Animation of the Apophis asteroid approaching Earth on 13 April 2029.

The blue dots indicate satellites, the lilac line is the ISS orbit.

Apophis will pass from Earth at a distance of only 1/10 the distance to the Moon. The size of the rock is estimated to be between 270 and 340 metres. Previously, astronomers were quite high on the chances of Apophis colliding with Earth, but after more accurate calculations and clarification of the asteroid's orbit, it became clear that the collision will not happen

"Voyager-2" became the second farthest from the Earth, overtaking the "Pioneer-10" 🛰

In early April 2024, the Voyager 2 spacecraft overtook the Pioneer 10 probe to become the second most distant human-made object from Earth. The first place keeps the twin brother of Voyager-2 - automatic interplanetary station Voyager-1.

According to the Heavens-above portal, as of April 4, 2024, Voyager-2 is 136.214 astronomical units (or 20.377 billion kilometres) away from Earth, while Pioneer-10 is 136.193 astronomical units (20.374 billion kilometres) away.

"Pioneer 10", which was launched in 1972 (five years earlier than "Voyager 2") became the first spacecraft in history to cross the asteroid belt and perform a flyby of Jupiter. Communication with the probe was lost in early 2003.

"Voyager-2", which flew near all the giant planets of the solar system, still works and sends scientific data to Earth.

Mars and its large volcanoes in the Mars Express footage 🛰

The transit of Phobos can be seen below left.

How fast does sunlight reach the planets

First-person re-entry🤯

A video clip (with sound) showing the key moments of re-entry and landing of the Varda Space capsule.

Jupiter is the only planet in the solar system that does not revolve around the sun.
Jupiter does not revolve around the sun, but around an empty point in the space between it and the sun. This point is called the barycentre. This is because not only does the Sun exert an influence on Jupiter, but Jupiter, due to its impressive mass, exerts a gravitational influence on the Sun.

Scientists have found alien life with a high probability. Now exoplanet K2-18b is the main contender for the presence of extraterrestrial life.

- James Webb's half a billion dollar telescope is now actively studying the planet.
- On K2-18b have already found signs of life - gas, which on Earth emits only plankton.
- So it's likely to have a water ocean and a hydrogen-rich atmosphere.
- Planet K2-18b is 2 times larger and 8 times heavier than Earth, and the year lasts 33 days.
- The super-Earth is 120 light years away from Earth - that's very close on an astronomical scale.
- If scientists confirm signs of life, we could be in for the biggest discovery in history

If you photograph the Sun at the same time from the same angle during the year, its location in the sky will always be different.

The path described by the Sun during the year has the shape of a figure eight. This phenomenon is called analemma.

The highest position of the Sun on analemma corresponds to the summer solstice, the lowest - the winter solstice. Position in the middle of the "eight" sun takes twice a year, in mid-April and at the end of August.

Pluto's icy mountains and plains captured by the New Horizons spacecraft in July 2015 ❄️

The spacecraft was about 18,000 kilometres away from Pluto, about 15 minutes after its maximum approach to the dwarf planet.

Neptune has made only one revolution around the Sun since its discovery

Neptune is the most distant planet in the solar system. It was discovered in 1846. It was the first planet discovered using maths: astronomers noticed that Uranus had deviated from its calculated orbit, which allowed them to assume the existence of another planet and then find it.
An orbital year lasts 164.8 Earth years

The sizes of the planets, Sun and Moon visible from Earth

How flames behave in microgravity conditions

Understanding fire behaviour in weightlessness is critical to astronaut safety and spacecraft design

Flying over the boundary of day and night on the International Space Station

Incredible view of Earth from orbit