Category: 7. Science

Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), a world-class aerospace and defense leader, has today (13/7/2025) successfully launched the State of Israel’s national communications satellite, “Dror 1,” into space, aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida, USA. The satellite completed the launch process and initial positive diagnostic indications have now been received.

Over the coming weeks, upon entering orbit around the Earth, IAI engineers will perform a series of tests designed to verify the satellite’s successful operation. From then on, it will embark on its multi-year journey in space as the State of Israel’s national communications satellite.

Boaz Levy, CEO and President of IAI: “As Israel’s space house, we at IAI are extremely proud of the development and successful launch into space of the State of Israel’s “Dror 1” national communications satellite. “Dror 1” is the most advanced communications satellite ever built in Israel, designed to preserve this national strategic capability in the country while providing Israel with essential satellite communications capabilities for years to come. Israel’s space program has evolved from vision to reality thanks to the creativity and innovation of IAI’s employees, who have developed complex and groundbreaking technologies over the years. This satellite joins IAI’s other communication and observation satellites in space, which meet the important needs of Israel, as well as those of additional customers. We are proud to demonstrate once again our technological expertise, made in Israel, this time as part of the global space industry.”

An object has been discovered orbiting the sun far beyond Pluto, calling into question theories about a possible Planet Nine in the solar system.

The object, for now, designated 2023 KQ14 and nicknamed “Ammonite,” was found by astronomers in Japan using its Subaru Telescope in Hawaii. Announced in a paper published today in Nature Astronomy, the object is not a planet but a sednoid. It’s only the fourth sednoid ever discovered.

Ammonite (2023 KQ14): What is A Sednoid?

A sednoid is an object beyond the orbit of Neptune that has a highly eccentric orbit, similar to that of the dwarf planet Sedna, one of the most distant objects in the solar system known to astronomers.

Astronomers use the distance between the Earth and the sun — one astronomical unit or au — to measure distance in the solar system. Sedna gets as close to the sun as about 76 au but as far away as 900 au on its elliptical orbit. 2023 KQ14 gets as close as 66 au from the sun and as far away as 252 au.

Ammonite (2023 KQ14) And The ‘Planet Nine’ Hypothesis

There has been a lot of attention among astronomers on Planet Nine in recent months. In May, scientists in Taiwan looking for a ninth planet in the solar system found hints in archive images. In June, a study by Rice University and the Planetary Science Institute put a number on the chances that a ninth planet exists — 40%.

The reason a ninth planet may exist is an unusual clustering of minor bodies in the Kuiper Belt — the outer solar system. Six objects — Sedna, 2012 VP113, 2004 VN112, 2010 GB174, 2013 RF98 and 2007 TG422 — all have highly elongated yet similarly oriented orbits. They appear to have been “herded” by the gravitational influence of a planet.

Why Ammonite (2023 KQ14) Might ‘Kill’ Planet Nine

The discovery of 2023 KQ14 may dent that theory because it follows an orbit different from the other sednoids. “The fact that 2023 KQ14’s current orbit does not align with those of the other three sednoids lowers the likelihood of the Planet Nine hypothesis,” said Dr. Yukun Huang of the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, who conducted simulations of the orbit in a press release. “It is possible that a planet once existed in the Solar System but was later ejected, causing the unusual orbits we see today.” If a ninth planet does exist, it likely orbits even farther from the sun than supposed.

How Ammonite (2023 KQ14) Was Found

The object was found as part of the survey project FOSSIL (Formation of the Outer Solar System: An Icy Legacy), hence its nickname Ammonite. An ammonite is a fossil of a cephalopods that died out about 66 million years ago.

It was discovered in March, May, and August 2023 by Subaru and confirmed in July 2024 using the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope. It was also found in archive images going back 19 years, which allowed astronomers to compute its orbit.

Wishing you clear skies and wide eyes.

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A community of smart telescope users have captured images of the interstellar comet that has entered our Solar System from deep space.

The NASA-funded ATLAS (Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System) survey telescope in Rio Hurtado, Chile, reported sightings of the comet on 1 July 2025.

This interstellar body is known as 3I/ATLAS or C/2025 N1, and entered our Solar System from elsewhere in the Galaxy.

It can currently be seen in the constellation Sagittarius.

Endeavour to track the interstellar visitor

The eyes of the comet-chasing world are upon this interstellar visitor, which is expected to be best seen in the Northern Hemisphere under the dark skies of winter 2025.

A community of amateur astronomers using Unistellar smart telescopes have been observing comet C/2025 N1 (ATLAS) – also designated 3I/ATLAS – and have managed to captured images of the comet.

Unistellar is a manufacturer of ‘smart telescopes’, a new type of telescope that enables users to select a celestial object from a catalogue, and the telescope then points automatically at it.

Smart telescopes don’t have an eyepiece like a traditional telescope, but instead capture multiple images of an object like a galaxy, nebula, star cluster or comet, stacking the images in real time to produce a clear view.

Smart telescopes often have their own Wi-Fi connection, meaning they can be controlled via smartphones and tablets.

What’s more, companies like Unistellar encourage users to participate in group citizen science projects, gathering images and data on a specific target.

Such as, in this case, an interstellar comet travelling through our Solar System.

“This could mark the third discovery of an interstellar object in history,” says Franck Marchis, Senior Astronomer at the SETI Institute and Chief Science Officer at Unistellar.

“Right now, its brightness ranges between magnitude +17 and +19, and it may show some recent cometary activity that could increase quickly.

“This time we’ve caught it early enough to coordinate observation campaigns with our Unistellar citizen science network and other citizen science telescopes to be able to capture images of it.

“Combining these observations, which allow us to track its trajectory, with those taken soon by major ground-based and space-based observatories could be a unique chance to study its composition and behaviour as it warms up while approaching the Sun.”

What we know about the comet

Initially classified as an asteroid, scientists say that it’s now clear 3I/ATLAS is displaying activity characteristic of an ‘active comet’.

That means it will likely heat up as it approaches the Sun, causing frozen gases sublimating into vapour, potentially forming a visible coma and tail.

It can be seen in the constellation Sagittarius and its nucleus is estimated to be between 1 and 2 km in size.

The comet itself is thought to be as big as to 20 kilometres wide and travelling about 60 km/s relative to the Sun.

It won’t end up in orbit around our Sun, like most of the comets that we see in the night sky, but instead will eventually reach the edge of our Solar System and exit it forever.

Before that, in October 2025 the comet will pass inside the orbit of Mars, but will be too close to the Sun to be seen from Earth.

From mid-November 2025 it could reappear in the morning sky in the constellation Virgo, shining around magnitude +10.5, which would put it within the reach of amateur telescopes.

If you’ve observed or photographed comet 3I/ATLAS, get in touch by emailing contactus@skyatnightmagazine.com

New scans of two small predatory dinosaurs reveal a pea-sized wrist bone once thought unique to birds. The research suggests that the engines of flight were revving inside dinosaur arms long before any creature flapped skyward.

The study was led by James Napoli of Stony Brook University with colleagues at the American Museum of Natural History and the Mongolian Academy of Sciences.

The research overturns earlier claims that theropods lacked a bird-like pisiform and raises the possibility that the path to powered flight was, as the authors put it, “all in the wrist.”

Dinosaur wrist bone on the move

Modern birds fold their wings automatically when the elbow bends. The hinge works because a tiny carpal called the pisiform migrated from the edge of the wrist to replace another bone, the ulnare.

Its new spot lets a V-shaped notch clamp the hand bones and stop them from popping loose during vigorous flapping.

For years, paleontologists assumed non-avian dinosaurs never made that switch. Napoli’s team tested the dogma by CT-scanning an exquisitely preserved troodontid, a quick, velociraptor-like hunter. They also scanned an oviraptorid, a beaked omnivore with a long neck.

Digital slices peeled away surrounding rock, isolating each pebble-sized carpal in three dimensions. The images showed a bead-like bone tucked where the pisiform sits in modern birds.

“We believe this is the first time a migrated pisiform in a non-bird meat-eating dinosaur has been identified,” Napoli said.

The discovery pushes the joint’s redesign back to Pennaraptora, a diverse branch of feathered theropods that includes velociraptors, troodontids, and oviraptorosaurs.

Flight link to wrist evolution

“While we currently do not know precisely how many times dinosaurs learned to fly, it is intriguing that experimentation with flight in these creatures appears only after the pisiform migrated into the wrist joint,” Napoli explained.

“Therefore, it is possible this established the automated mechanisms found in current living birds, though we would need to test this hypothesis with more research and analysis of dinosaur wrist bones.”

The scientists argue that the pisiform’s relocation was gradual. Early pennaraptorans still carried a small ulnare. Later species lost that bone entirely as the pisiform enlarged and took over its role.

Gradual wrist bone replacement

The replacement mirrors other avian traits – hollow bones, enlarged brains, filamentous feathers – that spread outward through theropod evolution before coalescing into true birds.

According to the authors of the study, the findings make clear that the topological and functional replacement of the ulnare by the pisiform occurred much deeper in theropod history than has been previously understood and was a stepwise process.

“Over the past few decades, our knowledge of theropod dinosaur anatomy and evolution has increased exponentially, much of it revealing that classically ‘avian’ traits such as thin-walled bones, an enlarged brain, and feathers, all characterize more inclusive groups of theropod dinosaurs,” noted the researchers.

“Our results suggest that the construction of the avian wrist is no exception and follows topological patterns laid down by the origin of Pennaraptora.”

Scans reveals hidden features

Identifying the bone took both luck and technology. The fossils – discovered in Mongolia’s Cretaceous rocks – had escaped crushing, so their wrist bones lay undisturbed.

Micro-CT resolution below 50 microns allowed the researchers to trace delicate sutures, distinguishing the pisiform’s spoon-like head and its telltale notch.

Without such scans, the structure would look like one of several nubs commonly lumped together as generic carpals.

Wrist bone shaped evolution

Flight appears to have evolved at least twice within Pennaraptora and perhaps as many as five times. If the pisiform swap predates those experiments, it may have primed the limb for aerial feats in separate lineages.

That echoes convergent “upgrades” seen in pterosaurs, bats, and birds, where wrist and shoulder tweaks unleash new kinematic possibilities.

The finding also casts fresh light on grounded relatives like Velociraptor. Though too heavy to fly, such animals wielded feathered arms for display, brooding, or balance.

A bird-style pisiform would have let them tuck and unfurl their limbs with mechanical efficiency. This hints that the crouched, wing-guarding pose seen in some fossil nests used the same automatic folding action modern roosters employ.

Future fossil finds

Future work will scan additional fossils to see exactly when the pisiform first slid into place. The researchers want to investigate whether the move coincided with feather lengthening or muscle shifts.

They also hope to model forces across the joint to test how much stability the new bone adds during flapping or mantling motions.

For now, the lesson is clear: tiny parts can steer colossal evolutionary leaps. A marble-sized bone drifting a few millimeters may have set the stage for the skies to fill with beating wings. It began inside dinosaur wrists millions of years before the first true birds appeared.

Image credit: Henry Sharpe

The study is published in the journal Nature.

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This eerie satellite photo shows a “devilish” Russian volcano spewing out a 1,000-mile-long river of smoke into Earth’s atmosphere. It is a striking reminder of the volcanic power trapped within the Pacific “Ring of Fire.”

The volcano, known as Klyuchevskoy (or sometimes Klyuchevskaya Sopka), is an active stratovolcano in Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula, which is home to more than 300 volcanoes. Klyuchevskoy’s peak stands at 15,597 feet (4,754 meters) above sea level, making it taller than any other volcano in Asia or Europe, according to the Smithsonian Institution’s Global Volcanism Program.

Researchers have observed the largest ever collision between two massive black holes witnessed by humans, a finding that’s sent astrophysicists back to their calculators to re-think models.

Astroboffins spotted the aftereffects of the event on November 23, 2023, when they detected emissions from two huge black holes, each around 100 and 140 times the mass of the Sun, that collided and merged into a massive object around 225 times the mass of our home star.

It presents a real challenge to our understanding of black hole formation

Scientists believe both black holes were spinning at immense speeds and after merging formed a body that current theories don’t predict.

Einstein predicted black hole collisions over a century ago but it was only in 2016 that the two Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) instruments in the US picked up the first waves from such an event.

Italy has since developed its own gravitational wave detector (Virgo) and Japan added the Kamioka Gravitational Wave Detector (KAGRA). The trio now work together as the “LVK Collaboration” and together spotted this extraordinary cosmic event.

“This is the most massive black hole binary we’ve observed through gravitational waves, and it presents a real challenge to our understanding of black hole formation,” said Professor Mark Hannam, from Cardiff University and a member of the LIGO Scientific Collaboration.

“Black holes this massive are forbidden through standard stellar evolution models. One possibility is that the two black holes in this binary formed through earlier mergers of smaller black holes.”

It’s thought that one or both black holes formed observed in 2023 formed after previous mergers with smaller black holes.

Scientists theorize a single black hole can’t exceed 100 solar masses. However, should such objects merge with other black holes they can grow larger, and this latest data shows an intermediate stage at which – it’s theorized – two larger objects formed to become a single body.

The gravitational wave signal detected by the LVK crew lasted just a tenth of a second, and was around twenty times more powerful than most previously observed gravitational wave signals. Detectors on Earth have picked up a couple of hundred signals indicating black hole mergers but this one was off the charts.

The immense rotational speed of the two black holes – which spin around 400,000 times faster than Earth – probably account for the strength of the gravitational wave pulse.

“It will take years for the community to fully unravel this intricate signal pattern and all its implications,” said Gregorio Carullo of the University of Birmingham and a member of the LVK. “Despite the most likely explanation remaining a black hole merger, more complex scenarios could be the key to deciphering its unexpected features. Exciting times ahead!” ®

On 15 July 1965, NASA’s Mariner 4 spacecraft made Solar System history.

As it flew by Mars, the spacecraft’s onboard camera snapped 22 pictures of the planet’s surface, sending them back home to Earth – the first-ever close-up photos of Mars obtained by humans, and the very first photos of another planet obtained from a position in deep space.

Those images, showing a vast, dry, heavily cratered desert, completely changed our understanding of Mars, and the possibility of life thereon – but also ushered in a bold new era of Solar System planetary science and exploration.

Mariner 4 launched on 28 November 1964, and spent nearly eight months making the long, arduous journey to Mars – a spacecraft designed to make a careful study of the red planet, and transmit its observations back to Earth, across millions of miles of space.

Related: We May Have Been Wrong About Why Mars Is Red

By the time Mariner 4 made its encounter, Mars and Earth were separated by a distance of around 220 million kilometers (136 million miles), a distance that radio signals could traverse in 12 minutes. The operations team on Earth had to precisely time their commands to the spacecraft 12 minutes ahead of when they wanted it to perform a task, carefully waiting until Mariner 4’s optimal position was 12 minutes away.

Then, the humans at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s Space Flight Operations Center had to wait until each picture had transmitted back across the gulf, a process that took four days.

“Now came the moment of truth – had we really obtained pictures? After the six hour delay for the 40,000 pixels (picture elements) to be transmitted the first picture was displayed. But what was that just above the limb? A cloud? Impossible. Everyone knew there weren’t clouds on Mars – it must be a crack in the camera lens. Oh, no, another instrument failure. Of course, as it later turned out there really are clouds on Mars,” recalled the late Bill Momsen, Mariner 4 engineer, in 2002.

“And then the real wonder came – picture after picture showing that the surface was dotted with craters! It appeared uncannily like that of our own Moon, deeply cratered, and unchanged over time. No water, no canals, no life … Although at first great elation gripped the crew at realizing we had really done it, that was tempered by what had been revealed.”

Those first 22 images covered just one percent of the Martian surface, and it just so happened to be an area that was particularly heavily cratered. As we know now, after decades of orbital observations, Mars has a diverse and fascinating landscape, from volcanic basalt plains to ancient river deltas.

Even though we know a lot more now than we knew 60 years ago, we’ve still only barely scratched the surface of Mars. Little by little, though, its past is slowly coming to light. We know that water once flowed freely across its surface, that volcanism was once rampant and may rumble still deep inside its belly. We know that it has beautiful clouds, and wild storms, and blue sunsets, and dust devils that leave traceries of their paths across the dusty ground.

One day, perhaps, we may even find that life was present on Mars after all.

In October of 1957, the USSR launched the world’s first artificial satellite into orbit around Earth. Today, we’re combining Earth observation with image processing in the search for mineral resources.

Satellites now play a significant role in mineral exploration by providing remote sensing data that helps geologists identify areas with potential mineral deposits.

Remote sensing from satellites

Remote sensing, collecting and studying information from a distance, began seriously with the beach ball-sized Soviet satellite Sputnik 1.

Satellites equipped with multispectral and hyperspectral sensors capture data across various wavelengths of light. Different minerals reflect and absorb light differently, creating unique spectral signatures. This helps geologists map rock types and geological structures, like faults, folds and fractures. This information helps to identify areas which may be worth closer investigation for prospective minerals.

But satellite data is also affected by atmospheric interference from clouds, dust and aerosols. That’s where measurements of atmospheric characteristics become crucially important to process satellite data into useful, reliable and standardised information.

AERONET: a network of atmospheric aerosol measurements

AERONET (AErosol RObotic NETwork) is a global network of ground-based instruments that provides high-quality, long-term observations of aerosol optical properties. It plays a critical role in correcting satellite data, especially for atmospheric and surface reflectance studies.

AERONET operates more than 500 ground-based remote sensing sites around the globe. The robotic network was established more than three decades ago by NASA and the PHOTONS (PHOtométrie pour le Traitement Opérationnel de Normalisation Satellitaire).

In 2024, CSIRO installed new atmospheric monitoring instruments at the Australian Resources Research Centre in Perth. This includes an automatic weather station, air quality sensor, hemispherical sky cameras and a Sun photometer.

This data is now feeding into the international AERONET network of ground-based instruments measuring atmospheric aerosols, ensuring celestial data streams provide accurate observations from our Southern skies.

CSIRO scientists are also using the rooftop installation in Perth to test remote sensing instrumentation prior to installation in other remote locations in Australia.

Seeing through the clouds

Dr Ian Lau is an Earth observation specialist and has worked with AERONET since 2016. His work focuses on extracting mineralogical and environmental information from data.

Ian said accurate remote sensing data relied on identifying and removing data contaminated by clouds.

“Clouds can block direct sunlight, artificially skewing some measurements from optical satellites,” said Ian.

“Cloud cover can also change quickly, causing rapid changes in the measured data.

“With a set of algorithms applied to raw data, a cloud-screening procedure detects and either flags or removes data points that are likely affected.”

Remote sensing for Australian conditions

Australia is a major source of specific atmospheric aerosols, including dust and smoke. Our deserts are the largest dust source in the Southern Hemisphere. Bushfires and burning are commonplace.

Sitting within the AERONET network is AeroSpan . Operated by CSIRO, Aerospan’s network of automated instruments located to characterise the primary sources of Australian continental aerosols like dust and smoke.

Why satellite calibration/validation is valuable

“Quality control of sensors and ground-based data validation helps us develop realistic products for mineral exploration,” says Ian.

“With satellite calibration data from Southern Hemisphere Earth observation in high demand, good quality data helps researchers better understand our regional conditions.”

Calibration is the process of setting up instruments to provide consistent and accurate measurements. Calibration ensures that the reading from the instrument is consistent with other instruments.

“Calibration links data to known, accurate ground and atmospheric data collected at specific sites,” said Ian.

“With this data verified, we can be confident that the data from satellite remote sensing is also accurate and reliable.”

Ian is part of the team developing a proposed autonomous calibration site for next generation satellite-based instruments capturing highly detailed spectral information.

“Because different minerals reflect light across various wavelengths, we rely on accurate atmospheric correction for optical satellite data,” he said.

“Many smaller satellites launch, often without the resources for rigorous calibration and validation in orbit. These satellites rely on Radiometric Calibration Network (RadCalNet) sites.”

A RadCalNet provides a dataset of traceable and standardised products that researchers and commercial satellite providers use to calibrate and validate the accuracy of optical satellite sensors.

Adding to the network of global calibration sites

Earth observation satellites such as EnMap and PRISMA use sensors operating in the visible to shortwave infrared wavelength range, utilising sunlight reflected off Earth’s surface.

CSIRO is working on commissioning a new RadCalNet site 200 km north of Perth in WA’s Nambung National Park, home of the Pinnacles Desert.

“It makes for an excellent calibration site because it provides a highly reflective and stable surface,” said Ian.

The consistency provided by validated data means it has had accurate atmospheric correction applied and has been precisely wavelength calibrated to detect the presence of certain minerals. This gives a more precise analysis of the spectral signatures of rocks and soils.

“If you’re identifying prospective regions for more detailed investigation, it’s important to have very good quality data and ensure that the products are correct,” he said.

“You don’t want to be predicting there are mineral deposits or vectors towards the mineral deposit when you’ve got some false positives.”

Expanding wavelengths for the future

Instruments such as the ASTER (Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer) satellite typically operate with nine spectral bands, but researchers and scientists are demanding more wavelengths. More wavelengths mean more data.

Hyperspectral satellite imagery, which operates twelve bands across the electromagnetic spectrum, will allow for improved retrieval of atmospheric constituents like methane and carbon dioxide.

“The ASTER satellite had a limited number of specific spectral bands, similar to having only a few TV channels,” Ian said.

In contrast, hyperspectral satellites offer many more ‘channels’, allowing for better differentiation of minerals, improved signal-to-noise ratio, and enhanced coverage.