Space Exploration

It is stars that affect planets, for the most part, and not the other way around. But researchers now claim to have found the first example of stellar pulsations caused by an exoplanet. The star HAT-P-2 is emitting visible pulses that seem to be a result of a particularly large …

Gravity is a good thing when it keeps you firmly planted on Earth’s surface, but it’s quite a nuisance when you’re trying to launch things into space. The economics of space launches are harsh; every ounce sent up has an astronomical cost attached, but the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) …

India just set a world record by sending 104 satellites into space in a single launch. One hundred and three of them were nanosats, but they were crated beside Cartosat-2D: a three-quarter-ton beast the Indian government is going to use for cartography, imaging and maybe weather mapping. Ninety-six of the 103 were …

Astronomers have identified more than 4,700 potential exoplanets in the last few decades, and you can add seven more to the list today. NASA has announced the discovery of an amazing planetary system in orbit of a nearby star consisting of seven Earth-like planets in the habitable zone. The star …

Human space exploration has been limited to low-Earth orbit ever since the end of the Apollo program, but SpaceX is looking to change that. Of course, we’ve known that for a while, but a new announcement from CEO Elon Musk pushed the timeline for humanity’s return to the moon up …

NASA is hoping to begin sending astronauts up to the International Space Station in the coming years with the aid of private space firms like SpaceX and Boeing. However, the agency is planning for the worst and securing an alternate means of transport. No, the Shuttle isn’t being brought out …

As Cassini continues its ring-grazing orbits, diving just past the outside of Saturn’s F ring, the outermost discrete ring of the planet, it is tracking several small objects there. This image of the object F16QA was obtained using Cassini’s narrow-angle camera on Feb. 5, 2017, at a distance of 610,000 …

“Like a summer’s evening here on Earth just after sunset. A faint blue glow follows the Sun below the horizon — the only bit of color within an otherwise black sky,” Tanguy Bertrand imagines a view from the surface of Pluto, a picture more fully realized following recent man-made visitors …

Using mid-infrared data from the 8.2-m Subaru Telescope, a research team led by Dr. Hideaki Fujiwara, Subaru scientist at the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, has measured the brightness and temperatures of Saturn’s main rings. This is a three-color composite image of Saturn and its rings taken January 23, 2008 …

NASA has released a new image of Enceladus, the sixth-largest of Saturn’s moons, taken by the agency’s Cassini orbiter. NASA’s Cassini robotic orbiter obtained this image of Saturn’s moon Enceladus on November 27, 2016. This view looks toward the Saturn-facing hemisphere of the moon. North on Enceladus is up and …