Iain Todd

1 week ago | skyatnightmagazine.com | Iain Todd

In the search for life beyond Earth, one of the most promising places in our Solar System isn't a planet at all; it's Saturn’s largest moon, Titan. Wrapped in a thick, smoggy yellow haze and nearly as cold as Neptune, Titan is a world of extremes. And yet, it's one of the most Earth-like places in the Solar System because it also has something rare in our cosmic neighbourhood: weather. Titan's atmosphere is mostly nitrogen and has clouds and rain, just like Earth.

1 week ago | skyatnightmagazine.com | Iain Todd

You may have heard the theory surrounding the glass of water seen in a video taken onboard China's Tiangong space station, that has led some to claim it's proof the footage was faked. The video in question shows a glass of clear liquid sitting unperturbed on a table aboard the Chinese space station, causing some viewers to question why the water isn't floating out of the glass, given it's in a weightless environment. Indeed, why is the glass itself not floating away?

1 week ago | skyatnightmagazine.com | Iain Todd

The European Space Agency (ESA) has released the first images from its Proba-3 mission, which produces artificial solar eclipses in space. Proba-3 consists of a pair of small satellites that make solar eclipses, enabling solar scientists to get a better view of the Sun's outer atmosphere. These first Proba-3 images offer new views of the Sun’s mysterious inner corona, the fiery halo of plasma surrounding our star, captured not during a natural eclipse, but during one made by space probes.

1 week ago | skyatnightmagazine.com | Iain Todd

The island of Sicily off the coast of southern Italy will soon be home to a brand new telescope; one that's scouring the skies not to look at distant stars and galaxies, but to protect planet Earth from potential danger. Flyeye is the European Space Agency’s newest planetary defender. This telescope, whose optics were inspired by an insect's eye, has just seen its 'first light', a milestone for any telescope, big or small, when it takes its first look at the night sky.

1 week ago | skyatnightmagazine.com | Iain Todd

Take a quick look at why this discovery is turning heads in the astronomy world:Scientists have found the first known 6-star system – TYC 7037-89-1 – where every star regularly eclipses its partner, creating a cosmic light show 1,900 lightyears away. The system is made up of three pairs of 'eclipsing binaries', meaning each pair’s stars take turns passing in front of one another, dimming the system’s brightness from Earth.