NYT > Science > Space & Cosmos

by Joshua Sokol on 2020-02-25 in Whales and Whaling, Sun, Magnets and Magnetism, Fish and Other Marine Life, Space and Astronomy, Current Biology (Journal), Walkowicz, Lucianne, Granger, Jesse, Research, your-feed-science

A collaboration between biologists and an astronomer sought to add evidence to the idea that whale migration is affected by solar weather.

by Margalit Fox on 2020-02-24 in Johnson, Katherine (1918- ), Discrimination, Race and Ethnicity, Women and Girls, Space and Astronomy, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race (Book), Mathematics, Black People, Documentary Films and Programs

She was one of a group of black women mathematicians at NASA and its predecessor who were celebrated in the 2016 movie “Hidden Figures.”

by Katharine Q. Seelye on 2020-02-21 in Montgomery, Julius (1929-2020), Deaths (Obituaries), Black People, Cape Canaveral (Fla), Space and Astronomy, National Aeronautics and Space Administration

In the Jim Crow South, he was the first black professional to be hired at Cape Canaveral, then made a sacrifice so that a technology school might open.

by Kenneth Chang on 2020-02-18 in United Arab Emirates, Mars (Planet), Rocket Science and Propulsion, Space and Astronomy, University of Colorado, Dubai (United Arab Emirates), Science and Technology, Engineering and Engineers, Research, al-Amiri, Sarah

The United Arab Emirates used a novel approach to build the Hope spacecraft, which launches for the red planet this summer.

by Nicholas St. Fleur on 2020-02-18 in Mars (Planet), Moon, Space and Astronomy, Planets, Solar System, California, Los Angeles (Calif)

In what is known as an occultation, Mars will briefly be blocked by the moon on Tuesday morning.

by Dennis Overbye on 2020-02-17 in Stars and Galaxies, Space and Astronomy, Sun, European Southern Observatory, Montarges, Miguel, your-feed-science

The red supergiant is no closer to exploding, it seems. It also no longer appears round.

by Dennis Overbye on 2020-02-17 in Books and Literature, Physics, Space and Astronomy, Stars and Galaxies, Black Holes (Space), Greene, Brian, Until the End of Time: Mind, Matter, and Our Search for Meaning in an Evolving Universe (Book)

In “Until the End of Time,” the best-selling physicist Brian Greene explains how the universe will dissolve and what it all meant.

by Kenneth Chang on 2020-02-10 in Solar Orbiter (Spacecraft), Sun, European Space Agency, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Space and Astronomy, Earth, Rocket Science and Propulsion, Parker Solar Probe (Spacecraft)

The NASA-European Space Agency spacecraft, which launched Sunday, will spend the next decade closely observing the sun.

by Mary Robinette Kowal on 2020-02-10 in Koch, Christina H, Women and Girls, Space and Astronomy, International Space Station, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Records and Achievements, Meir, Jessica (1977- ), Ride, Sally K, Whitson, Peggy

The astronaut completed three all-female spacewalks and set a record for time in space, but you should remember her for much more.

by Kenneth Chang on 2020-02-07 in Boeing Company, Rocket Science and Propulsion, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Software, Aviation Accidents, Safety and Disasters, Space and Astronomy, Private Spaceflight

A software glitch that could have destroyed the capsule was fixed in orbit, during an uncrewed December test flight that had already gone awry.

by Shannon Hall on 2020-02-07 in OneWeb Inc, Satellites, Space and Astronomy, Radio Spectrum, Telescopes and Observatories, Space Exploration Technologies Corp, Regulation and Deregulation of Industry, Private Spaceflight, National Radio Astronomy Observatory, Federal Communications Commission, Starlink, Research

Like SpaceX, the company aims to build a constellation of internet satellites, but its orbiters could interfere with telescopes on Earth.

by Shannon Hall on 2020-02-01 in your-feed-science

The smoldering crater left by the apocalyptic space rock became a nice home for blue-green algae within years of the impact.

by Mihir Zaveri on 2020-01-31 in Private Spaceflight, Rocket Science and Propulsion, Fashion and Apparel, Documentary Films and Programs, Space Exploration Technologies Corp, Maezawa, Yusaku, Japan, Dating and Relationships, Moon, Zozotown, AbemaTV

Yusaku Maezawa had posted an advertisement seeking a woman to go with him on a SpaceX flight around the moon. He said he canceled the search for “personal reasons” and apologized.

by Adam Mann on 2020-01-30 in Telescopes and Observatories, Space and Astronomy, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Stars and Galaxies, Planets, James Webb Space Telescope, spitzer space telescope, your-feed-science

NASA’s Spitzer space telescope spotted 7 Earth-size worlds orbiting another star, a new ring around Saturn and many more wonders in space.

by Yulia Grigoryants and Dennis Overbye on 2020-01-27 in Space and Astronomy, Physics, Particle Accelerators, Armenia, Mount Aragats (Armenia), your-feed-science, your-feed-photojournalism

Decades ago, Armenian scientists built a high-elevation trap to catch and study cosmic rays. Physics has mostly moved on, but the station persists — a ghost observatory with a skeleton crew.

by Michael Roston on 2020-01-24 in Space and Astronomy, Private Spaceflight, Rocket Science and Propulsion, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, European Space Agency, Boeing Company, Blue Origin, OneWeb Inc, Space Exploration Technologies Corp, Starlink, Virgin Galactic, Bezos, Jeffrey P, United Arab Emirates, India, Israel, Japan, China, Russia, Moon, Mars (Planet), Sun, Mars 2020 (Mars Rover), Satellites, International Space Station, Comets

A year full of highs and lows in space just ended, and the 12 months to come will be full of new highlights in orbit and beyond.

by Ben Kenigsberg on 2020-01-23 in Movies, Museums, Art, Space and Astronomy, Classical Music, 2001: A Space Odyssey (Movie), Kubrick, Stanley, Museum of the Moving Image

A jumble of memorabilia, storyboards and props, an exhibit illustrates the whirl of influences behind Stanley Kubrick’s groundbreaking 1968 film.

by Katherine Kornei on 2020-01-21 in Asteroids, Australia, Geology, Ice Age, Space and Astronomy, Nature Communications (Journal), Erickson, Timmons, your-feed-science

The cataclysm, which occurred roughly 2.2 billion years ago, might have catapulted the planet out of an ice age.

by Nicholas St. Fleur on 2019-12-26 in Comets, Stars and Galaxies, Telescopes and Observatories, Earth, Space and Astronomy, Solar System, Hubble Space Telescope, Christmas

Seeing Comet Borisov won’t be easy for the typical sky gazer, but astronomers still have a lot to learn from this extrasolar tourist.

by Kenneth Chang on 2019-12-07 in Space and Astronomy, Moon, Indian Space Research Organization, National Aeronautics and Space Administration

The Indian space agency has been tight-lipped about the fate of Vikram, but crowdsourcing and NASA’s openness led to its discovery.