Comet in hand.

📷 Author of the photo: Eric Mulvin.

At the Astronautics Congress in Milan, China presented a soil sample from the back side of the Moon ⚪️

It is 75 mg of regolith collected by the Chang'e-6 mission. This is the first time such a sample has been demonstrated outside China.

Studies have shown that the soil on the back side of the Moon is different from the soil on the front side.

Astronomers have discovered an ancient region in the Milky Way 12.5 billion years old 💫

This part of the galaxy, made up of ancient stars, has preserved a structure called "Pangu". It represents a remnant from an early stage of our galaxy's formation that absorbed and merged with other galaxies.

These ancient stars make up just 0.2 per cent of the Milky Way's mass. Their presence poses new mysteries for astronomers about the early history of our galaxy.

Polar Lights on 7 October 2024 as seen from the International Space Station ✨

☀️🚀 The Sun has reached its maximum activity in the current cycle - NASA.

Approximately every 11 years, the star's magnetic poles switch places and the Sun comes out of its quiescent state - the star's natural processes begin to have a greater impact on the operation of Earth's satellites, communication and navigation systems, radio, GPS and power grid.

Researchers suggest that the peak phase will last for about another year, after which the Sun will enter a decline phase.

Astronomers have discovered a black hole located 12 billion light-years from Earth, with a mass 17 billion times greater than the sun's 🌌 times the mass of the Earth

This black hole has an incredible appetite, consuming mass equal to the sun's every day.
If the Earth were in its gravitational field, it would be swallowed up in just 0.26 seconds.

Stellar life cycles

Excellent interpretation of gravitational interactions in our galaxy 💫

Humans are unable to feel gravitational waves, but we can process them so that we can hear them.

The Psyche spacecraft has separated from the upper stage of the Falcon Heavy rocket 🚀

Reaching asteroid Psyche will take 59 months and 3.6bn kilometres.

The James Webb telescope may have detected the first brown dwarfs outside the Milky Way in the vicinity of the Small Magellanic Cloud ☀️

These objects, too massive for planets but not massive enough for stars, number about three thousand in our galaxy. Studying these objects, 200,000 light-years from Earth, will provide a better understanding of star formation processes in environments other than the solar system.

Changes to spacecraft cabin design 🚀

The video demonstrates the significant distance between the Earth and the Moon ⚪️

The average distance is about 384,400 km, but it can fluctuate due to the elliptical orbit of the Moon.

At the minimum distance (perigee) The moon is 363,228 km away, and at its maximum (apogee) it is 405,400 km from Earth.

Saturn's rings, visible in the infrared spectrum, are significantly larger than those we observe in the visible range 🪐

Their size is twice the visible part. This suggests that the rings we see are only a part of the entire ring system.

Falcon Heavy rocket will launch the Europa Clipper mission 🚀

The mission aims to study Jupiter's satellite Europa, where there may be an ocean beneath the surface.

The AMS Europa Clipper is NASA's largest science probe designed for interplanetary exploration. The "Messages in a Bottle" campaign will send the names of 2,620,852 people recorded on a chip aboard the probe.

Visualisation of Earth's evolution over 4.5 billion years 🌍

Neptune's largest satellite, Triton, has an unusual retrograde orbit, that is, it moves in the opposite direction to the rotation of the planet 🔵

Triton is also home to icy volcanoes that spew out fountains of water and ammonia, forming impressive plumes. In addition to volcanoes, nitrogen geysers have been found on Triton.

Sunrise on Mars

How big would a meteorite have to be for it to completely wipe humanity off the face of the Earth? ☄️

According to scientists, a meteorite with a diameter of 100 kilometres could completely destroy us and leave us no chance of survival.

A flight to Mars takes about 9 months (about 270 days), provided the flight path is optimised to save fuel 🚀

This is possible because every 26 months, Earth and Mars come closer together, reducing the distance between them to 57 million kilometres (compared to a maximum distance of 401 million kilometres).