Skip to main content
Georgina Torbet

Georgina Torbet

Space Writer

Georgina is the Digital Trends space writer, covering human space exploration, planetary science, and cosmology. She specializes in current and future exploration of Mars. She has previously written about science, technology, and security topics for websites like SlashGear, Engadget, and Futurism. She has a master's degree in neuroscience and a PhD in psychology.

An illustration shows how NASA's Habitable Worlds Observatory would measure the atmosphere of distant planets.

What comes after Webb? NASA’s next-generation planet-hunting telescope

The James Webb Space Telescope only launched recently, but scientists are already plotting a planet-hunting telescope that will help find worlds like our own.
Space Features
JWST/NIRcam composite image of the Ring Nebula. The images clearly show the main ring, surrounded by a faint halo and with many delicate structures. The interior of the ring is filled with hot gas. The star which ejected all this material is visible at the very centre. It is extremely hot, with a temperature in excess of 100,000 degrees. The nebula was ejected only about 4000 years ago. Technical details: The image was obtained with JWST's NIRCam instrument on August 4, 2022. Images in three different filters were combined to create this composite image: F212N (blue); F300M (green); and F335M (red).

James Webb telescope captures the gorgeous Ring Nebula in stunning detail

A new image from the James Webb Space Telescope shows the stunning Ring Nebula -- a gorgeous structure of dust and gas located in the constellation of Lyra.
Space News
The irregular galaxy NGC 6822.

See how James Webb instruments work together to create stunning views of space

New images from the James Webb Space Telescope show incredible views of the dusty galaxy NGC 6822 - and the different views captured by Webb instruments.
Space News
Curiosity Rover

Curiosity rover battles up a 23-degree slope in its exploration of Mars

The Curiosity rover is slowing making its way up Mount Sharp, a 3-mile-tall mountain on Mars. But heaving up a mountain can be tricky for a little rover.
Space News
A coronal mass ejection as seen by SOHO on 28 October 2021. This event is an example of a rare ‘ground level enhancement’. During these events, particles from the Sun are energetic enough to pass through the magnetic bubble that surrounds Earth and protects us from less energetic solar outbursts. This was only the 73rd ground level enhancement since records began in the 1940s, and none have been recorded since.

A solar eruption was detected on Earth, the moon, and even Mars

Scientists recently reported on a solar event that was detectable not only on Earth, but also on the moon and Mars.
Space News
Webb’s infrared image of the galaxy cluster El Gordo (“the Fat One”) reveals hundreds of galaxies, some never before seen at this level of detail. El Gordo acts as a gravitational lens, distorting and magnifying the light from distant background galaxies. Two of the most prominent features in the image include the Thin One, located just below and left of the image center, and the Fishhook, a red swoosh at upper right. Both are lensed background galaxies.

James Webb image shows the majesty of the most massive known galaxy cluster

A recent image from the James Webb Space Telescope shows the most massive galaxy cluster we know of, one so large that it is nicknamed El Gordo, or the fat one.
Space News
Euclid’s Near-Infrared Spectrometer and Photometer (NISP) instrument is dedicated to measuring the amount of light that galaxies emit at each wavelength. It will image the sky in infrared light (900–2000 nm) to measuring the brightness and intensity of light. This image was taken during commissioning of Euclid to check that the focused instrument worked as expected. This is a raw image taken using NISP’s ‘Y’ filter. Because it is largely unprocessed, some unwanted artefacts remain – for example the cosmic rays that shoot straight across, seen especially in the VIS image. The Euclid Consortium will ultimately turn the longer-exposed survey observations into science-ready images that are artefact-free, more detailed, and razor sharp.

See the incredible first images taken by the dark matter-hunting Euclid telescope

The recently-launched Euclid space telescope just took some of its first images, giving a taste of what is to come from this dark matter investigation tool.
Space News
The spiral galaxy NGC 1532, also known as Haley’s Coronet, is caught in a lopsided tug of war with its smaller neighbor, the dwarf galaxy NGC 1531. The image — taken by the US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Dark Energy Camera mounted on the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Víctor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile, a Program of NSF’s NOIRLab — captures the mutual gravitational influences of a massive- and dwarf-galaxy merger.

Spiral galaxy caught in the act as it’s about to eat its dwarf galaxy neighbor

An image from the Dark Energy Camera shows an act of galactic cannibalism, with a spiral galaxy devouring a nearby dwarf galaxy that wandered into its path.
Space News
This artist's illustration shows a planet (dark silhouette) passing in front of the red dwarf star AU Microscopii.

Hubble watches an extreme exoplanet being stripped by its star

A Neptune-sized planet orbits close enough to its star that it is bombarded by dramatic flares which cook the planet with radiation and strip its atmosphere.
Space News
A high-resolution image of a tightly bound pair of actively forming stars, known as Herbig-Haro 46/47, in near-infrared light.

James Webb captures vast structure created by newborn stars

Newborn stars are often active and glow brightly, but on rare occasions they create something epic: a vast two-lobed structure called a Herbig-Haro object.
Space News
The tranquil spiral galaxy UGC 12295.

Hubble observes a galaxy that hosted an epic supernova explosion

This week's image from the Hubble Space Telescope shows a stunning view of a spiral galaxy called UGC 12295, located nearly 200 million light-years away.
Space News
The ESA' Euclid telescope has a mission to map the dark matter in the universe.

Euclid dark matter telescope arrives at its destination orbit

The Euclid space telescope has arrived at its orbit around the sun, where it joins the James Webb Space Telescope and the Gaia space telescope.
Space News
An artist's concept portraying the star PDS 70 and its inner protoplanetary disk.

Webb spots water vapor in a planet-forming disk

Astronomers have discovered water vapor in the planet-forming region of a star, which could help shed light on where Earth's water came from.
Space News
The ESA' Euclid telescope has a mission to map the dark matter in the universe.

We can’t see dark matter, but there is an ingenious way to map it

Dark matter isn’t visible to the human eye, or even telescopes, but there is an ingenious way to map its presence across the universe.
Space Features
The bright star BD+17 2217. Arp 263 – also known as NGC 3239 in the foreground and irregular galaxy Arp 263 in the background.

Hubble image shows a lonely star glowing over an irregular background galaxy

This Hubble image is composed of two different exposures which have been merged together, showing star BD+17 2217 shining over the background galaxy Arp 263.
Space News
Artist’s rendition of Janus, the blue-tinted dead cinder of a star that is composed primarily of hydrogen on one side and helium on the other (the hydrogen side appears brighter).

Weird white dwarf is hydrogen on one side and helium on the other

Recently astronomers discovered a very unusual example of a white dwarf: one that seems to have one side composed of hydrogen and the other side of helium.
Space News
A NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image of the asteroid Dimorphos taken on 19 December 2022.

Hubble observes a cluster of boulders around impacted asteroid Dimorphos

Last year, NASA deliberately crashed a spacecraft into an asteroid. Now, Hubble has observed that a number of boulders have been ejected from the asteroid.
Space News
This image highlights the location of the galaxy JADES-GS-z6 in a portion of an area of the sky known as GOODS-South, which was observed as part of the JWST Advanced Deep Extragalactic Survey, or JADES.

James Webb spots ancient dust that could be from the earliest supernovas

Researchers used the James Webb Space Telescope to identify grains of dust from the early universe, which could have been produced by the earliest supernovas.
Space News
The young planetary system PDS 70, located nearly 400 light-years away from Earth.

Astronomers spot first evidence of two planets sharing the same orbit

Two planets in one orbit? It could be possible, according to new research looking at planetary system PDS 70.
Space News
A man in a small room with a Circadian Light glowing red.

Could the key to living in space be … a good lighting system?

Lighting is typically more of an afterthought when it comes to space habitats, but as it turns out, it may just be the most important part
Space Features
A billowing pair of nearly symmetrical loops of dust and gas mark the death throes of an ancient red-giant star, as captured by Gemini South, one half of the International Gemini Observatory, operated by NSF’s NOIRLab. The resulting structure, said to resemble an old style of English jug, is a rarely seen bipolar reflection nebula. Evidence suggests that this object formed by the interactions between the dying red giant and a now-shredded companion star. The image was obtained by NOIRLab’s Communication, Education & Engagement team as part of the NOIRLab Legacy Imaging Program.

This star shredded its companion to create a stunning double-lobed nebula

Nebulae are some of the most beautiful structures to be found in space. A new image from the Gemini South telescope shows an usual double-lobed nebula.
Space News
mars 2020 perseverance rover

Perseverance rover finds organic molecules in Mars’ Jezero Crater

The molecules are associated with life but can be created by other processes. So they aren't proof there was life there, but they are life's building blocks.
Space News
The planet Venus.

Here’s why scientists think life may have thrived on the ‘hell planet’ Venus

Venus is one of the most brutally inhospitable places in our solar system, but many scientists think life could have thrived there at one point. Here's why.
Space Features
Rendering of a heat shield deploying over Venus.

Inside the crazy plan to scoop up and bring home a bit of the Venus atmosphere

Most missions collect samples and analyze them in situ with relatively basic instruments. This mission takes a totally different approach.
Space Features
The first anniversary image from the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope displays star birth like it’s never been seen before, full of detailed, impressionistic texture. The subject is the Rho Ophiuchi cloud complex, the closest star-forming region to Earth. It is a relatively small, quiet stellar nursery, but you’d never know it from Webb’s chaotic close-up. Jets bursting from young stars crisscross the image, impacting the surrounding interstellar gas and lighting up molecular hydrogen, shown in red. Some stars display the telltale shadow of a circumstellar disc, the makings of future planetary systems.

See the stunning image James Webb took to celebrate its first birthday

Today marks the one-year anniversary of the first images from the James Webb Space Telescope, and to celebrate NASA has shared another gorgeous image of space.
Space News
A section of a James Webb image showing a small part of the Extended Groth Strip, located between the Ursa Major and Boötes constellations.

Zoom into stunning James Webb image to see a galaxy formed 13.4 billion years ago

The visualization shows a small part of a region called the Extended Groth Strip, covering 5,000 galaxies and zooming in toward the distant Maisie's galaxy.
Space News
An artist impression of exoplanet LTT9779b orbiting its host star.

Astronomers spot the shiniest exoplanet ever discovered

Metallic clouds reflect sunlight and have helped the unusual planet to retain its atmosphere.
Space News
Artist's conception shows two merging black holes similar to those detected by LIGO.

Researchers want to use gravitational waves to learn about dark matter

A team of astronomers has come up with a method for using gravitational waves to study the mysterious phenomenon of dark matter.
Space News
The Large Binocular Telescope in Arizona. The LBTI instrument combines infrared light from both 8.4-meter mirrors to image planets and disks around young and nearby stars.

Astronomers spot an exoplanet creating spiral arms around its star

Astronomers investigated a giant exoplanet named MWC 758c which seems to be forming the spiral arms around its host star.
Space News
Juice flyby of Ganymede (artist’s impression)

How engineers on the ground fixed the Juice spacecraft’s stuck antenna

In April the Juice spacecraft launched to investigate the icy moons of Jupiter, but there was a problem: an antenna was stuck and wasn't deploying.
Space News
The peculiar galaxy NGC 3256 takes centre stage in this image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. This distorted galaxy is the wreckage of a head-on collision between two spiral galaxies which likely occurred 500 million years ago, and it is studded with clumps of young stars which were formed as gas and dust from the two galaxies collided.

One galaxy, two views: see a comparison of images from Hubble and Webb

Hubble and the James Webb Space Telescope operate in different wavelengths. That means that they can see different aspects of the same objects.
Space News
Crop of Webb's CEERS Survey image.

James Webb spots the most distant active supermassive black hole ever discovered

A very early example of a supermassive black holes was recently discovered, dating back to just 570 million years after the big bang.
Space News
This artist’s concept shows the ESA (European Space Agency) Euclid mission in space.

Euclid mission launches to probe the mysteries of dark matter

The European Space Agency has successfully launch its Euclid space telescope to study the mysteries of dark matter and dark energy.
Space News
This artist’s concept shows stars, black holes, and nebula laid over a grid representing the fabric of space-time.

The universe has a cosmic ‘hum’ caused by merging black holes

A 15-year study has provided more evidence of gravitational waves, including those at very low frequencies.
Space News
1234567
Next