WHAT’S IN THE SKY?

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ISSUE 158 © Adobe Stock SCAN HERE TO

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© ESA 29 May 2024 Webb finds a

An interstellar cloud may have caused an ice age on Earth

Scientists believe Earth may have briefly lost protection

Could nearby stars have habitable exoplanets? Chandra hopes to find out

The search for life beyond Earth dutifully continues.

Mars meteorites reveal clues about what lies within the Red Planet

Sometimes chunks of Mars make it over to

NASA funds development for the life -hunting Habitable Worlds Observatory

The HWO will be designed to hunt for

12 billion years of black hole history are revealed through X-rays and simulations

Black holes are some of the most mysterious

To calibrate telescopes on Earth, NASA is launching an ‘artificial star’ into orbit

The Landolt satellite will beam lasers at telescopes

CELESTRON ASTROMASTER 102AZ

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20 GREATEST WOMEN IN SPACE

Our knowledge of space has burgeoned since the

MARTIAN AIRSHIPS

A new NASA study has the aim of exploring the Red Planet with the help of empty balloons

“The greatest thing someone can do is go into space”

The veteran of two Space Shuttle missions talks fixing the Hubble Space Telescope and appearing on The Big Bang Theory

NASA WANTS NEW IDEAS FOR ITS TROUBLED MARS SAMPLE-RETURN MISSION

NASA has selected ten studies aimed at finding more affordable and quicker means of retrieving samples collected from the Martian surface and returning them to Earth

WHY IS NEPTUNE’S MAGNETIC FIELD SO WEIRD?

An exotic molecule that can’t be formed on Earth may lurk within Neptune

MERCURY IS SHRINKING

The smallest planet in our Solar System is getting even smaller

SCIENTISTS FIND THE SLOWEST SPINNING ‘RADIO NEUTRON STAR’ THAT BREAKS ALL THE DEAD STAR RULES

ASKAPJ1935+2148 will have other dead stars turning in their graves

GUIDE TO THE COMPLEX UNIVERSE

From working with the world’s most prestigious television shows to writing best-selling books, Kaku now untangles the more complex ideas of physics and future space travel, just for you

NASA’S EXOPLANET HUNTER FINDS A ‘WEIRD’ WORLD SURVIVING A STAR’S RELENTLESS BOMBARDMENT

The planet has been nicknamed Phoenix due to its nature

DID THE SUN’S TWIN WIPE OUT THE DINOSAURS?

Some 66 million years ago, an asteroid wiped prehistoric life from our planet. All About Space uncovers if another star tied to ours could have kick-started a mass extinction

ASTRONOMERS GET CLOSER TO SOLVING THE LINGERING MYSTERY OF FAST RADIO BURSTS

What’s more mysterious than explosions happening thousands of times per day all over the sky, with no idea what’s causing them?

HAVE ASTRONOMERS FOUND A SUPER-HELLISH PLANET?

A fiery Earth-like planet that’s more volcanically active than Io may have been discovered

ARROKOTH THE ‘SPACE SNOWMAN’ PROBABLY TASTES LIKE SWEET SOAP

Scientists think the Kuiper Belt object is a sugar world, which would explain its reddish hue

How can we find dark matter?

Dark matter has an effect on its surroundings

How are solar flares made?

Solar flares can be observed from Earth with

Why does Earth have a bow shock?

The bow shock is a result of our

What are X-ray binaries?

X-ray binaries are categorised by the stellar mass

Can a galaxy ever split apart into multiple galaxies?

Galaxies are held together by gravity The quick

Will Sagittarius A* eventually consume the Milky Way?

We’re safe from the Milky Way’s central black

What makes the TRAPPIST-1 system an interesting target for exoplanet research?

TRAPPIST-1 is unique because it is currently the

THE SUN’S MAGNETIC FIELD IS ABOUT TO FLIP

The reversal could have a beneficial effect on Earth

THIS MONTH’S PLANETS

The Red Planet makes for easy viewing with the unaided eye

EARTHSHINE

See the beautiful ‘old Moon in the new Moon’s arms’

NAKED EYE AND BINOCULAR TARGETS

Midsummer nights are full of celestial wonders, particularly in Cygnus and Aquarius

STARS, CLUSTERS AND NEBULAE OF SUMMER

Glittering stellar groupings, a star’s corpse and a beautiful double star can be seen through any size of telescope

NORTHERN HEMISPHERE

Late-night astronomers are greeted by a stunning selection of deep-sky objects

CELESTRON CPC 800 GPS (XLT)

With its StarBright XLT technology, this catadioptric instrument is worth every penny – an excellent investment for serious sky-watchers

IN THE SHOPS: LEGO SETS

Pick your next set from this excellent space-themed selection, now being dubbed ‘hard to find’

WERNHER VON BRAUN

From working for the Nazis to becoming a space hero

ALL ABOUT SPACE

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