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How to spot the 2023 Perseid meteor shower wherever you are

20 July 2023

The Perseids are a major meteor shower - here is your guide to spotting them in July and August 2023

https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Images/2017/07/Exploring_Jupiter t may still be some years away from launch, and over a decade before our Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer reaches the gas giant and its icy moons, but preparations are well under way. This new artist?s impression depicts the final spacecraft design, the construction of which is being overseen by Airbus Defence and Space. The spacecraft?s solar wings form a distinctive cross-shape totalling 97 sq m, the largest ever flown on an interplanetary mission. The size is essential to generate sufficient power ? around 850 W ? for the instruments and spacecraft so far from the Sun. The spacecraft is furnished with a laboratory of instruments that will investigate Jupiter?s turbulent atmosphere and vast magnetosphere, as well as study the planet-sized moons Ganymede, Europa and Callisto. All three moons are thought to have oceans of liquid water beneath their icy crusts and should provide key clues on the potential for such moons to harbour habitable environments. Juice?s cameras will capture exquisite details of the moon?s features, as well as identify the ices and minerals on their surfaces. Other instruments will sound the subsurface and interior of the moons to better understand the location and nature of their buried oceans. The tenuous atmosphere around the moons will also be explored. The spacecraft will also include booms such as a 10 m-long magnetometer mast (seen towards the bottom of Juice in the artist impression), a 16 m radar antenna (the long boom across the top), and antennas to measure electric and magnetic fields. Ganymede is the only moon in the Solar System to generate its own internal magnetic field, and Juice is well equipped to document its behaviour and explore its interaction with Jupiter?s own magnetosphere. Juice is scheduled for launch in 2022 on a seven-year journey to the Jovian system. Its tour will include a dedicated orbit phase of Jupiter, targeted flybys of Europa, Ganymede and Callisto, and finally nine months orbiting Ganymede ? the first time any moon beyond our own has been orbited by a spacecraft. In the artist?s impression, which is not to scale, Ganymede is shown in the foreground, Callisto to the far right, and Europa centre-right. Volcanically active moon Io is also shown, at left. The moons were imaged by NASA?s Galileo spacecraft; Jupiter is seen here with a vivid aurora, captured by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. ESA/ATG medialab; Jupiter: NASA/ESA/J. Nichols (University of Leicester); Ganymede: NASA/JPL; Io: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona; Callisto and Europa: NASA/JPL/DLR

How to spot Jupiter's icy moons

5 July 2023

Jupiter’s Galilean moons are promising places to look for life. Now is a great time to see them, says Abigail Beall

People at Glastonbury Tor in Somerset, UK on the summer solstice

What is the June solstice and what causes it?

21 June 2023

21 June is the summer solstice, or longest day, in the northern hemisphere and the winter solstice, or shortest day, in the southern hemisphere

How to see five planets align in the sky this weekend

15 June 2023

In the early morning on 17 June you will be able to see Mercury, Uranus, Jupiter, Neptune and Saturn appear in the sky together – here's how you can spot them, wherever you are in the world

2CNWGJN Ophiuchus star constellation, Night sky, Cluster of stars, Deep space,?Serpentarius, Serpent bearer

How to spot Ophiuchus, the thirteenth zodiacal constellation

31 May 2023

Often referred to as the thirteenth sign of the zodiac, Ophiuchus sits alongside Sagittarius and Scorpius. Now is a great time to spot it, says Abigail Beall

2J1JM3H Patterns in a pond. Cropped shot of a finger touching water to form ripples.

Why virtual particles don’t exist but do explain reality – for now

10 May 2023

So-called virtual particles aren't particles at all. Some argue that they are merely mathematical figments, and that we need to find a better way to understand particle interactions

2GYKRJN The waxing crescent Moon near the stars Castor and Pollux in Gemini, with Mars below, as the last of the winter stars set into the western twilight on

How to spot Mars travelling through Gemini this week

26 April 2023

No matter where you live, Mars is currently taking a little stroll through Gemini, so it is a great time to get to know this constellation with its twin stars, Castor and Pollux, and take a look at the Red Planet too, says Abby Beall

Your essential guide to the many breathtaking wonders of the universe

22 April 2023

An abridged inventory of everything there is in the universe – from rogue planets and exomoons to supernovae, supermassive black holes and the cosmic web.

How to watch the Lyrids meteor shower peak this weekend

21 April 2023

You have a decent chance of seeing shooting stars from anywhere in the world during the Lyrids meteor shower peak in the early hours of 22 and 23 April

Physicist David Wolpert on how to study concepts beyond imagination

11 April 2023

There is probably a plane of knowledge beyond the grasp of human minds. But mathematician and physicist David Wolpert says it is still possible to explore this unimaginable realm