Feed aggregator

The bright variable star V 372 Orionis takes center stage in this image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, which has also captured a smaller companion star in the upper left of this image. Both stars lie in the Orion Nebula, a colossal region of star formation roughly 1450 light years from Earth.

ESA/Hubble & NASA, J. Bally, M. Robberto

NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope captured a bright variable star, V 372 Orionis, and its companion in this festive image in this image released on Jan. 27, 2023. The pair lie in the Orion Nebula, a colossal region of star formation roughly 1,450 light-years from Earth.

V 372 Orionis is a particular type of variable star known as an Orion Variable. These young stars experience some tempestuous moods and growing pains, which are visible to astronomers as irregular variations in luminosity. Orion Variables are often associated with diffuse nebulae, and V 372 Orionis is no exception; the patchy gas and dust of the Orion Nebula pervade this scene.

Text credit: European Space Agency (ESA)

Image credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, J. Bally, M. Robberto

We've rounded up the best Amazon Prime Day drone deals as the retailer's annual sales event kicks off on July 8 and runs through to July 11.

The Sony A7 III is $1380 from Walmart on this anti-Prime deal and is a huge $118 cheaper than Amazon!

Canadian company NordSpace hopes to be the first in the country's history to launch an orbital rocket from Canadian soil. They've got the support of ProtoSpace, a specialized aerospace manufacturing provider hoping to support Canada's budding space industry.

Why is there a spiral around the North Pole of Mars?

Face-on spiral galaxy NGC 6946 and open star cluster NGC 6939 share

If you know where to look, you can see a thermonuclear explosion from a white dwarf star.

Does the Milky Way always rise between these two rocks?

What do you see when you look into this sky?

It came from outer space.

Curiosity Navigation

• Curiosity Home
• Science
• News and Features
• Multimedia
• Mars Missions
• Mars Home

Navcam view of the ~3 ft high ridge that marks the eastern side of Volcán Peña Blanca.  The ridge is currently about 35 ft away from the rover, and the team used images like this during today’s planning to decide the exact location for Curiosity’s approach. NASA/JPL-Caltech

Written by Abigail Fraeman, Deputy Project Scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Earth planning date: Thursday, July 3, 2025

The team was delighted this morning to learn that Wednesday’s drive had completed flawlessly, placing us in a stable position facing a ~3 foot high ridge located ~35 feet away.  This ridge is the eastern edge of a feature the team has informally named “Volcán Peña Blanca.” This feature certainly looked intriguing in orbital images, but once we saw Curiosity’s pictures of it from the ground, we decided it was cool enough to spend the time to investigate it closer.  The images from the ground show a lot more detail than is visible in orbit, including clear sedimentary structures exposed along the ridge face which could provide important clues about how the rocks in the boxwork-bearing terrain were initially deposited – dunes? Rivers? Lakes? The team picked their favorite spot to approach the ridge and take a closer look during Wednesday’s planning, so Curiosity made a sharp right turn to take us in that direction.  Using today’s images, we refined our plan for the exact location to approach and planned a drive to take us there, setting us up for contact science on Monday.

We had the opportunity to plan four sols today, to cover the U.S. 4th of July holiday weekend, so there was lots of time for activities besides the drive.  Curiosity is currently sitting right in front of some light toned rocks, including one we gave the evocative name “Huellas de Dinosaurios.” It’s extremely unlikely we’ll see dinosaur footprints in the rock, but we will get the chance to investigate it with APXS, MAHLI, and ChemCam.  We also have a pair of ChemCam only targets on a more typical bedrock target named “Amboro” and some pebbles named “Tunari.”  Mastcam will take a high resolution of mosaic covering Volcán Peña Blanca, some nearby rocks named “Laguna Verde,” a small light colored rock named “Suruto,” and various patterns in the ground. Two ChemCam RMI mosaics of features in the distant Mishe Mokwa face and environment monitoring activities round out the plan.

For more Curiosity blog posts, visit MSL Mission Updates

Learn more about Curiosity’s science instruments

Explore More

2 min read Curiosity Blog, Sol 4588: Ridges and troughs

Article


2 hours ago

2 min read Curiosity Blog, Sols 4586-4587: Straight Drive, Strategic Science

Article


6 days ago

3 min read An Update From the 2025 Mars 2020 Science Team Meeting

Article


6 days ago

Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA

Mars

Mars Resources

Explore this page for a curated collection of Mars resources.

Rover Basics

Each robotic explorer sent to the Red Planet has its own unique capabilities driven by science. Many attributes of a…

Mars Exploration: Science Goals

The key to understanding the past, present or future potential for life on Mars can be found in NASA’s four…

Curiosity Navigation

• Curiosity Home
• Science
• News and Features
• Multimedia
• Mars Missions
• Mars Home

Navcam view of the ~3 ft high ridge that marks the eastern side of Volcán Peña Blanca.  The ridge is currently about 35 ft away from the rover, and the team used images like this during today’s planning to decide the exact location for Curiosity’s approach. NASA/JPL-Caltech

Written by Abigail Fraeman, Deputy Project Scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Earth planning date: Thursday, July 3, 2025

The team was delighted this morning to learn that Wednesday’s drive had completed flawlessly, placing us in a stable position facing a ~3 foot high ridge located ~35 feet away.  This ridge is the eastern edge of a feature the team has informally named “Volcán Peña Blanca.” This feature certainly looked intriguing in orbital images, but once we saw Curiosity’s pictures of it from the ground, we decided it was cool enough to spend the time to investigate it closer.  The images from the ground show a lot more detail than is visible in orbit, including clear sedimentary structures exposed along the ridge face which could provide important clues about how the rocks in the boxwork-bearing terrain were initially deposited – dunes? Rivers? Lakes? The team picked their favorite spot to approach the ridge and take a closer look during Wednesday’s planning, so Curiosity made a sharp right turn to take us in that direction.  Using today’s images, we refined our plan for the exact location to approach and planned a drive to take us there, setting us up for contact science on Monday.

We had the opportunity to plan four sols today, to cover the U.S. 4th of July holiday weekend, so there was lots of time for activities besides the drive.  Curiosity is currently sitting right in front of some light toned rocks, including one we gave the evocative name “Huellas de Dinosaurios.” It’s extremely unlikely we’ll see dinosaur footprints in the rock, but we will get the chance to investigate it with APXS, MAHLI, and ChemCam.  We also have a pair of ChemCam only targets on a more typical bedrock target named “Amboro” and some pebbles named “Tunari.”  Mastcam will take a high resolution of mosaic covering Volcán Peña Blanca, some nearby rocks named “Laguna Verde,” a small light colored rock named “Suruto,” and various patterns in the ground. Two ChemCam RMI mosaics of features in the distant Mishe Mokwa face and environment monitoring activities round out the plan.

For more Curiosity blog posts, visit MSL Mission Updates

Learn more about Curiosity’s science instruments

Explore More

2 min read Curiosity Blog, Sol 4588: Ridges and troughs

Article


2 hours ago

2 min read Curiosity Blog, Sols 4586-4587: Straight Drive, Strategic Science

Article


6 days ago

3 min read An Update From the 2025 Mars 2020 Science Team Meeting

Article


6 days ago

Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA

Mars

Mars Resources

Explore this page for a curated collection of Mars resources.

Rover Basics

Each robotic explorer sent to the Red Planet has its own unique capabilities driven by science. Many attributes of a…

Mars Exploration: Science Goals

The key to understanding the past, present or future potential for life on Mars can be found in NASA’s four…

Curiosity Navigation

• Curiosity Home
• Science
• News and Features
• Multimedia
• Mars Missions
• Mars Home

NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity acquired this image using its Left Navigation Camera onboard NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity on Sol 4,587 (2025-07-02 07:33:39 UTC). NASA/JPL-Caltech

Written by Lucy Thompson, APXS Collaborator and Senior Research Scientist at the University of New Brunswick, Canada

Earth planning date: Wednesday, July 2, 2025

As we traverse the boxwork terrain, we are encountering a series of more resistant ridges/bedrock patches, and areas that are more rubbly and tend to form lower relief polygonal or trough-like features. We came into planning this morning in one of the trough-like features after another successful drive. The science team is interested in determining why we see these different geomorphological and erosional expressions. Is the rock that comprises the more resistant ridges and patches a different composition to the rock in the troughs and low relief areas? How do the rocks vary texturally? Might the resistant bedrock be an indicator of what we will encounter when we reach the large boxworks that we are driving towards?

We managed to find a large enough area of rock to safely brush (target – “Guapay”), after which we will place APXS and MAHLI to determine the composition and texture. ChemCam will also analyze a different rock target, “Taltal” for chemistry and texture, and we will also acquire an accompanying Mastcam documentation image. The resistant ridge that we are planning to drive towards (“Volcan Pena Blanca”) and eventually investigate will be captured in a Mastcam mosaic. ChemCam will utilize their long-distance imaging capabilities to image the “Mishe Mokwa” butte off to the southeast of our current location, which likely contains bedrock layers that we will eventually pass through as we continue our climb up Mount Sharp.

After a planned drive, taking us closer to the “Volcan Pena Blanca” ridge, MARDI will image the new terrain beneath the wheels, before we execute some atmospheric observations. Mastcam will make a tau observation to monitor dust in the atmosphere and Navcam will acquire a zenith movie. Standard DAN, RAD and REMS activities round out the plan.

For more Curiosity blog posts, visit MSL Mission Updates

Learn more about Curiosity’s science instruments

Explore More

2 min read Curiosity Blog, Sols 4589 – 4592: Setting up to explore Volcán Peña Blanca

Article


44 minutes ago

2 min read Curiosity Blog, Sols 4586-4587: Straight Drive, Strategic Science

Article


6 days ago

3 min read An Update From the 2025 Mars 2020 Science Team Meeting

Article


6 days ago

Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA

Mars

Mars Resources

Explore this page for a curated collection of Mars resources.

Rover Basics

Each robotic explorer sent to the Red Planet has its own unique capabilities driven by science. Many attributes of a…

Mars Exploration: Science Goals

The key to understanding the past, present or future potential for life on Mars can be found in NASA’s four…

Curiosity Navigation

• Curiosity Home
• Science
• News and Features
• Multimedia
• Mars Missions
• Mars Home

NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity acquired this image using its Left Navigation Camera onboard NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity on Sol 4,587 (2025-07-02 07:33:39 UTC). NASA/JPL-Caltech

Written by Lucy Thompson, APXS Collaborator and Senior Research Scientist at the University of New Brunswick, Canada

Earth planning date: Wednesday, July 2, 2025

As we traverse the boxwork terrain, we are encountering a series of more resistant ridges/bedrock patches, and areas that are more rubbly and tend to form lower relief polygonal or trough-like features. We came into planning this morning in one of the trough-like features after another successful drive. The science team is interested in determining why we see these different geomorphological and erosional expressions. Is the rock that comprises the more resistant ridges and patches a different composition to the rock in the troughs and low relief areas? How do the rocks vary texturally? Might the resistant bedrock be an indicator of what we will encounter when we reach the large boxworks that we are driving towards?

We managed to find a large enough area of rock to safely brush (target – “Guapay”), after which we will place APXS and MAHLI to determine the composition and texture. ChemCam will also analyze a different rock target, “Taltal” for chemistry and texture, and we will also acquire an accompanying Mastcam documentation image. The resistant ridge that we are planning to drive towards (“Volcan Pena Blanca”) and eventually investigate will be captured in a Mastcam mosaic. ChemCam will utilize their long-distance imaging capabilities to image the “Mishe Mokwa” butte off to the southeast of our current location, which likely contains bedrock layers that we will eventually pass through as we continue our climb up Mount Sharp.

After a planned drive, taking us closer to the “Volcan Pena Blanca” ridge, MARDI will image the new terrain beneath the wheels, before we execute some atmospheric observations. Mastcam will make a tau observation to monitor dust in the atmosphere and Navcam will acquire a zenith movie. Standard DAN, RAD and REMS activities round out the plan.

For more Curiosity blog posts, visit MSL Mission Updates

Learn more about Curiosity’s science instruments

Explore More

2 min read Curiosity Blog, Sols 4589 – 4592: Setting up to explore Volcán Peña Blanca

Article


44 minutes ago

2 min read Curiosity Blog, Sols 4586-4587: Straight Drive, Strategic Science

Article


6 days ago

3 min read An Update From the 2025 Mars 2020 Science Team Meeting

Article


6 days ago

Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA

Mars

Mars Resources

Explore this page for a curated collection of Mars resources.

Rover Basics

Each robotic explorer sent to the Red Planet has its own unique capabilities driven by science. Many attributes of a…

Mars Exploration: Science Goals

The key to understanding the past, present or future potential for life on Mars can be found in NASA’s four…

The long-awaited Vera Rubin Observatory has delivered some preliminary observations of the globular cluster 47 Tucanae field. 47 Tuc is the Milky Way's second-brightest globular cluster, second to Omega Centauri. The Rubin Observatory's data demonstrates the telescope's promising scientific potential.

The Milky Way and other similar galaxies have two distinct disk sections. One is the thin disk section, and it contains mostly younger stars with higher metallicity. The second is the thick disk, and it contains older stars with lower metallicity. The effort to study these disks in more galaxies and in greater detail has been stymied. But now we have the JWST, and researchers used it to examine more than 100 distant, edge-on galaxies.

Earth life is carbon-based, and without carbon, there would be no life. New research shows how Earth got its carbon from impactors, including a boost from Theia, the impactor that created the Moon. Jupiter also pitched in to help.

The search for dark matter requires all of the best models, theories, and ideas we can throw at it. A new paper from Julia Monika Koulen, Stefano Profumo, and Nolan Smyth from the University of California at Santa Cruz (UCSC) tackles the implications of the sizes and abundance of one of the more interesting dark matter candidates - primordial black holes (PBHs).