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

An artist's concept of two black holes circling each other before merging. For the first time in history, scientists have directly observed a black hole merger, using the Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory (LIGO).

Event horizon hunt: A black hole word search

By Kenna Hughes-Castleberry published

Hunt for key terms that define one of the universe's most mind-bending phenomena—from event horizons to singularities.

Black Holes
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. 22, 2025: Which NASA observatory just completed its first sky map?

By Kenna Hughes-Castleberry published

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

Astronomy
A group of people wearing dark blue shirts and black pants stand on stage with an American flag behind them and an officer kneeling down with a blue flag for the US Space Force placed in front of them.

Space Force Guardians show off shiny new duds | Space photo of the day for Dec. 26, 2025

By Kenna Hughes-Castleberry published

It marks the first time newly commissioned Space Force Guardians have graduated Officer Training School (OTS) wearing this uniform.

Space Exploration
A painted portrait shows a man with a white beard and balding head looking at the camera while wearing a white collar and black shirt

Ancient eyes on the skies: Early astronomers quiz

By Kenna Hughes-Castleberry published

Long before modern telescopes, early astronomers mapped the heavens with math, myth, and sheer curiosity. This crossword quiz celebrates the minds who first charted the cosmos.

Astronomy
A telescope with a triangular top wrapped in foil stands next to a scaffold with people wearing white clean suits examining it under green light.

Roman around the Christmas tree | Space photo of the day for Dec. 25, 2025

By Kenna Hughes-Castleberry published

All the NASA engineers and scientists need is a star on top of the telescope in the cleanroom.

Astronomy
Two large brown and white islands are seen in a dark blue ocean from space with various labels including Vindication Island, Medusa Pool and Lucifer Hill

NASA satellite gazes into Medusa Pool | Space photo of the day for Dec. 24, 2025

By Kenna Hughes-Castleberry published

The South Sandwich Islands were born from a tectonic collision, forged by volcanism and relentlessly reshaped by ice, wind and waves.

Earth
An image from inside a warehouse shows two tall white cylinders on either side of a yellow taller cylinder. The two white cylinders have red, white and blue paint with the words 'America 250' on them.

Artemis 2 moon rocket gets 'America 250' paint job | Space photo of the day for Dec. 23, 2025

By Kenna Hughes-Castleberry published

The "America 250" logo commemorates the upcoming 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

Artemis
A nebula. The top-left is dense with layers of fluffy pink and greenish clouds. Long strands of green clouds stretch out from here; a faint layer of translucent blue dust combines with them to create a three-dimensional scene. A sparse network of dark dust clouds in the foreground adds reddish-black patches atop the nebula. Blue-white and orange stars, from our galaxy and beyond, are spread amongst the clouds.

Nebula knowledge: Do you know these stunning space structures?

By Kenna Hughes-Castleberry published

Test your cosmic eye: can you match these dazzling nebula images to their names?

Astronomy
An image from Antarctica shows a giant machine in the foreground with a construction worker with a vest in the front left image and a white weather balloon in the background

NASA launches science balloon in Antarctica | Space photo of the day for Dec. 22, 2025

By Kenna Hughes-Castleberry published

The first scientific balloon flight happened on Dec. 16, 2025.

Earth
A person standing on a rock looks up at a green night sky with streaks of light showing a meteor shower overhead

Geminid meteors streak under green sky | Space photo of the day for Dec. 19, 2025

By Kenna Hughes-Castleberry published

Astrophotographer Josh Dury has captured the beauty of the Geminids in this stunning timelapse exposure.

Meteors & Meteor Showers
A series of purple drones come together in the night sky above a still lake to create a 3D image of planet Earth with the continent of Africa seen and reflected in the lake

As above, so below: Earth in the sky | Space photo of the day for Dec. 18, 2025

By Kenna Hughes-Castleberry published

This 3D rendering of our planet was part of France's Festival of Lights celebration.

Technology
A gray spacecraft is seen floating above the ocean on Earth

Crewed Russian spacecraft meets up with ISS | Space photo of the day for Dec. 17, 2025

By Kenna Hughes-Castleberry published

The Soyuz launched on Nov. 27, 2025 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

International Space Station
Two photos with the one on the left of a man wearing a green long-sleeved shirt and the image on the right a pixelated picture of 3I/ATLAS as a ball of yellow light with green and blue light emanating from it outwards.

Interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS wasn't supposed to be there — meet the astronomer who discovered it

By Kenna Hughes-Castleberry published

Dr. Larry Denneau of the University of Hawaii is nothing like your typical astronomer.

Comets
An image of Earth from space, showing Ethiopia and the Middle East covered with brown and gray streaks of ash

Satellite watches volcano spew ash over Middle East | Space photo of the day for Dec. 16, 2025

By Kenna Hughes-Castleberry published

The ash plume disrupted flights as far away as India.

Satellites
This image was obtained with the wide-field view of the Mosaic II camera on the Blanco 4-meter telescope at Cerro Tololo on Jan 12th and Feb 7th, 2012. An array of dark Bok globules, known as Thackeray's Globules, can be seen in silhouette against the emission nebula IC 2944 in the constellation Centaurus.

Strange structures of space: a weird quiz

By Kenna Hughes-Castleberry published

Think you know your Dyson spheres from your dark blobs? This cosmic crossword dives into the strangest, most mind-bending structures ever spotted — or imagined — in the universe.

Astronomy
A man wearing a red hoodie and tan pants points to a nearby drone hovering over rippling sand dunes

NASA tests drones in Death Valley | Space photo of the day for Dec. 15, 2025

By Kenna Hughes-Castleberry published

To develop more robust next-generation aerial explorers, NASA's Mars Exploration program is turning to drones.

Technology
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. 8, 2025: NASA lost contact with which Mars spacecraft this week?

By Kenna Hughes-Castleberry published

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

Astronomy
The Milky Way glows orange and yellow amidst the stars in the night sky, with a streak of white at the right side of the image where comet Lemmon moves across with a domed observatory and mountains silhouetted at the bottom

Comet Lemmon and Milky Way spotted over Hawaii | Space photo of the day for Dec. 12, 2025

By Kenna Hughes-Castleberry published

Hawaiian stargazers got a particularly special treat recently.

Stargazing
A glowing spiral galaxy with pink and purple and yellow gas swirls around small dots of young stars in space

Hubble sees 'Lost Galaxy' in the Virgo constellation | Space photo of the day for Dec. 11, 2025

By Kenna Hughes-Castleberry published

This stunning image is full of young star clusters.

Hubble Space Telescope
A drone shot showing a metal domed building against a desert peak in Chile

Extremely Large Telescope under construction | Space photo of the day for Dec. 10, 2025

By Kenna Hughes-Castleberry published

Once completed, this telescope will help usher in a new era of astronomy.

Astronomy
Jeff Bezos of Blue Origin speaks at Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on Sept. 15, 2015.

From Bezos to beyond: Blue Origin quiz

By Kenna Hughes-Castleberry published

Whether you're a casual fan or a spaceflight enthusiast, see how well you know one of the companies pushing the boundaries of commercial space travel.

Private Spaceflight
A large solar array is seen at the bottom of this image floating in space as the top half of the image shows Earth with a green sheen over its surface

ISS astronauts watch Earth's atmosphere glow green | Space photo of the day for Dec. 8, 2025

By Kenna Hughes-Castleberry published

The image shows a good example of the phenomenon called airglow.

International Space Station
The Buck Moon supermoon shines through dark clouds over Liverpool's historic docks and the Liver Building on July 3, 2023.

What supermoon am I? A lunar personality test

By Kenna Hughes-Castleberry published

The supermoon shines brighter and bolder than usual—discover which dazzling lunar personality matches you.

Stargazing
The half dome of a glowing sunset is seen against a black sky with the silhouette of an airplane in the front and a green shape above it.

A green flash at sunset | Space photo of the day for Dec. 8, 2025

By Kenna Hughes-Castleberry published

This rare phenomenon is also called the green rim and it actually happens at every sunset.

Stargazing
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. 1, 2025: What is the name of December's supermoon?

By Kenna Hughes-Castleberry published

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

Astronomy
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