Today marks the international day of awareness and education about asteroids – Asteroid Day! It’s a huge program, organising events all over the world, and headquartered from Luxembourg. The date of June 30th was chosen specially to mark the anniversary of the Tunguska event. In 1908 Siberia, an asteroid exploded, flattening 2,000 square kilometres of …
Space Launches July 2020
Here is your one-stop shop for space launches in July 2020. This month sees up to 138 satellites launched, 3 missions to Mars and one cargo delivery to the International Space Station. Read on to find out more! Last updated: July 15th 2020 Satellite Launches LAUNCH FAILURE 4th: US private company Rocket Lab launch several …
Hot Jupiters’ Origins Made Clearer by New Discovery
Hot Jupiters are a mould-breaking type of planet; huge Jupiter-sized gas giants that orbit shockingly close to their star. The recent detection of HIP 67522 b could provide answers to the most pressing question about these goliaths. How did they form? We have no examples in our own solar system, so exoplanets like this one …
ESA’s Solar Orbiter approaches the Sun
On June 15th, ESA reached a milestone as Solar Orbiter approaches the Sun. It managed to get 77 million kilometres away from it! That might sound like a lot, but in reality it is about half the distance from the Earth to the Sun. It’s very difficult to get spacecraft close to the Sun, because …
Observing the Moon
If you’re just starting out in astronomy, observing the Moon is a good place to start! The Earth’s only natural satellite is a familiar sight in our night skies, but have you ever taken a closer look? Read on to find out what makes the Moon special. Spoiler alert: it’s not made of cheese! The …
NASA Astronauts Launch from America
Last weekend, the world witnessed 2 NASA astronauts launch from America for the first time in almost 10 years. Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley joined Expedition 63 aboard the International Space Station. They docked at 1:02pm EDT on 31st May. Known as the SpaceX Demo-2 Crew mission, the delivery of astronauts to the ISS marks …