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BepiColombo spacecraft separate from cruiser, close in on Mercury

BepiColombo spacecraft separate from cruiser, close in on Mercury
  • The linked European and Japanese spacecraft of the BepiColombo mission separated from their cruiser on Thursday, beginning the final leg of a nearly decade-long voyage to Mercury.
  • Ground controllers at the European Space Agency's control center in Germany waited two hours for radio confirmation of the separation, conducted more than 124 million miles (200 million kilometers) from Earth.
  • Lead project scientist Geraint Jones called the maneuver "a brilliant moment" after confirmation arrived.
  • If all goes well, the conjoined spacecraft will enter orbit around Mercury in November and split from each other in December to map the planet from different altitudes.
  • BepiColombo had 2 million miles (3.3 million kilometers) remaining as of Thursday.
 2026-09-03 · 3 MIN READ

Hubble images reveal 10-sided cloud formation over Saturn's south pole

Illustration accompanying article: Hubble images reveal 10-sided cloud formation over Saturn's south pole
  • A Spanish-led research team has identified an enormous 10-sided decagon of icy ammonia clouds swirling over Saturn's south pole.
  • The Hubble Space Telescope first detected the spinning formation in 2023.
  • Earlier observations of the same region had come up empty before the 2023 detection.
  • Researchers believe the decagon formed between 2017 and 2023, while Saturn's south pole was tilted away from Earth.
  • Lead author Agustin Sanchez-Lavega said the decagon's single side already exceeds 10,000 miles and the pattern could still be evolving.
 2026-09-02 · 3 MIN READ
Illustration accompanying article: Astronomers spot faintest planet ever directly imaged from Earth