compiled by Arlene & David Kaplan

Telescopes and Instrumentation As set out in its convention, ESO provides state-of-the-art-facilities for Europe’s astronomers and promotes and organises cooperation in astronomical research. Today, ESO operates some of the world’s largest and most advanced observational facilities at three sites in northern Chile: La Silla, Paranal and Chajnantor…more

Dark sky: Could Wales soon be home to four zones? A swathe of the north-east Wales uplands could soon be recognised as a hotspot for gazing at the stars. The Clwydian Range and Dee Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) plans to submit a bid for global recognition as a dark sky zone…more

A Doodle Reveals da Vinci’s Early Deconstruction of Gravity Long before Galileo and Newton used superior mathematics to study a fundamental natural force, Leonardo calculated the gravitational constant with surprising accuracy…more

New Auroras Found Glowing in the Skies of Jupiter’s Moons A sightseeing alien touring our solar system would do well to check out the emerald and blood orange-red ribbons of Earth’s auroras. But our world isn’t the only one with spectacular light shows in its atmosphere. New research shows auroras can also be seen on the Galilean moons of Jupiter…more

Killer Asteroids Are Hiding in Plain Sight. A New Tool Helps Spot Them. Ed Lu wants to save Earth from killer asteroids. Or at least, if there is a big space rock streaking our way, Dr. Lu, a former NASA astronaut with a doctorate in applied physics, wants to find it before it hits us — hopefully with years of advance warning and a chance for humanity to deflect it…more

Webb Telescope Spots a Distant Spiral Galaxy Like Our Own In the unfathomable darkness and time that is the universe, every star is an omen of hope, a promise of life and shelter, like the lights of a distant ship on a cold sea. And so, courtesy of the James Webb Space Telescope, here is another reminder of the fecundity and generosity of nature: thousands of galaxies…more

Nasa’s Mars rover Perseverance completes rock depot Nasa’s Perseverance rover has finished building a rock depot on Mars. It’s laid down a series of tubes on the ground containing a variety of rock and environmental specimens. The depot will serve as a reserve cache to be brought back to Earth in the event Perseverance is unable to complete the next stage of its mission…more

There’s a Ring Around This Dwarf Planet. It Shouldn’t Be There. A small icy world far beyond Neptune possesses a ring like the ones around Saturn. Perplexingly, the ring is at a distance where simple gravitational calculations suggest there should be none. “That’s very strange,” said Bruno Morgado, a professor at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. Dr. Morgado is the lead author…more

James Webb telescope traces arcs of dusty star formation It’s another stupendous image from the new super space telescope James Webb. The picture shows NGC 346, a region about 200,000 light years from Earth where a lot of stars are being created.Webb’s Near Infrared Camera traces the knots, arcs and filaments of gas and dust that are feeding this stellar nursery….more

Space and Astronomy: What to Expect in 2023 As years in space and astronomy go, 2022 is going to be a tough act to follow. NASA wowed us with cosmic scenes captured by the James Webb Space Telescope. The DART mission slammed an asteroid into a new orbit. Artemis I set humanity on a course back to the moon. China finished building a new space station in orbit…more