The winning image High-tech Silhouette by Tom Williams “This H-alpha image of the Sun features the silhouette of the International Space Station (ISS) transiting the eastern solar limb. Crossing the field-of-view in just 0.2 seconds, these ISS transits of the Sun are particularly rare for any one location on Earth,” explains Tom. “Luckily, weather conditions…

Polaris Dawn mission commander Jared Isaacman exits the SpaceX Dragon capsule, becoming the first commercial astronaut to complete a spacewalk. Credit: SpaceX The four-person crew of SpaceX’s Polaris Dawn mission made history on Thursday morning by completing the first spacewalk with private astronauts. Commander Jared Isaacman, the billionaire CEO of Shift4 Payments who purchased the five-day orbital…

It’s just a little guy, and not everyone agrees that it’s actually a mini-moon. Say hello to our little friend. Animation by Tony Dunn.Tony Dunn When approaching Earth, asteroids tend to do one of two things: Most of the time, they miss. Sometimes, they hit, leaving a bright streak in our planet’s sky or a…

Need some space? The Astronomy Photographer of The Year 2024 exhibition opens at the National Maritime Museum in London on Saturday, September 14. The winning images will be displayed, with pride of place going to 2023’s total solar eclipse. Now in its sixteenth year, the Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2024 competition is the highest-profile…

Ring of fire: The winning image captures the progression of Baily’s beads, which are only visible when the Moon either enters or exits an eclipse (courtesy: Ryan Imperio). US photographer Ryan Imperio have beaten thousands of amateur and professional photographers from around the world to win the 2024 Astronomy Photographer of the Year. The image…

A spectacular image of sunlight streaming through mountains on the moon during a solar eclipse has been crowned this year’s grand prize winner in the annual Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition hosted by the Royal Observatory, Greenwich in the U.K. But the winning images in other categories were just as impressive, including stunning photographs…

The Boeing Starliner, shown as it approached the International Space Station. Credit: NASA TV Boeing’s crew transport space capsule, the Starliner, returned to Earth without its two-person crew right after midnight Eastern time on Sept. 7, 2024. Its remotely piloted return marked the end of a fraught test flight to the International Space Station which left two astronauts,…

Astronomers have gotten the first-ever detailed views of turbulent activity in a star other than our own sun. A time-lapse video released Wednesday (Sept. 11) shows enormous gas bubbles roiling on a nearby star called R Doradus, a red giant about 300 times bigger than our sun that lies roughly 180 light-years away, in the…

The next Vectis Astronomical Society talk explores the incredible achievements of the post-Moon era. Presented by Neil Phillipson, Mankind’s Next Giant Leap takes place on Friday 27th September 2024 at 7.30pm at Newchurch Pavilion, Watery Lane, Newchurch (nearest postcode: PO36 0LX). This shows how the vast body of work the scientific community has done since…

This artist’s conception of orbital debris around Earth shows just the largest, trackable pieces. If one of these collides with a spacecraft, it could cause serious damage or failure. Credit: NASA It’s no question that we have begun polluting the space around Earth. While governments around the world have participated in cataloging and tracking the…