In a major step to safeguard Earth from potential catastrophe, Nasa has released its strategy to counter “planet killer” asteroids, drawing inspiration from the extinction event that wiped out the dinosaurs 66 million years ago.The plan outlined in Nasa’s National Preparedness Strategy and Action Plan for Near-Earth Objects (NEOs) and Hazards, details a multi-pronged approach … Read more
An Eiffel Tower sized asteroid hurtling towards the Earth? Isn’t it terrifying? The asteroid 2024 ON, sparked a lot of media attention with being potentially hazardous. But on the contrary, the astronomers have also stated that the asteroid posed no danger and passed the Earth safely despite the alarming headlines.Since the discovery in July 2024, … Read more
If you have clear skies this week, be sure to look up: It’s time for one of the best meteor showers of the year: the Perseids. While you can see a meteor on any given night — with patience and dark skies — strong meteor showers provide a rare chance to see dozens an hour. Almost … Read more
The moon may be our constant companion, but there’s still a lot we have yet to understand about it. For example, it was only during the Apollo missions in the 1960s and ’70s that we discovered it has an atmosphere, tenuous as it is. “People do not even know that the moon has an atmosphere,” said Nicole … Read more
Nasa‘s DART spacecraft captured detailed images of the asteroid Dimorphos and its companion Didymos moments before the spacecraft deliberately crashed, to gain new insights into the target asteroids, Didymos and its smaller companion, Dimorphos.Dimorphos, the smaller companion asteroid, has a surface covered with rocks of various sizes, although Dimorphos lacks significant cratering, it features several … Read more
The solar system is teeming with an astonishingly vast number of asteroids. Scientists have already identified at least 1.4 million of these celestial bodies, with the likelihood of many more remaining undiscovered. The majority of the known asteroids orbit within the main asteroid belt situated between Mars and Jupiter. However, a significant portion of these … Read more
BENGALURU: Isro chairman S Somanath while stressing that no one country can individually develop a planetary protection system against asteroids, on Wednesday said India also wishes to, and is qualified to be, part of larger global missions that study asteroids.Speaking at Isro’s first workshop on planetary defence for students at its headquarters in Bengaluru, he … Read more
The citizen science program Active Asteroids is looking for volunteers from the public to sift through astronomical photographs of asteroids to look for signs of tails which may indicate the presence of water. Active asteroids are rare small bodies in our solar system with an asteroid-like orbit and comet-like tail. Spotting them is a bit … Read more
Scientists surround the fine guidance sensor for the James Webb Space Telescope at the David Florida Laboratory in 2009. (Canadian Space Agency) The Canadian Space Agency has confirmed a west Ottawa spacecraft laboratory it calls “Canada’s national facility for spacecraft assembly [and] integration” is closing at the end of March 2025. The David Florida Laboratory officially … Read more
This year, outer space is going to be a busy place. We’ve got the launch of the Europa Clipper, which will orbit one of Jupiter’s enigmatic moons and investigate whether it could harbour conditions suitable for life; we could cheer on the first Canadian to orbit the moon; and we’re getting a total solar eclipse that … Read more
