CHAMPAIGN — The number of active satellites orbiting Earth has increased dramatically in recent years, surpassing 10,000. With so many objects in orbit, space traffic control is necessary to prevent collisions.  “Though there is a lot of space in space, it’s starting to get crowded,” said Dave Leake, former director of Staerkel Planetarium at Parkland…

CHAMPAIGN — The number of active satellites orbiting Earth has increased dramatically in recent years, surpassing 10,000. With so many objects in orbit, space traffic control is necessary to prevent collisions.  “Though there is a lot of space in space, it’s starting to get crowded,” said Dave Leake, former director of Staerkel Planetarium at Parkland…

Zurich researcher Daniel Angerhausen is confident that life will be found on other planets in the future. “But it could also be that we are completely alone,” he said in an interview with Keystone-SDA. (archive picture) Keystone Scientists are preparing the search for extraterrestrial life. In a new study, researchers at ETH Zurich investigated how…

Alyssa Pagan (B.S. ’16, astronomy), a science visuals developer with the Space Telescope Science Institute, puts the color and sparkle in cosmic imagery. Called the Cosmic Cliffs, this region of the Carina Nebula reveals a period of early star formation. It was one of the first James Webb Space Telescope images to be made public…

A distinguished astronomer from the National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO) will reveal insights into one of astronomy’s most challenging measurements during a colloquium at Carnegie Observatories in Pasadena next week. Dr. Tod Lauer will present “How Dark is Space?” on April 8, exploring recent findings about the cosmic optical background (COB) – the combined glow…

A small town in New York is about to become stargazing central for thousands of space fans hoping to check out the latest telescopes and more. And this year may be the event’s biggest yet. The Northeast Astronomy Forum 2025 (NEAF) is billed as the “world’s largest astronomy and space expo,” and runs this weekend…

Chun Wang, a Chinese-born crypto entrepreneur, paid an undisclosed amount for the mission. Some satellites are already in polar orbit, and researchers called it a routine flight. Four private astronauts lifted off from Florida on Monday on the Fram2 mission to orbit Earth from pole to pole.Joe Skipper/Reuters A SpaceX rocket blasted off Monday night…

On Thursday 27 March, the European Space Agency (ESA) sent its last messages to the Gaia Spacecraft. They told Gaia to shut down its communication systems and central computer and said goodbye to this amazing space telescope. Gaia has been the most successful ESA space mission ever, so why did they turn Gaia off? What…