NASA Hubble Space Telescope captures mesmerizing images of Cosmic Reef

The space is filled with mysteries, and no matter how many of them we uncover, finding something new still instills a feeling of awe. That is one of the reasons why space agencies such as NASA invest so much in space exploration. In 2021, it launched the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE), a space observatory with three identical telescopes designed to measure the polarization of cosmic X-rays. Together with the NASA Chandra telescope, it has now discovered a stunning pulsar wind nebula. Named MSH 15-52, it resembles a bony human hand, and NASA is calling it the ‘ghostly cosmic hand'.

Asteroids have posed a threat to Earth with their close approaches throughout history. While most of these ancient space rocks have passed the planet at close proximity, a few of them have impacted Earth, altering the course of history itself. Perhaps the most famous asteroid impact in history is the asteroid which struck Earth 65 million years ago and kicked off the extinction of dinosaurs. Therefore, it is imperative that we discover and study these space rocks up close to minimize any uncertainties around their close approaches and predict any potential impact. This is where NASA's Lucy mission comes in.

Supernova's have been some of the most spectacular space events ever to happen in the Universe. They are massive in nature and even more amazing in terms of their gigantic nature. Now, in a groundbreaking discovery, NASA's Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) telescope has unveiled the mysteries shrouding the historic supernova remnant, SN 1006. The telescope's first-of-its-kind polarized X-ray images have illuminated the enigmatic connection between magnetic fields and the flow of high-energy particles from exploding stars.

Just a couple of days ago, a sneaky solar storm struck the Earth, sparking auroras in the Arctic Circle. The reason for the storm was not known since no coronal mass ejection (CME) was expected to hit the planet. It turned out that a crack opened up in the magnetosphere, allowing solar radiation to easily pass through. Now, another similar incident is on the cards, only at a much higher intensity. A massive hole has opened up on the Sun this time which is releasing a stream of solar winds. It is expected to reach the Earth on October 30, when it can trigger a solar storm, as per the forecast. The NASA Solar Dynamic Observatory images show the hole through which solar winds are escaping.

Recent findings from NASA's Curiosity rover have revealed intriguing evidence of Mars once harboring conditions suitable for life. A team of geologists, utilizing data from Curiosity's explorations, examinations of sedimentary rock beneath the Gulf of Mexico, and computer simulations, have identified signs of ancient river systems in several Martian craters.

A recent study by NASA, involving the observation of an exceptionally bright gamma-ray burst (GRB 230307A) was conducted by a team of scientists using various space and ground-based telescopes, including NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, and Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory.

The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, set to launch around May 2027, will provide a groundbreaking view of the Milky Way Galaxy. This NASA mission aims to monitor hundreds of millions of stars in search of subtle flickers that indicate the presence of celestial objects, including exoplanets, distant stars, icy objects in our solar system, black holes, and more.

Not just the Moon, but NASA has been sending missions to asteroids, other planets, and even other moons in the solar system as of late. The US space agency recently launched the Psyche mission to a metal-rich asteroid, while the collected samples from the Bennu asteroid also returned to Earth last month. It has also been working on the Artemis program, NASA's first manned lunar mission since Apollo 17. However, perhaps the most ambitious mission is the Dragonfly, the first-ever mission to the surface of another ocean world. As part of it, NASA will send a spacecraft to Titan, Jupiter's largest moon.

NASA's Psyche spacecraft has been successfully launched, embarking on a groundbreaking mission to explore an asteroid of the same name, which is a metal-rich world that holds the potential to shed light on the formation of rocky planets.

The James Webb Space Telescope, NASA's cutting-edge space observatory, has made a remarkable discovery in Jupiter's atmosphere, uncovering a previously unseen high-speed jet stream.

When Fractal Space launched in 2019 it joined Portal, the Talos Principle, The Room, and a select few others in an elite circle of universally acclaimed first-person puzzlers. 

Have you ever heard of an event where people from all over Earth gather together just to observe the Moon - virtually? Well, every year NASA organizes International Observe the Moon Night, which is an annual public event and it is sponsored by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Mission, the Solar System Exploration Division at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, and other NASA and astronomical organizations. Know when and where can you watch this Moon event: