New Horizons

New Horizons spacecraft’s observations suggest the Kuiper Belt extends far beyond its thought boundary, potentially indicating a larger region or a second belt filled with icy, rocky objects, challenging existing solar system models. Credit: SciTechDaily.comNASA’s New Horizons has discovered unexpectedly high dust levels in the Kuiper Belt, hinting at a larger expanse or a new belt, reshaping our understanding of the solar system’s outer edge.New observations from NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft hint that the Kuiper Belt –…

While journeying through the far reaches of the solar system, the New Horizons probe picked up a dusty trail of icy fragments that may indicate that the Kuiper Belt—home to former planet Pluto and countless other objects—is way bigger than we thought.What Is Planet Nine and Why Can’t We Find It?New observations from the NASA mission suggest that the massive donut-shaped outer zone of the solar system, also known as the Kuiper Belt, could extend billions of miles farther than current estimates. There even might be a…

It took nearly 15 years for NASA’s New Horizons mission to reach the point where it is at today, around 50 times farther from the Sun than is Earth. From its unique observational perch, the spacecraft has been studying the frozen depths of the solar system to help piece together the origin story of the planets orbiting the Sun. Astronomers Could Soon Get Warnings When SpaceX Satellites Threaten Their ViewAs the New Horizons spacecraft continues its journey at the outer edge of the solar system, uncertainty lies ahead.…

A time lapse sequence of color-enhanced images of Jupiter from NASA’s Juno spacecraft.Image: NASANASA’S Jupiter mission is back in action after suffering from an acute case of spacecraft amnesia, which caused the Juno spacecraftto temporarily lose access to data stored in its memory. The NASA spacecraft resumed its regular operations on December 29, the space agency announced on Tuesday. Juno went into safe mode on December 17 due to a memory anomaly that took place following the spacecraft’s 47th close flyby of Jupiter…

NASA warns that a huge 64-foot wide asteroid will be coming dangerously close to the Earth today, December 15. Is there a danger of an asteroid strike? Find out. The peak of the Geminid meteor shower was yesterday, December 14, but you can still watch the bright meteors moving across the sky for a few more days. However, you may see a particularly bright object across the sky and it might not be a meteor shower but a hazardous asteroid speeding towards the Earth. NASA has spotted a 64-foot wide asteroid that will be…

The Lucy spacecraft captured this image of Earth on October 15. Image: NASANASA’s Lucy spacecraft got its first view of the Earth-Moon system one year after launching from its home planet to explore a distant swarm of asteroids. The spacecraft captured beautiful, and somewhat daunting, images of Earth and its natural satellite as it whizzed past for a gravitational assist. The Lucy spacecraft is currently on a six-year journey to Jupiter to study the Trojan asteroids, two groups of rocky bodies that lead and follow…

An illustration of the CAPSTONE spacecraft during its elliptical orbit around the Moon.Illustration: NASAAfter going MIA for nearly 24 hours, NASA’s CAPSTONE probe finally reestablished contact with ground controllers. The microwave-sized satellite is currently en route to the Moon where it will test a unique orbital configuration for an upcoming lunar space station. Ground controllers successfully restored communication with the spacecraft on Wednesday at 9:26 a.m. ET, when the operations team began receiving signals…