WELCOME ISSUE 131

Leslie Kean If you’ve ever wanted to know

Martian stretch marks

© ESA Scratches and grooves on the Martian

Hubble’s grand design

© ESA/Hubble & NASA A newly released image

First image of our galaxy’s black hole

© ESO The Event Horizon Telescope has captured

Humanity will go to Mars ‘in this decade’, SpaceX president predicts

A crewed Mars mission could happen sooner than

Black hole might have executed a magnetic ‘flip’

Artist’s depiction of a supermassive black hole before

Start-up sells 1,000 tickets for balloon trips near the edge of space

The World View space capsule ascending into Earth’s

Asteroid treasure trove found in old Hubble data

In a new study, astronomers and amateur scientists

THE UNIVERSE EXPLAINED

Meet the people behind the experiments searching for answers to how our universe began

EUROPA DRILL

What lies under the Jovian moon’s ice? A mission is needed to probe its secrets

“I really didn’t know what to expect”

Ferguson reveals his regret at the retirement of NASA’s iconic Space Shuttle, but tells us how excited he was to be working on the next generation of spacecraft at Boeing

WATER ON MARS

China’s rover suggests the liquid may have been on Mars much more recently than scientists thought

THE LARGE HADRON COLLIDER COULD SOLVE

What problems could the world’s largest and most powerful particle accelerator unlock?

EARLIEST AURORA DOCUMENTED IN ANCIENT CHINESE TEXT

It’s about 300 years older than the previous record holder

UNLOCKING THE SECRETS OF THE ANTIKYTHERA MECHANISM

Scientists are closer to cracking a complex 2,000-year-old astronomical calculator after decades of painstaking work

HUBBLE SPOTS STAR THAT SURVIVED A VIOLENT EXPLOSION

NASA’s most iconic space telescope has uncovered an object that survived the violent death of its companion

INSIDE AREA 51

The region is synonymous with tales of UFOs, government cover-ups and testing alien technology

CHINA IS ON THE HUNT FOR EARTH 2.0 WITH PROPOSED SPACE TELESCOPE

If approved, the mission will launch in 2026

JUPITER

The largest planet has a lot to tell us, and Juno is on the case

HOW ARE AURORAE FORMED ON OTHER PLANETS?

The northern and southern lights occur when the solar wind affects our atmosphere, but this can happen on other worlds too

How hot does it get between galaxies in a cluster?

Many galaxies in the universe live alongside others,

Is our galaxy orbiting around an object in the universe?

Yes, the Milky Way does orbit something, and

OBSERVER’S GUIDE TO THE PLANETS

Your guide to getting the best views of the Solar System

WHAT’S IN THE SKY?

What to look out for during this observing period

THIS MONTH’S PLANETS

If you’re a planetary observer, you’re in for a treat from June through to July

TAURUS-LITTROW VALLEY

Visit the historic landing site of the final Apollo mission

NAKED EYE AND BINOCULAR TARGETS

The summer Milky Way offers a plethora of targets

SUMMER’S DAZZLING DEEP-SKY TREATS

On light summer nights, glittering star clusters, a dead star and a beautiful double star await

THE NORTHERN HEMISPHERE

A selection of targets for whatever observing kit you have in your arsenal

ASTROSHOTS OF THE MONTH

Rho Ophiuchi BASUDEB CHAKRABARTI Location: Oria, Spain Telescope:

LEGO NASA SPACE SHUTTLE DISCOVERY

A big kit with big fun, this set is an enjoyable build that’s truly out of this world

FATHER’S DAY GIFT GUIDE

The latest books, apps, software, tech and accessories for space and astronomy fans alike

JOHANNES KEPLER

The astronomer who redefined our understanding of the Solar System