All About Space

Every issue All About Space delivers fascinating articles and features on all aspects of space and space travel with mind-blowing photography and full-colour illustrations that bring the amazing universe around us to life.

WELCOME

LAUNCHPAD

Time might be a mirage created by quantum physics

A comet predicted to light up the sky in 2024 may already be doomed

What exactly is a planet? Astronomers want to amend the definition

A newly discovered cave on the Moon could house future lunar astronauts

An exoplanet with a weird orbit is transforming into a hot Jupiter before our eyes

Asteroid Apophis will visit Earth in 2029, and this European satellite will be along for the ride

WIN A HOMESTAR ORIGINAL PLANETARIUM WORTH £100 • Bring the night sky into your home, courtesy of Sega Toys

VENUS EARTH’S EVIL TWIN • Venus is a veritable hellscape that you wouldn’t want to pick as a summer destination

INSIDE VENUS • What makes up this hellishly hot world?

EARTH VS VENUS • Sometimes called ‘Earth’s twin’, Venus is a very different world to ours

IS VENUS’ RUNAWAY GREENHOUSE EFFECT A WARNING TO EARTH?

VENUS IN ART AND MYTHOLOGY

THE DAVINCI PROBE: GETTING THE DROP ON VENUS

MACH PROPULSION • An ongoing NASA study is investigating a bizarre propulsion concept

THE NOAA’S GEOXO SATELLITES COULD BE THE WEATHER-MONITORING PLATFORM OF THE FUTURE • NASA has awarded Lockheed Martin a contract to build the NOAA’s next-generation GeoXO weather satellite constellation

“I want to be a champion of sustainability in space” • All About Space catches up with Aschbacher to discuss what’s ahead for the European Space Agency

MAGNETIC VORTICES MAY HELP FEED SUPERMASSIVE BLACK HOLES • This could explain why some black holes are able to grow to millions or billions of times the mass of our Sun

SPECIAL SUBSCRIPTION OFFER • SUBSCRIBE TODAY AND SAVE 26%!

THE GAIA SPACE TELESCOPE HELPS ASTRONOMERS IMAGE HIDDEN OBJECTS AROUND BRIGHT STARS • The space observatory can reveal details that are usually hidden from view

INSIDE GAIA

CHEAT SHEET TO THE UNIVERSE …FROM HOW IT BEGAN TO ITS ULTIMATE FATE • Our universe encompasses everything around us, with countless stars, planets and galaxies stretching as far as our telescopes can see and vast expanses beyond them that lie forever out of sight. It’s a big subject – the biggest of all – so join us as we break down the basics

SATURN’S PLANET-WIDE STORMS ARE DRIVEN BY SEASONAL HEATING • Data from the Cassini mission has provided answers to a Saturnian mystery

INSIDE CASSINI • The instruments that helped this spacecraft explore Saturn

DO YOU HAVE WHAT IT TAKES TO BE AN ASTRONAUT?

WOULD YOU PASS A HEALTH CHECK?

TEST YOUR SPATIAL AWARENESS

HOW WOULD YOU RESPOND IN THE FOLLOWING SITUATIONS?

JUST 4 IN 10,000 GALAXIES MAY HOST INTELLIGENT ALIENS • That’s if plate tectonics, oceans and continents are rare on worlds throughout the universe

WHAT IS CAUSING SLOW SOLAR WIND? • Scientists are closer than ever to working out the origins of the ‘slow’ solar wind

AN OUTSTANDING ORBITER • Why is the Solar Orbiter so good at studying the Sun?

NASA’S EUROPA CLIPPER MISSION MAY NOT BE ABLE TO HANDLE JUPITER’S RADIATION • Its transistors aren’t as radiation resistant as expected

ASKSPACE

RAPIDLY SPINNING ‘EXTREME’ NEUTRON STAR DISCOVERED BY US NAVY RESEARCH INTERN • The pulsar was found in data from the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array

20 STARGAZING BREAKS • Planning a holiday? We’ve picked out our top astronomy attractions in the US and Europe

UNDER THE MOON’S SURFACE, MAGNETISED LAVA MAY CREATE ‘LUNAR SWIRLS’ •...