Kenna Hughes-Castleberry

Kenna Hughes-Castleberry

Kenna Hughes-Castleberry is the Content Manager at Space.com. Formerly, she was the Science Communicator at JILA, a physics research institute. Kenna is also a freelance science journalist. Her beats include quantum technology, AI, animal intelligence, corvids, and cephalopods.

Latest articles by Kenna Hughes-Castleberry

A series of blue cloudy shapes against a starry background, with bright stars shining in red and pink amidst the background

Searching for newborn stars with CAFFEINE | Space photo of the day for Jan. 22, 2026

By Kenna Hughes-Castleberry published

The Core And Filament Formation/Evolution In Natal Environments (CAFFEINE) survey is an "astronomer's best friend," according to the European Southern Observatory.

Stars
A field filled with stars and covered by clouds of gas and dust. In the centre, a thick column of dark black dust blocks light from stars that light it up from behind. More clouds behind those stars are illuminated in pale colours. Complex, layered filaments of red dust lie to the left and right. Blue, white and gold stars in various sizes can be seen around, within and through the colourful layers of dust.

Hubble sees baby stars in Large Magellanic Cloud | Space photo of the day for Jan. 21, 2026

By Kenna Hughes-Castleberry published

The Large Magellanic Cloud, or LMC, is a key spot for astronomers to study star formation.

Hubble Space Telescope
An illustration of string theory

Universal truths: Astronomy's deepest theories quiz

By Kenna Hughes-Castleberry published

Test your grasp of the forces and ideas that shape our universe.

Astronomy
A section of Mars’s surface showing a broad area covered with dense, elongated ridges and grooves that fan out diagonally across the image. The terrain is rough and textured in this region, contrasting with the smoother, lighter-coloured surrounding plains. The overall colour is a mix of tan and reddish-brown tones.

Mars orbiter sees odd etchings in the sand | Space photo of the day for Jan. 20, 2025

By Kenna Hughes-Castleberry published

Even though the Red Planet's atmosphere is thin, wind is still one of Mars' most relentless sculptors.

Mars
An orange rocket held up by scaffolding sits behind large green bushes under a blue sky.

NASA rolls Artemis 2 moon rocket to launch pad | Space photo of the day for Jan. 19, 2025

By Kenna Hughes-Castleberry published

America's next mission to the moon is happening in only a few weeks.

Artemis
A black and white crossword puzzle sits underneath a blue and white coffee cup with the Space.com black and white logo in the bottom left corner.

Space.com headlines crossword quiz for week of Jan. 12, 2026: What is an Einstein-Rosen bridge more commonly known as?

By Kenna Hughes-Castleberry published

Test your space smarts with our weekly crossword challenge, crafted from Space.com's biggest headlines.

Astronomy
Clouds of blue and gold are mixed with bright twinkling blue and white lights against a dark background

Hubble Telescope sees baby stars hard at work | Space photo of the day for Jan. 16, 2025

By Kenna Hughes-Castleberry published

Ba-by stars, doo doo doo doo doo doo.

Stars
A brown landscape is scarred dark red as streaks of orange flames are seen around the edges of the dark area with streams of smoke moving toward the bottom of the image

Satellites spy raging bushfires in Australia | Space photo of the day for Jan. 15, 2026

By Kenna Hughes-Castleberry published

The image shows just how large and devastating these events can be.

Earth
A series of snow-covered mountain peaks jut out against a white landscape in an image seen from space

Satellite sees snowy Greenland peaks from space | Space photo of the day for Jan. 14, 2026

By Kenna Hughes-Castleberry published

Greenland's mountains greatly affect local climate patterns.

Earth
a space station hangs in black

Viruses may be more powerful in the International Space Station's microgravity environment

By Kenna Hughes-Castleberry published

"Microgravity pushed evolution into corners of the phage we still don't fully understand"

International Space Station
A black and white photo shows a small rocket launching from the ground

Blast from the past: A rocket history quiz

By Kenna Hughes-Castleberry published

Test how well you know the breakthroughs, pioneers, and turning points that shaped modern rocketry.

Launches & Spacecraft
a rocket launches behind a sign that reads "cape canaveral space force station"

Guardians of trivia: How much do you know about the Space Force?

By Kenna Hughes-Castleberry published

Think you know America's newest military branch? Take our quiz and prove you're Space Force‑savvy.

Space Exploration
A curved white arc at the bottom of the image glows with a gold band and red fuzzy band of light above it with stars in the distance and a smoky purple shape in the center of the image

ISS astronauts spy airglow and dwarf galaxy | Space photo of the day for Jan. 13, 2026

By Kenna Hughes-Castleberry published

Astronauts on the International Space Station were not only treated to a sight from Earth's atmosphere recently but also caught a glimpse of one of the Milky Way's nearest galactic neighbors.

International Space Station
A blue jagged shape is seen in dark waters with white foam from the sea with the large white label Iceberg A-23A next to the blue shape

Satellite sees 40-year-old iceberg melt, turn blue | Space photo of the day for January 12, 2025

By Kenna Hughes-Castleberry published

Iceberg A23-A has been around since the Chernobyl explosion and Space Shuttle Challenger accident...but perhaps not for much longer.

Earth
A black and white crossword puzzle sits underneath a blue and white coffee cup with the Space.com black and white logo in the bottom left corner.

Space.com headlines crossword quiz for week of Jan. 5, 2026: The moon met which bright star in the night sky this week?

By Kenna Hughes-Castleberry published

Test your space smarts with our weekly crossword challenge, crafted from Space.com's biggest headlines.

Astronomy
A series of bright golden dots form a diagonal line in the center of a starry night, with three larger whiter dots at the bottom of the image.

Mars and Venus buzz the Beehive | Space photo of the day for January 9, 2026

By Kenna Hughes-Castleberry published

Planets, stars, and star clusters, oh my!

Stargazing
Two blue and white spirals of light are intertwined in the darkness of space

Space telescopes capture breathtaking galactic hug | Space photo of the day for Jan. 8, 2026

By Kenna Hughes-Castleberry published

Both NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope and Chandra X-ray Observatory caught these two galaxies in a close embrace.

Galaxies
A greenish tinted image with a large hill in the distance and smaller sandy dunes in front

NASA Perseverance rover sees megaripples on Mars | Space photo of the day for Jan. 7, 2026.

By Kenna Hughes-Castleberry published

Another view from Perseverance shows how windswept Mars' landscape truly is.

Mars Rovers
A snowy landscape shows red rocks with white snow interspersed to create a muscle-y, meaty image

This Canadian crater looks like marbled meat | Space photo of the day for Jan. 6, 2026

By Kenna Hughes-Castleberry published

The reservoir seen in this image is sometimes referred to as the "eye of Quebec."

Earth
A photo of astronomer Vera Rubin.

Women who rewrote the stars: Test your knowledge of female astronomers

By Kenna Hughes-Castleberry published

From ancient stargazers to modern-day space scientists, women have shaped our understanding of the cosmos. This crossword celebrates their brilliance, resilience, and astronomical achievements.

Astronomy
A cluster of stars inside a large nebula. The clouds of gas and dust are predominantly bright red in colour and wispy, akin to flames. They are clumped in the bottom-left corner. Other clouds, deeper in the cluster behind many of the stars, appear pale pink. The stars are concentrated in the top half of the image and are mostly small, bright white and six-pointed. They cast blue light over the nebula. Other stars with very long spikes surrounding them lie in the foreground.

Carina Nebula shines with white-blue stars | Space photo of the day for Jan. 5, 2026

By Kenna Hughes-Castleberry published

The Westerlund 2 star cluster is home to some of the Milky Way's brightest stars.

Stars
A black and white crossword puzzle sits underneath a blue and white coffee cup with the Space.com black and white logo in the bottom left corner.

Space.com headlines crossword quiz for week of Dec. 29, 2025: Which meteor shower peaks in early January?

By Kenna Hughes-Castleberry published

Test your space smarts with our weekly crossword challenge, crafted from Space.com's biggest headlines.

Astronomy
A photo of Earth from space where four snowy circles are seen against the labeled coastline of Russia with a dark blue ocean on the right of the image

Nature carves colossal snowman in Siberia | Space photo of the day for Jan. 2, 2026

By Kenna Hughes-Castleberry published

Do you want to build a snowman?

Earth
A series of books stacked horizontally so we only see the bottom of their pages with a bright yellow background behind.

Nebula nights: Award-winning sci-fi literature through the ages

By Kenna Hughes-Castleberry published

Think you know your Le Guin from your Liu? Let’s find out

Space Books
A trapezoidal building with slanted straight sides is covered in snow amidst a snowy landscape.

Space Force shows off snowy new Alaska radar post | Space photo of the day for Jan. 1, 2026

By Kenna Hughes-Castleberry published

"I am the watcher on the walls."

Earth
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