Massimo Luciani

The fading light of supernova SN 2025kg, followed by the fast X-ray transient EP 250108a, as seen by the Gemini North and South telescopes

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Two articles accepted for publication in “The Astrophysical Journal Letters” report different aspects of the study of supernova SN 2025kg, which generated a so-called fast X-ray transient, a little-known event that in this case was cataloged as EP 250108a. This type of event has now been described as a sort of stifled-at-birth version of a gamma-ray burst.

Two teams of researchers with several members in common used data collected by two instruments on the Einstein Probe space telescope and other instruments to analyze the emissions from this supernova. This allowed them to propose an explanation for the fast X-ray transients (FXTs) and how they differ from gamma-ray bursts.

Interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS

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Several scientific organizations have announced the detection of what appears to be an interstellar comet, which has consequently received the designation 3I/ATLAS. It could be a large comet, with an estimated width of around 20 kilometers, but the first estimates of the size of its nucleus are still very rough. Its trajectory will take it within the orbit of Mars, but, together with its considerable speed, it will only lead to a limited direction change by the Sun’s gravity. Unfortunately, it will never get close enough to Earth to allow detailed observations, but any interstellar object is very interesting for astronomers. This is the third officially recognized “visitor” after 1I/ʻOumuamua in 2017 and 2I/Borisov in 2019.

Arcadia Planitia on Mars

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ESA has published a photo of the Arcadia Planitia region on Mars captured by its Mars Express space probe’s High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC). This is an interesting region from a geological point of view because it’s northwest of the large volcanoes of Tharsis, the largest in the entire solar system, and traces of ancient lava flows are still visible. It could be important for the exploration of the red planet if confirmation of the presence of frozen water right under the surface were to arrive.

The Crew Dragon Grace spacecraft blasting off atop a Falcon 9 rocket to start its Ax-4 mission (Image NASA)

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A little while ago, SpaceX’s Crew Dragon Grace spacecraft was launched atop a Falcon 9 rocket from the Kennedy Space Center on the Axiom Mission 4, or simply Ax-4, mission. After about twelve minutes, it successfully separated from the rocket’s last stage. It will spend up to 14 days in orbit, almost all of which will be docked at the International Space Station. It also serves commercial purposes in a collaboration between SpaceX, Axiom Space, and various companies and national space agencies to access the Station for the purpose of conducting tasks useful for the development of new technologies and for scientific research.

SpaceX's Starship 36 prototype exploding (Image courtesy Jerry Pike / NASASpaceflight)

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A few hours ago, SpaceX was setting up the Starship 36 prototype for a static fire test, the ignition of the six Raptor engines on the ground in preparation for what was supposed to be the 10th launch test to be conducted together with the Super Heavy rocket. It was just after 11 pm in Texas when Starship 36 exploded. Even the static fire tests are conducted in safe conditions, so the SpaceX staff was well away from the prototype, and no one was injured. It must be said that mishaps can happen more easily with prototypes, but it’s clear that, at best, there will be further delays on the development schedule of a spacecraft that has already suffered three failures in the latest flight tests.