Teaching the beautiful and inspirational science of astronomy using only the conceptual framework offered by a traditional textbook – without incorporating the wealth of incredible resources, images and activities from NASA – falls short of the more modern, active learning experience that could better serve students evolving learning strategies. Three project teams from the NASA
Solar energy, at any time of day or night — that’s the dream of space mirror projects. Futurists have been imagining satellite mirrors that could reflect the sun’s light onto the Earth’s surface for over a century. Russian scientists experimented with the concept in the ’90s with the Znamya project. The idea is to put
The Lovell Telescope at Jodrell Bank, UK, faces closure if alternative funding is not secured.Credit: Christopher Furlong/Getty A growing clamour of voices is calling for the United Kingdom’s new prime minister, Andy Burnham, to reinstate funding for the iconic Lovell radio telescope, at the Jodrell Bank Observatory, near Manchester. UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), the
The 2026 astronomical calendar features only four eclipses. But August is a bounty of riches, with two set to occur. They include a full solar eclipse on August 12 and a partial lunar eclipse on August 27 and 28. Catch one—or both—of these eclipses if you can: They’ll be the last ones of 2026, as
To test these new ideas, researchers are exploring the infant universe through simulations. “There’s actually been really remarkable progress since Webb launched, really in the last year or so, on numerical simulations,” Somerville told attendees, adding that these new simulations “perhaps are more appropriate and more informative for interpreting observations in the high-redshift universe.” As
Astronomers have confirmed for the first time the existence of a rocky planet with an atmosphere that is also located in what is known as the habitable zone. Located 48 light-years away, the exoplanet (that is, a planet outside our solar system) may be the most similar to Earth that researchers have found. If it’s