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Universe Today

Two space telescopes see Saturn in a different light

Views of Saturn captured by JWST (left) and Hubble (right).
NASA's James Webb Space Telescope acquired the infrared view of Saturn at left on Nov. 29, 2024. The Hubble Space Telescope's corresponding visible-light view, at right, was captured on Aug. 22, 2024. Credits: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Amy Simon (NASA-GSFC), Michael Wong (UC Berkeley); Image Processing: Joseph DePasquale (STScI)

NASA is serving up a double scoop of delicious Saturn imagery in two flavors — near-infrared and visible light. The subtle differences between the James Webb Space Telescope’s infrared view and the Hubble Space Telescope’s visible-light view can help scientists dig deeper into the workings of the ringed planet’s atmosphere.

Both images were captured in the latter half of 2024 and released today. The Hubble image, produced as part of a 12-year-long monitoring program known as the Outer Planet Atmospheres Legacy, shows Saturn’s bands of clouds roughly as they’d appear to the naked eye.

In the JWST image, it’s easier to make out a long-lived jet stream known as the “Ribbon Wave” at northern mid-latitudes. Just below the wave, there’s a whitish speck that represents the remnant of the “Great Springtime Storm,” an atmospheric disturbance that made a huge impression from 2010 to 2012. Other storms show up as pockmarks in the clouds of the southern hemisphere.

Saturn’s poles take on a gray-green glint in the color-coded infrared view, which indicates light emissions in wavelengths around 4.3 microns. NASA says that could be due to a layer of high-altitude aerosols in Saturn’s atmosphere that scatters light differently at those latitudes. Auroral activity could serve as an alternate explanation.

The two images provide different views of Saturn’s rings as well. In JWST’s infrared view, the rings appear brighter due to the light reflected by water ice. The infrared view clearly shows the outermost ring, known as the F ring, which glows only slightly in the Hubble view.

Some of Saturn’s more than 250 moons make cameo appearances in the the images. You can make out Titan, Janus, Dione, Enceladus, Mimas and Tethys in JWST’s wide-angle view, while Hubble’s view highlights Janus, Epimetheus and Mimas (plus Mimas’ shadow).

These pictures were taken as Saturn approached last year’s equinox, and the views will keep changing with the seasons. “As Saturn transitions into southern spring, and later southern summer in the 2030s, Hubble and Webb will have progressively better views of that hemisphere,” NASA says in today’s image advisory.

Wide-angle JWST view of Saturn and its moons
A wide-angle version of the James Webb Space Telescope’s view of Saturn shows Titan, Janus, Dione, Enceladus, Mimas and Tethys. Click on the image for a larger version. Credits: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI; Image Processing: Joseph DePasquale (STScI)

Hubble image of Saturn and moons
The Hubble Space Telescope’s view of Saturn also shows Janus, Mimas and Epimetheus, three of the ringed planet’s moons. Click on the image for a larger version. Credits: Image: NASA, ESA, STScI, Amy Simon (NASA-GSFC), Michael Wong (UC Berkeley); Image Processing: Joseph DePasquale (STScI)

This report was published on Universe Today with the headline “NASA’s Webb and Hubble Telescopes Look at Saturn in a Different Light.” Licensed for republication under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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Universe Today

NASA pivots to moon base and nuclear Mars mission

Illustration: Space Reactor-1 approaching Mars
An artist's conception shows Space Reactor-1 Freedom approaching Mars. (NASA via YouTube)

NASA’s leaders today laid out an ambitious multibillion-dollar space exploration plan that calls for building a moon base over the next decade and launching a nuclear-powered probe to Mars by 2028.

The space agency is also pressing the pause button on its multibillion-dollar plan to create a moon-orbiting outpost known as the lunar Gateway, and on its plan for transitioning from the International Space Station to commercial outposts in low Earth orbit.

Instead, NASA says it aims to work with commercial partners to procure a government-owned Core Module for the ISS. That module would serve as the attachment point for commercial space modules that could eventually detach to become free-flying space stations.

Meanwhile, the Power and Propulsion Element that was designed for the Gateway would be repurposed for the Mars probe known as Space Reactor-1 Freedom. SR-1 Freedom would be powered by a nuclear electric propulsion system and drop off a payload capable of deploying three helicopters in the Martian atmosphere. Such a mission, known as Skyfall, builds on the success of NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter on Mars and parallels a concept proposed last year by AeroVironment.

NASA is aiming to launch SR-1 Freedom, land astronauts on the lunar surface with its Artemis 4 mission and start laying the groundwork for a moon base with Artemis 5 by the end of 2028, when President Donald Trump’s term in office comes to a close.

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GeekWire

Blue Origin jumps into the data center space race

Image: Satellite web
An artist’s conception shows a constellation of satellites in orbit. (Credit: OneWeb)

Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin space venture is asking the Federal Communications Commission for authority to send up to 51,600 data center satellites into low Earth orbit, signaling its entry into an increasingly crowded space race.

The proposed constellation, dubbed Project Sunrise, would complement Blue Origin’s previously announced plans for a 5,408-satellite TeraWave constellation. TeraWave would provide ultra-high-speed connectivity for Project Sunrise’s satellites — and for terrestrial data centers, large-scale enterprises and government customers as well.

Once again, Bezos is competing with Elon Musk’s SpaceX, which is seeking the FCC’s approval for a constellation of data centers that could amount to a million satellites. And SpaceX has already taken notice. So has Redmond, Wash.-based Starcloud, which is working on its own plans for a data center network that could call for tens of thousands of satellites.

Tech companies are becoming increasingly interested in fielding orbital data centers because such networks could bypass the power and cooling constraints facing Earth-based AI data centers. Last October, Bezos said at a tech conference in Italy that orbital data centers would be the “next step” in a transition from Earth-based to space-based industry. “We will be able to beat the cost of terrestrial data centers in space in the next couple of decades,” he said.

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Cosmic Space

NASA’s moon rocket returns to launch pad after tune-up

Nighttime rollout of SLS rocket on mobile launcher
NASA's Space Launch System rocket rolls out from the Vehicle Assembly Building in Florida. (NASA Photo)

It took longer than expected, but NASA’s Space Launch System rocket is back on its launch pad in preparation for sending four astronauts on a historic round-the-moon mission as early as next month.

The 322-foot-tall SLS rocket, topped by NASA’s Orion crew capsule, began rolling out from the Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 12:20 a.m. ET March 20 (9:20 p.m. PT March 19). The start of the trip was delayed by more than four hours due to concerns about high winds in the area.

NASA’s rocket and its massive mobile launcher made the 4-mile trek to Launch Complex 39B in 11 hours, traveling at a top speed of less than 1 mph. The trip required the use of a crawler-transporter — the same vehicle used for the Apollo and space shuttle programs, now upgraded for NASA’s Artemis moon program.

The Apollo connection is particularly fitting because this mission, known as Artemis 2, will mark the first time since Apollo 17 in 1972 that astronauts have been sent around the moon. No landing will be made this time around, but the crew is due to go about 4,700 miles beyond the moon’s orbit during their 10-day mission. That would set a new distance record for human spaceflight.

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GeekWire

Portal teams up with Paladin for orbital trash disposal

Illustration: Triton-equipped Starburst and Supernova spacecraft in orbit.
An artist's conception shows Portal Space Systems' Starburst spacecraft at left and its larger Supernova platform in the distance at right, both outfitted with Paladin Space's Triton payload for orbital debris tracking and removal. (Portal Space Systems Illustration)

Bothell, Wash.-based Portal Space Systems is partnering with an Australian venture called Paladin Space on a commercial service that would round up and dispose of potentially dangerous orbital debris.

The concept — known as Debris Removal as a Service, or DRAAS — is meant to address one of the most pernicious problems facing spacecraft operators: how to dodge tens of thousands of pieces of space junk that are zipping through Earth orbit.

Since its founding in 2021, Portal has been focusing on the development of maneuverable orbital vehicles that could rendezvous with other satellites, either for servicing or for disposal. Its flagship is the Supernova in-space mobility platform, which will be equipped with an innovative solar thermal propulsion system. There’ll also be a smaller version of the spacecraft, called Starburst.

Starburst-1 is due for launch as early as this year, and Supernova is scheduled to make its debut in 2027.

Meanwhile, Paladin Space has been working on a reusable payload called Triton, which is designed to track and capture tumbling pieces of orbital debris that are less than 1 meter (3 feet) in size. That small-to-medium size category accounts for most of the debris that’s being tracked in orbit.

“Triton is built to remove dozens of those objects in a single mission, which fundamentally changes the cost structure of debris remediation and provides the greatest benefit to satellite operators,” Paladin CEO Harrison Box said today in a news release.

The Portal-Paladin partnership calls for installing Triton hardware on Starburst spacecraft. Portal’s orbital platform would go out in search of space junk, and Paladin’s payload would grab the debris. When Triton’s trash bin is full, it would be dropped off for safe disposal while the spacecraft remains in orbit for continued servicing.

The companies are targeting an initial deployment in 2027, focusing on heavily trafficked bands of low Earth orbit. Future missions may use Supernova’s added capabilities to service a wider variety of orbits.

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Universe Today

CERN adds a new particle to subatomic menagerie

Artist's graphical conception of Xi-cc-plus particle
An artist’s impression shows the newly discovered subatomic particle, with two charm quarks and one down quark. (Credit: CERN)

The Large Hadron Collider’s subatomic discoveries didn’t stop with the Higgs boson: This week, scientists at Europe’s CERN research center announced that the collider’s LHCb experiment has detected a doubly charmed particle that’s like a proton, but four times as weighty.

The particle is known as the Ξcc⁺, or “Xi-cc-plus.” It flashes in and out of existence in less than the blink of an eye, but just knowing that it exists — and knowing how massive it is — could give physicists a more solid sense of how matter is put together.

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Universe Today

Scientists find evidence of faraway worlds colliding

Illustration: Star with two planets colliding in orbit
An artist's conception shows a planetary collision around a star called Gaia20ehk. (Credit: Andy Tzanidakis / Univ. of Washington)

Astronomers say unusual readings from a star system 11,000 light-years away suggest that two of the planets circling the star crashed into each other, creating a huge, light-obscuring cloud of rocks and dust.

The analysis, laid out this week in a paper published by The Astrophysical Journal Letters, could provide new insights into the occasionally cataclysmic process that governs the evolution of planetary objects — including our own planet Earth and its moon.

“There are only a few other planetary collisions of any kind on record, and none that bear so many similarities to the impact that created the Earth and moon,” University of Washington graduate student Anastasios Tzanidakis, the study’s lead author, said in a news release. “If we can observe more moments like this elsewhere in the galaxy, it will teach us lots about the formation of our world.”

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Fiction Science Club

AI could make alien contact easier for ‘Project Hail Mary’

Production still from "Project Hail Mary," showing astronaut silhouetted against green and orange planet
An astronaut ventures outside his spacecraft near an alien planet in a scene from "Project Hail Mary." (Sony Pictures / Amazon MGM)

“Project Hail Mary,” a science-fiction novel that’s just been turned into a big-budget, big-screen movie, tells the story of an unlikely astronaut who unexpectedly encounters an alien during a desperate mission to save their respective civilizations.

The astronaut (played by Ryan Gosling in the movie) and the alien have to figure out on the spot whether they’re friends or foes. They also have to come up with a translation system that can accommodate two completely different ways of communicating.

That all makes for a do-or-die space drama reminiscent of “Apollo 13” — but the day is fast approaching when advances in astronomy and artificial intelligence could take a lot of the drama out of alien contact.

Seth Shostak, senior astronomer for the SETI Institute, says he wouldn’t be at all surprised if our first encounter with aliens came in the form of AI-to-AI contact.

“My guess is that the aliens are going to be machines, because that’s what we’re doing, right?” he says in the latest episode of the Fiction Science podcast. “We’re just in the early days of building machines that can do things that humans have had to do in the past. I’m sure that 100 years from now, the most capable intelligence on this planet will not be some sort of soft and squishy biological thing. That’s going to be a machine. And so, if we hear the aliens, I suspect that it’s more than likely that they, too, will be machines.”

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Universe Today

Phew! NASA rules out asteroid smashup on the moon

Graphical comparison of 2024 YR4 lunar impact probabilities as of June 2025 and March 2026
An animated image shows how NASA has refined the probability of a 2032 lunar impact by asteroid 2024 YR4. The first image shows the range of the asteroid's potential locations based on observations made in the spring of 2025 (4.3% impact probability). The second image shows potential locations based on observations made in 2026 (zero percent probability). Credit: NASA / JPL Center for Near-Earth Object Studies.

Here’s one less thing to worry about — or to look forward to: NASA has ruled out any chance that an asteroid called 2024 YR4 will hit the moon in 2032. Last year, the uncertainty surrounding the space rock’s orbital path held out a slight chance of impact, but fresh observations from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope confirm that it’ll be a miss.

Based on JWST’s readings, which were collected on Feb. 18 and 26, experts from NASA’s Center for Near-Earth Object Studies at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory say they expect 2024 YR4 to zoom past the lunar surface at a distance of 13,200 miles on Dec. 22, 2032.

Previous analyses of 2024 YR4’s orbital path were less precise, and had suggested that the asteroid had a 4.3% chance of lunar impact in 2032.

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GeekWire

A quick guide to the total lunar eclipse — and the weather

Three views of total lunar eclipse from March 14, 2025
A photo sequence shows the total lunar eclipse of March 14, 2025. (Sky & Telescope Photo / Edwin L. Aguirre and Imelda B. Joson).

Tonight’s full moon will turn into a red moon during the last total lunar eclipse we’ll be able to see for the next two years — but whether we’ll truly be able to see it with our own eyes depends on the weather. And that’s an iffy proposition for Pacific Northwest skywatchers.

The good news is that total lunar eclipses, unlike a total solar eclipse, can be seen from an entire hemisphere at a time. They occur when the orbital mechanics are just right for Earth to pass directly between the moon and the sun. For about an hour, Earth’s shadow blots out the sun’s rays, except for reddish wavelengths that are refracted by our planet’s atmosphere. That’s what lends the moon its blood-red color.

Tonight’s eclipse begins with a barely discernable penumbral phase at around 1:30 a.m. PT March 3, gets into its partial phase at 1:50 a.m. and enters totality at 3:04 a.m. The eclipse’s total phase ends at 4:03 a.m., and the partial phase winds down over the following hour or two.

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