Using its near-infrared camera, the James Webb Space Telescope captured amazing images of Neptune and its rings. Thanks to the newly released images, we now see Neptune’s rings for the first time since 1989, when Voyager 2 performed the first flyby to the gas giant.
Category Archives: Astronomy
Origins of the elements [amazing infographic by NASA]
NASA Exoplanets has published an amazing infographic showing the origins of the elements. From the calcium in our bones to the iron in our blood, we really are made from star stuff.
Voyager 1 launch [September 5, 1977]
Voyager 1 launch: On September 5, 1977, NASA’s Voyager 1 spacecraft was launched on top of a Titan IIIE/Centaur rocket from the Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex in Florida, 16 days after its twin, Voyager 2. The reversal of order was because the two spacecraft were sent on different trajectories, and Voyager 1 was put …
Frank Drake who formulated Drake Equation dies aged 92
On September 2, 2022, Frank Drake, the American astronomer and astrophysicist (b. May 28, 1930) died at his home in Aptos, California, from natural causes at the age of 92.
Pioneer 11 performed the first Saturn flyby on September 1, 1979
On September 1, 1979, NASA’s Pioneer 11 spacecraft performed the first Saturn flyby in the history of space exploration, at a distance of 21,000 km (13,000 miles) from Saturn’s cloud tops.
Voyager 1 became the first spacecraft in interstellar space on August 25, 2012
On August 25, 2012, NASA’s Voyager 1 spacecraft crossed the heliopause, the theoretical boundary of our solar system where the Sun’s solar wind is stopped by the interstellar medium, and became the first spacecraft in interstellar space.
Voyager 2 performed the first Neptune flyby on August 25, 1989
On August 25, 1989, Voyager 2 performed a close Neptune flyby, giving humanity its first close-up of the eighth (and the outermost) planet of our solar system. Neptune was the spacecraft’s final planetary target. That first Neptune flyby was also the last: No other spacecraft has visited Neptune since.
Voyager 2 was launched on August 20, 1977
On August 20, 1977, Voyager 2 was launched from Cape Canaveral on top of a Titan IIIE-Centaur rocket. It launched before Voyager 1, which was sent into space on September 5, 1977.
Here’s why Betelgeuse dimmed in 2019
In 2019, red supergiant star Betelgeuse suddenly dimmed. In fact, the star has a 5.9-year light-cycle minimum period. But, this time, it dramatically to an all-time low. Betelgeuse is one of the brightest stars in the Earth’s sky and easily can be found on the right shoulder of the constellation Orion. So the dimming, which …
ESA’s Giotto became the first spacecraft to use Earth for a gravity assist on July 2, 1990
On July 2, 1990, European Space Agency’s (ESA) Giotto spacecraft performed the first-ever earth gravity-assisted maneuver to be retargeted for its destination, Comet P/Grigg-Skjellerup.
