Space & Earth Science

1. PUNCH spacecraft make final pit stop before launch

   Four small suitcase-sized spacecraft, designed and built by Southwest Research Institute, have made a final Earth-side pit stop at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. NASA's Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere (PUNCH) mission is sharing a ride to space with the Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer (SPHEREx) observatory.

2. Bright comet's tail dazzles in images from spacecraft

   From Jan. 11 to 15, 2025, a bright comet surged through images from the ESA (European Space Agency) and NASA SOHO (Solar and Heliospheric Observatory) spacecraft. Called C/2024 G3 (ATLAS), the comet made its closest pass to the sun, or perihelion, on Jan. 13, soaring a mere 8 million miles (or 9% of the average Earth-sun distance) from our star.

3. The Vera C. Rubin Observatory will detect millions of exploding stars

   Measuring distances across the universe is much more challenging than measuring distances on Earth. Is a brighter star closer to Earth than another, or is it just emitting more light? To make confident distance measurements, scientists rely on objects that emit a known amount of light, like Type Ia supernovae.

4. Scientists detect chirping cosmic waves in an unexpected part of space

   Scientists have detected cosmic waves that sound like birds chirping in an unexpected place.