Samantha Mathewson

Samantha Mathewson joined Space.com as an intern in the summer of 2016. She received a B.A. in Journalism and Environmental Science at the University of New Haven, in Connecticut. Previously, her work has been published in Nature World News. When not writing or reading about science, Samantha enjoys traveling to new places and taking photos! You can follow her on Twitter @Sam_Ashley13.

Articles by: Samantha Mathewson

Satellites watch record-breaking wildfires burn across Alaska

By Samantha Mathewson published 1 July 22

A hot, dry start to summer has spurred a record number of wildfires in southern Alaska, and weather satellites are tracking the development of the blazes from space.

Tricky Mars rocks making things difficult for NASA's Perseverance rover

By Samantha Mathewson published 1 July 22

NASA's Perseverance rover is on the hunt for the "goldilocks" of rocks to sample on Mars.

A huge comet will make its closest approach to Earth in July. Here's how to watch it live.

By Samantha Mathewson published 1 July 22

One of the farthest active comets ever spotted will make its closest approach to Earth on July 14, and here's how you can catch the action live.

Celebrate Asteroid Day 2022 with free online broadcast today

By Samantha Mathewson published 30 June 22

Asteroid research and planetary defense is of great interest to scientists around the world, which is why June 30 marks international Asteroid Day.

Hubble Space Telescope shows distortions of massive galaxy cluster in stunning image

By Samantha Mathewson published 29 June 22

A massive galaxy cluster shines in a new telescope image, distorting the view of more distant galaxies lying in the background.

NASA's Mars rover Curiosity collected rock samples from the Yellowknife Bay formation of Gale crater.

Rock samples from NASA's Curiosity Mars rover contain key ingredient of life

By Samantha Mathewson published 28 June 22

Martian rock samples collected by NASA's Curiosity Mars rover show signs of key ingredients of life as we know it on Earth.

The European Gaia mission scans the sky from its parking spot 930,000 miles away from Earth.

Milky Way mapper Gaia to release new data on Monday. Here's how to watch it live.

By Samantha Mathewson published 12 June 22

The European Space Agency will release new data from its Milky Way-mapping Gaia mission on June 13. Here’s how you can get the latest updates from the telescope live.

NASA sky map of five bright visible planets before dawn in June 2022.

A 'planetary breakup' of 5 planets in the June's big stargazing sight, NASA says

By Samantha Mathewson published 9 June 22

The rare alignment of five naked-eye planets will begin to "break up" as they appear to grow increasingly distant from one another in the morning sky.

NASA's DAVINCI descent probe will carry a small sensor developed by students to measure the chemistry of Venus' atmosphere.

A Venus-bound mission from NASA will carry a tiny sensor built by students to the planet's hellish surface

By Samantha Mathewson published 9 June 22

NASA's DAVINCI mission to Venus will carry a dime-sized, student-built sensor to study the planet's near-surface environment.

An artist's depiction of a supermassive black hole in the early universe.

James Webb Space Telescope will study how the 1st black hole 'seeds' formed in the 'baby universe'

By Samantha Mathewson published 9 June 22

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope is gearing up to start operations this summer, and one of its many assignments will be to search for primeval black holes in the early universe.

Spacecraft studying Earth's magnetosphere collectively observed how solar particles reach the upper atmosphere and create glowing auroral beads in the night sky.

Glowing 'auroral beads' appear strung across the night sky. Here's what creates them.

By Samantha Mathewson published 4 June 22

A group of 13 telescopes allowed researchers to observe the process behind a unique type of aurora, known as auroral beads, for the first time.

An animation showing the location of the near-Earth asteroids discovered as of January 2018; Earth's orbit is marked by the white line.

Over 100 hidden asteroids detected thanks to new algorithm studying old telescope data

By Samantha Mathewson published 3 June 22

Researchers using an innovative astrodynamics algorithm have uncovered over 100 asteroids that had gone undetected in archived images of the sky.

The Hubble Space Telescope observes a pair of spiral galaxies swirling together.

Hubble telescope snaps trippy new view of two swirling galaxies

By Samantha Mathewson published 31 May 22

A peculiar pair of galaxies swirls together in a mesmerizing new photo from the Hubble Space Telescope.

Hubble Space Telescope photo of the large spiral galaxy NGC 3227 and its companion NGC 3226.

Hubble telescope sees haunting galactic dance of 2 galaxies linked by the corpse of a cannibalized neighbor

By Samantha Mathewson published 29 May 22

The Hubble Space Telescope captured a stunning new view of two galaxies intertwined in a turbulent gravitational dance.

An illustration of Earth's magnetic field.

High school students used a tiny computer to measure Earth's magnetic field from space

By Samantha Mathewson published 26 May 22

High school students in Portugal have programmed a small computer on the International Space Station to measure Earth's magnetic field from orbit

A bright spot surrounded by haze against a starry background

Hubble telescope spots enormous elliptical galaxy surrounded by mysterious shells

By Samantha Mathewson published 25 May 22

The Hubble Space Telescope captured a stunning new view of a gigantic galaxy that is more than twice the size of the Milky Way.

A still from a video tour of the interior of Boeing's Starliner capsule, as captured by NASA astronauts when the spacecraft was docked to the International Space Station in May 2022.

Go inside Boeing's Starliner capsule with space station astronauts (video tour)

By Samantha Mathewson published 25 May 22

Astronauts aboard the International Space Station provided an up-close view of Boeing’s Starliner capsule in a recent video tour from orbit.

The European Southern Observatory's UT5 telescope at the Paranal Observatory in Chile captured this view of the Super Flower Blood Moon lunar eclipse on May 15, 2022.

Super Flower Blood Moon lunar eclipse glows eerie red in new photo

By Samantha Mathewson published 24 May 22

The eclipsed moon glows an eerie deep red color in a new photo of the total lunar eclipse that occurred earlier in May.

A diagram showing an observatory studying a galaxy that magnifies two large hydrogen clouds behind it

1st maps of massive, translucent gas clouds in space reveal clues about the early universe

By Samantha Mathewson published 24 May 22

For the first time, researchers have mapped elusive gas clouds that are believed to hold clues about galactic evolution and star formation in the early days of the universe.