Astronomy

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Two meteorological missions – Meteosat Third Generation Sounder-1 (MTG-S1) and the Copernicus Sentinel-4 mission – have launched on board a SpaceX Falcon 9 from Cape Canaveral in Florida, US.

Both are world-class Earth observation missions developed with European partners to address scientific and societal challenges.  

The MTG-S1 satellite will generate a completely new type of data product, especially suited to nowcasting severe weather events, with three-dimensional views of the atmosphere. It is the second in the MTG constellation to be prepared for orbit and is equipped with the first European operational Infrared Sounder instrument.

Copernicus Sentinel-4 will be the first mission to monitor European air quality from geostationary orbit, providing hourly information that will transform how we predict air pollution across Europe, using its ultraviolet, visible, near-infrared light (UVN) spectrometer.

The second of the Meteosat Third Generation (MTG) satellites and the first instrument for the Copernicus Sentinel-4 mission lifted off at 23:04 CEST on Tuesday, 1 July. The satellite is now on its way to monitor Earth’s atmosphere from an altitude of 36 000 km. From this geostationary orbit, the missions can provide game-changing data for forecasting severe storms and air pollution over Europe.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched the MTG-S1 weather satellite for EUMETSAT today (July 1), then came back down to Earth for a landing on a ship at sea.

It is possible to make a material emit more radiation than it absorbs, violating the laws of physics in a way that could make energy-harvesting devices more efficient

It is possible to make a material emit more radiation than it absorbs, violating the laws of physics in a way that could make energy-harvesting devices more efficient

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Operators lost contact with the MethaneSAT satellite on 20 June, a significant blow to efforts to track – and stop – methane emissions

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The arrow of time can teach us more about how the universe began – and how it will end, says quantum columnist Karmela Padavic-Callaghan

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The Australian company Gilmour Space has delayed the launch of its Eris-1 rocket yet again, pushing back indefinitely from the previously planned July 2 date.

You may think you know static electricity, but its true nature has long eluded scientists. We’ve now made a huge leap towards finally figuring it out

You may think you know static electricity, but its true nature has long eluded scientists. We’ve now made a huge leap towards finally figuring it out

Links to the U.S.’s most comprehensive climate reports—the National Climate Assessments—disappeared from the Internet on Monday, along with the official government website that houses them

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People with Chiari malformations have a skull shape similar to Neanderthals, suggesting that the condition may be caused by DNA inherited from archaic humans