The challenge was announced in November 2023, followed by a request for information and a formal call for proposals in March 2025, leading to ESA announcing the preselected challengers. The ELC has two components. The first is for launch services to be performed for ESA from 2026 to 2030, while the second is for development and demonstration of larger, upgraded launchers.

Each chosen company will be eligible for up to 169 million euros ($198 million US) in support to cover one or both of these components. The ESA member states will finalize funding decisions in November at the agency's crucial ministerial council, which will set funding for projects for the next three years.

Both Isar Aerospace and RFA have made it to the pad already. Isar's Spectrum rocket had a first, short-lived flight in March from Norway, with the launcher exploding seconds in flight. RFA's RFA One rocket exploded on the pad in the Shetland Islands back in August 2024 during a static fire test.

— Spanish company PLD Space launches rocket for 1st time

— Scottish rocket startup Skyrora fails on 1st space launch attempt

PLD Space conducted a suborbital flight of its Miura 1 rocket in 2023, as a stepping stone toward launching the orbital Miura 5. Orbex, meanwhile, is working on its Prime microlauncher, while Maiaspace is developing its reusable Maia rocket.

These are not the only European companies engaged in developing new rockets, with Skyrora (U.K.), Latitude (France) and HyImpulse (Germany) at various stages of developing their rocket concepts.

]]> https://www.space.com/astronomy/earth/esa-selects-5-rocket-companies-for-european-launcher-challenge TjF56S83NNzMjk7aaZ5GUo Mon, 21 Jul 2025 14:42:29 +0000 <![CDATA[ Earth will spin faster today to create 2nd-shortest day in history ]]> Earth will complete a full rotation in slightly less time than usual today (July 22), making it one of the shortest days ever recorded.

The difference will be just 1.34 milliseconds less than the standard 24 hours — not something you'll notice — but it's part of a puzzling trend in Earth's rotational behavior that has been unfolding in recent years. If it continues, a second may need to be subtracted from atomic clocks around 2029 — a so-called negative leap second, which has never been done before.

The speed of Earth's rotation isn't fixed. Long ago, a day was much shorter than the 24 hours — or 86,400 seconds — we're now accustomed to. According to a 2023 study, a day on Earth was approximately 19 hours for a significant part of Earth's early history, due to a balance between solar atmospheric tides and lunar ocean tides. However, over deep time, a day on Earth has become consistently longer. The primary culprit has been tidal friction from the moon, which has caused it to gradually move farther away from Earth. As it moves away, the moon saps Earth's rotational energy, causing Earth's rotation to slow and days to lengthen.

So why the sudden reverse?

From when records began (with the invention of the atomic clock) in 1973 until 2020, the shortest day ever recorded was 1.05 milliseconds less than 24 hours, according to Timeanddate.com. But since 2020, Earth has repeatedly broken its own speed records. The shortest day ever measured occurred on July 5, 2024, when Earth's rotation was completed 1.66 milliseconds faster than usual.

Looking ahead to 2025, scientists predicted that July 9, July 22, and Aug. 5 could be the shortest days of the year. However, new data suggests that July 10 took the lead as the shortest day so far in 2025, clocking in at 1.36 milliseconds less than 24 hours. On July 22, Earth is expected to complete its spin 1.34 milliseconds early, making it a close runner-up. If current predictions hold, Aug. 5 will be about 1.25 milliseconds shorter than usual, leaving July 22 as the second-shortest day of the year.

graphic showing a rotating Earth and a vector of a speedometer showing maximum speed — July 22 will be 1.34 milliseconds less than the standard 24 hours. (Image credit: Created in Canva by Daisy Dobrijevic)

There are signs the acceleration may be easing. The rate of decrease in day length appears to be slowing, but the underlying cause of the recent rotational changes remains elusive.

One 2024 study suggested that the melting polar ice and rising sea levels may be influencing Earth's spin. However, rather than driving the acceleration, this redistribution of mass might be moderating it. A more likely culprit is deep below our feet — the slowing of Earth's liquid core, which could be redistributing angular momentum in a way that makes the mantle and crust spin slightly faster.

"The cause of this acceleration is not explained," Leonid Zotov, a leading authority on Earth rotation at Moscow State University, told Timeanddate.com. "Most scientists believe it is something inside the Earth. Ocean and atmospheric models don't explain this huge acceleration."

Zotov predicts Earth’s rotation may soon decelerate once again. If he’s right, this sudden speeding-up could prove to be just a temporary anomaly in the planet’s long-term trend toward slower rotation and longer days.

]]> https://www.space.com/astronomy/earth/earth-will-spin-faster-on-july-22-to-create-2nd-shortest-day-in-history 24cYgjHwtwTjurFoxo9JM6 Mon, 21 Jul 2025 10:00:00 +0000 <![CDATA[ 2 new NASA satellites will track space weather to help keep us safe from solar storms ]]> A new mission set to blast off for low-Earth orbit will study magnetic storms around the Earth and learn more about how they affect our atmosphere and satellites.

NASA's Tandem Reconnection and Cusp Electrodynamics Reconnaissance Satellites, or TRACERS for short, mission represents a pair of satellites that will fly in a sun-synchronous orbit — meaning they are always over the dayside of the Earth — and pass through the polar cusps. The cusps are, in essence, two holes in Earth's magnetosphere, where the field lines dip down onto the magnetic poles.

When an influx of solar wind particles slam into Earth's magnetosphere, they can overload the magnetic-field lines, causing them to snap, disconnect and then reconnect. Magnetic reconnection, as the process is called, can release energy that accelerates charged particles down the funnel-shaped cusps and into our atmosphere, where they collide with molecules and, if a solar storm is intense enough, generate auroral lights.

When TRACERS launches — expected to be no earlier than late July — it will seek to learn more about the magnetic-reconnection process and how space weather affects our planet.

"What we'll learn from TRACERS is critical for understanding, and eventually predicting, how energy from our sun impacts not only the Earth, but also our space- and ground-based assets, whether it be GPS or communications signals, power grids, space assets or our astronauts working in space," said Joe Westlake, Director of NASA's Heliophysics Division, in a NASA teleconference.

Historically, the problem in studying magnetic reconnection has been that when a satellite flies through the region of reconnection and captures data, all it sees is a snapshot. Then, 90 minutes or so later on its next orbit, it takes another snapshot. In that elapsed time, the region may have changed, but it's impossible to tell from those snapshots why it's different. It could be because the system itself is changing, or the magnetic-reconnection coupling process between the solar wind and Earth's magnetosphere is moving about — or maybe it is switching on and off.

An infographic showing the Earth's magnetic field and its corresponding magnetic poles — Earth's magnetic field. The cusps are at the poles where the magnetic field lines dip down. (Image credit: Peter Reid, The University of Edinburgh.)

"These are fundamental things that we need to understand," said TRACERS' principal investigator, David Miles of the University of Iowa, in the same teleconference.

That's why TRACERS is important, because it is two satellites working in tandem rather than being a lone magnetic explorer.

"They're going to follow each other at a very close separation," said Miles. "So, one spacecraft goes through, and within two minutes the second spacecraft comes through, and that gives us two closely spaced measurements."

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Together, the twin spacecraft will measure the magnetic- and electric-field strengths where magnetic reconnection is taking place, as well as what the local ions and electrons trapped in the magnetosphere are doing.

"What TRACERS is going to study is how the output of the sun couples to near-Earth space," said Miles. "What we're looking to understand is how the coupling between those systems changes in space and in time."

TRACERS will not be alone out there, and will be able to work with other missions already in operation, such as NASA's Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission (MMM), that studies reconnection from farther afield than TRACERS' low-Earth orbit 590 kilometers above our heads. There's also NASA's Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere (PUNCH) mission, and the Electrojet Zeeman Imaging Explorer (EZIE), which both study solar-wind interactions with our planet from low-Earth orbit.

"TRACERS joins the fleet of current heliophysics missions that are actively increasing our understanding of the sun, space weather, and how to mitigate its impacts," said Westlake.

The $170 million TRACERS is set to launch no earlier than the end of July on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket that will be carrying several other small missions into orbit at the same time. The answers that TRACERS could provide about how magnetic reconnection works will allow scientists to better protect critical infrastructure for when solar storms hit.

"It's going to help us keep our way of life safe here on Earth," said Westlake.

]]> https://www.space.com/astronomy/2-new-nasa-satellites-will-track-space-weather-to-help-keep-us-safe-from-solar-storms YdSkmamMunC7dYd3ahYjbQ Sat, 19 Jul 2025 10:00:00 +0000 <![CDATA[ Meteor impact may have triggered massive Grand Canyon landslide 56,000 years ago ]]> A meteorite impact thousands of years ago may have triggered a landslide in the Grand Canyon and reshaped the Colorado River that runs through the national park.

Geologists studying driftwood and lake sediments found in Stanton's Cave — in Marble Canyon, which lies in the eastern part of the Grand Canyon — revealed a possible connection between the area and the famous impact site known as Meteor Crater (also called Barringer Crater) in northern Arizona.

Through excavation and multiple rounds of radiocarbon dating, researchers determined the driftwood is about 56,000 years old. Yet today, the mouth of Stanton's Cave sits 150 feet (46 meters) above the Colorado River. A new study suggests the wood was carried there by an ancient paleolake, formed when a massive landslide dammed the river.

"It would have required a 10-times-bigger flood level than any flood that has happened in the past several thousand years," Karl Karlstrom, co-lead author of the study and an Earth and planetary science professor at the University of New Mexico, said in a statement from the university.

The study claims that the strike that created Meteor Crater could be linked to a paleolake — an ancient lake that existed in the past but has since dried up — in the Grand Canyon that formed at the same time. The impact would have generated an earthquake around magnitude 5.4 to 6, which could have sent a shock wave powerful enough to shake loose unstable cliffs in the Grand Canyon 100 miles (161 kilometers) away and trigger a massive landslide. That event, in turn, could have deposited enough debris to dam the river and form a lake.

An image of the Grand Canyon with colors superimposed on it to show where the meteor impact was — Driftwood and lake sediments found in Stanton's Cave in the Marble Canyon area of the Grand Canyon suggest that a paleolake once flooded the area, following an ancient meteorite impact that triggered a massive landslide that dammed the Colorado River. (Image credit: UNM UCAM Newsroom)

Other caves high above the river have also been explored for clues about the canyon's geological past. In addition to the driftwood, ancient beaver tracks have been found in areas that would be inaccessible to the water-dwelling animals today, further supporting the idea that a paleolake once existed in the area.

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With driftwood and sediment samples found in many caves as high up as 3,084 feet (940 m), the researchers estimate the paleolake would have been about 50 miles (80 km) long and nearly 300 feet (91 m) deep. Over time, the dam that blocked the Colorado River could have been overtopped and deeply eroded, eventually filling up with sediment.

While there is evidence linking the paleolake, the meteorite impact and resulting landslide, the researchers noted that further study is required to eliminate any other possible explanations for the river damming, such as random rockfall or a more local earthquake around the same time.

Their findings were published July 15 in the journal Geology.

]]> https://www.space.com/astronomy/earth/meteor-impact-may-have-triggered-massive-grand-canyon-landslide-56-000-years-ago pisrDY4dkKX8gVTker7F3Z Fri, 18 Jul 2025 15:39:45 +0000 <![CDATA[ Lunar lava tubes on Earth? China completes underground moon simulation test area (video) ]]>

China has taken a new step in its long-term planning for lunar exploration with the completion of a "simulated moon underground space."

Researchers have established a practice area in a volcanic lava cave in a forest region near Jingbo Lake in Mudanjiang City, located in the northeastern province of Heilongjiang. The move is in response to research suggesting that lava tube systems are present on the moon and Mars and could provide shielding from those worlds' harsh radiation environments.

"The underground volcanic lava pipes by the Jingbo Lake are the most similar environment on Earth to the underground space of the moon. I hope our forward-looking research can serve China's lunar exploration program," Li Jiaqi, a researcher at Peking University, told China Central Television (CCTV).

a small white dog-like robot explores a rocky cave — China is practicing robotic moon exploration in a lava cave here on Earth. (Image credit: CCTV)

Experimental robots are already being used to test conducting autonomous exploration and multi-functional operations in the simulated lunar environment.

— China returns samples from the moon's far side in historic 1st (video)

— The moon: Everything you need to know about Earth's companion

"Compared with traditional lunar roving vehicles and exploration robots, it has stronger environmental adaptability and flexibility," said Li Xianglong, a doctoral student from the Harbin Institute of Technology. "When exploring the underground space of the moon for the future, it can possess more precise perception, decision-making and operation capabilities."

Students also set up seismometers in the area to serve as a reference for future lunar experiments. China's Chang'e 7 mission to the lunar south pole, set to launch sometime in 2026, will carry a seismograph to study the moon's interior and detect moonquakes, caused by tidal forces from Earth, and temperature changes affecting the lunar surface. China plans to establish an International Lunar Research Station (ILRS) in the 2030s.

]]> https://www.space.com/astronomy/moon/lunar-lava-tubes-on-earth-china-completes-underground-moon-simulation-test-area-video YSQuNf3KvK7Skgmc6AxHiX Thu, 17 Jul 2025 20:00:00 +0000 <![CDATA[ China's Tianwen 2 asteroid-sampling probe snaps gorgeous shots of Earth and the moon (video, photos) ]]>

China's Tianwen 2 probe has captured striking pictures of home as it heads out to a near-Earth asteroid to collect samples.

Tianwen 2 launched from Xichang on a Long March 3B rocket on May 28 and is en route to the enigmatic asteroid Kamo'oalewa. But shortly after departure, the spacecraft took the opportunity to test out its cameras.

The China National Space Administration (CNSA) released a statement on July 1 including images of Earth and the moon. The image of Earth was captured by Tianwen 2's narrow field of view navigation sensor while 590,000 kilometers (367,000 miles) away from the planet on May 30. A couple of hours later, the same instrument took a shot of the moon from a similar distance.

A photo of Earth taken from outer space shows its colors and weather — This photo of Earth was taken by the narrow field of view navigation sensor of China's Tianwen 2 asteroid probe on May 30, 2025, when the spacecraft was about 367,000 miles (590,000 kilometers) from our planet. (Image credit: CNSA)

At the time of that update, Tianwen 2 had been in Earth orbit for 33 days, CNSA officials said. The probe was more than 12 million km (7.46 million miles) away from Earth and was in good working condition. Previously, Tianwen 2 returned an image of one of its two circular solar arrays using an engineering camera, providing our first glimpse of the actual spacecraft.

Tianwen 2 is China's first asteroid mission. It aims to collect samples from Kamo'oalewa, one Earth's seven known "quasi moons," and is expected to arrive at the rocky body around July 2026. It will then study the small asteroid to determine possible landing sites before collecting samples and heading for home, delivering its precious payload in a reentry capsule in late 2027. Analysis of the samples could shed light on the early days of our solar system.

A photo of the moon taken from outer space shows its small size and shadows — This full-color photo of the moon was taken by the narrow field of view navigation sensor of China's Tianwen 2 asteroid probe on May 30, 2025, when the spacecraft was about 367,000 miles (590,000 kilometers) from our planet. (Image credit: CNSA)

"[This asteroid] is very likely to hold the original information of the solar system at its birth, which is of great scientific research value for our understanding of the material composition of the early solar system, including its formation process and evolutionary history," Han Siyuan, deputy director of the Lunar Exploration and Space Engineering Center (LESEC) under CNSA, told Chinese state-run broadcaster CCTV.

— China launches Tianwen 2 mission to snag samples of a near-Earth asteroid (video)

— Sampling a 'quasi-moon': What's next for China's newly launched Tianwen 2 asteroid-sampling mission

Tianwen 2's mission won't end there. The spacecraft will use its return to Earth to make a gravity slingshot maneuver to send it onto the next step of its journey: a rendezvous with the main belt comet 311P/PANSTARRS, which will occur around 2035.

The mission is the second in China's "Tianwen" planetary exploration series. Tianwen 1, launched in 2020, sent an orbiter and a rover to Mars. That spacecraft jettisoned a small camera on its way to the Red Planet to deliver an epic deep-space selfie, raising the notion that Tianwen 2 could perform a similar act at some point during its own voyage.

]]> https://www.space.com/space-exploration/missions/chinas-tianwen-2-asteroid-sampling-probe-snaps-gorgeous-shots-of-earth-and-the-moon-video-photos K2zmG2X7DF5CoC8NH2wTEJ Thu, 17 Jul 2025 16:00:00 +0000 <![CDATA[ Satellite images track Grand Canyon wildfires burning across thousands of acres ]]> Two wildfires in Northern Arizona, sparked from lightning, have burned at least 60,000 acres in a little over a week — and, while firefighters work around the clock trying to contain the fires, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)'s satellites are aiding the fight from space. The fires have also spread to the Grand Canyon.

The first wildfire to directly impact Grand Canyon National Park was the Dragon Bravo Fire, which began on July 4. Dragon Bravo has already scorched thousands of acres and continues to destroy a number of structures, including the monumental Grand Canyon Lodge, along its path within the park’s North Rim. Five days after the Dragon Bravo Fire began, another thunderstorm resulted in the creation of the White Sage Fire, which rapidly grew and expanded during a period of dry and hot weather accompanied by powerful wind gusts.

In order to fight the fires from all angles, firefighters, weather forecasters and community leaders depend on information gathered in space from satellites. Some satellites are equipped with instruments that can monitor a wildfire's progression and growth, as well as provide high-resolution photos of both the fire itself and the associated smoke plume. There are two satellite constellations from NOAA that particularly tag-team with wildfire updates: the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) and the Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS). Together, the satellites can paint a picture using tools they're equipped with, with JPSS tracking the United States in a non-geosynchronous orbit while 512 miles (824 kilometers) above us and GOES orbiting around the Earth at the same speed in a geosynchronous orbit while 22,236 miles (35,786 kilometers) above.

So, how do satellites gather information that's crucial in the fight to contain a wildfire?

There are different filters and spectral bands that can be used to get that information., and tools on the satellites are able to analyze just those two things. These tools capture high-resolution images of the growth and expansion of a wildfire in almost real-time. They can also show, via time-lapse, the direction that fire and smoke are moving. If we look at the time-lapse of images taken by the Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) aboard NOAA's GOES-18 satellite, you can see where the fire originated, its rapid growth and expansion, and how the direction of the wind steered the flames over time (in this view, the winds were blowing from the north/northwest).

A time lapse gif showing the progression of the smoke from the Grand Canyon wildfire (Image credit: NOAA)

Another instrument that regularly provides important information about wildfires lives on NOAA's JPSS satellites, NOAA-20 and NOAA-21. Even after the sun goes to sleep, the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) can continue to snap photos of the wildfire. These details keep first responders and community leaders aware of the fire's behavior — and alert them if any growth, new hot spots, or updates critical with fighting the wildfire can be seen. These monitoring tools thus remain of extreme importance, continuously providing information to help us understand a wildfire with a level of accuracy and precision that ground reports alone cannot offer.

A time-lapse gif of the two wildfires in Arizona in the evening — A gif showing the two fires at night, taken by a NOAA satellite (Image credit: NOAA)

You can find more information on both the Dragon Bravo and White Sage fires through the InciWeb site and any closure details from Grand Canyon National Park are located here.

]]> https://www.space.com/astronomy/earth/satellite-images-track-grand-canyon-wildfires-burning-across-thousands-of-acres 8tRTKjnmbUnDUND5qWRJsV Wed, 16 Jul 2025 19:38:39 +0000 <![CDATA[ Astronomers discover giant alien planet 35 times more massive than Earth hiding in a known star system ]]> Scientists have detected a hidden alien planet by examining the orbits of the known worlds in the star system, known as Kepler-139.

The newfound exoplanet, called Kepler-139f, is a gigantic world roughly twice the mass of Neptune and 35 times the mass of Earth, and it takes 355 days to orbit its star, astronomers reported in a study published May 2 in The Astrophysical Journal Letters. Despite its giant size, Kepler-139f had evaded detection.

That's because the initial yield of NASA's Kepler space telescope, which discovered nearly 3,000 planets in its nine years of operation, relied on worlds transiting — passing between their star and Earth. The resulting dimming of the star allowed astronomers to identify planets and calculate their size. But Kepler couldn't see planets traveling above or below the wedge of space between it and the star, so any outliers remained unseen.

But if the hidden world was part of a multiplanet system, astronomers could try to find it despite its inclined orbit. Kepler-139 has three rocky transiting super-Earths; a fourth gas giant was later discovered. Gaps in their orbits suggested that other worlds might be present. Precise measurements of the orbits allowed the astronomers to infer the existence of at least one more planet.

"The issue is not exactly finding non-transiting planets, but rather, finding situations in which we can deduce where the non-transiting planet is located," Caleb Lammers, a graduate student in the Department of Astrophysical Science at Princeton and co-author of the study, told Space.com by email.

Discovering Kepler-139f

Kepler's initial identification of a world was often followed up by observations from the ground. Using radial velocity (RV), astronomers could measure how much a planet tugged on its star, allowing them to determine the planet's mass. RV measurements could also reveal new worlds, as happened with the outermost gas giant, Kepler-139e.

At the same time, each planet is pulled by not only its star but also by other planets in the system, regardless of whether that planet can be seen from Earth. These pulls can affect how swiftly a planet transits, thus creating "transit timing variations" (TTVs). These variations in the transiting planets can reveal worlds that don't cross the star.

"When you observe TTVs that cannot be attributed to the known planets, you can be fairly confident that there is an unseen body in the system," Lammers said.

Lammers and his colleague Joshua Winn, a participating scientist on the Kepler team and co-author of the study, went looking for gaps in known systems. Then, they used both RV and TTV measurements to hunt for a missing world, revising existing TTVs based on the 2023 discovery of Kepler-139e.

"What was different in the case of Kepler-139 is that we had precise radial velocity observations which did not conclusively point towards a new planet on their own," Lammers said. Combined with the TTVs, the observations revealed a fifth planet, Kepler-139f, tucked between the outermost super-Earth and the gas giant.

A large planet with pink and purple horizontal stripes sits in the darkness of space — A hypothetical illustration of Kepler-139f, a newly-discovered Neptune-like exoplanet with a mass 35 times larger than Earth's. (Image credit: NASA Exoplanet Catalog)

The new discovery also helped to answer a question about Kepler-139e. The original reports of Kepler-139c, the outermost super-Earth, provided an unusually large density for a sub-Neptune-size planet.

The discrepancy occurred because those authors didn't know about Kepler139f, so they had attributed some of its pull on its star to Kepler-139c. The new data suggest a more typical density for Kepler-139c while leaving the densities for Kepler-139d and Kepler-139b essentially unchanged. These revisions provide indirect evidence for Kepler-139f, Lammers said.

There may even be other hidden worlds around Kepler-139. "It remains possible that there are other unseen planets in the system," Lammers said, pointing to the prominent gap between planets b and c. "The challenge is finding them!"

Hidden worlds

Both Kepler and NASA's more recent exoplanet hunting mission, the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), were sensitive to planets orbiting closer to their star. These inner worlds were more likely to make many transits, allowing scientists to confirm the planet's existence. But transiting planets with wider orbits made only a handful of passes, so they were more challenging to observe and confirm.

At the same time, the RV method tends to be biased toward larger planets, because the more massive a world is, the stronger it tugs on its star. Proximity helps; the pull of the planet is amplified to the square inverse of its distance. Thus, a planet twice as far away will have only one-fourth the gravitational pull. That's why many of the first discovered exoplanets were Jupiter-size worlds that circled their star in only a few days.

—25 years of exoplanet hunting hasn't revealed Earth 2.0 — but is that what we're looking for?

—The 10 most Earth-like exoplanets

All of these factors make it harder to discover smaller planets that are farther away, particularly if they don't transit their star. But by combining transits, RVs and TTVs, astronomers can find smaller, hidden worlds orbiting farther from their star.

"It is likely that many planetary systems host unseen worlds, especially in their outer regions," Lammers said.

But soon, it will be harder for those worlds to hide. In 2026, the European Space Agency will launch its Planetary Transits and Oscillations of Stars (PLATO) mission, which will conduct its own survey of transiting planets, as well as revisit Kepler's field. In providing additional transit times for planets detected by Kepler more than a decade later, PLATO will improve measurements of TTVs to enable the discovery of more misaligned worlds.

"In the coming years, the TTV planet detection technique will probably be accelerated dramatically by the PLATO mission," Lammars said.

]]> https://www.space.com/astronomy/astronomers-discover-giant-alien-planet-35-times-more-massive-than-earth-hiding-in-a-known-star-system XLkiiisTTFgM96nhEvogoH Tue, 15 Jul 2025 11:00:00 +0000 <![CDATA[ Earth may have at least 6 'minimoons' at any given time. Where do they come from? ]]> Half a dozen fragments of the moon may briefly orbit Earth at any given time, before moving on to circle the sun, new research suggests — but the minimoons' small size and quick pace make them challenging to spot.

When objects collide with the moon, they send up a shower of material, some of which manages to escape into space. Although there may be an occasional large chunk, most are fast-moving and smaller than 6.5 feet (2 meters) in diameter. The bulk of the lunar material falls into orbit around the more gravitationally attractive sun. But some of the debris may occasionally be pulled into an orbit around Earth before returning to circle the sun, researchers explained in a study published in the journal Icarus.

It's "kind of like a square dance, where partners change regularly and sometimes leave the dance floor for a while," Robert Jedicke, a researcher at the University of Hawaii and lead author of the study, told Space.com by email.

A piece of the moon

Although the International Astronomical Union doesn't have an official definition, previous research suggested that a minimoon could be an object that is at least temporarily bound to Earth, makes at least one revolution of the planet, and is closer than about four times the Earth-moon distance at some point in its orbit.

Minimoons can come from anywhere in the solar system, but a 2018 study suggested most come from the region of the asteroid belt, between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. The recent appearance of minimoons from the moon, however, is calling that finding into question.

In 2016, the Pan-STARRS1 asteroid survey telescope in Hawaii spotted a 131- to 328-foot-wide (40 to 100 meters) near-Earth object identified as Kamo'oalewa, or "469219 Kamo'oalewa," orbiting the sun in sync with Earth. Later studies revealed that Kamo'oalewa was a slice of the moon excavated between 1 million and 10 million years ago in the crash that formed the Giordano Bruno crater.

Earlier this year, astronomers announced that a second temporary terrestrial satellite appeared to have a lunar origin. Discovered last year, the object — called 2024 PT5 — looks more like the moon than an asteroid.

Together, these two objects suggest that the moon could be birthing its own tiny moons. So Jedicke and his colleagues decided to calculate just how many lunar minimoons might exist. Relying on simulations of how particles blown from the moon might behave, they found that many of the particles blasted into space could be captured at least temporarily by Earth, and about a fifth of them were likely to become minimoons.

An illustration of Earth with two moons in space — An illustration of Earth with two moons, one being a mini moon. (Image credit: Grebenkov via Wikimedia Commons)

The new findings nominally predict that 6.5 lunar-born satellites may be circling Earth at a time. The individual objects are changeable; if they could be counted today, and then again in a year, some would be new objects. A typical minimoon dances around Earth for an average of about nine months, Jedicke said, and these minimoons are constantly replenished from the material traveling in an Earth-like orbit.

But when it comes to nailing down the predicted number of minimoons, Jedicke cautioned that the uncertainty is "ginormous — many orders of magnitude." That's due to many unknowns, including the size of a crater formed by an impact and the size and speed distribution of the ejected material.

"If there were that many [temporarily bound objects], the telescopic surveys would probably detect more of them," Jedicke said. "So the nominal prediction is almost certainly wrong. That's science."

Because science builds on new information, identifications of more lunar minimoons and a better understanding of their size distribution will help to refine that prediction and provide new insight into the crater formation process.

Small objects, big challenges

Due to their size, the tiny, temporary moons are challenging to spot. The problem relates to both their size and their speed. With most of the fragments ranging from 3 to 7 feet (1 to 2 m) in diameter, even the most seasoned instruments can struggle to detect them. Jedicke compares them to a car or an SUV.

"Detecting objects in that size range means they have to be close so they are bright, but if they are close, it means they also appear to be moving quickly across the sky," Jedicke said. "It is incredible that modern telescopic surveys have the ability to detect such small objects up to millions of kilometers away."

In massive sky surveys, computers usually work to pull out motion. When minimoons are close enough to be seen, their rapid motion may leave trails, rather than spots, on images of the sky. "Trails are more difficult for computer algorithms to identify," Jedicke said.

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—NASA raises the odds that an asteroid could hit the moon in 2032

But all is not lost. The new research suggests that 2020 CD3 was visible to the Catalina Sky Survey on only two of the roughly 1,000 nights the object was in range. The successful detection bodes well for future observations. Once the objects have been identified, tracking becomes easier because astronomers know where and when to look for the minimoons.

These brief visitors could also have intriguing commercial applications, since they would require the least amount of fuel to visit, Jedicke said. Instead of flying to the asteroid belt to extract water, minerals and other commercially desirable elements, companies could find ways to snag the transients as they briefly orbit Earth.

From a scientific perspective, minimoons and their kin "may help reveal how the solar system formed and continues to evolve," Jedicke said. Understanding how lunar debris was flung off of the moon during an impact can help researchers better understand and estimate damage due to asteroid impacts on Earth.

]]> https://www.space.com/astronomy/earth-may-have-at-least-6-minimoons-at-any-given-time-where-do-they-come-from im5eSj3UwjwQ4MFz7YaxtF Sun, 13 Jul 2025 10:00:00 +0000 <![CDATA[ Did you feel it? Earth just had one of its shortest days ever and 2 more are coming ]]> On July 9, 2025, Earth spun a little faster than usual, enough to make the day about 1.3 to 1.6 milliseconds shorter than the standard 24 hours.

That may not sound like much, but it was the shortest day since modern records began.

It's not a one-off either. Scientists expect two more short days this summer, on July 22 and Aug. 5, all thanks, in part, to the moon.

What makes Earth spin faster?

Earth doesn't rotate at a perfectly constant speed. While we define a day as 24 hours, in reality, the length of a day can vary slightly from one day to the next due to both internal and external forces acting on the planet.

Over long timescales, Earth's rotation is actually gradually slowing down, largely because of tidal friction from the moon. The moon's gravity pulls on Earth's oceans, creating tidal bulges that act like a brake. This adds about 2 milliseconds to the length of a day every century.

But over shorter timescales, days to months, Earth's spin can actually speed up and that's what happened on July 9, and will also happen on July 22 and Aug. 5.

The moon's role

On July 9, the moon was at its maximum declination, meaning it was positioned farthest from Earth's equator. This creates an off-center gravitational pull that slightly changes Earth's axial wobble, leading to a small but measurable increase in rotational speed.

That unusual lunar alignment is the primary cause of the shortened day. Two more high-declination alignments — on July 22 and Aug. 5 — are expected to create similar effects according to the BBC Sky at Night Magazine.

How do we know?

Scientists have been using atomic clocks to monitor Earth's rotation with millisecond precision since the 1960s, with globally coordinated timekeeping started in 1972.

Atomic clocks can detect fluctuations of just a few milliseconds in the length of a day. By comparing Earth-based time known as Universal Time 1 with International Atomic Time (TAI) scientists can track exactly how much the planet's rotation varies.

According to the International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service (IERS), July 9, 2025, was the shortest day ever recorded using these modern methods.

a man standing on the left wearing a white shirt and arms crossed is looking at the first atomic clock. — The caesium atomic clock was the first successful atomic clock when it was developed in 1955. (Image credit: SSPL/Getty Images)

Could we lose a second?

Yes, and it would be a historic first.

When Earth's rotation slows down over time, scientists add a "leap second" to Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) to keep civil time aligned with Earth's actual spin. This usually happens every few years. The last time it occurred was in 2016.

Leap seconds work like this: if Earth falls more than 0.9 seconds out of sync with TAI, the IERS steps in to add a second to the clock, typically on June 30 or Dec. 31.

But now, with Earth spinning faster, we're facing the opposite problem. If this trend continues, we could soon be ahead of atomic time, which would require removing a second instead.

This would be called a negative leap second, and it's never been done before.

Some scientists predict that if Earth's rotation continues to speed up by just a few more milliseconds each year, a negative leap second might be needed around 2029, according to BBC Sky at Night Magazine, though the exact timing depends on future measurements.

]]> https://www.space.com/astronomy/earth/did-you-feel-it-earth-just-had-one-of-its-shortest-days-ever-and-2-more-are-coming 8CHVMEXabqGXThrwFnJ5GG Thu, 10 Jul 2025 12:00:00 +0000 <![CDATA[ ISS astronaut spies sunglint from Lake Titicaca | Space photo of the day for July 9, 2025 ]]> Sitting in low Earth orbit, the International Space Station offers astronauts aboard some spectacular views, including this one of Lake Titicaca in Peru.

What is it?

At 3,200 square miles (8,300 square kilometers), Lake Titicaca is the largest freshwater lake in South America. Thought to be around three million years old, the lake is one of just a handful of ancient lakes remaining around the globe. Over 25 different rivers dump into the lake, feeding into its large size. Ancient structures and artifacts show that humans have lived around Lake Titicaca since before colonial times and continue to live there today.

Where is it?

Lake Titicaca lies between ranges of the Andes Mountains in a basin that's part of the Altiplano (high plateau) of the northern Andes in Peru. At 2.36 miles (3.81 km) above sea level, the lake is the highest in the world.

A silvery surface of a large lake is in front of a brown surface — The image captured from the ISS shows the sunglint phenomenon from Lake Titicaca. (Image credit: NASA)

Why is it amazing?

This photo, taken by an astronaut aboard the ISS in October 2024, shows a stunning example of sunglint reflecting from the surface of the waters of Lake Titicaca.

Sunglint is an optical phenomenon that happens when sunlight reflects off a body of water directly into the camera, creating silvery bright patches, especially over smooth surfaces. Sunglint can help reveal subtle details in the water that may be invisible under ordinary lighting, including any oils or films created by algae, wind patterns and boat wakes.

Here, several V-shaped patterns show boat wakes, while two subtle arcs in the top left show internal waves. These features can help scientists better study hard-to-access areas of Lake Titicaca, learning more about the unique ecosystems it provides.

Want to learn more?

You can read more about studying Earth from space and monitoring bodies of water like Lake Titicaca.

]]> https://www.space.com/astronomy/earth/iss-astronaut-spies-sunglint-from-lake-titicaca-space-photo-of-the-day-for-july-9-2025 JfprebxsX4yySxPfd49VSV Wed, 09 Jul 2025 14:12:20 +0000 <![CDATA[ Intelligent aliens could be drawn to Earth by 'leaking' airports ]]> We may already be broadcasting signals to the universe and alien life that inadvertently scream "we're here, come find us!" — and any potential intelligent life in the universe could be sending the same inadvertent message to us!

Military and civilian radar signals could be a beacon for advanced alien life, indicating the presence of intelligent life on Earth. That's according to new research that suggests that "hidden electromagnetic leakage" could be visible to aliens up to 200 light-years away that might possess state-of-the-art radio telescopes like ours.

Of course, this works both ways, potentially suggesting how far out in the cosmos we could hunt aliens that broadcast similar signals on their home worlds.

"Our findings suggest that radar signals – produced unintentionally by any planet with advanced technology and complex aviation systems – could act as a universal sign of intelligent life," team leader and University of Manchester researcher Ramiro Caisse Saide said in a statement. "In this way, our work supports both the scientific quest to answer the question 'Are we alone?' and practical efforts to manage the influence of technology on our world and beyond."

"Come in Proxima Centauri b, this is humanity..."

The team's research suggests that worldwide aviation hubs such as O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, and Heathrow Airport in London, among others, could give off clues to our existence.

The team behind the findings determined this by simulating how terrestrial radar signals from these installations spread out from Earth as they travel through space.

They then considered how detectable these signals would be from relatively nearby stars such as the red dwarf Barnard's Star, the fourth nearest star to Earth at 5.96 light-years away, and AU Microscopii, located 31.7 light-years from our planet.

An illustration of a star above the horizon of a rocky world. Three orbs are small and float in the background. — An illustration of a planet orbiting Barnard's star, found around 6 light-years from Earth. (Image credit: International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/P. Marenfeld)

This revealed that airport radar systems, which sweep the skies for airplanes, send out a combined radio signal strong enough to be picked up as far as 200 light-years away by telescopes comparable to the Green Bank Telescope in West Virginia.

The closest potentially habitable world to Earth is Proxima Centauri b, which is 4 light-years away, meaning that if it hosts intelligent life with radio telescopes, those telescopes could detect our leaked signals.

Of course, the chances of a visit would still be slim. Even if (and that is a huge "if") the occupants of Proxima Centauri b had spacecraft more advanced than ours, it would still take many thousands of years to traverse this distance.

Artist's illustration of the surface of the newfound, potentially Earth-like alien planet Proxima b. — An illustration of the surface of Proxima Centauri b. Could alien life on this Earth-like world be detecting our radio signals? (Image credit: ESO/M. Kornmesser)

Detecting military radar signals is a different proposition. These signals are more focused and directed and create lighthouse-like beams that sweep across space.

Caisse Saide pointed out that as a result of this, military signals would look "clearly artificial to anyone watching from interstellar distances with powerful radio telescopes.

"In fact, these military signals can appear up to a hundred times stronger from certain points in space, depending on where an observer is located."

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In addition to suggesting what astronomers could look out for as they scan the skies for intelligent life, the research could help to perfect terrestrial radar systems.

"By learning how our signals travel through space, we gain valuable insights into how to protect the radio spectrum for communications and design future radar systems," team member and University of Manchester professor Michael Garrett said. "The methods developed for modeling and detecting these weak signals can also be used in astronomy, planetary defense, and even in monitoring the impact of human technology on our space environment."

The team's research was presented on Tuesday (July 8) at the Royal Astronomical Society National Astronomy Meeting (NAM) 2025 at Durham University in the UK.

]]> https://www.space.com/astronomy/radar-leakage-from-airports-could-lead-intelligent-aliens-to-earth 4dFuAXHDGhDf53vZwXRRh Tue, 08 Jul 2025 17:00:00 +0000 <![CDATA[ US military cuts climate scientists off from vital satellite sea-ice data ]]> Climate scientists in the United States are to be cut off from satellite data measuring the amount of sea ice — a sensitive barometer of climate change — as the U.S. Department of Defense announces plans to cancel processing of the data for scientific research.

The changes are the latest attacks by the U.S. government on science and the funding of scientific research in an effort to slash the budget to enable tax cuts elsewhere. Already, these attacks have seen the Goddard Institute for Space Studies and the National Science Foundation evicted from their offices, references to climate science removed from websites, funding of data for hurricane forecasts cancelled, and dozens of NASA missions under threat and their project teams asked to produce close-down plans as the space agency's budget is slashed.

Now, scientists at the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC), based at the University of Colorado, Boulder, who have been using data from the Special Sensor Microwave Imager/Sounder (SSMIS) that is flown on a series of satellites that form the United States Air Force Defense Meteorological Satellite Program, have been told they will soon no longer have access to that data. SSMIS is a microwave radiometer that can scan Earth for ice coverage on land and sea. The Department of Defense uses this data for planning deployments of its own ships, but it has always made the processed data available to scientists, too — until now.

In an announcement on June 24, the Department of Defense declared that the Fleet Numerical Meteorology and Oceanography Center operated by the U.S. Navy would cease the real-time processing and stop supplying scientists with the sea-ice data, although NPR reports that, following an outcry at the suddenness of this decision, it has been put back to the end of July.

Politics aside, purely from a scientific point of view, this is madness. The sea-ice index, which charts how much ice is covering the ocean in the Arctic and Antarctic, is strongly dependent upon global warming, with increasing average temperatures both in the ocean and in the atmosphere leading to more sea-ice melting. Sea ice acts as a buffer to slow or even prevent the melting of large glaciers; remove that buffer and catastrophic melting of glaciers moves one big step closer, threatening dangerous sea level rises. Without the ability to track the sea ice, scientists are blinded to one of the most significant measures of climate change and become unable to tell how close we are getting to the brink.

But there's even a commercial side to knowing how much sea ice is present on our oceans. The fewer icebergs there are, the closer cargo ships can sail around the north pole, allowing them to take shorter, faster routes.

A photo of the Earth's north pole showing its sea ice — The maximum extent of Arctic sea ice in 2020. (Image credit: NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio.)

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Of course, the United States is not the only country to operate climate instruments on satellites. For instance, the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has a satellite called Shizuku, more formally known as the Global Change Observation Mission-Water (GCOM-W). On board Shizuku is an instrument called the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer 2, or AMSRS-2, which does pretty much the same job as SSMIS.

Researchers at NSIDC had already been looking to transfer over to AMSRS-2 data, perhaps having got wind that the Department of Defense's decision was coming down the pipeline. But the switch will take time for the calibration of the instrument and data with NSIDC's systems, leading to a gap in scientists' data — a blind spot in our monitoring of the climate that we can ill afford.

]]> https://www.space.com/astronomy/earth/us-military-cuts-climate-scientists-off-from-vital-satellite-sea-ice-data gHYFQJoZf5aKgBFesyDzzS Sun, 06 Jul 2025 14:00:00 +0000 <![CDATA[ For 100 years, we have marveled at planetariums. Here's a brief history of how humans brought the stars indoors ]]> This article was originally published at The Conversation. The publication contributed the article to Space.com's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights.

Picture this: a small audience is quietly ushered into a darkened room. They gasp in awe, as a brilliant night sky shines above. They wonder – as many after them will do – what trickery has made the roof above their heads disappear?

But this is a performance; the stars above an ingenious projection. For the first time a public audience has experienced the spectacle of the opto-mechanical planetarium. The location is the newly opened Deutsches Museum in Munich, built to celebrate science and technology. The date is May 7 1925.

Visualizing the heavens

Throughout time, cultures around the world have used the stars to help make sense of the world, to understand where we come from and determine our place in the cosmos.

People have tried to recreate the movements of the stars and planets since antiquity. In the 1700s, the orrery, a clockwork model of the Solar System, was developed. The word “planetarium” was invented to describe orreries that featured the planets.

One room-sized orrery example was built by the self-taught Frisian astronomer Eise Eisinga. It’s still operational today in Franeker, Netherlands.

No human has ever been to the edge of the Solar System to see this view. Orreries, and other mechanical models of the universe like celestial globes, present views from impossible, external perspectives.

rings of gold sit on a blue background — This clockwork model of the solar system was constructed with the pendulum clock that drives the mechanism in the ceiling. (Image credit: Erik Zachte)

The first planetariums

The desire for a realistic view of the stars and planets, created from a perspective we actually see, gathered pace in the early 20th century as light pollution from growing cities diminished the view of the night sky.

People like Oskar von Miller, first director of the Deutsches Museum in Munich, Germany, wanted to return this vision of the stars and planets to everyone. (Ironically, von Miller’s earlier career was as an electrical engineer, rolling out the city lighting that contributed to light pollution.)

One early attempt to create this view of the night sky was the Atwood Sphere, installed in Chicago in 1913.

Approximately five metres across, it was made of sheet metal perforated with a star map. When viewed from the inside, the light shining through 692 pinholes replicated the Chicago night sky. The whole structure could even be rotated to simulate the motion of the stars.

A cylinder stands on four different legs in front of a blue and white background — The original projector at the Manitoba Museum Planetarium, colloquially known as 'Marvin,' sits on display. (Image credit: TMMCommunications)

A realistic display of the stars is one thing. Representing the planets, whose positions in the sky change from night to night, is a different one. Von Miller and others at the Deutsches Museum knew that fixed holes could not represent the complexity of a moving planet.

What if the planets were displayed by projection? If so, couldn’t the stars be projected, as well? With this realization, a new kind of planetarium was born, borrowing the name from earlier orreries but working in a completely different way.

The task of building such a device was given to the German optical company Carl Zeiss AG. After many setbacks, their first planetarium projector was completed in 1923, with the first performance at the Deutsches Museum a century ago today.

Rows of seats next to a green screen — A view from the front of the Jennifer Chalsty Planetarium in New Jersey. (Image credit: Tzim78 via Wikimedia Commons)

Planetariums were a hit with the public. Within decades, they had spread around the world – the first planetarium in the United States opened in Chicago in 1930, while the first one in Asia opened in Osaka, Japan in 1937. The popularity of planetariums particularly accelerated in the US during the space race of the 1960s.

Australia’s oldest operating planetarium is the Melbourne Planetarium, managed by Museums Victoria since 1965. In Aotearoa New Zealand, Auckland’s Stardome Observatory has been in operation since 1997. The current longest-running planetarium in the southern hemisphere is in Montevideo, Uruguay, operational since 1955.

Changing pace of technology

The opto-mechanical planetarium projector remains a technological wonder of the modern world. Individual plates, perforated with pinholes, are illuminated by a bright central light. Separate lenses focus each projection from one of these star maps to fill the entire dome with about 5,000 stars.

The Sun, Moon and planets have separate projectors driven by gears and rods that mechanically calculate the object’s position in the sky for any time or place.

By the 1990s, a digital revolution had begun. With the advent of computers, the positions of the planets could now be calculated digitally. The Melbourne Planetarium became the first digital planetarium in the southern hemisphere when it installed the Digistar II in 1999.

This system, developed by computer graphics company Evans and Sutherland, replaced the multiple lenses of earlier projectors with a fisheye lens. A single beam of light swept across the whole dome so rapidly that it seemed to create a single image – albeit in a bizarre green color, rendering a starfield of fuzzy green blobs.

The trade-off for a less crisp starfield was a 3D database with more than 9,000 stars. For the first time, planetarium audiences could fly through space, far beyond the edge of the Solar System.

Planetarium technology continues to develop. Today, most planetariums operate through video projection. Known as fulldome, the output from multiple projectors is blended together to create a seamless video, transforming the planetarium into a sophisticated 360-degree theatre.

A golden building in front of gray skies — The Adler Planetarium is a popular hotspot for space fans across the US (Image credit: JJxFile via Wikimedia Commons)

A gateway to the stars

Astronomy has also changed over the last century. Just as Zeiss was completing its first projector, astronomer Edwin Hubble discovered that other galaxies exist beyond our Milky Way galaxy.

The stars shown on the dome in Munich in 1925 turned out to be just a tiny part of the universe that we know today.

Planetariums’ digital systems now incorporate data from telescopes and space agencies around the world. Audiences can fly off Earth, orbit the planets and moons of the Solar System, and explore the billions of known galaxies.

Yet some things have not changed. From orreries and lantern slides to opto-mechanical and digital planetariums, the communication of astronomy has always been about more than just the latest results of science.

The power of the planetarium over the last 100 years has been its ability to evoke wonder and awe. It taps into our enduring fascination with the vast mystery of the night sky.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

]]> https://www.space.com/astronomy/earth/for-100-years-we-have-marveled-at-planetariums-heres-a-brief-history-of-how-humans-brought-the-stars-indoors JpaoPmjLvgTFVZPhh6MwCd Sat, 05 Jul 2025 15:00:00 +0000 <![CDATA[ Earth is farthest from the sun today. So why is it so hot? ]]> The National weather forecast for this Thursday before Independence Day 2025 shows high temperatures reaching to at least 90 degrees across the southern half of the nation, from the middle-Atlantic coast, westward through the Greater Ohio Valley, Central Great Plains, Texas and Oklahoma and down into the Desert Southwest.

Ninety-degree temperatures will also be attained over California (save for along the Pacific Coast), as well as Nevada, central and eastern portions of Oregon and Washington State and most of Idaho. Temperatures at or above 100 degrees are expected for southwest Texas, southern and western Arizona, southern Nevada and southeast California. Some desert locations might see ambient air temperatures approach 110 degrees.

With such hot temperatures as these, it might be a surprise for you to hear that on Thursday, July 3 at 3:55 p.m. EDT (1955 GMT), our Earth will reach that point in its orbit where it is farthest from the sun in space.

a map of the united states with temperatures overlaid on it; most are in the 80s or above — U.S. National Weather Service Forecast Map of projected high temperatures across the United States for July 3. (Image credit: NOAA)

Since Kepler's laws of motion dictate that celestial bodies orbit more slowly when farther from the sun, we are now moving at our slowest pace in orbit, slightly less than 18 miles per second (29 kilometers per second) compared to just over 19 at perihelion.

Called aphelion, the sun at that moment will be 94,502,939 miles (152,087,738 km) from our Earth (measured from center to center), or 3,096,946 miles (4,984,051 km) farther as compared to when the Earth was closest to it (called perihelion) last Jan. 4. Put another way, we are 16.62 light seconds farther from our local star than at perihelion in January. The difference in distance is equivalent to 3.277 percent, which makes the sun appear 6.55 percent dimmer now than in January; A change of only one part in 30.

The tilt, not the distance makes the difference

Indeed, it's probably no surprise that if you ask people in which month of the year they believe that the Earth is closest to the sun, most probably would say we're closest during June, July or August. But our warm weather doesn't relate to our distance from the sun. It's because of the 23.5-degree tilt of the Earth's axis that the sun is above the horizon for different lengths of time at different seasons. The tilt determines whether the sun's rays strike us at a low angle or more directly.

At New York's latitude, the more nearly direct rays at the summer solstice of June 20 bring about three times as much heat as the more slanting rays at the winter solstice on Dec. 21. Heat received by any region is dependent on the length of daylight and the angle of the sun above the horizon. Hence the noticeable differences in temperatures that are registered over different parts of the world.

A climatological fallacy

When I attended Junior High School, my earth science teacher told all of us that because we were farthest from the sun in July and closest in December, that such a difference would tend to warm the winters and cool the summers — at least in the Northern Hemisphere.

That certainly seemed to make sense, and yet the truth of the matter is that the preponderance of large land masses in the Northern Hemisphere works the other way and actually tends to make our northern winters colder and the summers hotter!

Interestingly, the times when the Earth lies at its closest and farthest points from the sun roughly coincide with two significant holidays here in the United States: We're closest to the sun around New Year's Day and farthest from the sun around Independence Day.

For those living in Canada, aphelion nearly coincides with their national holiday — Canada Day — on July 1.

But actually, depending on the year, the date of perihelion can vary from Jan. 1 to 5 and the date of aphelion can also vary from July 2 to July 6.

Joe Rao serves as an instructor and guest lecturer at New York's Hayden Planetarium. He writes about astronomy for Natural History magazine, Sky and Telescope and other publications.

]]> https://www.space.com/astronomy/earth/earth-is-farthest-from-the-sun-today-so-why-is-it-so-hot TDnE4CZVk2jJr8ytPX7p9Q Thu, 03 Jul 2025 10:00:00 +0000 <![CDATA[ A newly forming ocean may split Africa apart, scientists say ]]> A plume of molten rock deep beneath eastern Africa is pulsing upward in rhythmic surges, slowly splitting the continent apart and potentially marking the birth of a new ocean.

At least, that's what a team of researchers led by Emma Watts of the Swansea University in the U.K. recently discovered. More specifically, the scientists' new study found that the Afar region of Ethiopia is underlain by a plume of hot mantle that rises and falls in a repeated pattern, almost like "a beating heart." These pulses, the team says, are closely tied to overlying tectonic plates and play a key role in the slow rifting of the African continent.

"We found that the mantle beneath Afar is not uniform or stationary — it pulses, and these pulses carry distinct chemical signatures," Watts said in a statement. "That's important for how we think about the interaction between Earth's interior and its surface."

The Afar region, which covers the northeastern region of Ethiopia, is one of the few places on Earth where three tectonic rift systems meet — the Red Sea Rift, the Gulf of Aden Rift and the Main Ethiopian Rift. As the tectonic plates in this so-called "triple junction" are pulled apart over millions of years, the crust stretches, thins, and eventually breaks, signaling an early step in the formation of a new ocean basin. Geologists have long suspected that a plume of hot mantle lies beneath this region and helps drive the rifting process — but, until now, little was known about how that plume behaves.

To study what lies beneath, researchers collected over 100 volcanic rock samples from across Afar and the Main Ethiopian Rift. They combined this fieldwork with existing geophysical data and advanced statistical modeling to better understand the structure and composition of the crust and underlying mantle.

A photo of a volcanic landscape — A landscape shot at the Dallol volcano in the Afar Region in Ethiopia. (Image credit: A.Savin via Wikimedia Commons)

Their analysis revealed a single, asymmetric plume beneath the region, marked by repeating chemical patterns or "geological barcodes," according to the new study." The chemical striping suggests the plume is pulsing," study co-author Tom Gernon of the University of Southampton said in the statement. "In places where the plates are thinner or pulling apart faster, like the Red Sea Rift, those pulses move more efficiently — like blood through a narrow artery."

"We found that the evolution of deep mantle upwellings is intimately tied to the motion of the plates above," study co-author Derek Keir of the University of Southampton added in the same statement.

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"This has profound implications for how we interpret surface volcanism, earthquake activity, and the process of continental breakup."

The team's study was published on June 25 in the journal Nature Geoscience.

]]> https://www.space.com/astronomy/earth/a-newly-forming-ocean-may-split-africa-apart-scientists-say diq8yWB9xquxX2egCn8udc Wed, 02 Jul 2025 19:00:00 +0000 <![CDATA[ New satellite constellation will scan the entire Earth every 20 minutes to find wildfires ]]> Three months after Muon Space launched its FireSat Protoflight satellite, the spacecraft's first images have been released.

FireSat is the first in a proposed constellation of more than 50 satellites that Muon Space hopes to use to monitor and detect wildfires. These first images were taken from low-Earth orbit, as the satellite used its multi-band infrared (IR) instrument to scan the landscape for specific heat signatures that could be indicative of wildfires.

"These first light images confirm that our IR sensors are operating as designed and collecting high-quality data," said Dan McCleese, Chief Scientist of Muon Space in a statement. "Infrared imaging with this quality is one of the most technically demanding domains in remote sensing, and we're proud to be among the few commercial players advancing this capability in orbit."

The FireSat Protoflight was launched on March 14 from Vandenberg Space Force Base as part of SpaceX's Transporter 13 mission. Muon Space plans to launch the first block of three more FireSat satellites in 2026, with the completed constellation fully operational by 2030.

Muon Space plans for the constellation to be able to scan every point on Earth every 20 minutes, with more wildfire prone areas being scanned more frequently.

The FireSat constellation was born from a collaboration between Muon Space and the nonprofit Earth Fire Alliance to provide more in depth data on wildfires for policymakers, first responders, and affected communities to try to better mitigate the threats of wildfires. The team hopes that their high-resolution images from the satellites can help address the gap in space-based wildfire detection.

A series of purple and blue and orange shapes overlaid on a satellite image of an island — A scan of Hawaii's Kīlauea volcano's lava fountains by the FireSat satellite. (Image credit: Muon Space)

From volcanoes to oil fields

To detect specific heat sources, the FireSat scans Earth's landscapes across the visible, near-infrared, short-, mid- and long-wave infrared bands all at the same time. These six-different IR channels allow the satellite to remove false positives and detect fires at cooler temperatures. From its position in low-Earth orbit, FireSat can detect smaller fires around 15 feet (5 meters) with a scanning area of width of 932 miles (1,500 km).

In its first images, FireSat shows heat signatures in rural and urban areas, including an airport runway in Sydney Australia.

A series of purple and blue and orange shapes overlaid on a map of an urban area — An image from FireSat Protoflight showing water temperature variations and an airport runway in Australia. (Image credit: Muon Space)

FireSat also scanned more remote areas like the Kīlauea volcano in Hawaii and Libya's Sarir oil field complex, where it could detect various gas flares.

A series of purple and blue and orange shapes overlaid on a satellite view of a desert — The FireSat Protoflight's scan of Libyan oil field. (Image credit: Muon Space)

"The FireSat first light images demonstrate Muon's approach to building mission-optimized satellites including purpose-built instruments," Jonny Dyer, CEO of Muon Space said in a statement. "I'm ecstatic with both the speed at which we moved from FireSat mission formulation to an orbit demonstration and the quality of the data that we are now collecting."

]]> https://www.space.com/astronomy/earth/new-satellite-constellation-will-scan-the-entire-earth-every-20-minutes-to-find-wildfires 9ivAGZLUcZpvxRtCyDDGJ5 Sun, 29 Jun 2025 15:00:00 +0000 <![CDATA[ How do hurricanes and tropical storms get their names? ]]> Katrina, Sandy, Andrew — some names are inextricably linked with some of the most devastating hurricanes in recent U.S. history. But how do hurricanes and other tropical storms get their names?

First, let's start with how such storms are defined. Hurricanes are tropical cyclones with sustained winds of more than 74 mph (119 km/h) that develop east of the international date line. They are referred to as typhoons west of the international date line, and they're called cyclones in the Indian Ocean and Australia. All are coordinated and named by a single body, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), which has a separate name list for typhoons.

To get a name, a storm must sustain winds of at least 39 mph (63 km/h) over a one-minute period. If it fails to do so, it receives a number instead of a name and is called a tropical depression.

The WMO also maintains a list of 21 storm names that it rotates every six years. The Atlantic storms list for 2025, for instance, specifies that Andrea and Barry are next in line, the same names of storms that last passed through the Atlantic in 2019. In the next hurricane season, the WMO will flip the genders of the names, alternating between them evenly, said Lourdes Avilés, associate provost at Plymouth State University and author of "Taken by Storm, 1938: A Social and Meteorological History of the Great New England Hurricane"a book (American Meteorological Society, 2013) about the history of hurricane naming.

If there are more than 21 named storms in a hurricane season, there is a backup list, which the WMO has had to use only twice, in 2005 and 2020. It used to be made of Greek letters (e.g., alpha, beta, gamma, delta, epsilon), but in 2020, the WMO replaced it with another list of supplemental names.

A disk of white clouds on a dark background — Japanese astronaut Akihiko Hoshide took this image of Typhoon Mindulle above Japan from the International Space Station. (Image credit: Jaxa/Akihiko Hoshide)

If a storm is particularly destructive, like hurricane Katrina or Fiona, the country where the hurricane made landfall can request that the WMO retire the name. The organization then votes on a new one to replace it, choosing a name that begins with the same letter of the alphabet. So, even if your name doesn't appear on the list, there's a chance that in a future WMO vote, your name could end up on it.

Your name is more likely to be associated with a famous storm or a hurricane if it begins with a letter between G and R, which lines up with June and August, when atmospheric conditions are optimal for producing tropical storms.

For example, hurricane Ian emerged as a tropical wave in the Caribbean on Sept. 23, 2022, before it became Tropical Depression Nine with sustained winds just below 39 mph (63 km/h). When it reached winds of 45 mph (72 km/h), it got the name Tropical Storm Ian, becoming the ninth named storm of the 2022 Atlantic hurricane season. Then, it intensified into a hurricane on Sept. 26, 2022, reaching Category 4 before hitting Florida and South Carolina days later. The U.S. asked the WMO to retire the name Ian, replacing it with Idris, which now appears on the list.

History of hurricane names

A tall, stammering meteorologist arrived at the 19th-century lecture hall with his papers falling around him. His name was Clement Wragge, though his colleagues often called him "Inclement."

In the 19th century, Spanish sailors named storms after saints, according to hurricane historian Ivan R. Tannehill. Hurricane San Felipe hit the country in 1876, but another hurricane of the same name appeared in 1928. The Spanish also had a problem when two tropical storms happened on the same day, however.

Wragge had a solution to this problem: He would refer to northern storms after local politicians he disliked, joking that the officials were "causing great distress" or "wandering aimlessly about the Pacific" when a tropical storm came calling.

"This is a convention we ought to consider bringing back," joked Kerry Emanuel, a professor of meteorology at MIT and author of "Divine Wind: The History and Science of Hurricanes (Oxford University Press, 2005).

For the southern storms, Wragge started naming them after figures from Greek and Roman mythology. But when he ran out, he moved on to naming them after Pacific Island women who had caught his eye. He is today credited as the first meteorologist to begin naming storms after women, according to Tannehill.

During World War II, U.S. pilots picked up Wragge's naming practices. The Air Force began naming tropical cyclones after their grandmas, wives and girlfriends back home. "There were, like, multiple hurricanes called Carol and things like that," Avilés said. "[It was used] in both ways to honor and to be sexist against women."

Later, scientists worried that gendering hurricanes might have deadly consequences. A 2014 study even suggested that the public sees hurricanes with traditionally male names as more dangerous — leading them to take more precautions — which has led hurricanes with female names to kill more people overall.

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However, the study has been widely criticized due to a major flaw: Hurricanes only started receiving male names in 1979, but the 2014 study used 60 years' of hurricane damages, skewing the data. (In fact, if you remove Hurricane Sandy from the dataset, male hurricanes turn out to be deadlier overall.)

What's more, hurricanes have gotten far less deadly over the years, largely thanks to the satellites that allow us to predict the path of hurricanes.

"It's been a great and unsung success story," Emanuel said. "Before the satellite era, you could have storms out in the open ocean that no one ever saw or measured. They just went undetected. We've gotten better at making deductions at storm deductions of storm intensity, though we're still not that good at it."

]]> https://www.space.com/astronomy/earth/how-do-hurricanes-and-tropical-storms-get-their-names 3jD79KMjmJ9D6x7gT8VCxC Sun, 29 Jun 2025 14:00:00 +0000 <![CDATA[ More than 1,800 National Science Foundation workers abruptly kicked out of agency headquarters ]]> On the evening of Tuesday (June 24), more than 1,800 employees working at the National Science Foundation (NSF) learned they would soon be kicked out of their office.

The next day, officials at a Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) press conference confirmed the news: HUD would be taking over NSF's Alexandria, Virginia headquarters, effective "as quickly as possible," Michael Peters, Commissioner of the Public Buildings Service for the General Services Administration (GSA), said during the briefing.

An employee of NSF said in an interview with E&E News that they had "literally zero idea" the move was coming. The agency had only relocated to the brand-new building in 2017.

Dozens of NSF workers gathered outside the building to protest the decision on Wednesday (June 25). The crowd chanted slogans like "We won't go!" And "N-S-F." "This is bulls---," one NSF employee who did not wish to be named told Washington’s News4.

Meanwhile, inside the building, officials presented the move as a step toward the Trump administration's stated vision for increased federal efficiency. "The people of HUD are excited to have a new home to deliver excellent services," said HUD Secretary Scott Turner. Approximately 2,700 HUD employees are expected to relocate to the NSF building from their current headquarters in Washington, D.C.'s Robert C. Weaver Federal Building, which was built in the 1960s. While standing in front of a banner declaring "The New Golden Age of HUD," Peters added: "This is a win for everyone involved."

However, not everyone involved agrees. The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), which represents a number of NSF workers, strongly criticized the move. In a press release, the union called it a "callous disregard for taxpayer dollars and NSF employees." The organization also alleged that it was told the relocation would include new additions to the Weaver building, such as a private executive suite, dining room and custom gym for Turner. "The hypocrisy is truly dumbfounding," the organization said.

"That's ridiculous and it's not true," Turner said at the press conference.

"The Trump Administration's displacement of over 1,800 National Science Foundation employees from its headquarters with no place to go, adds insult to injury when the Administration is pushing a 55% cut to NSF's budget," Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Washington), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, chimed in, also dismayed at reports of the possible luxuries that'd be installed as part of the move.

"We should be investing in our scientists and innovation to make America globally competitive. I will fight to make sure NSF workers are protected and that we invest in their important work," she said.

Members of the House of Representatives' Science, Space and Technology Committee also condemned the measure. "The Trump administration's egregious, corrupt, and disgraceful abuse of power continues, this time by kicking dedicated scientists out of their building," wrote panel member Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-California). "Once again, science loses, the American taxpayer loses, and our competitors, like China, win."

— Trump administration's NOAA layoffs affected the space weather service that tracks solar storms

— US Representatives worry Trump's NASA budget plan will make it harder to track dangerous asteroids

The announcement comes at an uncertain time in NSF's history. The agency was founded in 1950 with the goal of advancing American science, technology and engineering. Since then, it has played a key role in these fields from developing the barcode to observing gravitational waves and imaging the supermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy. But over the last six months, the Trump administration has frozen or terminated more than 1,600 NSF grants, with plans to reduce the agency's budget by more than half. HUD, meanwhile, faces a 44% cut to its 2026 funding should the current administration's budget proposal pass.

It is currently unclear where — or how — NSF's displaced employees will be relocated. Some had just recently moved back to Virginia on short notice after a federal judge reversed the Trump administration's decision to fire dozens of probationary employees. Glenn Youngkin, the Governor of Virginia, expressed his hope that the Trump administration would keep NSF in the commonwealth, but at a different location.

For now, it appears GSA is taking responsibility for figuring out where to move NSF workers. "GSA will continue to support and work with the National Science Foundation on space that allows them to fulfill their mission," the agency said in a press release. NSF declined Space.com's request for comment.

]]> https://www.space.com/astronomy/earth/more-than-1-800-national-science-foundation-workers-abruptly-kicked-out-of-agency-headquarters U3UrCWoTWkfTNQepihX79G Thu, 26 Jun 2025 21:35:40 +0000 <![CDATA[ 'Nothing short of spectacular': ESA's Biomass satellite releases 1st views of Earth from orbit (photos) ]]> VIENNA, AUSTRIA — An exclamation of awe, excitement and cheers erupted today at ESA's Living Planet Symposium as a striking new window into Earth's forests, deserts and glaciers opened with the release of the first images from ESA's Biomass satellite.

Unveiled at the Living Planet Symposium 2025 in Vienna, the images mark a major milestone in our understanding of how Earth stores carbon — and how climate change is transforming ecosystems.

Just two months after launch, ESA's Biomass mission is already delivering on its promise, offering a glimpse into the potential of its novel radar system. Although the mission is still in its commissioning phase, the early images are already showing the satellite's capabilities.

"These first images are nothing short of spectacular — and they're only a mere glimpse of what is still to come," said Michael Fehringer, ESA's Biomass Project Manager, in a statement. "As is routine, we're still in the commissioning phase, fine-tuning the satellite to ensure it delivers the highest quality data for scientists to accurately determine how much carbon is stored in the world's forests."

ESA leaders are already praising the efforts of the many scientists behind the program. "It was extremely emotional because it was the work of hundreds of people," Simonetta Cheli, Simonetta Cheli, ESA's Director of Earth Observation Programmes, told Space.com in an interview. "It's very symbolic of the effort behind the scenes and the potential that this mission has."

Three people stand on a stage in front of a screen with a forest scene on it — Taken at ESA's Living Planet Symposium, Vienna, Austria. On stage is Simonetta Cheli, ESA's Director of Earth Observation Programmes, Klaus Scipal, Biomass mission Manager and Michael Fehringer, Biomass Project Manager. (Image credit: Daisy Dobrijevic/Future)

Biomass first images

Bolivia — Tropical forests and the Beni River

False-color satellite image of a meandering river cutting through a landscape with oxbow lakes and varied terrain; bright purples and blues highlight different vegetation and soil types. — A photo of the Bolivian landscape shows the Beni River winding through thick rainforest. (Image credit: ESA)

This first image captures a vibrant region of Bolivia where rainforest meets riverine floodplains. Bolivia has suffered significant deforestation, primarily due to agricultural expansion. In the image, different colors highlight distinct ecosystems: green for rainforest, red for forested wetlands and floodplains, and blue-purple for grasslands. The dark snaking line of the Beni River — free-flowing and undammed — cuts through the landscape.

"It shows the beauty of our Earth and what we can do to protect it," said Cheli in a press conference following the Biomass image release at the Living Planet Symposium, Vienna.

Bolivia — Biomass vs Sentinel-2 comparison

Side-by-side satellite images of a meandering river in the Amazon Basin: the top in natural color shows lush green rainforest and a pale winding river; the bottom in false color highlights the same landscape with enhanced purples and blues, emphasizing vegetation and water features. — A comparison of two images of the Bolivian landscape, the above captured by the Sentinel-2 satellite and the below by Biomass. (Image credit: ESA)

In this paired image, the same Bolivian landscape is shown as seen by Biomass and by Copernicus Sentinel-2. Though they may appear visually similar, only Biomass, with its penetrating P-band radar, captures the full vertical forest structure beneath the canopy. This makes it far more effective at measuring forest biomass and carbon content. While Sentinel-2 is limited to surface features, Biomass unlocks a 3D view of forests vital for accurate carbon accounting.

Brazil — Northern Amazon Rainforest

False-color satellite image showing a winding river cutting through varied terrain in the Amazon Basin. — The northern Amazon Rainforest was the first image captured by Biomass. (Image credit: ESA)

This striking view over northern Brazil was the first image returned by Biomass. The satellite's radar reveals subtle terrain and vegetation differences across the Amazon rainforest. Red and pink tones indicate forested wetlands and floodplains, especially along rivers, while the green regions depict dense forest and more rugged topography in the north. The image hints at Biomass' potential to monitor forest health and structure across remote, ecologically critical areas of the Amazon Basin.

Indonesia — Halmahera's volcanic rainforests

false-color image showing complex volcanic terrain and rainforests. — Biomass satellite image of the mountainous Halmahera rainforest in Indonesia. (Image credit: ESA)

This image features the mountainous Halmahera rainforest in Indonesia, revealing complex topography shaped by volcanic forces. Mount Gamkonora, still active, is visible near the northern coast. Despite dense vegetation, Biomass' radar can penetrate the canopy to expose the contours of volcanoes and the surrounding forest floor. It's a striking example of the satellite's power to map both biomass and terrain, crucial for understanding the landscape dynamics of tectonically and volcanically active regions.

Gabon — Forests and the Ivindo River

false-color image showing a snaking river through a dense forested landscape. — A view of Gabon's landscape captured by Biomass. (Image credit: ESA)

In this image, Biomass peers into the heart of Africa's Congo Basin, capturing Gabon's dense forests and the winding Ivindo River, an ecological lifeline. The river and its tributaries appear clearly against a rich green background representing unbroken rainforest.

Chad — Sahara Desert structure

false color high contrast image shows ancient river beds strewn across the Saharan landscape. — The Biomass satellite view of the Sahara Desert in Chad reveals structures below the sand. (Image credit: ESA)

Here, Biomass reveals hidden structures beneath the sands of the Sahara in northern Chad, including parts of the Tibesti Mountains. Its P-band radar can penetrate up to five meters below the desert surface, exposing the shapes of ancient riverbeds and geologic formations long buried beneath arid terrain. This capability opens new frontiers in paleoclimate research and groundwater mapping, especially in extreme environments once considered too opaque for remote sensing.

Antarctica — Nimrod Glacier and Transantarctic Mountains

False color image takes on a slightly abstract view as a large white gray region smears across the center of the image, this is the glacier. — Biomass satellite view of the Nimrod Glacier. (Image credit: ESA)

The final image showcases the frozen landscape of Antarctica, where the Nimrod Glacier flows into the Ross Ice Shelf alongside the Transantarctic Mountains. Biomass' radar can see into the ice, hinting at its ability to track internal ice structures and flow velocities. Unlike shorter-wavelength radar missions, Biomass may unlock key data about ice sheet dynamics and stability, critical for understanding future sea-level rise in a warming world.

While these early results aren't yet calibrated for scientific analysis, they confirm that Biomass is on track to meet — and possibly exceed — its ambitious goals.

With a mission designed to span five years, Biomass will provide consistent, global coverage of Earth's forested regions, contributing vital data for climate models, conservation efforts, and carbon accounting. As the satellite transitions into full operational mode, scientists are eagerly anticipating the datasets that could transform how we monitor — and protect — the living lungs of our planet.

]]> https://www.space.com/astronomy/earth/nothing-short-of-spectacular-esas-biomass-satellite-releases-1st-views-of-earth-from-orbit-photos sDx28dczcczXxavF9vwXa6 Mon, 23 Jun 2025 21:00:00 +0000 <![CDATA[ Summer solstice 2025 is here! Today marks the longest day of the year for the Northern Hemisphere ]]> Sunlovers rejoice, for the summer solstice is upon us, bringing the longest day of 2025 while heralding the beginning of astronomical summer in the northern hemisphere.

The summer solstice occurs because of a 23.5 degree tilt in Earth's rotational axis that may have arisen when an ancient Mars-sized body slammed into our planet billions of years ago, triggering the formation of our moon. The angle of this tilt is — to all intents and purposes — consistent all year round, and is currently fixed with the north celestial pole pointing close to Polaris, the current north star.

Thanks to this tilt, we experience the changing seasons, equinoxes and solstices — events that have been celebrated by cultures around the world for thousands of years. Some of humanity's most iconic ancient monuments like Stonehenge and the Mayan Chichén Itzá Pyramid were purpose built to align with these seasonal markers.

In the northern hemisphere the summer solstice occurs when the sun reaches its northernmost point relative to Earth's celestial equator (which is simply our planet’s regular equator projected out into space). Conversely, the winter solstice takes place when the sun is in its southernmost position relative to the celestial equator.

A bright sphere on a blue background — The summer solstice marks the longest day of the year. (Image credit: Albin Bonnard via Getty Images)

When is the Summer Solstice in 2025?

The 2025 summer solstice arrives at 10:42 p.m. EDT on June 20 (0242 GMT June 21). On this day, skywatchers across the northern hemisphere will enjoy the longest stretch of daylight all year. In New York, for example, the sun will spend more than 15 hours beating a path through the sky.

At the same time, those in the southern hemisphere will mark the winter solstice, which heralds the shortest day of 2025 below the equator. You can calculate exactly how much daylight you will experience in the days around the summer and winter solstices online using TimeandDate.com's daylight tracker.

A white ring over a black background — NASA graphic showing the orientation of Earth’s tilt relative to the sun during the summer and winter solstices. (Image credit: NASA/Genna Duberstein)

Naturally this amount of sunlight makes it a challenging time of year for amateur astronomers, but that doesn't mean that the summer months aren't bursting with deep space targets and beautiful asterisms.

Be sure to check out our daily guide to June's night sky to discover which targets to prioritize during those short summer nights.

Editor's Note: If you find a creative way to capture the Summer Solstice and want to share it with Space.com's readers, then please send your photo(s), comments, and your name and location to spacephotos@space.com.

]]> https://www.space.com/stargazing/summer-solstice-2025-is-here-today-marks-the-longest-day-of-the-year-for-the-northern-hemisphere o6diahVPMK9qzc5CEKoLge Fri, 20 Jun 2025 16:00:00 +0000 <![CDATA[ Satellite streaks block out the Arctic sky | Space photo of the day for June 20, 2025 ]]> From intelligence gathering to internet usage to navigation, satellites are used daily across the globe. However, their activity is causing serious issues.

What is it?

In February, a team of researchers from Western University in Canada, in collaboration with the organization Defense Research and Development Canada, trekked into the high Arctic to try to measure the activity of satellites orbiting across the pole.

Using 14 low-cost cameras, the researchers were able to track satellites passing overhead on the evening of Feb. 22, 2025, compiling them into a long-exposure image to show the total activity for the evening. Each streak of white in the image shows the satellite's path in the sky. Their system was inspired by meteor tracking, with cameras pointed in various angles to catch the entire night sky.

Where is it?

This photo was taken in Eureka, in the Canadian territory of Nunavut.

A series of white streaks across a black background — The long exposure photo compilation reveals the many satellites that travel across the Arctic. (Image credit: U.Western and Defence R&D Canada)

Why is it amazing?

This novel satellite system has allowed the researchers to produce the first ever full year of satellite tracking data over Canada, according to Western University. The system is currently deployed at four sites across Canada to monitor satellite activity including: Eureka, Osoyoos, British Columbia, and Lucky Lake, Saskatchewan.

With the 14-camera setup, the researchers could track objects in the sky over 11.8 inches (30 cm) in size. To date, the system has found over 17,000 unique satellites and clocked nearly half a billion observations, according to the press release.

While the system gives a more detailed way to monitor satellite activity, it also reveals just how full our skies are with these devices. Not only are satellites chemically polluting our atmosphere with heavy metals, but they are becoming a growing issue for astronomers trying to look deep into our universe. With more launches planned to add new satellites, the question to be asked is: when will the sky be too full?

Want to learn more?

You can read more about Earth's satellite activity and growing satellite pollution problem.

]]> https://www.space.com/astronomy/earth/satellite-streaks-block-out-canadian-skies-space-photo-of-the-day-for-june-20-2025 WvfDSFrKypjRwpax75pf3C Fri, 20 Jun 2025 15:00:00 +0000 <![CDATA[ NASA satellite sees sea ice crack apart in Canada | Space photo of the day for June 18, 2025 ]]> NASA satellites looked down on huge cracks forming in sea ice in Canada's far north.

What is it?

The Amundsen Gulf is named after Roald Amundsen, a Norwegian explorer who, in the early 1900s, embarked on a voyage into the Northwest Passage, a winding narrow passage through the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Amundsen was hoping to use the Northern Passage as a shortcut, reducing travel time, according to NASA's Earth Observatory.

After facing several hazards, his ship and crew successfully emerged from the passage, becoming the first people to successfully navigate the dangerous terrain. Amundsen's ship, called the Gjøa, was only crewed by six men, all of whom helped conduct meteorological observations while sailing.

Where is it?

The Amundsen Gulf lies in the Northwest Territories of Canada.

White shapes float on a white background — The Amundsen Gulf is still treacherous to navigate by boat. (Image credit: NASA Earth Observatory image by Wanmei Liang, using MODIS data from NASA EOSDIS LANCE and GIBS/Worldview)

Why is it amazing?

While Roald Amundsen and his crew paved the way for other ships to navigate the Northern Passage, the route still poses dangers for ships due to the shifting sea ice. Seasonal changes can cause sea ice to melt and break apart, drifting in the cold arctic waters. While this in itself may not be necessarily dangerous, if the sea ice accumulates enough, it can create "choke points" that block ships from sailing through.

In this image, taken by the MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) on NASA's Terra satellite, much of the sea ice is still "fastened" to the coastline, but other chunks have migrated into the Beaufort Sea. This ice break up will continue for several months as warmer temperatures and wind help to crack apart the thick arctic ice. The cycle usually begins in March 2025, according to NASA's Earth Observatory

Want to learn more?

You can read more about sea ice levels in the arctic as satellites like Terra and other continue to observe Earth's many beautiful structures.

]]> https://www.space.com/astronomy/earth/nasa-satellite-sees-sea-ice-crack-apart-in-canada-space-photo-of-the-day-for-june-18-2025 EtAt8f9QidbYfb3csDqSW9 Wed, 18 Jun 2025 16:00:00 +0000 <![CDATA[ This Australian moth may be the 1st insect ever discovered to use stars for long-distance navigation ]]> Stand outside one spring night in southeastern Australia and you may be able to witness one of the biggest insect migrations in the world, as billions of brown Bogong moths (Agrotis infusa) flit across the sky.

Each year in the spring, the moths migrate around 620 miles (1,000 kilometers) north to the Australian Alps, where they can avoid the heat by hiding in cool caves until the fall, when they return to their breeding grounds. While migration is not uncommon in insects, the Bogong moth’s migration has been of particular interest to experts — how does a moth travel to a place it’s never visited before?

Researchers believe they now have the answer: stellar navigation. This would make the Bogong moth the first insect to use the stars for long-distance navigation as it makes its extended migratory journey.

Stellar navigation has a long history for both humans and animals, from ancient Polynesians to migratory birds. Given the stars' dominance in the night sky, it’s not surprising for experts to think that other animals, like insects, may also use these twinkling lights for navigating.

"We knew from a previous study that the moths can use the geomagnetic field to navigate, but they only seemed to be able to do so in combination with visual landmarks, so we were thinking about what kind of landmarks these could be," explained Andrea Adden, a researcher at the Francis Crick Institute in the United Kingdom.

"If you go to the Australian bush, where these moths live, and look around you at night, one of the most obvious visual landmarks is the Milky Way, which is always visible to some extent, independent of time of night and season," Adden said. "We know that daytime migratory insects use the sun, so testing the starry sky seemed an obvious thing to try."

A green grassy land looking over a sea — The alpine landscape near the Bogong moths' aestivation caves. (Image credit: Eric Warrant)

Clambering into caves

To test whether these moths are truly using the stars to navigate, the researchers captured several using a light-trap. This required the team to traverse into the dark, cold caves where the moths were resting during their migration, which, for some of the team, proved to be too challenging.

According to Eric Warrant, a researcher at the University of Lund in Sweden and the leader of the project, "One of the most embarrassing [stories] was when Lena Nordlund from Swedish Radio (who was with us in Australia doing a documentary) asked why I always sent [the] youngsters in the cave and I always sat outside. I was forced to admit I was claustrophobic and was scared of going in — something that of course she included in the documentary."

Though Warrant was not comfortable going into the caves, that didn’t stop his collaborator, David Dreyer, also a researcher at the University of Lund, from challenging Warrant to a little competition to see who could catch the first Bogong moth of the migratory season. This competition lasted over a decade, with 20 different seasonal opportunities to compete.

"[I] dominated this competition, [winning] 19 migratory seasons," Dreyer explained jokingly. "[My] 19 wins would remain unreported, until now. Justice at last."

Testing moth flight

After capturing the moths, the team then placed them in a planetarium-like flight simulator, which included multiple projectors that could be programmed to give specific scenery. The simulator also blocked Earth’s magnetic field, forcing the moths to try to navigate in the simulation by their eyesight alone.

A brown bug with wings sits on a log. — A Bogong moth sits on a log. (Image credit: Dr. Ajay Narendra (Macquarie University, Australia))

The researchers also attached electronic sensors to the moths to measure their brain activity. As Bogong moth brains are around the size of a grain of rice, adding the sensors was incredibly time-consuming.

"Studying the neural basis of how these moths navigate reveals new processing mechanisms in the insect brain," Adden noted. "Even though human brains and insect brains are obviously very different, it often turns out that the computational principles are remarkably similar, so perhaps we can even learn something from moths that, one day, helps reveal something about the human brain."

Once the moths were prepared, the researchers waited for evening in the outback, and then began to test the moths by recording their virtual flight paths in the simulator.

"We continued this process until we had used all the prepared moths," Dreyer said. "The following morning was dedicated to data analysis. This routine continued until every moth from the previous catch had been tested — after which we would head out to catch a new batch."

Stuck in the field

While studying the Bogong moths, the COVID-19 pandemic hit Australia, forcing a lockdown. For Adden, this meant being stuck out in the field.

"A colleague and I were just wrapping up the field season in early 2020 when Australia entered its first Covid-19 lockdown, and the two of us were locked down at the field station for about a month," she said. "This wasn't as bad as it might seem — with no other humans in sight, we spent our days analyzing data, watching local wildlife and learning to sew."

Adden even took the time to practice her astrophotography skills, taking photos of the very night sky her research subjects leveraged to navigate.

A dark blue sky overlooking trees in silhouettes — The night sky in Australia that Bogong moths navigate by. (Image credit: Andrea Adden)

After years of analysis, the researchers found that the Bogong moths fly in the seasonally appropriate direction (north or south) depending on the stars in the night sky, suggesting that they do in fact use the stars to guide them.

"The stars are a very consistent cue. Even though the starry sky rotates throughout the night, the brightest part of the Milky Way is always in the South of the Southern celestial hemisphere," said Adden. "That makes it a very stable compass cue that is reliable not just across nights and seasons, but across centuries."

From the moth’s brain activity, the team also saw responses specific to certain rotations of the night sky in the flight simulator, and determined that their brains were the most active when they were "flying" in the right direction of their migration.

While the Bogong moth is not the only insect to use the stars for guidance, it is the first to do so for long-distance journeys, scientists said.

“A previous study established that dung beetles use the stars to guide short-distance movements, but the beetles only travel a short distance (maybe 5-20 meters) as opposed to flying 1,000 km during a migration,” Ken Lohmann, a researcher at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill who was not involved in the study, told Space.com.

Preserving a species

Studying how animals like moths navigate is not only fascinating, but can also help ensure the moth populations remain at a healthy level.

"The Bogong moth population declined dramatically after the recent drought and 2020 bushfires," explained Adden. "Understanding how their migration works, and which cues they use to navigate, may help us protect these insects, which in turn helps the entire alpine ecosystem of which the moths are an integral part — e.g., as food for pygmy possums and all sorts of birds during the summer months."

Part of that conservation work is looking at the role urbanization and, more specifically, light pollution plays in affecting the moths' migratory path.

"Light pollution may well be a problem for Bogong moths during their migration,” Adden said. “On their way from Southern Queensland to the Australian Alps, they pass several major cities, such as Canberra, which can be disorienting and trap the moths. In fact, this happened several years ago, when a cloud of moths briefly took over the Australian Parliament."

While the Bogong moth shows the ingenuity of animals, for researchers and conservationists alike, understanding the animal navigation process as a whole is key to understanding their lifestyle, and therefore being able to protect them further.

"A central lesson of animal navigation is that species almost always have multiple ways to guide themselves," said Lohmann.

This study was published online today (June 18) in the journal Nature.

]]> https://www.space.com/astronomy/earth/this-australian-moth-may-be-the-1st-insect-ever-discovered-to-use-stars-for-long-distance-navigation MoASXHfjthn2tjSSwAU8e9 Wed, 18 Jun 2025 15:01:00 +0000 <![CDATA[ Go inside the development of NASA's $10 billion James Webb Space Telescope with new 'Cosmic Dawn' documentary ]]> For space fans, June has something extra to enjoy, as NASA recently released “Cosmic Dawn,” a new “intimate access” documentary all about designing and assembling the James Webb Space Telescope.

The 90-minute film provides special, never-before-seen footage from the Webb film crew as they invite viewers behind the curtains of one of the most ambitious scientific endeavors in history.

“At NASA, we’re thrilled to share the untold story of our James Webb Space Telescope in our new film ‘Cosmic Dawn,’ celebrating not just the discoveries, but the extraordinary people who made it all happen, for the benefit of humanity,” Rebecca Sirmons, head of NASA+ at the agency’s headquarters in Washington, said in a statement.

Viewers can watch the documentary on NASA+, YouTube or other streaming platforms.

The story of the James Webb Space Telescope begins 30 years ago, as NASA scientists were beginning to discuss a new space telescope, then called the Next Generation Space Telescope. Over the next three decades, NASA collaborated with the European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency to design a telescope of incredible ambition and complexity. The project ended up costing over $10 billion — far above the original estimate —and involved thousands of scientists, engineers, and technicians worldwide.

“Webb was a mission that was going to be spectacular whether that was good or bad — if it failed or was successful. It was always going to make history,” explained NASA video producer Sophia Roberts in a statement.

From the first sketches in 1996 to the final launch preparations, “Cosmic Dawn” follows mission leaders as they overcome challenge after challenge, including massive budget overruns, re-designs, and engineering setbacks.

A yellow shape over a pink background — The trailer for "Cosmic Dawn" briefly shows the many challenges of building the James Webb Space Telescope (Image credit: NASA)

The documentary gives viewers inside access to the exclusive spaces where the telescope was made, from mirror assembly sites to clean rooms at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. Along the way, watchers get a crash course in high-stakes telescope design and assembly.

With over 300 individual components that all have to work together, the design and construction of the James Webb Space Telescope gave experts a particularly difficult set of engineering problems, from trying to fit the telescope into a rocket to cleaning its mirrors without damaging them. Woven throughout the documentary are several personal stories from the engineers and scientists working on the project. The interviewees discuss working on this cutting-edge piece of space technology while avoiding several near-disasters in the process, including hurricanes and extreme weather.

“There was nothing easy about Webb at all,” said Webb project manager Bill Ochs in a NASA press release. “I don’t care what aspect of the mission you looked at.”

Interspersed with the engineering processes are beautiful photos of the universe, taken by both the James Webb Space Telescope and the Hubble Space Telescope. Viewers are treated to stunning nebulas and stars from the deepest pockets of our galaxy as astronomers explain how the James Webb Space Telescope can peer farther back in time than any telescope before it.

— James Webb Space Telescope reveals largest-ever panorama of the early universe

— James Webb Space Telescope discovers smallest 'failed stars' ever seen

As part of NASA’s 66-year commitment to sharing and documenting its work, “Cosmic Dawn” highlights the human spirit to reach for the stars. It’s a must-watch documentary for students and space enthusiasts alike.

]]> https://www.space.com/astronomy/earth/go-inside-the-development-of-nasas-usd10-billion-james-webb-space-telescope-with-new-cosmic-dawn-documentary RTcc54E28sNpqnjVihXLHh Sun, 15 Jun 2025 12:00:00 +0000 <![CDATA[ 'Star Trek' actor William Shatner and astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson team up in new space bromance show 'The Universe Is Absurd' ]]> Seattle space fans are in for a cosmic treat as two cultural icons — astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson and "Star Trek" actor William Shatner — team up for the live event "The Universe is Absurd," hosted by media company Future of Space.

"It’s raw, it’s wry, and it’s surprisingly human — a glimpse into what happens when two brilliant minds forget the audience is listening," the company said in an advertisement.

Scheduled to hit Seattle as a one-night-only event, the online bromance between Shatner and Tyson in McCaw Hall promises an evening of big questions, bold ideas, and plenty of laughter, all centered around our place within the universe.

“Expect 90 minutes of cosmic banter, sharp left turns and unexpected truths, as Tyson and Shatner debate, challenge and interrupt each other at every opportunity,” Future of Space states in the ad.

The topics the discussion will cover include black holes, mortality and time, cosmic perspectives, science vs. science fiction and personal stories from the two celebrities.

According to the show’s official website, the event is “part comedy, part conversation, part confrontation,” and is expected to gain traction with space fans eager to see the real-life Captain Kirk go head to head with America’s favorite science communicator.

The duo’s banter was highlighted in their recent appearances on "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert," where Shatner and Tyson discussed everything from wormholes to warp drives.

As Tyson joked with Colbert before the show in the green room, Shatner is "still curious about the universe. He never stops... Face gets wet and there's a vein popping out of his head and I gotta rescue him.”

While their personalities may seem opposite in nature, with Tyson bringing the facts and Shatner bringing the stories, the chemistry between them suggests that the "Universe is Absurd" show will have more collaboration than confrontation.

“Neil and I were on a voyage to Antarctica ….we were hired to amuse and amaze,” Shatner told Co'bert. “We found ourselves on stage together and having great fun … and we got really popular … So we decided to do a show.”

From their reception on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” audiences seem to enjoy the budding bromance between the 94-year-old actor and the 66-year-old astrophysicist. One audience member of the Colbert show told Future of Space that “the chemistry between these two [can be] cut with a KNIFE! It's giving Martin Short+Steve Martin vibes. The world needed this duo years ago.”

Seattle space enthusiasts can find tickets at the show's official website.

]]> https://www.space.com/entertainment/star-trek-actor-william-shatner-and-astrophysicist-neil-degrasse-team-up-in-new-space-bromance-show-the-universe-is-absurd T63uEsrwjYA5KdgwubbY5i Sat, 14 Jun 2025 13:00:00 +0000 <![CDATA[ Mars settlement and more: Global space leaders will tackle big ideas next week at ISDC 2025 ]]> Space visionaries, scientists, entrepreneurs and students from around the world will gather in Florida next week for this year's International Space Development Conference.

The conference — ISDC 2025 — will be held from June 19 to June 22 at the Rosen Centre Hotel in Orlando, Florida. Organized by the National Space Society (NSS), this year's conference promises to be a pivotal gathering for those passionate about accelerating humanity's future in space.

ISDC 2025 will explore cutting-edge innovations, ambitious missions and collaborative strategies that aim to make space settlement and exploration a reality. The theme for this year's conference — "Together, Beyond!" — reflects collaboration across sectors and borders as humanity pushes further into the final frontier.

Among the award recipients is Space.com editor-in-chief Tariq Malik, who will be receiving the NSS Space Pioneer Award, which recognizes individuals who have helped open the space frontier.

"Tariq is one of a kind — truly an ace space reporter who gets it right every time without bias or an agenda," Rod Pyle, editor-in-chief of the National Space Society's quarterly print magazine Ad Astra, said in a statement announcing Malik as this year's award recipient. "His passion for space is unmatched, and his expertise is as broad and deep as anyone I've met. Being in charge of a 24-hour specialty news outlet is no easy task, but he makes it seem so."

ISDC 2025 speakers will tackle critical topics, including expanding global collaboration and access to space, developing spacefaring communities, space health, sustainability and the reality of settling on the moon, Mars and beyond. Sessions will also address the need for planetary defense strategies for protecting Earth against dangerous asteroids.

For more information, including registration details, pricing and a full list of speakers and scheduled events, visit the conference page online.

Notable speakers include:

Pascal Lee, planetary scientist and Mars exploration expert: Lee works with the SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) Institute, the Mars Institute and NASA's Ames Research Center as a planetary scientist. He is also vice president of planetary development at NSS and chief scientist at Ceres Robotics, a NASA Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) industry provider. At the conference, Lee will participate in a panel focused on space settlement ideas and will also lead the Mars session.

Gretchen Green, physician, educator, and commercial astronaut: Green flew aboard Blue Origin's NS-32 suborital mission on May 31, making history as the first woman physician commercial astronaut. A radiologist with over 20 years of experience, she brings a unique perspective to spaceflight, combining medical expertise with a passion for exploration. At the conference, she will be a speaker at the Many Roads to Space session, dedicated to human settlement of the final frontier.

Jared Isaacman, mission commander, Polaris Dawn & Inspiration4: Isaacman is a pioneering astronaut and pilot with over 7,000 flight hours. He commanded Inspiration4 — the first all-civilian space mission — and the Polaris Dawn mission, on which he completed the first private astronaut spacewalk. He was also President Trump's selection to be NASA administrator until May 31, when the White House withdrew his nomination. Isaacman will speak during Saturday's dinner reception.

Susan Kilrain, former NASA astronaut: Kilrain is a former NASA astronaut, navy test pilot and one of only three women to pilot the space shuttle. An aerospace engineer and recipient of the Defense Superior Service Medal, Kilrain now serves as a motivational speaker, STEM advocate, and author of the children's book "An Unlikely Astronaut." She will speak during multiple sessions, including an astronaut panel and NextGen session on Saturday afternoon.

Robert "Hoot" Gibson, former NASA chief astronaut: Gibson is a former Navy fighter pilot, test pilot and NASA astronaut. Selected as an astronaut in 1978, he flew five space shuttle missions — four as mission commander — including the first U.S. docking with Russia's Mir space station in 1995. Gibson's career spans over 60 years, with more than 14,000 flight hours in more than 160 aircraft. He brings deep operational knowledge and mentorship in crewed spaceflight, and will speak in multiple sessions during the conference.

Shawna Pandya, Director of Medical Research Orbital Assembly Corporation: Pandya is set to become the first named female commercial Canadian astronaut, with a planned Virgin Galactic flight as early as 2026. She is an emergency physician, aquanaut and expert in space medicine. She has led or contributed to numerous spaceflight and analog missions, including underwater aquanaut expeditions and commercial spacesuit testing in zero gravity. She will be leading the Launchpad Talks session, which aims to discuss some of the newest and most exciting ideas in space exploration, development and settlement.

]]> https://www.space.com/astronomy/earth/mars-settlement-and-more-global-space-leaders-will-tackle-big-ideas-next-week-at-isdc-2025 Tt3CFWCMfy4TT6tsZtKreY Fri, 13 Jun 2025 19:12:40 +0000 <![CDATA[ NASA astronaut aboard ISS captures colorful aurora in time-lapse footage of Earth from space (video) ]]> NASA astronaut Jonny Kim has posted his first time-lapse video of Earth from the International Space Station (ISS), showcasing stunning auroras, lightning storms and city lights illuminating the night-side of our planet's surface.

The former U.S. Navy SEAL launched to the ISS on April 8 earlier this year aboard a Russian-built Soyuz spacecraft, beginning an eight month tour of duty as flight engineer for Expedition 73. Prior to capturing his first time-lapse footage of Earth, Kim sought advice from fellow crewmember Nichole "Vapor" Ayers, who regularly posts stunning astrophotography on her social accounts that showcases the natural splendor of our 'Blue Marble'.

"Thanks to some instruction and tips from @Astro_Ayers, I caught my first aurora," wrote Kim in a Twitter/X post accompanying the time-lapse video. "After seeing the result, I told her this felt like fishing. Prepping the camera, the angle, the settings, the mount, then setting your timer and coming back to hope you got a catch. And after catching my first fish, I think I'm hooked. Thanks, Vapor!"

Kim's time-lapse captures a dizzying blend of natural phenomena and city lights on Earth's surface, as the space station's solar panels shifted position to gather the precious sunlight used to power the orbital outpost.

The footage begins with the sun setting behind Earth's disk, heralding the onset of night aboard the ISS - the 45 minute period when the station passes through our planet's shadow. Stars can be seen shining above the outline of our planet's dense, gaseous atmosphere as the sun sets, while city lights and lightning storms play across the cloudy vista below.

lines of green, red and gold over a dark surface — A view from the International Space Station shows a stunning aurora. (Image credit: NASA / Jonny Kim)

Telescope boxout

Vivid green auroras are captured rippling across the night sky towards the end of the video, as the station passed over southeastern Asia and Australia. These colorful displays arise when energetic particles carried by the solar wind collide with our planet, exciting oxygen and nitrogen particles in the upper atmosphere, causing them to shine, according to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Kim's time-lapse ends as the station passes back into the day-side of our planet, with its solar panels basking in direct sunlight. The ISS completes 16 laps of our planet every 24 hours while travelling at an average speed of 17,500 mph ( 28,000 km/h).

Want to see the ISS for yourself? Be sure to check out our guide to detailing how to spot and photograph the space station as it arcs across the night sky.

Editor's Note: If you capture a picture of the International Space Station and want to share it with Space.com's readers, then please email your photo(s), comments, and your name and location to spacephotos@space.com.

This article was updated at 11:19 a.m. ET (1519 GMT) on June 14 to correct the nickname for astronaut Nichole Ayers from 'Viper' to the correct name 'Vapor' and to reflect that Kim served as a Navy SEAL.

]]> https://www.space.com/stargazing/nasa-astronaut-aboard-iss-captures-colorful-aurora-in-time-lapse-footage-of-earth-from-space-video h7eU35FLNXLtAmGkX3Nb76 Thu, 12 Jun 2025 19:00:00 +0000 <![CDATA[ Satellite images show a dramatic decline in Antarctica's emperor penguin population — and it's happening faster than we thought (photos) ]]> We're witnessing a march of the penguins — not to the edge of the ice, but to extinction.

According to new research by the British Antarctic Survey (BAS), the population of emperor penguins in western Antarctica is declining faster than our most pessimistic predictions.

Using satellite images to survey colonies across the Antarctic Peninsula, the Weddell Sea and the Bellingshausen Sea, BAS researchers determined that the emperor penguin population in the region decreased by 22% between 2009 and 2024.

By contrast, the previous estimated global population decline, dating to the period between 2009 and 2018, was just 9.5%. The new work suggests that emperor penguins could approach extinction around the year 2100.

A series of black and white birds stand on a white background. — Colonies of emperor penguins live in Antarctica. (Image credit: Christopher Walton)

Emperor penguins face numerous challenges for breeding success, from changes in weather patterns to increased competition for food to increased levels of predation. And, of course, there's the issue of climate change. The seabirds are reliant upon Antarctica's seasonal sea ice for mating and rearing chicks, and in recent years, some areas of that sea ice have become more unstable — and a warming world could be partially to blame.

"The fact that we're moving to a position faster than the computer models project means there must be other factors we need to understand in addition to loss of breeding habitat," BAS emeritus fellow Phil Trathan said in a statement.

"The only way we'll see a turnaround for the population is if we stabilize greenhouse gas emissions. If we don't, we'll probably have relatively few emperor penguins left by the turn of this century," he added.

— Can Antarctica serve as a model for international cooperation on the moon?

— A Switzerland-size hole opened in Antarctica's sea ice in 2016-17. Now we know why

The slightly optimistic news is that this drastic rate of decline has so far been observed only in one region of Antarctica. But that region is home to 30% of the global emperor penguin population.

"There's quite a bit of uncertainty in this type of work and what we've seen in this new count isn't necessarily symbolic of the rest of the continent," said BAS scientist Peter Fretwell. "But if it is — that's worrying because the decline is worse than the worst-case projections we have for emperors this century."

A brown and white shape — A satellite image of the Vanhoeffen colony of emperor penguins. (Image credit: ©2025 Maxar Technologies)

BAS will be conducting satellite research across the Antarctic continent to determine the emperors' global rate of decline — and hopefully they'll have some better news.

A paper on the research was published Tuesday (June 10) in the journal Nature Communications: Earth & Environment.

]]> https://www.space.com/astronomy/earth/satellite-images-show-a-dramatic-decline-in-antarcticas-emperor-penguin-population-and-its-happening-faster-than-we-thought-photos ecGQrZ5WgiHNtTqcapbeAH Thu, 12 Jun 2025 14:00:00 +0000 <![CDATA[ Trump's 2026 budget cuts would force the world's most powerful solar telescope to close ]]> ANCHORAGE, Alaska — There was a pindrop silence in the room on Tuesday (June 10), as Christoph Keller, director of the National Solar Observatory, spoke on stage here at the 246th American Astronomical Society meeting.

Standing in front of a giant projected bar graph, he solemnly explained the possible fate of the world's most powerful eye on the sun: the Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope (DKIST). If Congress enacts President Donald Trump's fiscal year 2026 budget request — allocating just $13 million or so for DKIST — the telescope won't be able to continue on, Keller said. For context, this year alone, the federally funded National Solar Observatory (NSO) expects to spend about $30 million on the facility.

"To put it bluntly," Keller said, "for DKIST, at $13 million, we cannot operate. There's no way for us to operate such a complex facility."

It only just turned on

The graph behind Keller spoke for itself. On the left, a bar represented the actual money the NSO spent in 2024, one in the middle represented what the NSO plans to spend in 2025, and one on the right depicted Trump's FY26 budget request. Each individual bar was divided into two colors: one representing money required for DKIST (a strong majority of each bar) and one representing money required for all other NSO facilities.

Three bars of blue and green on a white background — A picture of the graph presented by Keller during the 246th AAS meeting. (Image credit: Monisha Ravisetti/Future)

"If you actually looked at what this means," Keller said. "Between this year and the request for next year, it's a 54% budget cut."

The hit to DKIST would be unfortunate, as scientists made clear during the talk, particularly seeing as the telescope only captured its first image in 2020 after over 25 years of effort. Not only is it the world's most powerful solar telescope, it's also the largest. Built with about 150 tons of steel, it sits atop the 10,000-foot-high (3,048-meter) summit of the volcanic mountain. Haleakalā, which translates to "the house of the sun," on the Hawaiian island of Maui.

"It's a really nice site," David Boboltz, associate director for DKIST, said during the meeting. "It's got low light scattering; it's got good seeing."

"It is literally the greatest leap in humanity's ability to study the sun from the ground since Galileo's time. It's a big deal," Jeff Kuhn, a professor at the University of Hawaii at Mānoa's Institute for Astronomy (IfA) who worked on DKIST, previously said in a statement.

Indeed, the details of our sun that DKIST is able to capture are astounding. In the image below, for instance (DKIST's first image of the sun), each cell-like structure is about the size of Texas. This is the highest-resolution image of our star that's ever been captured.

Blobs of gold on a dark surface — The Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope's first published image of the sun. (Image credit: NSO/NSF/AURA)

What's extra mind-blowing here is how small of a solar region the image actually represents:

A golden circle with blobs on top of it, both on a dark background — Putting the first image taken by the Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope in context. (Image credit: NSO/NSF/AURA)

Another more recent image from DKIST reveals what appear to be magnetic "curtains" on our star's surface, in reference to what are called "photospheric striations" shaped by the sun's magnetic field. In still another, an area above the sun's atmosphere looks like it has the texture of one of those rubber spike balls you can get at Chuck E. Cheese. The list goes on in terms of awesome DKIST data, and that's with only a few years of time online.

Streaks of gold over a dark background — The surface of the sun taken with the Visible Broadband Imager at the Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope. The image shows a region 82,500 kilometers across at a resolution of 18 km with the Earth overlaid for scale. (Image credit: NSO/AURA/NSF)

blobs of gold with dark spots throughout the image — A high-resolution image of solar sunspots captured by the Inouye Solar Telescope on May 11, 2021. (Image credit: NSO/AURA/NSF)

But DKIST wouldn't be the only at-risk NSO facility, as Keller explained. If Trump's FY26 budget proposal goes through, just $4 million would be available for all other NSO equipment. "We can maybe operate three ground stations," he said, suggesting this would eradicate all of helioseismology. There may only be some room for space weather forecasting initiatives, Keller said.

"If something goes wrong; if something really fails, we won't have the money to fix it," he added.

"Congress can fix it, and all citizens here, you know what to do."

]]> https://www.space.com/astronomy/earth/trumps-2026-budget-cuts-would-force-the-worlds-most-powerful-solar-telescope-to-close X5Ez9C87pbx4uCXkW9wvwd Thu, 12 Jun 2025 12:00:00 +0000 <![CDATA[ NASA raises the odds that an asteroid could hit the moon in 2032 ]]> Asteroid 2024 YR4, once considered the highest impact risk to Earth ever recorded, is back in the spotlight — this time due to a slight increase in the chance that it could impact the moon in 2032.

Although now too distant to observe from Earth, the asteroid briefly came into view in May for the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). Using data from the telescope's Near-Infrared Camera, a team led by Andy Rivkin of the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory refined predictions of where 2024 YR4 will be on Dec. 22, 2032 by nearly 20%. That revised trajectory nudged the odds of a lunar impact from 3.8% to 4.3%, according to a NASA update.

"As data comes in, it is normal for the impact probability to evolve," the statement read. Even if a collision occurs, "it would not alter the moon's orbit."

Astronomer Pawan Kumar, a former researcher at the Indian Institute of Astrophysics in Bengaluru, agrees the moon is safe, noting a collision with the moon "won't be a cause for concern" because any moon debris blasted into space from the impact "blow up in Earth's atmosphere if any of it makes it to near-Earth space."

First detected on Dec. 27 last year, 2024 YR4 is estimated to be about 174 to 220 feet long (53 to 67 meters), or about the size of a 10-story building. The asteroid quickly grabbed headlines for having more than a 1% chance of striking Earth, the highest recorded for any large asteroid. Follow-up observations in January and February saw the impact risk climb from 1.2% to a peak of 3.1%.

A circle on a black background — Yellow points show possible locations of asteroid 2024 YR4 on Dec. 22, 2032. As new data is gathered from April to June, the uncertainty in its path decreases. Earth lies near the center of the white circle, which marks the moon's orbit. (Image credit: NASA/JPL Center for Near-Earth Object Studies)

The asteroid's projected trajectory at the time suggested it could cause blast damage across a wide potential impact zone, spanning the eastern Pacific, northern South America, Africa and southern Asia. If it enters Earth's atmosphere over the ocean, NASA estimated it would be unlikely to trigger significant tsunamis, but an airburst over a populated city could shatter windows and cause minor structural damage.

However, the impact risk dropped sharply as additional orbital data came in. By Feb. 19, the probability had fallen to 1.5%, and then to 0.3% the next day. On Feb. 24, NASA announced an official "all clear" on social media, reporting the impact probability had dropped to just 0.004% and that the asteroid is "expected to safely pass by Earth in 2032."

Further analysis has since allowed scientists to rule out any risk to Earth, not only in 2032 but from all future close approaches as well. Data from telescopes in Chile and Hawaii recently suggested the space rock originated in the central main belt between Mars and Jupiter and gradually shifted into a near-Earth orbit.

A giant red sphere crashes into a gray surface — An illustration of an impact on the moon. (Image credit: Mark Garlic/Science Photo Library via Getty Images)

Since mid-April, the asteroid has been too far away and too faint to be seen from Earth. It will swing back into view in 2028, giving scientists another chance to observe the asteroid and further refine its orbit using both JWST and ground-based telescopes. In particular, scientists will aim to gather more data on its shape and composition, which are key factors in understanding both its behavior and potential impact effects.

— Asteroid apocalypse: How big must a space rock be to end human civilization?

— Astronomers discover 196-foot asteroid with 1-in-83 chance of hitting Earth in 2032

While 2024 YR4 no longer poses any danger, it provided scientists with a rare, real-world opportunity to rehearse the full scope of planetary defense strategy, ranging from initial detection and risk analysis to public messaging. It was "an actual end-to-end exercise" for how we might respond to a potentially hazardous asteroid in the future, said Kumar.

"2024 YR4 is a tailor-made asteroid for planetary defense efforts," he said. "It has everything it takes to get our attention."

]]> https://www.space.com/astronomy/asteroids/nasa-raises-the-odds-that-an-asteroid-could-hit-the-moon-in-2032 dCvAiat2Ugf4CTWnpVtTDh Mon, 09 Jun 2025 21:00:00 +0000 <![CDATA[ Golden Dome: An aerospace engineer explains the proposed US-wide missile defense system ]]> This article was originally published at The Conversation. The publication contributed the article to Space.com's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. Iain Boyd is a professor of aerospace engineering sciences at the University of Colorado Boulder.

President Donald Trump announced a plan to build a missile defense system, called the Golden Dome, on May 20, 2025. The system is intended to protect the United States from ballistic, cruise and hypersonic missiles, and missiles launched from space.

Trump is calling for the current budget to allocate US$25 billion to launch the initiative, which the government projected will cost $175 billion. He said Golden Dome will be fully operational before the end of his term in three years and will provide close to 100% protection.

The Conversation U.S. asked Iain Boyd, an aerospace engineer and director of the Center for National Security Initiatives at the University of Colorado Boulder, about the Golden Dome plan and the feasibility of Trump’s claims. Boyd receives funding for research unrelated to Golden Dome from defense contractor Lockheed Martin.

Why does the United States need a missile shield?

Several countries, including China, Russia, North Korea and Iran, have been developing missiles over the past few years that challenge the United States’ current missile defense systems.

These weapons include updated ballistic missiles and cruise missiles, and new hypersonic missiles. They have been specifically developed to counter America’s highly advanced missile defense systems such as the Patriot and the National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System.

For example, the new hypersonic missiles are very high speed, operate in a region of the atmosphere where nothing else flies and are maneuverable. All of these aspects combined create a new challenge that requires a new, updated defensive approach.

Russia has fired hypersonic missiles against Ukraine in the ongoing conflict. China parades its new hypersonic missiles in Tiananmen Square.

So it’s reasonable to think that, to ensure the protection of its homeland and to aid its allies, the U.S. may need a new missile defense capability.

A blue sphere with yellow lines on it — An illustration of the Golden Dome system proposed by President Trump shows how it shields the United States from incoming missiles. (Image credit: Illustration by Romations on Wikimedia Commons)

What are the components of a national missile defense system?

Such a defense system requires a global array of geographically distributed sensors that cover all phases of all missile trajectories.

First, it is essential for the system to detect the missile threats as early as possible after launch, so some of the sensors must be located close to regions where adversaries may fire them, such as by China, Russia, North Korea and Iran. Then, it has to track the missiles along their trajectories as they travel hundreds or thousands of miles.

These requirements are met by deploying a variety of sensors on a number of different platforms on the ground, at sea, in the air and in space. Interceptors are placed in locations that protect vital U.S. assets and usually aim to engage threats during the middle portion of the trajectory between launch and the terminal dive.

The U.S. already has a broad array of sensors and interceptors in place around the world and in space primarily to protect the U.S. and its allies from ballistic missiles. The sensors would need to be expanded, including with more space-based sensors, to detect new missiles such as hypersonic missiles. The interceptors would need to be enhanced to enable them to address hypersonic weapons and other missiles and warheads that can maneuver.

Does this technology exist?

Intercepting hypersonic missiles specifically involves several steps.

First, as explained above, a hostile missile must be detected and identified as a threat. Second, the threat must be tracked along all of its trajectory due to the ability of hypersonic missiles to maneuver. Third, an interceptor missile must be able to follow the threat and get close enough to it to disable or destroy it.

The main new challenge here is the ability to track the hypersonic missile continuously. This requires new types of sensors to detect hypersonic vehicles and new sensor platforms that are able to provide a complete picture of the hypersonic trajectory. As described, Golden Dome would use the sensors in a layered approach in which they are installed on a variety of platforms in multiple domains, including ground, sea, air and space.

These various platforms would need to have different types of sensors that are specifically designed to track hypersonic threats in different phases of their flight paths. These defensive systems will also be designed to address weapons fired from space. Much of the infrastructure will be multipurpose and able to defend against a variety of missile types.

In terms of time frame for deployment, it is important to note that Golden Dome will build from the long legacy of existing U.S. missile defense systems. Another important aspect of Golden Dome is that some of the new capabilities have been under active development for years. In some ways, Golden Dome represents the commitment to actually deploy systems for which considerable progress has already been made.

A rectangular box with black and gold shapes on it — The poster for the Golden Dome missile system sits in the Oval Office during President Trump's presentation. (Image credit: The White House)

Is near 100% protection a realistic claim?

Israel’s Iron Dome air defense system has been described as the most effective system of its kind anywhere in the world.

But even Iron Dome is not 100% effective, and it has also been overwhelmed on occasion by Hamas and others who fire very large numbers of inexpensive missiles and rockets at it. So it is unlikely that any missile defense system will ever provide 100% protection.

The more important goal here is to achieve deterrence, similar to the stalemate in the Cold War with the Soviet Union that was based on nuclear weapons. All of the new weapons that Golden Dome will defend against are very expensive. The U.S. is trying to change the calculus in an opponent’s thinking to the point where they will consider it not worth shooting their precious high-value missiles at the U.S. when they know there is a high probability of them not reaching their targets.

Is three years a feasible time frame?

That seems to me like a very aggressive timeline, but with multiple countries now operating hypersonic missiles, there is a real sense of urgency.

Existing missile defense systems on the ground, at sea and in the air can be expanded to include new, more capable sensors. Satellite systems are beginning to be put in place for the space layer. Sensors have been developed to track the new missile threats.

Putting all of this highly complex system together, however, is likely to take more than three years. At the same time, if the U.S. fully commits to Golden Dome, a significant amount of progress can be made in this time.

What does the president’s funding request tell you?

President Trump is requesting a total budget for all defense spending of about $1 trillion in 2026. So, $25 billion to launch Golden Dome would represent only 2.5% of the total requested defense budget.

Of course, that is still a lot of money, and a lot of other programs will need to be terminated to make it possible. But it is certainly financially achievable.

How will Golden Dome differ from Iron Dome?

Similar to Iron Dome, Golden Dome will consist of sensors and interceptor missiles but will be deployed over a much wider geographical region and for defense against a broader variety of threats in comparison with Iron Dome.

A second-generation Golden Dome system in the future would likely use directed energy weapons such as high-energy lasers and high-power microwaves to destroy missiles. This approach would significantly increase the number of shots that defenders can take against ballistic, cruise and hypersonic missiles.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

]]> https://www.space.com/astronomy/earth/golden-dome-an-aerospace-engineer-explains-the-proposed-us-wide-missile-defense-system h9Lkt86334XjzxeWdoZP3B Mon, 09 Jun 2025 14:00:00 +0000 <![CDATA[ It's been nearly a century since Chicago saw a powerful dust storm like this (photos) ]]> In mid-May, a giant wall of dust paraded across parts of the U.S. Midwest, and, thanks to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)'s Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) East satellite, we were able to follow along.

In mid-May, a giant wall of dust paraded across parts of the U.S. Midwest, and, thanks to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)'s Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) East satellite, we were able to follow along.

blobs of white over a green and brown background — NOAA's GOES East satellite captured this view of a dust storm hitting Chicago on May 16, 2025. (Image credit: NOAA)

The GOES-19 spacecraft, which has been in space for less than a year after launching in late June 2024, took over the GOES East spot back in April. Hanging out at 22,236 miles (35,785 kilometers) above the planet, the next-gen satellite watches over the Western Hemisphere; it keeps a close eye on our weather, takes measurements to study our climate and monitors and tracks wildfires as they develop.

In addition, by being in the right place at the right time, GOES East can document historic weather events from beginning to end.

Dust storms are pretty rare across the Great Lakes region, but on May 16, one developed across northern Illinois and proceeded east through metropolitan Chicago and northern Indiana.

It sprang from a group of severe thunderstorms in central Illinois, as strong winds began to kick up dust on dry farmland. As the storms progressed east, a massive dust cloud formed, situating itself just behind the front edge of the outflow winds of the thunderstorm.

The powerful winds continued to drive the dust storm, with gusts reaching more than 60 mph (97 kph) at times.

This part of the country is more accustomed to Snow Squall Warnings, in which intense bands of snow can drop visibility quickly to zero and are accompanied by howling winds. But this time, it was the curtain of dust, not snow, that prompted the National Weather Service (NWS) Forecast Office in Chicago to issue alerts, with visibilities reaching close to zero at several instances.

Throughout the event, four separate Dust Storm Warnings were released, with the criteria of winds of at least 20 mph (32 kph) paired with widespread blowing dust, dropping the visibility to 0.25 miles (0.4 kilometers) or less.

— The newest GOES weather satellite in NOAA's fleet is now fully operational (video)

— Trump administration's NOAA layoffs affected the space weather service that tracks solar storms

While dust storms are not common throughout the Midwest, they're extremely rare in the Windy City. The most recent dust storm to affect Chicago took place on May 31, 1985, but it was nowhere near the strength of this one.

The NWS Chicago office confirmed that it's been close to a century since the city was hit with an event of this proportion; that storm took place in the early to mid-1930s, during the Dust Bowl era.

]]> https://www.space.com/astronomy/earth/its-been-nearly-a-century-since-chicago-saw-a-powerful-dust-storm-like-this-photos 9CkcMGDZSm649Qtoca4vng Sat, 07 Jun 2025 13:00:00 +0000 <![CDATA[ Fireball streaks through aurora-filled skies | Space photo of the day for June 5, 2025 ]]> Spectators were already out capturing the stunning aurora display when a blazing meteor sped past.

What is it?

At 5:57 a.m. local time skywatchers around Montréal, Canada and parts of the northeastern U.S. found themselves watching the brilliant streak of a bright meteor, also called a fireball, zoom across the sky.

The aurora borealis, or "the northern lights" happen when charged particles ejected from the sun interact with Earth's atmosphere. These particles are shuttled to our planet's north and south poles by Earth's magnetic field. There, the particles excite gas and molecules in Earth's atmosphere, creating various colors depending on which gas is in the atmosphere.

Where is it?

This photo was taken in Chelsea, a municipality of Quebec.

Purple and blue patterns dot the sky over a reflective surface with a streak of light running down the right side — The purple and blue streaks of the aurora display add a stunning backdrop for a bright meteor streaking across the sky. (Image credit: Andres U., https://fireball.amsmeteors.org/members/imo_photo/view_photo?photo_id=19609)

Why is it amazing?

Blue and purple auroras are rather rare, as the particles from the sun interact with Earth's atmosphere at an altitude of 60 miles or less. These colors tend to be seen at the lower part of the display. The most common color for auroras is green, as the human eye is most sensitive to green in the visible color spectrum.

Adjacent to the aurora in the sky is a giant fireball, which, according to NOIRLab, has to have a streak brighter than how the planets appear in the sky (with an apparent magnitude of –4 or more luminous) to be seen by observers.

This photograph was one of 14 reported sightings according to the American Meteor Society on June 3, 2025.

Want to learn more?

You can read more about brilliant fireballs and stunning auroras lighting up our night skies.

]]> https://www.space.com/astronomy/earth/fireball-streaks-through-aurora-filled-skies-space-photo-of-the-day-for-june-5-2025 x8Nfk4BDn5JxUMb9E6zJpU Thu, 05 Jun 2025 18:00:00 +0000 <![CDATA[ Mount Etna's terrifying eruption from orbit | Space photo of the day for June 4, 2025 ]]> On June 2, 2025 around 10 a.m. local time, residents of the island of Sicily began fleeing as Europe's largest volcano suddenly erupted.

What is it?

Mount Etna's eruption, captured by the European Space Agency's (ESA) Copernicus Sentinel-5P satellite, revealed massive plumes of ash and smoke, as lava streaked down the side of the volcano. The ash cloud rose to a height of 21,300 feet (6,500 meters), almost twice as high as Mount Etna itself, standing at 11,000 feet (3,350 m).

Data from the satellite also found sulfur dioxide in the plume as lava fountains flowed down Mount Etna's eastern slope with a smaller flow to the south, according to ESA. The sulfur dioxide can create a volcanic smog that is hazardous to breathe.

Where is it?

Sitting on the eastern coast of Sicily, Italy, Mount Etna towers over the landscape below, with a diameter of 22 miles (35 kilometers).

The pyroclastic flow — a fast viscous mixture of gas, liquid ash and rock fragments — made it only a little over a mile (2 km) down the volcano, stopping in the Lion Valley, or Valle de Leone, which acts as a natural containment area. The flow traveled the entire distance in less than a minute at the eruption's climax at 11:23 a.m. local time, according to the Associated Press.

A large green shape with streaks of red and white clouds above it showing a volcano eruption of Mt. Etna — Mount Etna erupted as huge smoke plumes and channels of lava streamed out of the Sicilian volcano. (Image credit: contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data (2025), processed by ESA)

Why is it amazing?

Mount Etna has been erupting sporadically for centuries. Its volcanism has made for the stuff of legends, as one eruption is suggested to have held off the army of Carthage (now northern Africa) in 396 B.C., according to the Associated Press.

More recently, Mount Etna has been active in the past few months, with this eruption being the 14th episode since March 2025 after a 19-day lull. Experts consider this event a medium-sized eruption which probably started with the partial structural collapse of the southeastern crater. The authorities announced there was no danger to the public and no injuries were reported, though tourists hiking in the area began fleeing when rock and ash began exploding out of the volcano.

ESA's Copernicus Sentinel-5P satellite caught the eruption using its wide swath high-resolution multispectral imager that includes 13 spectral bands for imaging Earth's vegetation and landscape, capturing historic moments like this one.

Want to learn more?

You can read more about Mount Etna's eruptions captured from space satellites or seen from the International Space Station.

]]> https://www.space.com/astronomy/earth/mount-etnas-terrifying-eruption-from-orbit-space-photo-of-the-day-for-june-4-2025 2vhuv4nAmK7vA8wSvzNgMG Wed, 04 Jun 2025 18:19:47 +0000 <![CDATA[ NOAA expects up to 5 major hurricanes in 2025: 'Be prepared' ]]> Many people are still recovering from devastating storms during the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season even as this year's season began this week on June 1. And like last year's, the 2025 hurricane season is anticipated to be busier than normal.

The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1 to Nov. 30 every year, and before it begins, forecasters at the Climate Prediction Center (CPC), part of the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) National Weather Service, share their thoughts on what type of storm activity we could see.

For the 2025 season, CPC researchers forecast that chances sit at 60% that it will be "above normal," with the number of named storms between 13 to 19 (where wind speeds get up to a minimum of 39 mph, or 63 kph). Of those named storms, six to ten are anticipated to reach hurricane strength (winds of at least 74 mph, or 119 kph), and between three to five will develop into major hurricanes.

Major hurricanes are defined as those that grow to at least Category 3 on the Saffir-Simpson scale, meaning sustained winds reach a minimum of 111 mph (179 kph). Typically, for a hurricane season to be "normal," there will be 14 named storms, where seven strengthen into hurricanes and three are major.

These storms have the potential to impact millions of people, NOAA leaders say. "As we witnessed last year with significant inland flooding from hurricanes Helene and Debby, the impacts of hurricanes can reach far beyond coastal communities," Laura Grimm, acting NOAA Administrator, said in a statement. "NOAA is critical for the delivery of early and accurate forecasts and warnings, and provides the scientific expertise needed to save lives and property."

a pie chart showing a 60 percent chance of above normal hurricane season, 30 percent for near-normal, and 10 percent for below normal — A summary infographic showing hurricane season probability and numbers of named storms predicted, according to NOAA's 2025 Atlantic Hurricane Season Outlook. (Image credit: NOAA/NWS)

To determine how busy the season could be, forecasters consider a variety of factors. This year, the prediction was made based on a persistence of neutral El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) conditions, ocean temperatures trending above average, the likelihood of weak wind shear, and a possibility of increased activity from the West African monsoon (this is where hurricanes in the Atlantic primarily originate).

With the continuation of elevated ocean temperatures and decreased trade winds, there's more energy available to fire up tropical systems and less of a chance storms will be disrupted or "torn apart" while they are forming. Also, with the possibility that the West African monsoon will shift to the north, this would set the stage for the production of tropical waves that can turn into powerful and long-duration systems in the Atlantic.

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NOAA leaders stress that the 2024 season should serve as a reminder of why forecasting is so vital to ensure that as many people are as prepared as possible during hurricane season.

"In my 30 years at the National Weather Service, we've never had more advanced models and warning systems in place to monitor the weather," Ken Graham, NOAA's National Weather Service Director, said in a statement. "This outlook is a call to action: be prepared. Take proactive steps now to make a plan and gather supplies to ensure you're ready before a storm threatens."

It is important to note that the outlook NOAA puts out every season refers specifically to the development of storms, and it is not a prediction for landfalling storms. There will be another update in early August from NOAA's CPC to the seasonal outlook, which will account for how the season is progressing, which also takes place just before the climatological peak of the season.

]]> https://www.space.com/astronomy/earth/noaa-expects-up-to-5-major-hurricanes-in-2025-be-prepared P4qcduDhiTejTVp4E6qtRA Tue, 03 Jun 2025 16:00:00 +0000 <![CDATA[ Watch a brilliant 'fireball' meteor explode over China on May 28 (video) ]]> Residents of Maoming, China were treated to a celestial light show earlier this week when a surprise fireball burst to life overhead, illuminating the city before disappearing in an intense flare of light.

The fireball burned up over the southern Chinese province of Guangdong at 9:33 p.m. local time on May 28, according to multiple dashcam videos that have circulated online in the wake of the event. The videos show the meteor make a dramatic 5-second journey through the night sky, during which it changed color from a pale green-blue hue to an intense burst of orange-yellow light. This particular fireball may have been a bolide - a special meteor that breaks apart with a dramatic flash of light.

🇨🇳 | Compilation footage shows the moment a meteor/fireball streaked across the sky in Maoming City, Guangdong Province, ChinaOn the evening of May 28, 2025, there was a loud bang in the sky, and a super bright fire meteor suddenly descended over the urban area of Maoming!. pic.twitter.com/jaCsZtvocIMay 28, 2025

A fireball is the name given when a relatively large meteor - over 1 millimeter in diameter - collides with Earth's atmosphere, triggering a fleeting flare of light that can outshine the planets themselves in the night sky. The color of a burning meteor is determined by a number of factors such as its speed, composition and how it compresses the air in its path, according to the American Meteor Society.

Bright, reddish flashes of light can arise when fast-moving meteors strike the atmosphere at tens of thousands of miles per hour, compressing the air in front of them. This process causes them to glow brightly in the night sky and has the potential to force atmospheric nitrogen and oxygen atoms trapped in the meteor's path to release an abundance of reddish light, according to NASA. Meteors with a high sodium content also have a tendency to burn with an orange-yellow light.

A fireball streaked across the sky in western Guangdong! pic.twitter.com/9qee4b1irvMay 28, 2025

No major meteor showers were active on the night in question, so it's likely that the Maoming City fireball was born of a 'sporadic meteor' - a random piece of space debris left over from the creation of the solar system that happened to collide with Earth on May 28.

Editor's Note: If you would like to share your astrophotography with Space.com's readers, then please send your photo(s), comments, and your name and location to spacephotos@space.com.

]]> https://www.space.com/stargazing/meteor-showers/watch-a-brilliant-fireball-meteor-explode-over-china-on-may-28-video nT4cJ92q7ioGFQVUDcSofg Sat, 31 May 2025 13:00:00 +0000 <![CDATA[ NASA satellites show Antarctica has gained ice despite rising global temperatures. How is that possible? ]]> Antarctica has gained ice in recent years, despite increasing average global temperatures and climate change, a new study finds.

Using data from NASA satellites, researchers from Tongji University in Shanghai tracked changes in Antarctica's ice sheet over more than two decades. The overall trend is one of substantial ice loss on the continent, but from 2021 to 2023, Antarctica gained some of that lost ice back.

However, this isn't a sign that global warming and climate change have miraculously reversed. Picture a long ski slope with a small jump at the end. That's what a line through the Antarctic ice sheet data looks like when plotted on a graph. While there have been some recent ice gains, they don't even begin to make up for almost 20 years of losses.

Most of the gains have already been attributed to an anomaly that saw increased precipitation (snow and some rain) fall over Antarctica, which caused more ice to form. Antarctica's ice levels fluctuate from year to year, and the gains appear to have slowed since the study period ended at the beginning of 2024. The levels reported by NASA thus far in 2025 look similar to what they were back in 2020, just before the abrupt gain.

The ice sheet covering Antarctica is the largest mass of ice on Earth. Bigger than the whole of the U.S., the sheet holds 90% of the world's fresh water, according to the Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition, an environmental non-governmental organization. Antarctica is also surrounded by sea ice (frozen ocean water), which expands in the winter and retreats to the Antarctic coastline in the summer.

This latest study, published March 19 in the journal Science China Earth Sciences, analyzed data from NASA's Gravity Recovery And Climate Experiment (GRACE) and GRACE Follow-On satellites that have been monitoring this ice sheet since 2002. Studying changes to the sheet is important because any melt releases water into the ocean, which is a major driver of rising sea levels.

The satellite data revealed that the sheet experienced a sustained period of ice loss between 2002 and 2020. The ice loss accelerated in the latter half of that period, increasing from an average loss of about 81 billion tons (74 billion metric tons) per year between 2002 and 2010, to a loss of about 157 billion tons (142 billion metric tons) between 2011 and 2020, according to the study. However, the trend then shifted.

The ice sheet gained mass from 2021 to 2023 at an average rate of about 119 billion tons (108 metric tons) per year. Four glaciers in eastern Antarctica also flipped from accelerated ice loss to significant mass gain.

a graph showing a line descending from left to right — The recent Antarctic ice sheet gain doesn't make up for the continent experiencing a sustained period of accelerated ice loss. (Image credit: Science China Press)

"This isn't particularly strange," said Tom Slater, a research fellow in environmental science at Northumbria University in the U.K. who wasn't involved in the study. "In a warmer climate the atmosphere can hold more moisture — this raises the likelihood of extreme weather such as the heavy snowfall which caused the recent mass gain in East Antarctica," he told Live Science in an email.

A 2023 study documented Antarctica's unprecedented mass gain between 2021 and 2022. That study, written by many of the same authors behind the new study, found that a high precipitation anomaly was responsible for the gain in ice. The latest study suggests that the trend continued until at least 2023.

Slater noted that researchers expect the ice gains to be temporary.

"Almost all of Antarctica's grounded ice losses come from glaciers elsewhere which are speeding up and flowing into the warming ocean," Slater said. "This is still happening — while the recent snowfall has temporarily offset these losses, they haven't stopped so it's not expected this is a long-term change in Antarctica's behavior."

A warming world

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Climate change doesn't mean that everywhere on Earth will get hotter at the same rate, so a single region will never tell the whole story of our warming world. Historically, temperatures over much of Antarctica have remained relatively stable, particularly compared to the Arctic, which has cooked four times faster than the rest of the globe. Antarctica's sea ice has also been much more stable relative to the Arctic, but that's been changing in recent years.

In 2023, Antarctic sea ice hit record lows, which researchers concluded was extremely unlikely to happen without climate change. Meanwhile, global sea ice cover is consistently dropping to record lows or near-record lows, while global temperatures are consistently at record or near-record highs.

In 2015, world leaders signed the Paris Agreement, an international treaty promising to limit global warming to preferably below 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit (1.5 degrees Celsius) and well below 3.6 F (2 C). However, that first promise is on the line: April 2025 was the 21st out of the last 22 months to breach the 2.7 F limit, according to the European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service.

Originally published on LiveScience.com.

]]> https://www.space.com/astronomy/earth/nasa-satellites-show-antarctica-has-gained-ice-despite-rising-global-temperatures-how-is-that-possible Rh9WwxJLRnvfdrtiwKrL5n Tue, 27 May 2025 13:00:00 +0000 <![CDATA[ When lightning bolts collide, do they unleash powerful gamma-ray flashes? ]]> The most powerful explosions in the known universe come from what are known as gamma-ray bursts — though they may not sound particularly exciting, scientists usually speak about these incredible blasts of electromagnetic radiation in the same breath as giant collapsing stars and black holes.

We've catalogued quite a few of these events since the 1960s, and even used them to help us understand more about galaxy superclusters, but one particular kind of gamma-ray burst has remained somewhat of a mystery. It's called a terrestrial gamma-ray flash (TGF), and it erupts inside thunderstorms on Earth hundreds of feet above our heads.

Yuuki Wada, a professor at Osaka University in Japan, has been studying TGFs for years. He's the lead author on a new study that examines the mysterious relationship between TGFs and lightning bolts — and, according to this study, scientists have observed a TGF synchronized with a lightning discharge that arose from a collision of leaders, which guide lighting flow, coming from opposite directions.

"TGFs are one of the most energetic natural phenomena in the atmosphere," Wada told Space.com. Wada's work focuses on high-energy phenomena in lightning flashes and thunderclouds.

To gather data about lightning for study, the team traveled two hours north of Osaka to the seaside city of Kanazawa, located in Ishikawa Prefecture on the Northern coast of Honshu, Japan's main island.

"We prepared an observation network around television transmission towers in Kanazawa," Wada said. The researchers used a "state-of-the-art multi-sensor setup "that could detect optical, radio-frequency and high-energy radiation.

The multi-sensor observations they performed were a world first, senior author Harufumi Tsuchiya said in a statement, and that the combination of sensors helped them learn more about the mechanism for TGFs.

However, conducting the research for the study was challenging — and Wada said it required a bit of luck — as the study relied on being able to observe lightning bolts in action. "Lightning is hard to predict now," Wada said. "So, there is a risk of performing intensive observations because detection ranges are limited."

"There was a risk that we would detect nothing," Wada added. "Fortunately, we detected a TGF with the full network."

Gamma-ray flashes in thunderstorms

Scientists know thunderstorms emit very short TGFs, as well as longer gamma-ray flashes, which can last from minutes to hours. But thunderstorms still hold their share of mysteries.

The strong currents of air in thunderstorms can cause air and water to shoot up and down very quickly. When this happens, crystals of ice begin to collide inside the air currents, causing them to shed electrons and generate a lightning-producing electric field.

While scientists think that, under specific conditions, TGFs arise from discharges of lightning during thunderstorms, they still don't understand the exact relationship between the two.

"TGFs have been mostly detected by satellites, and a detail of how lightning produces gamma rays remains a mystery," Wada said. "Our ground-based observation gives us a clue to understand TGFs."

Using the sensors on the transmission towers, the researchers caught a snapshot of lightning discharges along two paths. One path came from the thundercloud and led down to a transmission tower. The other path ascended in the opposite direction.

The researchers observed the TGF right before the two discharge paths converged and created a highly concentrated electric field that the researchers say accelerated the electrons shooting through the air to near light speed.

One second contains one million microseconds. The team recorded the first photon of the TGF just 31 microseconds before the paths met. The full burst lasted 20 microseconds after the paths formed a lightning strike.

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This new study follows previous work delving into TGFs from a number of scientific organizations, including NASA and European Space Agency (ESA). In August 2023, NASA pilots flew into thunderstorms aboard a high-altitude science aircraft to gather data on TGFs.

In May 2019, ESA created the first-ever photo of a TGF, which arose from a thunderstorm over the island of Borneo, in Southeast Asia. To study the TGFs, they used a special observatory aboard the International Space Station.

The work to understand TGFs is far from finished. "The relation between lightning and TGF is not clear," Wada says. "That is why we are continuing this study."

"We are targeting winter thunderstorms in Japan," he added. "Because they have unusual features compared to other thunderstorms, such as lower cloud bases, we expect more mysteries will be resolved by observations in Japan."

The study was published on May 21 in the journal Science Advances.

]]> https://www.space.com/astronomy/earth/when-lightning-bolts-collide-do-they-unleash-powerful-gamma-ray-flashes mqaYc2dEXoZgc4HPa52J9J Fri, 23 May 2025 13:00:00 +0000 <![CDATA[ Powerful Mother's Day geomagnetic storm created radio-disrupting bubbles in Earth's upper atmosphere ]]> Researchers from Kyushu University in Japan have provided some new insights about the powerful geomagnetic storm that flared up last Mother's Day, after a big solar storm hit Earth.

The work focuses on the storm's activity in a region of Earth's ionosphere called the E layer, which sits in the upper atmosphere about 56 miles to 75 miles (90 to 120 kilometers) above sea level.

"The sporadic E layer hasn't been studied very much during the storm because it appeared unaffected by solar storms," study leader Huixin Liu said in a statement.

diagram of earth's atmosphere at night, showing a greenish-yellow sphere representing a disruption caused by a solar storm — Visualization of Earth’s magnetosphere being hit by the Mother’s Day geomagnetic storm on May 10-11, 2024. This is a screen shot from NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio. (Image credit: NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio and NASA DRIVE Science Center for Geospace Storms)

"But we wanted to see if something as powerful as the Mother's Day geomagnetic storm did anything to the E layer," Liu added. "What we found was very interesting."

The E layer was significantly enhanced during the storm, the team found; thin patches of high ionization density — known as sporadic E layers, or sporadic Es for short — suddenly appeared in the ionosphere.

To gather data on the phenomena, the team relied on a combination of sources from space and on the ground.

Using the joint U.S.-Taiwanese COSMIC-2 satellite network, as well as 37 ground-based radars called ionosodes, the team gathered a massive amount of information during and after the solar storm to get a global map of sporadic E layer activity.

"This large amount of data was critical for both detecting the presence of sporadic Es and tracking where they formed as time went by," Liu said.

"In our analysis, we found that sporadic Es formed after the main phase of the solar storm, during what we call the recovery phase," Liu added.

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First, the team detected sporadic Es at higher latitudes, around the poles. The phenomena slowly extended toward the equator over time. "This propagation characteristic from high to low latitudes suggests that sporadic E layers are most likely caused by the disturbed neutral winds in the E region," Liu said.

The researchers want to understand this phenomena because it can disrupt HF (high frequency) and VHF (very high frequency) bands of radio communication, which have important uses in areas such as navigation.

With greater insight into activity in the E layer during a geomagnetic storm, the researchers hope to find ways to work around the disruptions.

The new paper was published last month in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.

]]> https://www.space.com/astronomy/earth/powerful-mothers-day-geomagnetic-storm-created-radio-disrupting-bubbles-in-earths-upper-atmosphere 3qN7UJsTiSeUTC9hLuvV28 Tue, 20 May 2025 17:00:00 +0000 <![CDATA[ House-size asteroid will miss Earth by just 72,000 miles today (video) ]]>

A newly discovered house-size asteroid is set to make a close, yet harmless approach to Earth today (May 21), passing within one-third of the Earth-moon distance.

The close approach will happen at approximately 1:30 p.m. ET on May 21 (1730 GMT), at which point the asteroid, designated 2025 KF, will pass a mere 71,700 miles (115,000 kilometers) from Earth, according to NASA.

During the pass, the asteroid will be travelling at a speed of 25,880 miles per hour (41,650 kph) relative to Earth. Its trajectory will see it pass closest to our planet's south polar region before continuing its long, looping orbit around the sun.

A NASA graphic showing the path of asteroid 2025 KF relative to that of Earth and the Moon — A NASA graphic showing the path of asteroid 2025 KF relative to that of Earth and the moon. (Image credit: NASA/JPL)

2025 KF is not currently considered to be a potentially hazardous object. It also poses no risk of impacting the moon, missing Earth's natural satellite by roughly 140,844 miles (226,666 km).

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The rocky body was discovered on May 19 by astronomers at the MAP project in Chile's Atacama Desert, according to the Minor Planet Center, just a few days ahead of its close approach. Asteroid 2025 KF is estimated to have a diameter ranging between 32 and 75 feet (10 - 23 meters), making it approximately the size of a house. Even if 2025 KF were to hit Earth, its small size means that it would likely burn up in the atmosphere, posing zero threat to those living on our planet, per NASA.

NASA has catalogued close to 40,000 near-Earth asteroids since it began watching the skies for potentially hazardous objects back in the summer of 1998, and we know today that close passes with automobile-sized asteroids occur on a yearly basis.

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Of that number, around 4,700 are classified as potentially dangerous asteroids, though scientists at the Center for Near Earth Object Studies have said that it's unlikely that any asteroid capable of causing widespread damage to Earth will strike our planet in the next century.

It's also worth noting that 2025 KF's rendezvous doesn't even come close to breaking the record for the closest asteroid pass of Earth, which occurred in 2020 when a car-size asteroid passed a mere 1,830 miles (2,950 km) from our planet's surface and survived to tell the tale.

]]> https://www.space.com/stargazing/house-size-asteroid-will-pass-between-earth-and-moon-on-may-21 2rf5NemnWQWkViNuveS3c8 Tue, 20 May 2025 16:00:10 +0000 <![CDATA[ Solar storms and cyberattacks can both cause blackouts. Knowing the difference could save billions of dollars ]]> Space weather and cyberattacks can cause similar disruption to our civilization's indispensable technology systems. Telling one from the other swiftly and reliably can make billions of dollars' worth of difference to economies that could grind to a halt when such disruptions occur.

Shortly after noon on April 28, the whole of Europe's Iberian Peninsula plunged into darkness. An unknown incident shut down power grids serving Spain, Portugal and parts of Southern France. In an instant, the working day was over for millions of people as anything not powered by a battery suddenly turned off. Trains stopped in their tracks, stranding thousands of commuters, and internet and cellular coverage became patchy.

Weeks later, Spain is still investigating what caused the blackout of the century. A sophisticated cyberattack has been proposed as a possible explanation, but widespread blackouts could also be caused by space weather. Although no solar storm took place on the day of the Spanish blackout, experts worry that the multitude of possible explanations behind such events could delay response times and exacerbate their impacts. In fact, in a recent exercise testing space weather preparedness in the US, similarities between impacts of cyberattacks and solar storms confused participants, highlighting the need for more research into technology vulnerabilities in both cases.

"Space weather can impact systems that use IT for critical functions and everyday processes," James Spann, a senior scientist at the Office of Space Weather Observations at the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service (NESDIS) department, told Space.com in an email. "These space weather impacts can have the same symptoms as a cyberattack, where systems will be brought down, or lockup, or transmit erroneous information."

NESDIS oversaw a tabletop space weather exercise conducted in May 2024, the first such drill testing the U.S. preparedness for a major solar storm. Results of the exercise, which brought together 35 US government agencies, were published in a report in April.

In one of the simulations during the exercise, NOAA and the U.S. Air Force reported a severe solar flare and radio burst, but another federal department or agency "reported contradictory information, suggesting that the radio and communications disruptions were possibly the result of a cyberattack," according to the report. Above all, it showed the need for effective communication following such events.

In the case of cyberattacks, sophisticated malware and careful planning by computer-savvy malicious actors can disrupt the software systems that control energy infrastructure. Space weather, on the other hand, disrupts power grids by inducing powerful currents in Earth's magnetic field that can trigger surges in power lines and disable transformers.

a lone person stands silhouetted by the light of an open door in a dark supermarket — A man and a child walk through a local market during a massive power cut in Vigo, northwestern Spain, on April 28, 2025. (Image credit: MIGUEL RIOPA/AFP via Getty Images)

During intense space weather events, satellite signals struggle to reach Earth through an atmosphere suddenly ionized by clouds of energetic particles arriving from the sun. These same particles can disrupt spacecraft electronics, causing signal errors and in some cases lasting damage to components. Preparation for and recovery from these two types of incidents requires completely different approaches, even though their effects can appear similar.

The space weather exercise overseen by NOAA found that inefficient communication between space weather experts and other government agencies and stakeholders likely to deal with the fallout of these incidents could lead to incorrect conclusions. Wrong conclusions, in turn, can lead to misguided decisions and improper action.

"Deep knowledge of the affected technology is needed, including its vulnerabilities to space weather impacts and cyberattacks, in order to determine the root cause," Spann said.

According to Spann, many technology systems including satellite constellations, especially commercially operated ones, are not necessarily understood well by space weather experts, and therefore the impacts of such events on these systems are difficult to predict.

a satellite view of a country at night, dotted with city lights, but containing a dark area where a power blackout occurred — An animation showing night-time light emissions during a recent blackout in Spain and Portugal. (Image credit: ESA)

To help with both preparation and mitigation, researchers and space weather experts need to closely collaborate with operators of satellites and other technologies that are potentially vulnerable to cyberattacks and space weather events, Spann said.

The report found other significant shortcomings in US space weather preparedness. Coronal mass ejections (CMEs) — large clouds of magnetized plasma that erupt from the sun's atmosphere — are the main cause of solar storms on Earth. These clouds can take up to three days to reach the planet. At first glance, that should provide abundant time for a timely warning.

The lack of measurements in space, however, means that scientists can only form an accurate idea of the expected impacts about half an hour before the CME hits Earth. That's because the only fixed space weather monitoring probe in Earth's orbit is located in the Lagrange Point 1 about 900 miles (1,500,000 kilometers) away from Earth toward the sun.

Space weather forecasters can occasionally use data from scientific probes observing the sun, such as the European Space Agency's (ESA) Solar Orbiter or NASA's STEREO mission. These satellites, however, are not always at the right position to provide the needed measurements.

"There are many observations that we know would improve forecasting and nowcasting of space weather that we don't have," Spann said. "We know this because we have seen the value of these observations either when we temporarily had them or from models that showed us that we could improve our forecasts and nowcasts if we had a certain type of data."

Whether NOAA will be able to invest into such new missions, however, is uncertain as the agency is facing widespread budget cuts due to decisions by the Trump administration.

The impacts of space weather on our society are increasing with our growing dependence on space technologies. In low Earth orbit — the region of space up to the altitude of 600 miles (1,000 kilometers) — satellites struggle during solar storms due to the increased atmospheric drag caused by the energetic particles from the sun. Satellites can lose significant altitude during these events, prompting emergency maneuvers to prevent them from spiraling toward Earth. Such frantic maneuvering in turn creates chaos that prevents space situational awareness experts from making correct estimates of trajectories and possible collisions.

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"In low Earth orbit, due to the growing satellite numbers, more observations are very much needed," said Spann. "Likewise, there is a need to improve forecast models to provide longer lead times with associated uncertainties."

Since the current solar cycle — the 11-year pattern in the rise and fall of solar activity — picked up strength in early 2021, at least two solar events have occurred that caused significant problems in Earth's orbit.

In 2022, SpaceX lost a batch of freshly launched Starlink satellites as the spacecraft couldn't raise their orbits using their on-board thrusters in the thickened air. In May 2024, the Gannon Solar Storm, the strongest solar storm in two decades, caused widespread chaos in low Earth orbit as thousands of satellites began to maneuver at the same time to make up for the altitude loss.

]]> https://www.space.com/astronomy/earth/solar-storms-and-cyberattacks-can-both-cause-blackouts-knowing-the-difference-could-save-billions-of-dollars jB7gRfdkCM27tTwhUiqnoS Fri, 16 May 2025 10:00:00 +0000 <![CDATA[ Live 4K video from space! See 24/7 views of Earth from the ISS via Sen cameras ]]>

Click play, go full-screen, lean back and enjoy. That's how easy it is now to get lost in the absolutely stunning scape that is our planet Earth from space as it streams live before your eyes.

Sen, a company based in London, provides views of Earth from orbit, with the hopes of making an experience usually reserved for astronauts a little more accessible to the rest of humanity. It's live video of Earth from space, 24 hours a day and seven days a week.

The overview effect is a phenomenon known to occur for those lucky enough to travel beyond the bounds of our gravity well, in which the view of our planet from space changes one's perception of his or home planet and humanity. Apollo 14 astronaut Ed Mitchell described it as "an instant global consciousness," accompanied with "an intense dissatisfaction with the state of the world and a compulsion to do something about it."

Earth from Space

SpaceTV-1

Sen launched three Ultra High Definition 4k cameras to the ISS on SpaceX's CRS-30 cargo mission to the space station in March 2024. The trio, collectively called SpaceTV-1, are mounted to the Bartolomeo platform on the European Space Agency's (ESA) Columbus module to create three unique views of Earth and the space station.

The bulbous blue orb of Earth rises from below. On the left, a white spacecraft. — A view from Sen's new 24/7 livestream from the ISS. (Image credit: Sen)

One camera is oriented to capture the long curve of Earth's horizon, and the repeatedly rising and setting sun is visible as the ISS completes another orbit every 90 minutes. Another focuses directly on Earth below, showing a stretch about 155 miles (250 kilometers) across. The third camera looks at the space station's forward docking port, connected to the the Harmony module, and any visiting spacecraft that are docked there.

About Sen

Who is Sen? Here is Sen's vision, in the company's own words:

Sen’s vision is to democratize space using video to inform, educate, inspire and benefit all humanity.

To do this, the company is streaming real-time videos from space to billions of people, gathering news and information about Earth and space and making it universally accessible and useful.

Sen is a data business using its own micro satellites and hosted cameras to stream real-time videos and information about Earth direct to individuals, creating a unique dataset for all humanity, empowering people and inspiring global change.

Sen’s vision is a humanitarian one — to help raise awareness about planetary changes and to support those directly affected by events on Earth, and to help inform people about the reality of our existence in space. Sen will give people videos of Earth, other worlds and space. Augmented Reality will be used to overlay the story-telling power of video with additional information, providing multi-world data and unique new perspectives for humanity.

Sen provides its streams from space for free. You can download Sen's mobile app or watch the company's stream directly on Sen.com or its YouTube channel.

]]> https://www.space.com/astronomy/earth/live-4k-video-from-space-see-earth-from-the-iss-with-sharp-eyed-sen-cameras P64ku6H2mbm9QWyXLNtyVk Tue, 13 May 2025 16:00:00 +0000 <![CDATA[ Failed Soviet Venus lander Kosmos 482 crashes to Earth after 53 years in orbit ]]>

a faint line of light crosses a starry night sky at dusk

Astronomer Gianluca Masi of the Virtual Telescope Project caught this image of Kosmos 482 during one of its last orbits as it passed over Rome, Italy on May 10, 2025. (Image credit: Gianluca Masi/The Virtual Telescope Project)

A failed Soviet Venus lander's long space odyssey has come to an end.

The Kosmos 482 probe crashed to Earth today (May 10) after circling our planet for more than five decades. Reentry occurred at 2:24 a.m. ET (0624 GMT or 9:24 a.m. Moscow time) over the Indian Ocean west of Jakarta, Indonesia, according to Russia's space agency Roscosmos. Kosmos 482 appears to have fallen harmlessly into the sea.

That's just one estimate, however; other space agencies and tracking organizations predicted different reentry locations, from the South Asian mainland to the eastern Pacific. It's unclear when or if we'll get a definitive answer to where Kosmos 482 came down.

Astronomer Gianluca Masi of the Virtual Telescope Project caught an image of Kosmos 482 during one of its final orbits as it passed over Rome, Italy just before sunrise on May 10. In the photo, the probe is "visible as a trail entering the field of view from the top and pointing to the bottom right corner," Masi wrote on his website. "The picture is the sum of four images, this is why the trail of Cosmos 482 looks dashed."

Earth isn't the planet that Kosmos 482 was supposed to land on. The spacecraft was part of the Soviet Union's Venera program, which sent a fleet of probes to Venus in the 1960s, '70s and early '80s.

Kosmos 482 launched toward Earth's hellishly hot sister planet in 1972, but a problem with its rocket stranded the spacecraft in an elliptical orbit around Earth. For the next 53 years, atmospheric drag pulled the probe down slowly but surely, leading to today's dramatic denouement.

Most large pieces of space junk — decrepit satellites and spent rocket bodies, for example — break apart during their fiery trips back to Earth, creating artificial meteor showers. It's possible that Kosmos 482 made it down in one piece today, however, given that it was designed to survive a high-speed trip through Venus' thick atmosphere.

Kosmos 482 is about 3.3 feet (1 meter) wide and weighs about 1,190 pounds (495 kilograms). If it didn't break apart during reentry, it likely hit Earth's surface going about 150 mph (240 kph), according to Dutch satellite tracker Marco Langbroek.

In that scenario, "the kinetic energy at impact is similar to that of a 40-55 cm [16 to 22 inches] large (after ablation) meteorite fragment," Langbroek wrote in a blog post recently.

a black and white image of a roughly cylindrical-shaped grey mass on a black background — Telescopic images of the Soviet Kosmos 482 Venus descent craft in Earth's orbit, taken by satellite tracker Ralf Vandebergh of the Netherlands, suggest that the probe's parachute may be out. (Image credit: Ralf Vandebergh)

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About Sen

Who is Sen? Here is Sen's vision, in the company's own words: