Space

An instrument developed by researchers at CU Boulder will be launching next fall to study Jupiter’s moon, Europa.

For the first time, scientists at the University of Colorado Boulder have taken pictures of the sun's middle corona, one layer of the solar atmosphere responsible for spitting out material known as solar flares. The images could improve space weather forecasting and how we prepare for it on Earth.

Astronaut Megan McArthur grew up visiting national parks like Yosemite, Grand Canyon and Zion. Now she’s photographing them from 250 miles above the surface of Earth.

For the next week, Colorado’s night skies will be full of shooting stars. Despite the name, they aren’t actually stars — they’re space debris, and they’re part of the annual Perseid meteor shower.

NASA is planning two missions to Venus in order to study how the planet became Earth’s “evil twin.” Colorado scientists are involved in each stage of the projects, which will launch at the end of the decade.

In the waning days of Donald Trump’s presidency, the Air Force announced that the headquarters for the U.S. Space Command should be located in Alabama. The decision meant that the command must be pulled out of Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs in the coming years and has spawned allegations of political favoritism from members of Colorado’s congressional delegation.

In Europe, engineers are planning to send a plywood-sheathed satellite into orbit to test how well the venerable construction material holds up in space.

NASA Astronauts Matthew Dominick of Wheat Ridge and Jessica Watkins of Lafayette were among 18 astronauts selected to the Artemis Program, The Gazette reported.

The conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn will be visible this Monday night, when the two planets will appear closest together in the night sky. KUNC’s Rae Solomon spoke with Carla Johns, who teaches astronomy at Aims Community College and works at the Fiske planetarium in Boulder, about the event.

The celestial visitor should be visible just after sunset for anyone who wants to see it. Bring along the binoculars for an even better view.