NASA

Proxima Centauri seen from Earth and the New Horizons space probe

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NASA has released images obtained by its New Horizons space probe during the interstellar parallax experiment conducted on April 22 / 23, 2020. The LORRI camera was aimed at Proxima Centauri and Wolf 359, two of the stars closest to the system solar, obtaining images that show how they appear in different positions from the ones we see from Earth. It’s an application of the parallax phenomenon with the apparent movement of the two stars caused by the fact that New Horizons is about 7 billion kilometers from Earth. The combination of images captured by New Horizons and an instrument on Earth shows the parallax effect, which in the future could help interstellar navigation instruments like sailors have been using the positions of stars to navigate the seas of Earth.

The Crew Dragon Endeavour spacecraft approaching the International Space Station (Image NASA TV)

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A little while ago SpaceX’s Crew Dragon Endeavour spacecraft docked to the International Space Station’s Harmony module completing the first part of its SpX-DM2 (SpaceX Demonstration Mission 2), or SpaceX Demo-2, mission that began yesterday with its launch. After checking that the pressure is correctly balanced, the hatch will be opened to allow Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken to enter the Station.

The Crew Dragon spacecraft starts its SPX-DM2 mission blasting off atop a Falcon 9 rocket (Image NASA TV)

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A little while ago SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft blasted off atop a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral in its SpX-DM2 (SpaceX Demonstration Mission 2) or SpaceX Demo-2 mission. After about eleven minutes, it successfully separated from the rocket’s last stage and went en route to carry out its mission. This is the first crewed mission of the Crew Dragon spacecraft, in this case with Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken on board.

A graphic of the combined observations of Jupiter

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An article published in “The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series” reports the results of a series of combined observations of the planet Jupiter. A team of researchers led by Michael Wong of the University of California, Berkeley, used data collected by the Hubble Space Telescope, the Gemini Observatory in Hawaii and NASA’s Juno space probe to obtain a broader picture of various phenomena taking place in Jupiter’s atmosphere. Storms include the Great Red Spot, which the combined observations help us understand better.

Europa seen by the Galileo space probe

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NASA has published reprocessed versions of three old photos of areas of the surface of Jupiter’s large moon Europa taken by the Galileo space probe on September 26, 1998. NASA scientists applied some processing techniques developed in recent years to the images obtaining new details of a series of geological features existing at the time on Europa’s frozen surface. This result offers is immediately useful for scientists interested in studying this moon and for the future because NASA is preparing the Europa Clipper mission, which also aims to try to understand what’s hidden in Europa’s underground ocean, with the hope to find life forms.