By Dr. Sara Langston and Kayla Taylor Space debris around the Earth. Image: ESA Outer space presents myriad concepts for creating inspiration and opportunity as well as challenges. With over 8,000 satellites currently in Earth orbit, reliance on satellite services for communications, imaging, and navigation has become ubiquitous to enhancing the quality of life on…

Members of a prestigious Astronomy Society enjoy a suite of exclusive perks that remain hidden to non-members. This society is not just about observing the night sky; it’s a thriving community where celestial enthusiasts gather. Here’s an enlightening summary of what membership offers, from educational newsletters to collaborative projects. Each week, the society dispatches newsletters…

The experimental campaign on the neutron generation at Apollon: The inside of the target chamber showing the off-axis parabola and some diagnostics. (Courtesy: Julien Fuchs) An astrophysical process that creates elements heavier than iron may be even more challenging to reproduce in the laboratory than was previously believed – but not impossible. This is the…

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The Milky Way is our home galaxy, but how well do we actually know it? As part of a NASA-funded project, a team led by Villanova University researchers has obtained a never-before-seen view of the central engine at the heart of our galaxy. The new map of this central region of the Milky Way, which…

Photo: pixabay For most of our history, astronomy has been a strictly spectator sport. We observed and studied the light and other radiation that objects in the cosmos happened to be sending in our direction. These days, we are exploring the Solar System using spacecraft to fly-by, orbit or even land on other planets and…

The many large storms and small white clouds seen in the new Hubble images, taken on January 5 and 6, 2024, are evidence for a lot of activity going on in Jupiter’s atmosphere right now. Jupiter is revisited by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope in these images, taken on January 5-6, 2024, capturing both sides…

Using the James Webb Space Telescope, astronomers have identified several of the icy building blocks of life in the gas and dust swirling around two infant stars, or “protostars.” The molecules spotted range from relatively simple molecules like methane to complex compounds like acetic acid and ethanol. Complex organic molecules (COMs) in solid, icy form had…