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European Space Agency (ESA) | Overview, Membership, History, & Facts
European Space Agency (ESA), European space and space-technology research organization founded in 1975 from the merger of the European Launcher Development Organisation (ELDO) and the European Space Research Organisation (ESRO), both established in 1964. Members include Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland,…
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JWST’s New Findings on Trappist-1 b: A Complex, Evolving Planet
What processes are occurring on the much-studied exoplanet, Trappist-1 b, despite it orbiting outside the inner edge of the star’s habitable zone (HZ)? This is what a recent study published in Nature Astronomy hopes to address as an international team of researchers investigated Trappist-1 b’s atmospheric and surface characteristics to ascertain the planet’s present state.…
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Astronomers urge FCC to research impacts of space junk
Citing possible environmental and human effects of satellite-based space junk in low Earth orbit, 120 astronomers and researchers sent a letter to Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in October imploring the organization to look into the possible negative impacts. Backed by the special interest group U.S. Public interest Research Group (PIRG), these scientists urged FCC Space…
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James Webb telescope spots more than 100 new asteroids between Jupiter and Mars — and some are heading toward Earth
Astronomers analyzing archival images from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) have discovered an unexpectedly vast population of the smallest asteroids ever seen in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. The finding could lead to better tracking of the tiny but powerful space rocks that are likely to approach Earth. The newfound asteroids range…
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Dark Matter & Dark Energy
Everything scientists can observe in the universe, from people to planets, is made of matter. Matter is defined as any substance that has mass and occupies space. But there’s more to the universe than the matter we can see. Dark matter and dark energy are mysterious substances that affect and shape the cosmos, and scientists…
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What’s in the National Academies’ Decadal Survey for Solar and Space Physics?
Scientists have just released a 10-year plan for studying the Sun, currently at its solar maximum. Credit: NASA At its current solar maximum, our Sun has been pretty busy of late, flinging parts of itself at Earth and raising concerns about effects on satellites and power grids while also gracing us with incredible aurorae. Solar…
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Astronomers discover 7 new ‘dark comets,’ but what exactly are they?
Scientists have discovered seven more “dark comets,” and analysis of this haul suggests that the puzzling planetoids are divided into two distinct families, further deepening the mystery of why these objects look like asteroids but behave like comets. Of late, the dividing line between asteroids and comets has become blurred. There are “main-belt comets,” also…
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Superflares Erupt From Stars Like Our Sun Once Every 100 Years
New findings suggest that an extraordinarily powerful and dangerous burst of radiation might flare from our sun in the future. Our sun is a violent place. Bursts of radiation snap off the solar surface with the strength of millions of volcanic eruptions. Hot plasma churns and spews, streaming particles that can harm astronauts and satellites…
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Meteor strikes on the moon! Astronomer captures possible Geminid lunar impacts (videos)
As we approach the peak of the Geminid meteor shower overnight on Friday (Dec. 13), the skies are beginning to light up with impressive meteors striking Earth’s atmosphere. But Earth isn’t the only target; the moon is regularly bombarded with such meteors, and Daichi Fujii, the curator of the Hiratsuka City Museum in Japan, has…
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Ingenuity’s Last Hop: Lessons from Mars’ First Aircraft
What can NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter on Mars teach us about flying on other planets? This is what engineers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory recently investigated ever since the robotic pioneer performed its last flight on the Red Planet’s surface on January 18, 2024. The purpose of the investigation was to ascertain the likely causes for…
