Latest Articles - Page: 3
Where do rocket boosters usually land?
The final resting place of a rocket booster is not a singular location; rather, it is a decision dictated by the vehicle...
What is the light from Orion's belt?
The light emanating from the region surrounding Orion's Belt is not a single phenomenon but a collection of brilliant st...
Why is the south side of the Moon important?
The region around the Moon’s South Pole has rapidly shifted from a scientific footnote to the primary target for sustain...
What are the best conditions for viewing Mars?
Observing Mars, the ruddy wanderer of our solar system, is a deeply rewarding pursuit for amateur astronomers, but it of...
What is the evidence for microbial life on Mars?
The search for life beyond Earth has perhaps never been more focused than it is now, directed squarely at the rusty plai...
Why do meteors burn blue?
The brilliant streaks we witness blazing across the night sky, commonly called shooting stars, are technically meteors—s...
Why do you think that the Galilean moons were the first objects to be discovered?
The realization that Jupiter possessed its own orbiting retinue of satellites fundamentally changed humanity's view of t...
What was wrong with the Hubble Space Telescope when it was first launched?
The initial deployment of the Hubble Space Telescope in April 1990 was greeted with immense global anticipation, but tha...
What was the first picture taken with the Hubble telescope?
The moment the Hubble Space Telescope settled into its prescribed orbit high above the Earth in the spring of 1990, the ...
Where do all stars start to form?
The beginning of a star is a dramatic event, yet it occurs in the coldest, darkest corners of the galaxy, far from the b...
Why can't we fly to the Moon now?
It seems counterintuitive that in the mere half-century since humanity first set foot on the Moon, the capability to rep...
What do astronauts do with urine?
The question of where bodily waste goes when astronauts are living hundreds of miles above Earth is a common point of cu...
Are there any dead galaxies?
The universe is filled with magnificent, churning cosmic factories—galaxies actively forming billions of new stars—but a...
How does star formation differ in elliptical and spiral galaxies?
The character of a galaxy, from its shape to the color of its light, is deeply tied to its history of star formation. Wh...
What is the sustainable fuel for SpaceX?
The choice of propellant for large-scale space exploration systems like SpaceX’s Starship represents a critical intersec...
Is the Sun the average star?
The Sun, shining reliably above us for 4.6 billion years, is often casually described as an **average star** [^8][^10]. ...
What will UY Scuti turn into when it dies?
UY Scuti is an astronomical titan, a star so vast that if it replaced our own Sun, its outer layers would likely extend ...
What are the living conditions on Mars?
The crimson surface of Mars presents a scene of stark, beautiful desolation, yet beneath that dramatic sky lie environme...
What unit of measurement do astronomers use?
The reason astronomers rarely speak about cosmic measurements in familiar terms like miles or kilometers quickly becomes...
How does a star become a dwarf star?
Stars have a diverse range of endpoints dictated almost entirely by their initial mass, but the transformation into a sp...
Is the Sun an average sized yellow star?
The designation of our star, the Sun, as an "average sized yellow star" is a statement so frequently repeated that it of...
How many habitable planets are there in our solar system?
When we gaze up at the night sky from Earth, the question of how many other worlds in our local neighborhood might suppo...
What color would an astronaut see the sky?
Astronauts looking up from orbit report a view dramatically different from what we experience on the ground: the sky is ...
Are red galaxies further away?
The light arriving at our telescopes from far-off galaxies carries a crucial message about its origin, primarily concern...