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 …
Laser Powered Rover will Explore Dark Lunar Craters
One of the darkest places in the universe could be explored for the first time. The craters at high latitudes on the Moon! In permanent shadow, these craters don’t allow for traditional solar powered rovers. But a new design to use lasers instead could pave the way for new discoveries from this region. The laser-powered …
A Bridge Between Galaxy Clusters
Some fascinating detail has come to light regarding a bridge of hot gas that exists between 2 galaxy clusters. Their collision several hundred millions of years ago created the bridge. The system, labelled Abell 2384, consists of 2 galaxy clusters 1.2 million light years away from the Earth. Together, they contain mass of over 260 …
Hubble Space Telescope 30th Anniversary
Today is the 30th anniversary of the most influential telescope in history! Over the years, the Hubble Space Telescope has given us bucketloads of astronomical discoveries and countless images from up there in space. So, today’s the perfect day to learn all about what makes Hubble so special. What is the Hubble Space Telescope? First …