Sara Webb

Dec 15, 2024 | theconversation.com | Sara Webb

In 2017, NASA discovered and later confirmed the first interstellar object to enter our Solar System. It wasn’t aliens. But artist impressions of the object (called ‘Oumuamua, the Hawaiian word for “scout”) do resemble an alien spaceship out of a sci-fi novel. This strange depiction is because astronomers don’t quite know how to classify the interstellar visitor.

Oct 25, 2024 | bizzbuzz.news | Sara Webb |Christopher Fluke

A large communications satellite has broken up in orbit, affecting users in Europe, Central Africa, the Middle East, Asia and Australia, and adding to the growing swarm of space junk clouding our planet's neighbourhood. The Intelsat 33e satellite provided broadband communication from a point some 35,000km above the Indian Ocean, in a geostationary orbit around the equator. Initial reports on October 20 said Intelsat 33e had experienced a sudden power loss.

Oct 3, 2024 | theconversation.com | Sara Webb

What does the edge of the universe look like? Lily, age 7, HarcourtWhat a great question! In fact, this is one of those questions humans will continue to ask until the end of time. That’s because we don’t actually know for sure. But we can try and imagine what the edge of the universe might be, if there is one. Looking back in timeBefore we begin, we do need to go back in time. Our night sky has looked the same for all of human history.

May 6, 2024 | theconversation.com | Sara Webb

How does Earth stop meteors from hitting Earth and hurting people? –Asher, 6 years 11 months, New South WalesAlright, let’s embark on a meteor adventure! Meteors can sound scary but I promise you they aren’t. Meteors are just cosmic rocks falling into Earth’s atmosphere from outer space. Now, these aren’t any old boring rocks. We’re talking about pieces of asteroids, comets and even fragments from other planets crashing into Earth.

Dec 8, 2023 | sciencefocus.com | Sara Webb

In 1957, the first human-made object successfully launched into space was placed in orbit around the Earth. This was Sputnik 1, a beautifully simple, Soviet-made spherical satellite with just four antennas. But this historic event also marked another, more unsettling first: humanity had left its first piece of space debris in orbit around the Earth. Part of the 267-tonne, 30m-tall rocket that launched Sputnik was also stuck in orbit.