WhyCosmo

  NASA's Parker Solar Probe is gearing up for its seventh and final Venus flyby on November 6, 2024 . The spacecraft performed a small but critical maneuver on August 26 , adjusting its course to bring it closer to Venus. This final flyby is essential to ensure that the Parker Probe can eventually get within 3.8 million miles of the Sun's surface , closer than ever before. Venus imaged by the Magellan spacecraft. Credit: NASA/JPL The maneuver lasted only 17 seconds , bringing the spacecraft 386 miles closer to its target, allowing Parker to approach 240 miles above Venus' surface. This flyby is critical to using Venus' gravity to tighten the spacecraft's orbit around the Sun. After passing Venus, Parker Solar Probe will break records again, whizzing past the Sun at a mind-blowing 430,000 miles per hour on December 24, 2024 . The current phase of the mission, the 21st orbit , is set to conclude with a solar encounter on September 30, 2024 , coming just 4.51 milli...

  For decades, scientists believed volcanic activity on the Moon ceased around 2 billion years ago . However, surprising new findings suggest that volcanoes on the Moon may have been active much more recently than we thought— just 120 million years ago! Credit:  NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University This shocking discovery comes from analyzing lunar rock and soil samples brought back to Earth by China's Chang'e 5 mission. The samples collected from the Moon's Oceanus Procellarum region revealed volcanic droplets that were much younger than expected. These findings were recently published in the journal Science and have caused quite a stir in the scientific community. But how did volcanic activity on the Moon last this long? The answer may lie beneath the lunar surface. Some areas of the Moon's interior might have been enriched with heat-producing radioactive elements. These elements could have fueled volcanic eruptions long after most of the Moon's surface had coole...

  Galaxies Just Got Bigger! 🌌 Recent breakthroughs have unveiled something astonishing—galaxies, including our Milky Way, are far more extensive than previously thought! For the first time, astronomers have captured an image of the gas halo surrounding a galaxy, and it's a game-changer. This discovery shows that galaxies are not just clusters of stars but massive gas reservoirs extending much farther than imagined. The gas shroud around starburst galaxy IRAS 08339+6517. Credit: Cristy Roberts ANU/ASTRO 3D. Using the Keck Cosmic Web Imager in Hawai'i, scientists studied the galaxy IRAS 08339+6517, located 260 million light-years away. The new imaging reveals that its gas halo stretches to 100,000 light-years, dwarfing the stellar disc, which is just 7,800 light-years across. The study also indicates that the Milky Way already interacts with the Andromeda Galaxy, which lies just 2.5 million light-years away. Gas flows into galaxies along spiralling filaments. This image of a ga...

 As the International Space Station (ISS) nears the end of its glorious operational lifespan, NASA has revealed its bold plan to bring the station back to Earth in a controlled deorbit . After more than two decades of service, contributing to scientific, medical, and commercial space ventures, the ISS will see its final descent by 2031 . The International Space Station, as photographed by astronauts in October 2018. Credit: NASA The ISS, which took 37 U.S. space shuttle flights and five Russian rocket launches to complete, has been a symbol of international collaboration. Over 270 astronauts have visited it, making invaluable contributions to space research. By 2030, NASA will retire the ISS due to aging technology and high operational costs. Among various proposals, NASA has chosen a controlled deorbit, allowing the massive station (the size of a football field) to re-enter Earth's atmosphere and disintegrate safely over the Pacific Ocean. SpaceX will play a critical role by cre...

   In a groundbreaking discovery, scientists have finally pinpointed the  origin of the asteroid  that wiped out the  dinosaurs 66 million years ago . This catastrophic event led to the mass extinction of  70% of Earth's species  and has long puzzled researchers. However, a new study published in  Science  reveals that this deadly asteroid was  not a comet , as previously speculated, but a  rare C-type asteroid  formed beyond  Jupiter's orbit . Credit:- AI Imagination Asteroid's Origin:  The study's lead author, Mario Fischer-Godde, a geochemist from the University of Cologne, used advanced techniques to analyze ruthenium isotopes in sediment samples. These isotopes, which match those in asteroids beyond Jupiter, indicate that the Chicxulub impactor originated from this distant region. Debunking the Comet Theory:  Previous theories suggested a comet might have caused the mass extinction. However, the new findings...