At the heart of the new Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile is the world’s largest digital camera. About the size of a small car, it will create an unparalleled map of the night sky. The observatory’s first public images of the sky are expected to be released on June 23. Here’s how its camera … Read more
The Universe’s Darkest Mysteries Are Coming Into Focus
The Universe’s Darkest Mysteries Are Coming Into Focus
SpaceX Loses Control of Starship, Adding to Spacecraft’s Mixed Record
SpaceX Starship Rocket Explodes Before Test
A Traveler Waits in the Stars for Those Willing to Learn How to Look
In 2006, a small, little-known company named Space Exploration Technologies Corporation — SpaceX, for short — won a NASA contract to ferry cargo and supplies to the International Space Station. At that moment, SpaceX had not yet launched anything to orbit and would not succeed until two years later with its tiny Falcon 1 rocket. … Read more
Night sky observers are being treated this week to a view of a red-tinted full moon — known in June as a “strawberry moon” — a phenomenon that occurs when the moon sits low on the Southern Horizon. This summer, the reddish color is particularly pronounced because the moon is sitting at the lowest position … Read more
The northern lights are fleeting and fantastical. But Elise Wright Knutsen, an atmospheric physicist at the University of Oslo, has gotten used to them. “I’m Norwegian, so the aurora is a big thing here,” she said. “You kind of grow up with it happening over your head.” But catching her first glimpse of the aurora … Read more
