On 8 January 2025, the ESA/JAXA BepiColombo mission flew past Mercury for the sixth time, successfully completing the final ‘gravity assist manoeuvre’ needed to steer it into orbit around the planet in late 2026. The spacecraft flew just a few... Continue Reading →
Why is Polaris called the North Star? First, Polaris is the nearest bright star toward the north spin axis of the Earth. Therefore, as the Earth turns, stars appear to revolve around Polaris, but Polaris itself always stays in the same northerly direction -- making it the North Star. Since... Continue Reading →
Her blueprint sang an untamed tune,An orchestra beneath the moon.Emotions danced in wild array,Untangled chords in disarray. Her thoughts, like fruit, both dark and sweet,A labyrinth of shadowed heat.A fertile ground where chaos grew,And yet, her essence always true. Amidst... Continue Reading →
A new study has found that the composition of your gut microbiome helps predict how likely you are to succumb to potentially life-threatening infection with Klebsiella pneumoniae, E.coli and other bugs - and it may be altered by changing your diet. Our... Continue Reading →
Comet ATLAS is really bright now, but also really close to the Sun. Outside the glow of the Sun, Comet C/2024 G3 (ATLAS) would be one of the more remarkable comet sights of recent years, reflecting about as much sunlight to Earth... Continue Reading →
A whitish, grey patch that sometimes appears in the night sky alongside the northern lights has been explained for the first time by researchers at the University of Calgary. The article, which was published on Dec. 30 in the journal Nature Communications, explores... Continue Reading →
Whatever hit Mimas nearly destroyed it. What remains is one of the largest impact craters on one of Saturn's smallest round moons. Analysis indicates that a slightly larger impact would have destroyed Mimas entirely. The huge crater, named Herschel after the 1789 discoverer of Mimas, Sir William Herschel, spans about... Continue Reading →
The colorful, spiky stars are in the foreground of this image taken with a small telescope on planet Earth. They lie well within our own Milky Way Galaxy. But the two eye-catching galaxies in the frame lie far beyond the Milky Way,... Continue Reading →
She had her scars stitched—literal and metaphorical—each thread pulling her closer to healing, though the ache of the past lingered like the drizzle falling from the Parisian sky. It was a cold, damp fall day, the kind that seeped into... Continue Reading →
Scents of Science 