All About Space

ISSUE 157 Did you know that stars have a habit of oscillating? These balls of hot gas vibrate in such a way that they’re releasing waves trapped in their interiors, a phenomenon that gives way to something commonly referred to as starquakes. While th

A massive impact crater dominates a new view from the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO). The result of an ancient asteroid impact, the crater is located in Mars’ Utopia Planitia. That’s the largest known impact basin in the entire Solar System, with a

The US Department of Defense is developing a plan to use the ever-growing American commercial space industry for national security purposes. The plan, known as the Commercial Augmentation Space Reserve, or CASR, would allow the US Space Force to use

You may not know this, but Earth’s magnetic field has a tail. As the Sun’s solar wind hits the planet, it leaves behind a sort of long shadow that trails out in our planet’s wake. Scientists call this magnetic tail the magnetotail. Typically, the mag

India is preparing to launch a family of seemingly science-fiction robots to Mars, perhaps as soon as late 2024. The Mars Orbiter Mission 2 (MOM 2) – or Mangalyaan 2, which is Hindi for ‘Mars craft’ – is set to include a rover and a helicopter, just

There might be total darkness in the depths of the sea, but the Sun still impacts the abyss. During this month’s solar storms – which resulted in aurorae lighting up half of the planet on 10 May – Ocean Networks Canada’s (ONC) deep-sea observatories

The outer halo of the Milky Way is filled with magnetic fields that take the shape of vast doughnuts with diameters ranging from 12,000 to 100,000 light years, with the heart of our galaxy at their centre. These doughnut or ‘toroid’ shaped magnetic f

A scientist has learned more about the violent processes that rip atmospheres away from planets, finding that squashing and squeezing by a parent star can contribute to this process. The research, conducted by Guo Jianheng from the Yunnan Observatori

Ideal for those who are just breaking into the hobby of astronomy or who are looking to add to their existing kit for a fuss-free observing experience, the Olivon PC-3 10x56 binocular offers splendid views of the universe and wildlife. Featuring BaK-

The Sun may appear to be a stable and monolithic body sitting at the heart of the Solar System, but that isn’t the case. Our star is rocking with ‘starquakes’ that have become an area of intense study for solar physicists. Beneath the Sun’s surface i

Campante says that though the frequencies of the starquakes the Sun experiences aren’t audible to humans, this could be changed if we sped up the three millihertz signal by about 100,000 times. Then we could create a 300 hertz signal – or 300 oscilla

Surface gravity waves are created at the surface and move across the star like waves on the ocean. Pressure waves are most similar to sound waves, generated by local pressure changes inside the star. Gravity waves are generated where gravity countera

White dwarfs represent the final stage in the lives of stars with Sun-like masses, but stars with around eight times the mass of our star and greater end their lives as neutron stars. Neutron stars are perhaps the most extreme stellar bodies in the u

The smallest starquake recorded to date was detected in March 2024 and originated from Epsilon Indi, an orange dwarf star about 71 per cent the width of the Sun. “This makes Epsilon Indi at once the smallest and coolest dwarf star observed to date wi

The prospect of sending probes on an interstellar mission is often accompanied by thoughts of high costs, decades of planning and large spacecraft. That’s not necessarily the case, though, according to the Institute for Interstellar Studies (i4is), w

Your Space Oddity cover of David Bowie’s song has over 54 million views on YouTube. Tell me a little bit about how you got into that… That’s 54 million just on YouTube. It’s got hundreds of millions of views. I’ve been a musician my whole life. I wro

In the 109 years since it was first formulated, general relativity has remained our finest description of gravity on a galactic scale. And time and again, experiments have confirmed its accuracy. “This model of gravity has been essential for everythi

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The Curiosity rover has detected intriguing chemical evidence in the form of anomalous amounts of manganese oxide, pointing to Mars having had not only a habitable environment billions of years ago, but also one possibly inhabited by microbes. NASA’s

Astronauts train for many years for the chance to go to space, with no guarantee of actually flying, so being given a place on a mission to live on the International Space Station (ISS) for a few months is a dream come true. But some astronauts get t

Recent reports of the James Webb Space Telescope detecting signs of life on a distant planet outside the Solar System are somewhat premature. That’s the conclusion of research conducted by scientists from the University of California, Riverside (UCR)

It’s no secret that Earth is in trouble, and it’s largely our fault. Since the Industrial Revolution we have been pumping so much carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere that our planet is rapidly warming. The race is on to keep

Solar energy is made by fusing hydrogen into helium in the core. Solar energy takes just three months to reach the top of this layer. Sunlight takes an average of 170,000 years to make it to the top of this layer. This layer – up to 100,000 kilometre

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Our universe encompasses everything around us. Its laws of physics control every possible interaction, from the gravitational attraction that keeps planets in orbit around the Sun to the complex chemistry that gives rise to life. But for astronomers

Using NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, scientists have discovered a new cosmic ‘exhaust vent’ funnelling hot gas away from Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*), the supermassive black hole that sits at the very heart of our Milky Way. The newly discovered vent i

The present-day universe, with complex structures separated by large gaps in space but a broadly uniform structure on the very largest scales. The speed of light means we see distant parts of space as they were long ago, turning the universe into a c

One way of reaching the CPT symmetric anti-universe would require travelling backwards in time, past the Big Bang and surviving in a realm of antimatter without being instantly annihilated. Powerful magnetic fields can be used to keep matter and anti

In just under half a decade, a 305-metre (1,000-foot) wide asteroid named after the Egyptian god of chaos and destruction, Apophis, will pass within 48,300 kilometres (30,000 miles) of Earth. Scientists don’t intend to allow the rare close passage of

Pluto used to be thought of as the ninth planet in the Solar System, but in 2006 the International Astronomical Union created an official definition for planets and decided Pluto didn’t fit all of the conditions. The upshot was a reclassification of

Planet Nine is said to be about five or six times the mass of Earth. If proven to exist, it would be the fifth-largest planet in the Solar System, dwarfing Pluto and the planets of the inner Solar System but not quite as large as Jupiter, Saturn, Ura

Visible with the naked eye, maria Latin for ‘seas’ - are visible. They are soldified pools of ancient lava. Compared to the near side, the Moon’s far side is incredibly rugged, with next to no flat lunar maria. Lunar highlands have been dated at 4.4

When it comes to star clusters, size and age matter. Globular clusters are much more massive, and they are usually much older. Open clusters have comparatively fewer stars and are comparatively young – in astronomical terms, that is… And no, there is

Rather by default, our planet of the month this issue is Saturn. It’s not particularly well placed for observation, but it is slightly better placed than the other planets. It’s not particularly or unusually bright either, but it is easily visible to

The lunar landscape down towards and around its south pole is wild, craggy and rugged; a raw, bare-rock wilderness of walled plains, huge craters and towering mountains all blasted out by a brutal asteroid bombardment many millennia ago. Down in the

At magnitude +1.25, Deneb is the 19th-brightest star in the sky. A blue-white supergiant more than 100 times wider than the Sun, it’s between 55,000 and 200,000 times more luminous than our own star. It will become the Pole Star around the year 9800.

Summer in mid-northern latitudes gives us short nights that are never truly dark, which can wreak havoc on your viewing plans. However, they are dark enough to see some real celestial wonders. The Milky Way arcs almost from north to south at this tim

The constellations of Lyra, Aquila, Hercules, Sagittarius, Scorpius and Ophiuchus are in easy reach this month. What’s more, these star patterns are packed with night sky objects. Fans of tight-knit globular star clusters should turn their attention

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From an early age it was apparent that Dryden was gifted. By the age of 22 he held a PhD in physics and mathematics and was the director of the Aerodynamics Division at the National Bureau of Standards. His aptitude with mathematics and aerodynamics

Unearth the difference between nebula and nebulae, find out when to shoot the Moon and learn how to capture an Aurora withjam-packed features, in-depth tutorials, and all the essential kit to aid you in taking breathtaking images that are truly out o