The top space stories of the week! By Doris Elin Urrutia published 1 January 22 The dino-killing asteroid caused years of darkness on Earth and NASA's newly-launched space telescope uncovers its sunshield. These are some of the top stories this week from Space.com.
James Webb Space Telescope unfurls massive sunshield in major deployment milestone By Mike Wall published 1 January 22 The $10 billion James Webb Space Telescope unfolded its huge sunshield on Friday (Dec. 31), pulling the five-layer structure out by sequentially deploying two booms.
The 10 strangest space structures discovered in 2021 By Brandon Specktor published 31 December 21 The closer we look at the universe, the more beautiful and baffling it becomes. Here are the 10 most epic space structures discovered in 2021.
2021: a year physicists asked, 'What lies beyond the Standard Model?' By Aaron McGowan published 31 December 21 The Standard Model explains the physics of how the world works. But in 2021, physicists started probing fundamental gaps in this long-established concept.
2021 was an epic year for Mars exploration By Mike Wall published 31 December 21 During this very eventful year, two nations joined the Mars club, a robot plied Red Planet skies for the first time ever and humanity kicked off an ambitious interplanetary sample-return campaign.
The 10 biggest exoplanet discoveries of 2021 By Doris Elin Urrutia published 31 December 21 These are some of the top exoplanet discoveries made in 2021.
Pictures from space! Our image of the day By Space.com Staff published 31 December 21 The International Space Station passed above Antarctica just as the New Year began for the crew aboard the orbital outpost.
Frozen tardigrade becomes first 'quantum entangled' animal in history, researchers claim By Brandon Specktor published 31 December 21 A new pre-print study claims to have quantum entangled a tardigrade with two superconductor qubits, though experts are skeptical.
Imaginary numbers could be needed to describe reality, new studies find By Ben Turner published 31 December 21 Theories based only on real numbers are incapable of explaining the results of this new experiment.
Why the James Webb Space Telescope's sunshield deployment takes so long By Mike Wall published 31 December 21 NASA's James Webb Space Telescope is three days into the deployment of its massive sunshield — and it still has about three days to go.
Skywatcher spots James Webb Space Telescope from Earth in telescope photos By Chelsea Gohd published 30 December 21 Thanks to images from a robotic Earth telescope, you can now watch the James Webb Space Telescope travel through space.
James Webb Space Telescope uncovers massive sunshield in next step of risky deployment By Chelsea Gohd published 30 December 21 The James Webb Space Telescope has unwrapped its sunshield, crossing another important item off of its lengthy and risky deployment to-do list.
Nibiru: The Nonexistent Planet By Nola Taylor Tillman published 30 December 21 Nibiru has been linked to NASA, and is also sometimes referred to or confused with Planet X, another supposed world for which there is no evidence.
Darkness caused by dino-killing asteroid snuffed out life on Earth in 9 months By Mindy Weisberger published 30 December 21 After an asteroid struck at the end of the Cretaceous period, debris from wildfires filled the atmosphere and blocked sunlight across Earth, causing ecosystem collapse and extinctions.
The 10 wildest things we learned about black holes in 2021 By Adam Mann published 30 December 21 A rundown of awesome results about black holes from 2021.
Comets' heads may be green, but never their tails, study finds By Samantha Mathewson published 30 December 21 Comets heat up very quickly as they approach the sun, causing the icy bodies to glow green, but never in the tails trailing behind them. A new study may finally reveal why.
Hubble Space Telescope spots star cluster glittering in a nearby galaxy (photo) By Doris Elin Urrutia published 30 December 21 This small cluster of stars packs quite a visual morsel.
China has moon's south pole in its sights with 3 missions launching this decade By Andrew Jones published 30 December 21 China has formally approved three missions targeting the south pole of the moon, with the first to launch around 2024.
With COVID-19 on the rise again, 'Super Bowl of astronomy' next month canceled By Meghan Bartels published 30 December 21 As COVID-19 infection rates rise once again, the leaders of the American Astronomical Society (AAS) have canceled the major conference scheduled for early January.
Hear Jupiter's moon Ganymede, the largest in the solar system, sing in new squeaky Juno video By Doris Elin Urrutia published 30 December 21 The magnetosphere of Jupiter's moon Ganymede sounds like a dial-up modem in a newly-released audio clip from NASA.
