-
Mars
Our theme this month is Mars, and as we head into the Martian winter, I wanted to check in on missions new and old – and take a look at the future.
-
What will Webb Show Us?
We’ve been through quite a journey with JWST. After surviving a cancellation attempt in November 2011, and going through multiple launch delays (five in 2021 alone!), the telescope is about to conduct science operations. More than 11,000 hours of observations are set to go ahead as soon as the telescope is ready. To finish its…
-
Galaxies Far, Far, Away: Science Behind Science Fiction
Our theme for the month of May is the science behind science fiction. I wanted to take this opportunity to talk about my favourite science fiction movie of call time: Contact. Some spoilers will follow!
-
Earth Missions
Climate change impacts all aspects of life here on Earth, as all environments are interconnected. Scientists use orbiting satellites to study changes in Earth’s environments on a global scale and try to determine the trends due to climate change. The three missions I’m highlighting all look at the impacts of climate change in different areas:…
-
Gravitational Waves
Up until the first confirmed gravitational wave (GW) direct detection by LIGO/Virgo in 2015, researchers have relied almost exclusively on electromagnetic (EM) radiation (i.e. light) to study our universe. These ‘messengers’ carry different but complementary information, pioneering the growing field of multi-messenger astronomy.
-
Exoplanets
Imagine for a moment that you are an alien adventurer who has ventured far from home to explore our solar system (though you, an extraterrestrial, would call it an exosystem). You were sent by your species on a mission to investigate the worlds of this system – to find out if these environments are suitable…
-
Seeing The Visible and The Invisible
How are we able to get photos of worlds beyond our own? Stunning pictures of Jupiter, the Sun, and even a photograph of a black hole? There are different methods depending on what you want to see, but it always comes back to understanding two things: photons and electrons.
-
James Webb Space Telescope: The Background
In a little over a month, and barring any last-minute complications, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) will launch on December 18th. In this blog post I want to talk a little bit about the journey to get to launch day.
-
James Webb Space Telescope: Scientific Mission
This month, and barring any last-minute complications, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) will launch on December 22nd. In this blog post I want to talk a little bit about what science we can expect from JWST.
-
Astrobiology
Astrobiology is a nascent, interdisciplinary field concerned with the origins, evolution and distribution of life in the universe.
