Category: 7. Science

The moon is in another phase of the lunar cycle, and we have all the information you need about tonight’s visibility and what to look out for.

The lunar cycle is a series of eight unique phases of the moon’s visibility. The whole cycle takes about 29.5 days, according to NASA, and these different phases happen as the Sun lights up different parts of the moon whilst it orbits Earth. 

See what’s happening with the moon tonight, July 2.

What is today’s moon phase?

As of Wednesday, July 2, the moon phase is First Quarter. According to NASA’s Daily Moon Observation, 48% of the moon will be lit up and visible to us on Earth.

First Quarter is the stage of the lunar cycle where the moon appears to be a half moon. This is day seven of the lunar cycle, and with significantly more of the moon on display, there’s plenty to see when you look up.

Unaided, you’ll be able to see the Mare Serenitatis, Mare Tranquillitatis, and the Mare Fecunditatis on the moon’s surface. If you’re in the Northern Hemisphere, these will be positioned in the top right of the moon. If you’re in the Southern Hemisphere, direct your gaze to the bottom left.

If you have binoculars, you’ll also spot the Endymion Crater and the Posidonius Crater are visible, as well as the Mare Nectaris. And with a telescope, like last night, you’ll be able to see the Apollo 11 and Apollo 17 spot and the Rupes Altai. You’ll also get a sneak peek at the Descartes Highlands. NASA tells us this is a crater just south of the Apollo 16 landing spot.

When is the next full moon?

This month’s full moon will take place on July 10. The last full moon was on June 11.

What are moon phases?

Moon phases are caused by the 29.5-day cycle of the moon’s orbit, which changes the angles between the Sun, Moon, and Earth. Moon phases are how the moon looks from Earth as it goes around us. We always see the same side of the moon, but how much of it is lit up by the Sun changes depending on where it is in its orbit. This is how we get full moons, half moons, and moons that appear completely invisible. There are eight main moon phases, and they follow a repeating cycle:

New Moon – The moon is between Earth and the sun, so the side we see is dark (in other words, it’s invisible to the eye).

Waxing Crescent – A small sliver of light appears on the right side (Northern Hemisphere).

First Quarter – Half of the moon is lit on the right side. It looks like a half-moon.

Waxing Gibbous – More than half is lit up, but it’s not quite full yet.

Full Moon – The whole face of the moon is illuminated and fully visible.

Waning Gibbous – The moon starts losing light on the right side.

Last Quarter (or Third Quarter) – Another half-moon, but now the left side is lit.

Waning Crescent – A thin sliver of light remains on the left side before going dark again.

New interstellar object visiting our solar system

There’s a new object in the solar system headed toward the sun, and it may have come from interstellar space. We only know of two other objects that have entered into our solar system before, ‘Oumuamua and Comet 2I/Borisov. The nature of ‘Oumuamua is still a matter of debate, and the second was a comet from another solar system. And now we may have a third interstellar visitor. Currently named A11pl3Z, this object has a trajectory that suggests it didn’t originate inside our own solar system.

The International Astronomical Union’s Minor Planet Center added the object to their Near-Earth Object confirmation list on July 1, 2025. The object is also on NASA and the JPL website for Near-Earth Object Confirmation Page under A11pl3Z. Despite being listed as a near-Earth object, there is no fear of it hitting Earth or even coming particularly close.

Observations of the visitor

Astrafoxen, an astrophysics undergrad student in California on Bluesky, has shared an image of A11pl3Z from the Deep Random Survey in Chile. Additionally, Sam Deen, a prolific amateur astronomer, found earlier images of the object in ATLAS data from June 25 to 29. These data points help show the track of the object, indicating that it is almost certainly interstellar.

The dim space rock is currently at about magnitude 18.8. Our new visitor, A11pl3Z, will get its closest to the sun – at about 2 astronomical units (AU), or twice as far as Earth is to the sun – in October.

Chatter on Bluesky

Interstellar object candidate #A11pl3Z from Deep Random Survey, Chile (obs code X09). No obvious tail, will have to do a stack to see if there’s anything…

Date is 2025 Jul 2 00:52:39 UTC.

[image or embed]

— astrafoxen (@astrafoxen.bsky.social) July 1, 2025 at 8:30 PM

In the image above, the dot at center is the new candidate for an interstellar object visiting our solar system, currently named A11pl3Z.

UPDATE on our new interstellar friend #A11pl3Z:
Citizen scientist Sam Deen has found earlier observations of from June 25-28, from the ATLAS telescope!

Now with 6 days’ worth of data, the eccentricity of A11pl3Z’s trajectory is narrowed down to e=10.4 ± 1.1!
… that’s undoubtedly interstellar.
???

[image or embed]

— astrafoxen (@astrafoxen.bsky.social) July 1, 2025 at 9:37 PM

Our friend at Atlas seem to have discovered the 3rd interstellar object deep in the milky way. Precovery data going back to June 25th is leaving little doubt. With an eccentricity near 10, this is like nothing seen before. Comet is screaming by us. ??

[image or embed]

— David Rankin (@asteroiddave.bsky.social) July 1, 2025 at 9:25 PM

Bottom line: We have a new candidate for an interstellar object visiting our solar system. It’s speeding toward the sun and should make its closest approach in October 2025.

Via NASA/JPL

Via MPC

As if sequencing a full human genome wasn’t tricky enough, scientists are now attempting to reconstruct our species’ genetic material from the ground up.

It’s an ambitious and controversial project called the Synthetic Human Genome (SynHG) project, and work has already begun on a proof-of-concept.

The goal of this crucial first step is to use the human genome blueprint to write the genetic code for a single, enormously long strand of DNA in just one of our chromosomes – making up approximately 2 percent of our total genome.

The entire DNA content will be digitally designed before it is then built in the lab.

According to proponents, this project could kickstart a genetic revolution, profoundly changing our understanding of human DNA and possibly enabling designer cell-based therapies and virus-resistant tissue transplantation.

Related: Scientists Just Achieved a Major Milestone in Creating Synthetic Life

Emboldened by these futuristic possibilities, the Wellcome Trust – one of the world’s largest scientific research charities – announced this week that it was funding the SynHG initiative with £10 million (approximately US$13.7 million).

Researchers behind the project, who hail from the Universities of Oxford, Kent, Manchester, Cambridge, and Imperial College London, told the BBC that “the sky is the limit”. They aim to build a fully synthetic human chromosome in the next five to 10 years.

“The ability to synthesize large genomes, including genomes for human cells, may transform our understanding of genome biology and profoundly alter the horizons of biotechnology and medicine,” says project leader and molecular biologist Jason Chin from the Ellison Institute of Technology and Oxford.

“With SynHG we are building the tools to make large genome synthesis a reality.”

Some independent scientists, however, are dubious that the SynHG project can get that far, even with cutting-edge generative AI and advanced robotic assembly technologies.

Award-winning geneticist Robin Lovell-Badge from the Francis Crick Institute, who is not involved in the SynHG project, says that he is “very enthusiastic” about the initiative, as “you can only truly understand something if you can build it from scratch.”

But despite all the knowledge we have gained since fully sequencing and reading the human genome in 2003, he says there is still a lot of work to be done before we can actually build a complete one.

Today, the only human-made genomes fully written from scratch are for single-celled organisms that have, at most, 16 chromosomes made from roughly 12 million base pairs. That accomplishment took roughly a decade of hard work.

Humans, by comparison, typically possess more than 30 trillion cells with 46 chromosomes and 3 billion base pairs. Who knows how long it will take scientists to untangle that level of complexity?

“As for synthetic human chromosomes, although the current project is very unlikely to get that far, it may eventually be possible to make synthetic cells that can be grown in the lab with high efficiency,” says Lovell-Badge.

“However, there is no suggestion to make synthetic humans. We have no idea how to do this, and it is likely to be very unsafe.”

While the details are hazy, the SynHG team claims to be working with academic, civil society, industry, and policy experts to examine the ethical, legal, and social implications of their research.

Projects like these are bound to inspire social and ethical debates on the possibilities and consequences of complex health and reproductive issues, from the right to make ‘designer’ babies to the definition of eugenics.

“We must recognize that this sort of work is not without controversy, and that is vital for researchers and the public to be in communication with one another,” says Sarah Norcross, director of the Progress Educational Trust (PET), which is a charity for people affected by genetic conditions.

“The public must have a clear understanding of what this research entails, while researchers and funders must have a thoroughgoing understanding of where the public wants to go with this science.”

Related News

As if sequencing a full human genome wasn’t tricky enough, scientists are now attempting to reconstruct our species’ genetic material from the ground up.

It’s an ambitious and controversial project called the Synthetic Human Genome (SynHG) project, and work has already begun on a proof-of-concept.

The goal of this crucial first step is to use the human genome blueprint to write the genetic code for a single, enormously long strand of DNA in just one of our chromosomes – making up approximately 2 percent of our total genome.

The entire DNA content will be digitally designed before it is then built in the lab.

According to proponents, this project could kickstart a genetic revolution, profoundly changing our understanding of human DNA and possibly enabling designer cell-based therapies and virus-resistant tissue transplantation.

Related: Scientists Just Achieved a Major Milestone in Creating Synthetic Life

Emboldened by these futuristic possibilities, the Wellcome Trust – one of the world’s largest scientific research charities – announced this week that it was funding the SynHG initiative with £10 million (approximately US$13.7 million).

Researchers behind the project, who hail from the Universities of Oxford, Kent, Manchester, Cambridge, and Imperial College London, told the BBC that “the sky is the limit”. They aim to build a fully synthetic human chromosome in the next five to 10 years.

“The ability to synthesize large genomes, including genomes for human cells, may transform our understanding of genome biology and profoundly alter the horizons of biotechnology and medicine,” says project leader and molecular biologist Jason Chin from the Ellison Institute of Technology and Oxford.

“With SynHG we are building the tools to make large genome synthesis a reality.”

Some independent scientists, however, are dubious that the SynHG project can get that far, even with cutting-edge generative AI and advanced robotic assembly technologies.

Award-winning geneticist Robin Lovell-Badge from the Francis Crick Institute, who is not involved in the SynHG project, says that he is “very enthusiastic” about the initiative, as “you can only truly understand something if you can build it from scratch.”

But despite all the knowledge we have gained since fully sequencing and reading the human genome in 2003, he says there is still a lot of work to be done before we can actually build a complete one.

Today, the only human-made genomes fully written from scratch are for single-celled organisms that have, at most, 16 chromosomes made from roughly 12 million base pairs. That accomplishment took roughly a decade of hard work.

Humans, by comparison, typically possess more than 30 trillion cells with 46 chromosomes and 3 billion base pairs. Who knows how long it will take scientists to untangle that level of complexity?

frameborder=”0″ allow=”accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share” referrerpolicy=”strict-origin-when-cross-origin” allowfullscreen>

“As for synthetic human chromosomes, although the current project is very unlikely to get that far, it may eventually be possible to make synthetic cells that can be grown in the lab with high efficiency,” says Lovell-Badge.

“However, there is no suggestion to make synthetic humans. We have no idea how to do this, and it is likely to be very unsafe.”

While the details are hazy, the SynHG team claims to be working with academic, civil society, industry, and policy experts to examine the ethical, legal, and social implications of their research.

Projects like these are bound to inspire social and ethical debates on the possibilities and consequences of complex health and reproductive issues, from the right to make ‘designer’ babies to the definition of eugenics.

“We must recognize that this sort of work is not without controversy, and that is vital for researchers and the public to be in communication with one another,” says Sarah Norcross, director of the Progress Educational Trust (PET), which is a charity for people affected by genetic conditions.

“The public must have a clear understanding of what this research entails, while researchers and funders must have a thoroughgoing understanding of where the public wants to go with this science.”

Chile’s ALMA observatory, which houses some of the world’s most powerful telescopes, has captured its most detailed images to date of the building blocks of the early universe — primarily cold gases, dust and stellar light in 39 galaxies.

“We’ve never achieved so much detail and depth in galaxies from the early universe,” Sergio Martin, head of Scientific Operations at ALMA, told AFP during a presentation of the research at University of Concepcion in Santiago.

Due to its dark skies and clear air, Chile hosts the telescopes of more than 30 countries, including the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) that was used in the findings. 

The research was led by Rodrigo Herrera-Camus, director of the Millennium Nucleus of Galaxies (MINGAL) of Chile, who told AFP the new images provide “the opportunity to study how stars are born.”

The survey also found that stars emerged in “giant clumps,” Herrera-Camus said.

By combining ALMA’s findings with images from the James Webb and Hubble telescopes, researchers were able to learn more about how galaxies evolve, interact, and form stars.

The ALMA telescope was developed by the European Southern Observatory, the US National Radio Astronomy Observatory and the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan.

axl/ksb/sla/jgc

Space exploration is entering an exciting new era in 2025, with a remarkable lineup of missions poised to deepen our understanding of the Moon, Mars, and beyond. These missions, led by NASA, ISRO, ESA, JAXA, and private companies, will not only advance scientific knowledge but also pave the way for future human exploration and technological innovation. From crewed lunar orbits to robotic explorers on distant moons, here are the top 10 space missions to watch in the coming years.

From lunar landers to interplanetary explorers: The most ambitious space missions ahead

1. Intuitive Machines IM-3 (PRISM)

Launch Date: 2026Destination: MoonObjective: Deliver scientific payloads and rovers to study lunar geology and test technologies for future Artemis missions.Overview: The IM-3 mission is a critical part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program, designed to help establish a sustainable human presence on the Moon. It will carry advanced instruments to analyze the lunar surface, including rovers that can traverse and study the terrain. Beyond science, IM-3 will test new landing technologies and autonomous systems that will be essential for future crewed Artemis missions. Success here will build confidence in commercial partnerships supporting lunar exploration.

2. ESCAPADE (Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers)

Launch Date: December 2025Destination: Mars OrbitObjective: Study Mars’ plasma environment and magnetic fields to understand atmospheric loss.Overview: ESCAPADE consists of two small satellites, “Blue” and “Gold,” orbiting Mars at different altitudes to provide a detailed picture of how solar wind strips away the Martian atmosphere. This process is key to understanding why Mars lost much of its atmosphere and surface water, transforming from a potentially habitable planet to the cold desert we see today. The mission’s data will improve models of planetary atmospheres and help assess Mars’ past habitability.

3. NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR)

Launch Date: 2025Destination: Earth OrbitObjective: Monitor Earth’s surface changes with high precision to study natural disasters and environmental shifts.Overview: NISAR is a groundbreaking collaboration between NASA and ISRO, equipped with dual-frequency radar that can penetrate clouds and darkness to provide detailed maps of Earth’s surface. It will track land deformation caused by earthquakes and volcanic activity, monitor deforestation, and measure ice sheet dynamics. This mission will provide timely data to improve disaster response and deepen understanding of climate change impacts, making it a vital tool for scientists and policymakers worldwide.

4. Artemis II

Launch Date: April 2026Destination: Lunar OrbitObjective: Conduct the first crewed mission of the Artemis program to test spacecraft systems in lunar orbit.Overview: Artemis II marks NASA’s return to crewed lunar missions after decades. Four astronauts will orbit the Moon aboard the Orion spacecraft, launched by the powerful Space Launch System (SLS). This 10-day mission will test life support, navigation, and communication systems in the deep space environment, ensuring readiness for the subsequent Artemis III landing mission. Artemis II is a major step toward establishing a long-term human presence on the Moon.

5. Gaganyaan-2

Launch Date: 2025 (Test Flights)Destination: Low Earth OrbitObjective: Validate safety, life support, and avionics systems for India’s first crewed spaceflight.Overview: Gaganyaan-2 is part of India’s ambitious human spaceflight program. The uncrewed test flights will rigorously evaluate the spacecraft’s critical systems, including environmental controls and emergency procedures. These tests are essential to ensure astronaut safety for the planned Gaganyaan-3 mission. Success will place India among the few nations capable of independently sending humans to space, marking a significant milestone in its space capabilities.

6. Dragonfly

Launch Date: July 2028Destination: Titan (Saturn’s Moon)Objective: Explore Titan’s organic-rich surface and study prebiotic chemistry.Overview: Dragonfly is a unique rotorcraft lander designed to fly across Titan’s diverse and complex terrain. Titan’s thick atmosphere and organic molecules make it one of the most intriguing places to study prebiotic chemistry and the potential for life beyond Earth. Dragonfly will analyze surface composition, weather patterns, and chemical processes, providing unprecedented insight into how life’s building blocks might form in environments vastly different from Earth.

7. Martian Moons eXploration (MMX)

Launch Date: September 2026Destination: Phobos (Mars’ Moon)Objective: Explore Mars’ moons and return samples from Phobos to Earth.Overview: JAXA’s MMX mission aims to solve the mystery of Mars’ moons’ origins by collecting and returning samples from Phobos. The mission will also conduct detailed observations of Deimos. Understanding whether these moons are captured asteroids or formed from Mars itself will shed light on the history of the Martian system and the early solar system. The sample return is a complex feat that will provide invaluable material for laboratory analysis on Earth.

8. Space Rider

Launch Date: 2027Destination: Low Earth OrbitObjective: Conduct reusable microgravity experiments in orbit.Overview: ESA’s Space Rider is a reusable, autonomous spaceplane designed to carry payloads for scientific and technological experiments in microgravity. It will enable longer-duration studies on biological processes, materials science, and plant growth, helping researchers understand how space conditions affect various systems. Its reusability lowers costs and increases access to space for European researchers and industry.

9. SPHEREx

Launch Date: April 2025Destination: Earth OrbitObjective: Conduct an all-sky infrared survey to study galaxy evolution, cosmic inflation, and dark energy.Overview: SPHEREx will map the entire sky in infrared light, providing a treasure trove of data about the universe’s structure and history. It will investigate the origins of galaxies, measure cosmic inflation’s fingerprints, and explore the mysterious dark energy driving the universe’s accelerated expansion. This mission promises to answer fundamental questions about the cosmos with a new level of precision.

10. VERITAS

Launch Date: 2028Destination: VenusObjective: Map Venus’ surface geology to understand its tectonics and volcanic history.Overview: VERITAS will produce high-resolution maps of Venus’ surface using radar to penetrate its thick clouds. By studying Venus’ tectonic activity and volcanic processes, the mission seeks to explain why Venus evolved so differently from Earth despite their similar size and composition. VERITAS will also help assess Venus’ potential for past habitability and provide context for comparative planetology.These missions represent the cutting edge of space exploration, combining human spaceflight, robotic explorers, and Earth observation to expand our knowledge of the solar system and our home planet. As they launch and unfold over the next decade, they will inspire new discoveries and redefine humanity’s place in the cosmos.

NASA is preparing for its 11th rotational mission of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft carrying astronauts to the International Space Station for a science expedition. NASA’s SpaceX Crew-11 mission is targeted to launch in the late July/early August timeframe from Launch Complex 39A at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Image: The four crew members of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-11 mission to the International Space Station train inside a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft in Hawthorne, California. From left to right: Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov, NASA astronauts Mike Fincke and Zena Cardman, and JAXA astronaut Kimiya Yui. Credit: SpaceX

NAM is the flagship annual event of the UK’s Royal Astronomical Society and sees scientists present the latest in cutting-edge space research.

It will connect diverse communities – from researchers and amateur astronomers to schools, artists, industry, and the public – fostering scientific collaboration and inspiring thousands of non-professional astronomers through both professional sessions and public outreach events.

Long history of astronomical research

Durham has a long history of astronomical research dating back to the appointment of Temple Chevallier as Professor of Astronomy in 1835.

Since then, our physicists, engineers and mathematicians have played an important role in furthering our understanding of the Universe. See just a few examples below.

Evolution of the Universe

Our centres for Advanced Instrumentation (CfAI) and Extragalactic Astronomy (CEA) helped develop and engineer the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST).

The most powerful space telescope ever built, the JWST is giving researchers – including our astronomers – unprecedented new images and insights into the evolution of the Universe, its stars, galaxies and black holes.

The CfAI is also involved in the Extremely Large Telescope (ELT). Currently under construction, the ELT will have a mirror the size of four tennis courts allowing us to see even fainter objects in space.

Dark matter and dark energy

Our Institute for Computational Cosmology (ICC) and the CEA are leading the hunt for dark matter – the mysterious substance which binds galaxies together – through our involvement in major international projects like Euclid.

The ICC is also investigating dark energy – the equally mysterious force driving the accelerating expansion of the Universe – through projects such as the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI).

And we host the COSMA supercomputer. COSMA allows our cosmologists to simulate the evolution of the Universe in precise detail which is then tested by astronomers’ observations of the real thing.

New research led by University of California, Riverside’s Professor Meng Chen shows that plants rely on multiple heat-sensing systems and that sugar — produced in sunlight — plays a central and previously unrecognized role in daytime temperature response.

“Our textbooks say that proteins like phytochrome B and early flowering 3 (ELF3) are the main thermosensors in plants,” Professor Chen said.

“But those models are based on nighttime data.”

“We wanted to know what’s happening during the day, when light and temperature are both high because these are the conditions most plants actually experience.”

To investigate, Professor Chen and colleagues used Arabidopsis, a small flowering plant favored in genetics labs.

They exposed seedlings to a range of temperatures, from 12 to 27 degrees Celsius, under different light conditions, and tracked the elongation of their seedling stems, known as hypocotyls — a classic indicator of growth response to warmth.

They found that phytochrome B, a light-sensing protein, could only detect heat under low light. In bright conditions that mimic midday sunlight, its temperature-sensing function was effectively shut off.

Yet, the plants still responded to heat, growing taller even when the thermosensing role of phytochrome B was greatly diminished.

“That pointed to the presence of other sensors,” Professor Chen said.

One clue came from studies of a phytochrome B mutant lacking its thermosensing function.

These mutant plants could respond to warmth only when grown in the light.

When grown in the dark, without photosynthesis, they lacked chloroplasts and did not grow taller in response to warmth.

But when the researchers supplemented the growing medium with sugar, the temperature response returned.

“That’s when we realized sugar wasn’t just fueling growth. It was acting like a signal, telling the plant that it’s warm,” Professor Chen said.

Further experiments showed that higher temperatures triggered the breakdown of starch stored in leaves, releasing sucrose.

This sugar in turn stabilized a protein known as PIF4, a master regulator of growth. Without sucrose, PIF4 degraded quickly. With it, the protein accumulated but only became active when another sensor, ELF3, also responded to the heat by stepping aside.

“PIF4 needs two things. Sugar to stick around, and freedom from repression. Temperature helps provide both,” Professor Chen said.

The study reveals a nuanced, multi-layered system. During the day, when light is used as the energy source to fix carbon dioxide into sugar, plants also evolved a sugar-based mechanism to sense environmental changes.

As temperatures rise, stored starch converts into sugar, which then enables key growth proteins to do their job.

The findings could have practical implications. As climate change drives temperature extremes, understanding how and when plants sense heat could help scientists breed crops that grow more predictably and more resiliently under stress.

“This changes how we think about thermosensing in plants,” Professor Chen said.

“It’s not just about proteins flipping on or off. It’s about energy, light, sugar, as well.”

“The findings also underscore, once again, the quiet sophistication of the plant world.”

“In the blur of photosynthesis and starch reserves, there’s a hidden intelligence.”

“One that knows, sweetly and precisely, when it’s time to stretch toward the sky.”

The study was published in the journal Nature Communications.

_____

D. Fan et al. 2025. A multisensor high-temperature signaling framework for triggering daytime thermomorphogenesis in Arabidopsis. Nat Commun 16, 5197; doi: 10.1038/s41467-025-60498-7