All About Space

SCAN HERE TO GET OUR DAILY NEWSLETTER While Jupiter graces the cover this issue, it also features quite prevalently in our planetary guide. Dazzling at magnitude -2.1 in the evening sky, the gas giant makes for easy pickings, whether you have a tele

A new view from the European Southern Observatory’s (ESO) Very Large Telescope (VLT) captures the abundant star-forming region at the centre of the Milky Way. The VLT, located in Chile’s Atacama Desert, snapped an infrared image of a region called Sa

A new visualisation from the European Space Agency (ESA) shows activity ramping up on the Sun’s surface as it approaches solar maximum this year. Every 11 years or so, the Sun experiences a peak in activity known as solar maximum due to its strong an

The Hubble Space Telescope has stepped on the tails of 12 interacting galaxies and found them to be studded with the shining diamonds of young star clusters – scientists compare the phenomena to cosmic strings of pearls. When spiral galaxies interact

NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has zoomed in on one side of a cosmic tug of war that will rage between two galaxies for tens of millions of years. Frustratingly, this is one competition in which a clear winner may never emerge, as the two galaxies cou

Astronomers have discovered two tiny moons orbiting Neptune and one circling Uranus, bringing the number of their known moons A up to 16 and 28 respectively. Uranus’ new moon, the first detected around the ice giant in over two decades and possibly t

Stars intruding into the Sun’s cosmic backyard could have shifted Earth’s orbit in the distant past, triggering major climate events in our planet’s history. The gravitational influence of these intruder stars has also impacted the orbits of other pl

A newly discovered quasar is a real record-breaker. Not only is it the brightest quasar ever seen, it’s also the brightest astronomical object ever seen. And it’s also powered by the hungriest and fastest growing black hole ever observed – one that c

Astronauts can now get a bit of simulated fresh air while working out in space. A new virtual-reality (VR) headset paired with a new exercise bike lets International Space Station (ISS) astronauts experience their favourite cycling routes on Earth. D

Two dwarf planets within our Solar System, Eris and Makemake, might exhibit enough geothermal activity to maintain oceans of liquid water within, according to modelling that describes new observations made with the James Webb Space Telescope. Found d

Scientists have determined a way to measure gravity on microscopic levels, perhaps bringing them closer to forming a theory of ‘quantum gravity’ and solving some major cosmic mysteries. Quantum physics offers scientists the best description of the un

As the fifth planet from the Sun, Jupiter is the innermost and largest of four giant worlds that dominate the outer Solar System. With a diameter of 144,000 kilometres (89,477 miles) across the equator, it’s more than 11 times wider than Earth – alth

Droids could soon be placed on satellites in geostationary orbit around Earth to make the job of repairing and maintaining them easier and cheaper. Organisations like the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) are looking at the possibilit

Parazynski is a former NASA astronaut and physician. He is a veteran of five Space Shuttle flights, seven spacewalks and is the only person to have both flown in space and summited Mount Everest, the highest mountain on Earth. In total he has clocked

Sweet new research suggests that newly forming planets may have a flattened shape similar to that of a popular British candy. A team of researchers from the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) used computer simulations to model the formation of

While examining 14 years of data from NASA’s Fermi Space Telescope, a team of researchers discovered that during the last solar maximum in 2013 and 2014, the polar regions of the Sun blasted out high-energy gamma-ray radiation that was as much as ten

While space-based telescopes like the James Webb Space Telescope and the Hubble Space Telescope often dominate W the headlines, humanity’s understanding of the Solar System, our galaxy and the wider universe have been massively influenced by telescop

Alittle moonlet too small to be seen from Earth could be shaping the thin rings around the distant minor planet Chariklo. Chariklo A is a centaur – a breed of small body that orbits the Sun on a path sandwiched somewhere between Jupiter and Neptune.

The rocks making up the Geminid meteor shower may have been born through a chaotic event 18,000 years ago, making the meteoroids about ten times older than previously estimated. The Geminid shower is named after the constellation of Gemini – the pos

Titan’s underground ocean may lack the organic chemistry necessary for life, according to new astrobiological T research. Titan is Saturn’s largest moon, and the second-largest moon in the entire Solar System. It’s famous for being shrouded in a smog

The physicist Enrico Fermi died 70 years ago, but he certainly left a strong legacy. As well as being the creator of the world’s first nuclear reactor, the Italian Nobel laureate also pointed out an apparent contradiction: the fact that life is pred

Researchers are mainly looking for signs of artificial radio emissions that can be distinguished from natural radio waves. This would suggest an intelligent species has developed radio technology. Just as on Earth, an intelligent civilisation may wel

Why has it proven so difficult to find life in the universe? Finding potentially habitable Earth twins is difficult. This is because our current detection methods require very tiny signals to be detected, either via transits where a planet passes in

Water molecules have been detected on the surface of an asteroid for the first time, revealing new clues about the distribution of water in our Solar System. Scientists studied four silicate-rich asteroids using data gathered by the now-retired Stra

The darkness of our night sky tells us more about the size, age and nature of the universe than we may expect. We are familiar with the twinkling of nearby stars in the night sky, but why does the night sky not glow with the colour and brightness of

It’s not all hearts and flowers for some ‘kissing stars’ – stars that exist in close binaries that have been locked in a waltz that has left one a shrunken husk, and the other a swollen orb. Astronomers have zoomed in on a group of such ‘odd couple’

Arich, diverse and rewarding selection of celestial delights await those who take the time to get to know the night A skies. Last issue we saw how you can take your first steps in exploring the amazing variety of objects and phenomena visible in the

In this issue... The stars of spring swing into view, offering new targets for sky-watchers Where you can find the planets this month and the phases of the Moon The king of the Solar System will be the focus of many astronomers this spring This mon

A t the start of our observing period Jupiter will be an ‘evening star’, dropping towards the west as darkness falls but still strikingly bright to the naked eye. You’ll find it beneath and a little to the right of the much-loved Pleiades star cluste

T his month we turn our attention to look at a notable visual partnership – one that’s easily viewed through virtually any optical equipment. It involves two very striking craters and a majestic mountain range that runs from north to south across sev

Cost: £229 / $349.95 From: Celestron Type: Newtonian reflector Aperture: 5.11” Focal length: 25.6” ? BEGINNERS £ MEDIUM BUDGETS PLANETARY VIEWING BRIGHT DEEP-SKY OBJECTS Choosing a telescope as a beginner is a process often fraught with pitfalls. The

Born in the Punjab province of India in 1910, Chandrasekhar’s stellar career in physics got off to an early start. His B education took him through one of the oldest secondary schools in southern India, the Hindu High School in Chennai, before he mov

Cost: £329 / $520 From: Sky-Watcher 1 Sky-Watcher’s EQ5 mount’s modest size, low cost and array of features have placed it among the most popular small telescope mounts ever produced. It’s one of the most popular entry-level equatorial mounts. The EQ