Astronomy

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On 12 March 2025 ESA’s Hera spacecraft for planetary defence performs a flyby of Mars. The gravity of the red planet shifts the spacecraft’s trajectory towards the Didymos binary asteroid system, shortening its trip by months and saving substantial fuel.

This is a simulation of that flyby, with closest approach to Martian moon Deimos taking place at 12:07 GMT and Mars occurring at 12:51 GMT. It was made using SPICE (Spacecraft, Planet, Instrument, C-matrix, Events) software. Produced by a team at ESA’s ESAC European Space Astronomy Centre, this SPICE visualisation is used to plan instrument acquisitions during Hera’s flyby.

Hera comes to around 5000 km from the surface of Mars during its flyby. It will also image Deimos, the smaller of Mars’s two moons, from a minimum 1000 km away (while venturing as close as 300 km). Hera will also image Mars’s larger moon Phobos as it begins to move away from Mars. In this sped-up simulation, Deimos is seen 30 seconds in, at 12:07 GMT, while the more distant star-like Phobos becomes visible at two minutes in, at 12:49 GMT.

The spacecraft employs three of its instruments over the course of these close encounters, all located together on the ‘Asteroid Deck’ on top of Hera:

Hera’s Asteroid Framing Camera is formed of two redundant 1020x1020 pixel monochromatic visible light cameras, used for both navigation and science.

The Thermal Infrared Imager, supplied by the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency, JAXA, images at mid-infrared wavelengths to determine surface temperatures.

Hera’s Hyperscout H is a hyperspectral imager, observing in 25 visible and near-infrared spectral bands to prospect surface minerals.

Did you know this mission has its own AI? You can pose questions to our Hera Space Companion!

A dramatic total lunar eclipse will turn the moon blood red for millions across North America overnight on March 13-14. Here are the best times to watch the show unfold.

Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost Mission has successfully touched down on the lunar surface and is now undertaking various experiments. Two of these experiments have been captured on video; the first is the LISTER drill, capable of penetrating the lunar regolith to depths of up to 3 meters. It will provide scientists with data to measure the Moon's cooling rate. Additionally, footage has been obtained of the PlanetVac experiment, which is evaluating regolith sample collection methods under the Moon's vacuum conditions.

Why does this Moon look so unusual?

Scientists are warning of potentially severe environmental impacts after a cargo ship collided with a tanker transporting jet fuel

Scientists are warning of potentially severe environmental impacts after a cargo ship collided with a tanker transporting jet fuel

A 12-passenger “seaglider” that is part boat and part aircraft harnesses cold war-era technology to fly just above the waves using only electric power

A 12-passenger “seaglider” that is part boat and part aircraft harnesses cold war-era technology to fly just above the waves using only electric power

NASA and Boom Supersonic released an incredible photo capturing the shock waves of the supersonic XB-1 aircraft while it traveled in front of the sun during a Feb. 10 test flight.

Microplastics can cut a plant’s ability to photosynthesize by up to 12 percent, new research shows

In a recent paper, Adam Hibberd and Marshall Eubanks explore the feasibility of sending a mission to rendezvous with YR4, the asteroid that may pose a hazard to Earth someday.

The total lunar eclipse on March 13-14 will plunge moon missions into darkness. What will happen to the lunar spacecraft?

NASA will close several offices and reduce its workforce to comply with an anti-DEI executive order from President Trump.

NASA's Dawn spacecraft took this image of Ceres' south polar region on May 17, 2017, from an altitude of about 26,400 miles (42,500 kilometers).

The moshing galaxies of Arp 105 dazzle in the Space Image of the Day Monday (March 10), which comes courtesy of Hubble.

Two very different movies based on a very similar premise, but with wildly different approaches.

Despite having recently officially ended its science operations in January, Gaia, one of the most prolific star explorers ever, is still providing new scientific insights. A recent paper pre-published on arXiv (which has not been peer-reviewed but was submitted to the Astrophysical Journal) took another look at some Gaia data to try to find a unique type of astronomical entity - white dwarf stars that are paired up in a binary with a main sequence one. By applying a machine learning technique called a "self-organizing map," they found 801 new white dwarf-main sequence (WDMS) binaries, increasing the total number ever found by over 20%.

Strange events at the heart of the Milky Way could point toward a new dark suspect that annihilates to influence the chemistry of the cosmos.

If you're looking for a streaming deal, this is a must as you can get a huge discount on Disney Plus, Hulu and ESPN Plus, now 72% off.

When downed trees are attacked by beetles, the wood becomes more flammable, demonstrating another way insects can alter the risk of wildfires