Astronomy

The USS Enterprise, a 'Star Trek' spaceship, is created from pumpkins as part of a German contest.

Scientists and engineers have been implementing steps to better protect New Orleans, but recent government actions are undermining the work, raising alarm

Scientists treated a person’s type 1 diabetes with genetically modified insulin-producing cells that evaded immune system attacks. This is the first therapy for the condition that does not require immunosuppressant drugs

Bottom trawling is a fishing practice that is notoriously destructive to seafloor ecosystems. Now there’s growing evidence that it might unleash planet-warming carbon

Houseplants become rechargeable night-lights after injection with tiny phosphor particles

The Butterfly Nebula, which is a planetary nebula resulting from the death of a sun-like star, has been caught creating large dust grains that could form planets.

If you're a student or between 18 and 24 years old, you can get nearly 73% off an annual subscription to Peacock and enjoy a huge selection of fantastic documentaries, movies, sports, and entertainment.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket flew for a record 30th time early Thursday morning (Aug. 28), sending 28 Starlink satellites to orbit from Florida.

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In Tenerife, Spain, stands a unique duo: ESA’s Izaña-1 and Izaña-2 laser-ranging stations. Together, they form an optical technology testbed of the European Space Agency that takes the monitoring of space debris and satellites to a new level while maturing new technologies for commercialisation.  

Space debris is a threat to satellites and is rapidly becoming a daily concern for satellite operators. The Space Safety Programme, part of ESA Operations, managed from ESOC in Germany, helps develop new technologies to detect and track debris, and to prevent collisions in orbit in new and innovative ways. 

One of these efforts takes place at the Izaña station in Tenerife. There, ESA and partner companies are testing how to deliver precise orbit data on demand with laser-based technologies. The Izaña-2 station was recently finalised by the German company DiGOS and is now in use.  

To perform space debris laser ranging, Izaña-2 operates as a laser transmitter, emitting high-power laser pulses towards objects in space. Izaña-1 then acts as the receiver of the few photons that are reflected back. The precision of the laser technology enables highly accurate data for precise orbit determination, which in turn is crucial for actionable collision avoidance systems and sustainable space traffic management. 

With the OMLET (Orbital Maintenance via Laser momEntum Transfer) project, ESA combines different development streams and possibilities for automation to support European industry with getting two innovative services market-ready: on-demand ephemeris provision and laser-based collision avoidance services for end users such as satellite operators. 

A future goal is to achieve collision avoidance by laser momentum transfer, where instead of the operational satellite, the piece of debris will be moved out of the way. This involves altering the orbit of a piece of space debris slightly by applying a small force to the object through laser illumination.  

The European Space Agency actively supports European industry in capitalising on the business opportunities that not only safeguard our satellites but also pave the way for the sustainable use of space. 

A new study led by the Institute of Space Sciences (ICE-CSIC) in Barcelona presents a new method and protocol for detecting supernovae within days. Their findings are crucial to astronomers hoping to learn more about these powerful events and the life cycles of stars.

Scientists thought they had Jupiter figured out until NASA's Juno spacecraft peered inside our Solar System’s largest planet and discovered something completely unexpected. Jupiter doesn't have the solid, well defined core that researchers had imagined, instead, Jupiter's core is mysteriously fuzzy and blurred, defying everything we thought we knew about how giant planets form. Now, powerful computer simulations are overturning the leading theory about how this strange structure came to be, suggesting that Jupiter's secrets run deeper than anyone realised.

Asteroids floating through our Solar System are debris left over from when our planetary neighbourhood formed 4.6 billion years ago. Scientists study these ancient fragments as time capsules that reveal secrets about our Solar System's earliest days. Now, new research has uncovered a surprising connection between two completely different types of asteroids that may actually share the same dramatic origin story.

When NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope launches in October 2026, it won't just be peering into the distant universe to study dark energy and exoplanets. This powerful observatory will also serve as Earth's newest guardian, helping scientists track and understand potentially dangerous asteroids and comets that could threaten our planet.

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Astronomers are amazed to have discovered a baby exoplanet gobbling up matter around an infant star like a planetary Pac-Man.

Academy Award-winning "Star Wars" legend Roger Christian shares how he recreated the vibe of the original 'Alien' film in Hulu's new series 'Alien: Earth.'

This new “connectome” could bring researchers one step closer to understanding how nerves connect to organs throughout the body

A fossil discovered in Patagonia shows a 3.5-metre-long reptile from the late Cretaceous with large, serrated teeth capable of slicing through muscle