Cosmic expansion, the day the universe turned

In early July, the Euclid Space Observatory set off to study two of the current great mysteries of the universe: dark matter and dark energy, which are responsible for accelerating cosmic expansion. Ciel & Espace Magazine File 590 details and sheds light on the objectives of this European mission. On newsstands July 12.

Sky & Space 590 contents / August-September 2023

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Special issue of Star Nights, with Sky Map

On August 11, 12 and 13, 2023, Starry Nights invites the public to admire the Perseids’ towering stars and discover astronomy. the magazine sky and space Offers an issue of Starry Nights Map to find your way between the constellations of summer sky observation tips.

Cosmic Expansion: The Day the Universe Flipped

Why did the young universe, which was then being contained by gravity, suddenly see itself drifting away in an accelerating expansion? For 25 years we have resisted this great cosmic mystery. The European space mission Euclid launches in early July to solve it.

Investigation: Satellite data shed light on mystery of MH 370

What happened to the Boeing Malaysia Airlines plane that mysteriously disappeared on March 8, 2014? Three experts in the air studied the rare satellite data available on Flight MH370. Nine years later, their analysis revealed an entirely new scenario that intersects with Malaysian police findings.

A shepherd presents a heavenly treasure to the museum

On February 13, 2023, an asteroid broke up over Normandy. The largest meteorite from this extraordinary fall was bought from its discoverer by a British businessman to keep in France.

And also:

• Discovery The moon has a heart of iron
• The Zhurong rover smelled of liquid water in the recent past Mars
• We saw ashes The first stars in the universe
• file: ApolloShadow heroes
• Funny Ideas: Cooling the Earth with Moon Dust
• First contact: M 17, f Omega Nebula
• note : Another look at the Milky Way

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at the speed of light – sky and space #590

Did I say Blitzar…?

They only last a few milliseconds and take a lot of luck to spot. But the origin of the fast radio bursts is becoming clearer.

Heavenly generosity

Finally, there will be a crater on the territory of the Domaine du Météore, north of Béziers. Anyway, this is what two geologists from Goethe University (Frankfurt) said during the 54th Congress of Planetary and Lunar Sciences …

Hakuto crashes on the moon

She will have time to send us a beautiful postcard of the Earth rising above the Moon. But no more. If it touched down on our satellite on April 25, 2023, the Japanese probe Hakuto-R and its two rovers have not given any sign of life since then.

Australian Eclipse Souvenir

any offer ! On April 20, 2023, a hybrid solar eclipse was awarded to Oceania. In other words, loop, gross, then loop again.

2 grams of the moon

On an official visit to Beijing, Emmanuel Macron was presented with two samples of lunar rocks collected by the Chinese probe Chang’e 5. No excess baggage was paid upon return: they weigh about 1 gram each.

Back to school

Sophie Adenot, Rafael Leygua, Rosemary Kogan, Marco Sieber, and Pablo Alvarez Fernandez have started their training at the European Astronautics Centre! See you in a few years, on the International Space Station or around the Moon?

The chaos around the mouth of the whale

The James Webb Space Telescope, which aimed at this young, 400-million-year-old star, detected three belts of debris, likely traces of a collision between two planets. Fomalhaut’s immediate environment is a planetary factory in full fizz, 25 light-years away from us.

Life struggles

One thinks that life is only a property of the Earth. For the other, on the contrary, there is no reason to think that we are alone in the universe. Scientists Jean-Pierre Peppering and Nathalie Cabrol had a discussion in early May in Turin. We were there!

Arnaud Prost trusts

He is the third French astronaut currently fit to go into space. Arnaud Prost, 30, explains his role as reserve astronaut for the International Space Agency and shares his hopes with us.

Blue Origin on Artemis 5

a surprise ! Two years after being fired by NASA in favor of Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos is back in the race for the moon. His company, Blue Origin, will not produce landers for the Artemis 3 and 4 missions, which have been transferred to SpaceX, but it will inherit the Artemis 5 company.

Special mission to the International Space Station

The crew of Axiom-2, the company’s second 100% private mission of the same name, entered the International Space Station on May 22. Its members include the record-holder for life in space (Peggy Whitson) and the first Saudi female astronaut (Rayana Barnawi).

Supernova in Ursa Major

Spotted on May 19 by Japanese astronomer Koichi Itagaki, SN 2023ixf is the closest starburst in the past five years! It is also the second in fifteen years in the M101 galaxy.

Saturn is better and better surrounded

Saturn now has 145 known satellites. Already 62 new moons have been discovered thanks to the CFHT telescope in Hawaii. Their long, highly inclined orbit indicates that they were captured by the ringed planet.

record in orbit

Overpopulation in weightlessness? On May 30, 17 people simultaneously orbited the Earth for a few hours. the first.

The meteorite in the museum

All that is good ends well. Despite the risk of being sold for shredding, the bulk of the car that fell in Normandy on February 13, 2023 joined the National Museum of Natural History. This meteorite is very precious!

The return of Betelgeuse

After grabbing the headlines in 2020, Betelgeuse returned to the top of the bill in the spring. At the end of May 2023, it reached a record luminosity level of 150% of its average luminosity.

The first test of a space solar power station

The Space Solar Power Demonstrator (SSPD), launched into orbit in January 2023, has managed to transmit electrical energy from space to Earth in the form of a microwave beam. The figure is still modest: 200 megawatts. this is the beginning.

It is phosphorous on Enceladus

The ocean of Enceladus contains phosphorous, which is an important element in the functioning of living organisms. More than ever before, this discovery makes Saturn’s icy moon a destination for exobiology.

Mercury fingerprint

Near Castellane, in Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, fossil deposits hold the memory of an event that occurred 117 million years ago. An event that illustrates the chaotic nature of the orbit of Mercury, the smallest planet in the solar system, as geologist Sala Bolella explains in our podcast.