Astronomers Pick the Best 45 Exoplanets that might have Life

By on May 6, 2026 in Exoplanets | 0 comments

If you were given a spacecraft that could travel at light speed and get you to any other planet, where would you go? Well, astronomers picked the best 45 exoplanets out of the 6,000 that we identified. It made me wonder what these planets are like and how you measure what’s a good “fit?” Let’s take a look and learn more about how you identify a habitable world! How did we select these 45 Exoplanets? Lucky for us, we have some great telescopes orbiting Earth. One of them is a European Space Agency (ESA) telescope called Gaia. Data to select these exoplanets came from this telescope, as well as a catalog of all the other previous exoplanets discovered. For this, we use the NASA Exoplanet Archive (NEA). We have our data sources. Next, what exactly are we looking for? Exoplanets that orbit in the habitable zone (HZ) Exoplanets that have similar radiation levels to...

We’re Going Back to the Moon! Everything You Need to Know About Artemis II

By on Mar 18, 2026 in NASA Missions | 0 comments

It’s been a long road since humans were physically on the Moon. Artemis II is a NASA-led mission where four astronauts will fly to the Moon, orbit it, and return to Earth by gravity alone. This is also called a free-return trajectory, as well as the exact technique that saved the Apollo 13 astronauts. When are we going to the moon? We’re aiming for Artemis II to take flight in April 2026! I’m excited about this mission for many reasons. For one, we’ll see the entire mission to the Moon in high definition and watch with the whole world. To be able to say in my lifetime I’ve seen astronauts land on the Moon was something of a fantasy until late. Putting my curiosity hat back on, I have some questions about this mission: Why are we going back to the Moon now? What are we hoping to learn from this? What happened to going to Mars? Let’s take a look at all...

How will NASA’s DART Mission Save Earth from an Asteroid Impact?

By on Nov 21, 2021 in NASA Missions | 0 comments

Watch DART launch live here: November 24th, 2021 1:20 AM EST (5:20 UTC) Planetary defense has been neglected for a while but finally, there is an awesome NASA mission called DART or Double Asteroid Redirection Test. The main purpose is to practice deflecting asteroids and the way we’re deflecting asteroids is by changing their orbit. DART is unique in a lot of ways and it’s the first major planetary defense mission. It will fly to the asteroid Didymos first, which was discovered in the 90s and identified as a safe target. Then DART will crash a spacecraft into Didymos’ moon called Dimorphus and change its orbit by 1%. And I’m not only excited about this mission but also the fact this asteroid has a moon adds a sci-fi flavor as if we’re in a Star Trek episode. You also don’t have to wait long! It’s launching on November 24th, 2021 aboard...

Russia Shoots Anti-Satellite Missle Test (ASAT) Endangering Astronauts Onboard ISS

By on Nov 16, 2021 in For Your Information | 0 comments

On Monday, November 15th, Russia launched an anti-satellite missile test which created enough debris to endanger the astronauts onboard the International Space Station (ISS). There are two Russian astronauts or cosmonauts onboard the ISS as well. As a result of the debris, all the astronauts took refuge on board a spacecraft from 2 AM EST to 4 AM EST. The ISS orbited around the Earth twice (once every 90 minutes) which also went through or near the plume. Luckily no damage to the ISS or the astronauts. They were given the go-ahead to return back to the ISS where they would continue to monitor the debris and still on high alert. The astronauts also sealed up all the hatches to several modules of the ISS. It’s largely frowned upon to destroy satellites in space as not only could the debris endanger the astronauts on board but also the people on Earth. There are thousands of debris...

What is a Starquake?

By on Oct 2, 2021 in Astrophysical | 0 comments

Scientists have seen all sorts of monsters in the universe and starquakes are phenomena worth mentioning. What is a starquake? Well, from what we know so far, a starquake happens on magnetars which is a type of neutron star that has the strongest magnetic fields in the universe. Magnetars also are the densest stars in the universe with the strongest crust. It may be weird to think of a star with a “crust” because they’re essentially giant balls of gas and plasma. However, that’s just how dense they are. These things are small too — about the size of a town — and when the crust is twisted, cracked slightly, or adjusted in any way you get a starquake! Actually, it’s the same principles on how earthquakes happen — except we’re talking about a monster that could easily wipe out a solar system. Neutron star size and scale of San Francisco. Credit: NASA...

Is SpaceX Worth all the Hype?

By on Aug 10, 2021 in SpaceX | 0 comments

SpaceX is arguably one of the most famous aerospace companies today. Led by billionaire Tony Stark Elon Musk who taught himself rocket science and is the founder and Chief Engineering Officer at SpaceX. They’re flipping the script and inspiring a new generation of scientists and engineers. SpaceX is a relatively young company and was one of the first companies to receive funding from NASA’s new private-sector program. However, the reason why everyone is excited goes much deeper and this is really history in the making. Let’s strap in and take a journey through what SpaceX was up against. SpaceX vs. a 50 Year Old Problem Pilot William H. Dana with X-20 Dyna-Soar Photo credit: Department of Defense The first stop we’re going to is 1957 where the U.S Air Force needed a successor to the X-15. They decided to take 3 separate projects and combine them into the...

NASA Selects Two Historic Missions to Venus

By on Jun 6, 2021 in NASA Missions | 0 comments

We’re going to Venus! NASA has confirmed two amazing missions to go visit our evil twin planet, Venus. As a reminder Venus has temperatures of 900 F (melting lead), 93 bars of crushing pressure, corroding clouds of carbon dioxide laced with sulphuric acid! The missions destined to take this planet on are called DAVINCI+ (Deep Atmosphere Venus Investigation Noble gases, Chemistry, and Imaging) and VERITAS (Venus Emissivity, Radio Science, InSAR, Topography, and Spectroscopy). This is very exciting because of the scarcity of missions that go to Venus. The last time NASA was in 1994 with the spacecraft called Magellan, which mapped the gravitational field of Venus. However, these two missions not only will get up-close again with Venus but will actually land on Venus as well! Both missions are aimed to launch in the 2028-2030 timeframe. It’ll be some time unfortunately for...

10 Amazing Astronomy Discoveries in 2020

By on Dec 30, 2020 in Round Up Post | 0 comments

2020 has been a crazy ride for many reasons but that didn’t slow down our progress in major discoveries. Grab a cup of coffee or tea and check out 10 amazing astronomy discoveries in 2020 (in no particular order). For those who just want the list here you go! Biggest cosmic explosion ever detected and left a huge dent in spaceAstronomers Discover the Universe Expansion May not be UniformScientists Discover that a Class of Stellar Explosions Produce Lithium in the UniverseScientists Discover a New Type of Matter Inside a Neutron StarNew Evidence Suggest that Pluto was Once a Hot PlanetAstronomers have found the Source of Life in the UniverseHayabusa2 Completes Asteroid Sample Mission | OSIRIS-REx Retrieves Sample from Asteroid | China’s Chang’e 5 mission Retrieves Sample from the Moon | UAE Launches First Mission to MarsLargest-ever 3D Map of the Universe Released by...