A traditional gift for the budding young scientist is the telescope. Here are some tips for choosing a telescope for beginners.
First, know your expectations. Telescope makers and science journals present the prettiest and most dramatic images to the public. People may not know that these bright and colorful images of galaxies and nebulas are highly processed pictures made by the most advanced telescopes around. A beginner’s backyard telescope will not show views like photos from the Hubble Space Telescope. The joy of beginner telescopes is not in pictures that look like movie special effects, but rather in finding real deep-space objects with your own skill and eyes. What can you expect to see? The moons of Jupiter and Jupiter’s clouds, ice caps on Mars, galaxies and nebulas as wisps of cloud among the stars. You’ll see double stars of deep color, the rings of Saturn, and more. Don’t let false expectations disappoint you, but learn to appreciate the subtly remarkable sights you can find.
Second, buy your telescope from a knowledgeable dealer. The worst mistake is to pick up a clearance telescope from a department store or a big-box super-mart. These telescopes are low quality, cheaply priced, and aimed at last-minute impulse buyers. Instead, get your telescope from a quality site online (like Orion, Celestron, or Meade), or visit a local telescope and optical dealer. Camera shops and outdoor stores can often offer help as well.
Third, decide what type of telescope you want to buy. Telescopes come in three basic types: reflectors, refractors, and catadioptric. Reflecting telescopes (or reflectors) use mirrors to produce their magnified images. Refracting telescopes (or refractors), on the other hand, use lenses. Catadioptric systems use combinations of both mirrors and lenses and come in a wide variety of types.
If you plan to use your telescope to view astronomical and terrestrial objects (such as bird and wildlife watching), choose a refractor. Refractors work great in bright-light conditions and, unlike reflectors, they present a right-side-up image. On the other hand, Reflectors usually present viewers with an image that is mirror-reversed and often upside-down, making terrestrial viewing awkward.
If you plan to look at astronomical objects, you can choose either a reflector or a refractor. As a general rule, refractors are preferred for viewing the moon and planets, and reflectors are best for deep-sky objects like galaxies and nebulae, but differences in individual scopes can be a more important factor. The biggest reason for choosing a reflector for astronomy is because of the next rule for choosing a scope…
Fourth, aside from the telescope’s overall quality, the most important factor for astronomy is an aperture or mirror size. This refers to the telescope’s primary mirror or lens size and basically determines how much light the telescope can gather. The more light the telescope takes in, the more detail you will be able to see, such as surface features on planets, tiny scattered stars in clusters, and tendrils of gas from distant nebulae.
It’s easier and cheaper to build big mirrors than it is to build big lenses, so bigger reflectors are usually cheaper to buy than big reflectors. The biggest telescopes are always reflectors (or catadioptric). To get the best astronomy experience, buy the quality telescope with the biggest mirror size you can afford. Mirror or lens size matters more than any other factor in determining what you will be able to see through your scope.
Finally, don’t be afraid to ask questions. Find a store that specializes in optics or a dedicated online telescope dealer and let them know what you are looking for. Telescopes come in a wide variety of designs and are adapted for different functions. The choices can be bewildering to a beginner, but astronomers love to help get new observers started. They will be happy to help you make the right choice.
Below the list of reputed sites where you can find quality Telescope
The observation of the sky is a skill. There’s not much point in getting out your new telescope and hoping to view many astronomical marvels with no preparation. If you have a motorized telescope with a built-in computer, you’ll have a much easier time finding the night sky objects. But to get the most out of your new scope, you still must familiarize yourself with the night sky. The following tips will help ensure that you have an unforgettable first experience:
#1. Start with the Moon
Since it’s not exactly hard to find, the moon is the apparent target for first-time sky watchers. Even with a reasonably modest telescope, the night-sky object you’ve been looking at all your life will reveal itself in some spectacular detail. Even Zooming in with a pair of good binoculars, you’ll be able to see craters, valleys, and maria that appears to the naked eye as nothing more than a blur, if anything at all. The moon is also an excellent target if you’re viewing from light-polluted areas.
#2. Learn Your Constellations
Finding your way around the constellations will make it easier to find planets, distant targets, such as galaxies, stars, and nebulae. For example, throughout early 2021, Jupiter is in the constellation of Capricornus. So if you know where to find the constellations, you’ll be better equipped to train your telescope on the planets. Even if your telescope has go-to targeting capabilities, there’s no substitute for actually knowing what you’re looking at!
#3. Get a Sky watching Almanac
Astronomical almanacs are updated annually to provide monthly viewing tips and sky charts, making it far easier to prepare your sky watching adventures throughout the year. They’ll also help familiarize you with constellations and other astronomical objects. One of the most popular is Patrick Moore’s Yearbook of Astronomy, which has become a mainstay for amateurs and enthusiasts alike. If there’s only one accessory you’ll ever buy for your telescope, it should be an up-to-date almanac.
#4. Use a Lower Magnification
First-time sky watchers are often tempted to use the highest magnification available to them hoping to reveal the universe at an unprecedented level of detail. Unfortunately, however, sky watching isn’t that simple, and you’ll have a much harder time trying to find specific objects or calibrate your telescope with a higher magnification. When starting, particularly when locating objects for the first time, always start with a lower magnification or even a pair of binoculars.
#5. Use a Filter when Viewing the Sun
For your safety, never look at the Sun directly, with your Naked eyes or even with a telescope. Because of its immense brightness, viewing the Sun even for just a few seconds using a telescope can cause permanent eye damage. The Sun is also an excellent target for first-time telescope users. However, for safe and comfortable viewing, you must always use an appropriate filter, as you’ll be able to view things like sunspots and flares safely.
Final Words
Suppose you’ve just spent a few hundred dollars on a new telescope. In that case, you’ll understandably be excited to try it out and share your experiences with your friends and family. However, before you get too enthusiastic, preparing yourself adequately and learning how to get the most out of your particular telescope will lend to a far more memorable experience. If you haven’t brought a telescope yet, be sure to read plenty of reviews and look at images taken using the scope.
Life on Earth started roughly 3.5 billion years ago. Since then, it has been evolving into more and more complex forms. Some 70-130,000 years ago, we Home Sapiens came into existence, and as our brains evolved, we began to think and wander about the universe. We were looking at objects around us and were asking what these objects are? How they formed? And so on. The most exciting part of our quest to understand the universe began when we started to explore the universe’s building blocks.
What exactly are the building blocks of the universe? Around 400 B.C.E., Democritus, a Greek philosopher, introduced the atom as the universe’s building blocks. According to his theory, the matter is composed of tiny indivisible particles, which he called atoms.
In 1803, an English school teacher, John Dalton, proposed a modern theory of the atom based on two assumptions. First, matter is made of atoms, which are indivisible particles. Second, all atoms of the same element have the same mass and properties. As the indivisible building blocks of the universe, the idea of atoms dominated the great thinkers’ minds till 1897, when J.J. Thomson discovered electrons. When J.J. Thomson experimented with a Cathode ray tube, he found that an atom is composed of negatively charged particles. He called them cathode rays, as they seemed to come from the cathode. Today, we know these particles as electrons. It was just the beginning of a new story in the history of humanity’s quest for understanding the universe.
In 1911, Earnest Rutherford bombarded alpha particles on a 0.00004cm think gold sheet. These alpha particles were emitted from a radioactive Radium. After passing through the gold sheet, these particles hit the zinc sulfate screen. By counting the number of sparks on the zinc sulfate screen, Rutherford concluded that almost all the atom’s matter was concentrated in the tiny volume situated in the atom’s center, and it is the nucleus of the atom. The nucleus contains most of the matter of an atom and is positively charged.
Later in 1932, Sir James Chadwick discovered neutrons. Now, the picture of the atom was clear. An atom is composed of a nucleus, which further consists of positively charged protons and electrically neutral neutrons, and negatively charged electrons, which revolves around the nucleus. In our schools, we have been taught that everything is made up of matter, and the matter is composed of atoms, which can be further subdivided into protons, neutrons, and electrons, and they are building blocks of the universe. But the story didn’t end here.
In 1964, two physicists, Murray Gell Mann and George Zweig, independently proposed the subatomic particles known as quarks to explain the behavior of particles discovered through high-energy atomic collisions. In 1968, scientists working in the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center found evidence for these particles’ existence. Now, we know that these protons and neutrons are made of quarks.
At this time, we know about six types of quarks: Up quarks, Down quarks, Top quarks, Bottom quarks, Charm quarks, and Strange quarks. When these different varieties of quarks combine, we get protons and neutrons. A proton is made of three quarks, two Up quarks, and one down quark.
On the other hand, a neutron is made of two Down and one Up quark. Quarks and leptons, i.e., electrons, are the building blocks of the universe.
Diagram of the Standard Model of particle physics. 12 fundamental particles that makeup matter and 4 fundamental force carriers. Vector.
The picture of the universe may seem clear now, as we have discovered the universe’s fundamental building blocks. These quarks and electrons are now considered indivisible particles. So, does the story ends here? Let’s go back to 1928. When Neil Bohr and other founders of Quantum mechanics were busy with the matter of matter, Paul Dirac was trying to unify Quantum mechanics, which deals with the subatomic world, with Einstein’s special theory of relativity, which deals with the objects moving at the speed of light.
After doing complex mathematical calculations, he developed an equation. This equation is now known as Dirac’s equation. This equation was able to explain things that are very small and are moving very fast. At first, Dirac didn’t appreciate it and thought of it as a mathematical error. But later, he realized that his equation is predicting something entirely new to science, and that is Anti-particles. Dirac equation predicted a particle whose mass and properties were the same as an electron but had a positive charge. Later, Dirac realized, and he proposed the existence of Anti-matter. The anti-matter particles are the same as matter particles but with opposite charge.
In 1932, Carl Anderson, a young professor at the California Institute of Technology studying cosmic showers in cloud chambers. The cloud chamber was used to detect particles, designed to visualize the passage of ionizing radiations. It consisted of a sealed environment containing supersaturated vapors of water or alcohol. The energetic charged particles interact with the cloud by knocking off an electron during collisions, which results in trails. Anderson also applied a magnetic field to the system, causing particles to curve according to their mass to charge ratio. Using this technique, he could study the different particles and behavior. It is hard for a normal eye to observe what is happening here, but what he observed was that all particles fell at distinct paths that can be assessed mathematically in their trajectory. However, in this picture, a strange particle managed to move opposite to the magnetic field, and he observed a path left by something positively charged with the same mass and speed as an electron. Yes, this was the first time an anti-particle for electron was discovered. They named it Positron. This discovery confirmed Paul Dirac’s assumption. In 1933, Paul Dirac was awarded the Nobel prize in physics for his achievement. Later, more discoveries were made, and now we know that for every matter particle, there exists an anti-particle for it.
Positron for electron, antiproton for proton, antineutron for neutron, and the list goes on. But this discovery again puzzled scientists. Let me ask the question again; what are the basic building blocks of the universe? Quarks and leptons? But they are matter particles. What about these anti-matter particles? Where did they come from? The answer may lie in the ultimate beginning, the Big Bang.
According to scientists, the universe started with the big bang roughly 14 billion years ago, and whatever exists today can be traced back to that event. The energy from the Big Bang should have produced equal amounts of matter and anti-matter particles. But when we look at the universe, from the tiniest specks of dots to the giant galaxies, we only see the normal matter. We can rarely find anti-matter particles in the universe. But why? Where is the remaining anti-matter? This is called the problem of anti-matter. Today, one of the significant challenges in the scientific world is to figure out what happened to the anti-matter. Why do we see an asymmetry between matter and anti-matter?
The exciting aspect of this whole scenario is that matter and anti-matter particles are produced in pairs. When they come in contact with each other, they annihilate and release energy. So, in the beginning, when the big bang produced these matter-antimatter particle pairs, these particles were also colliding and annihilating, filling the universe with pure energy.
So, if the matter and anti-matter particles were created and destroyed together, the universe must contain only the remaining energy. But this is not what we see today. As scientists have observed the universe, they have estimated that, luckily, in one billion collisions of matter and anti-matter particles, one matter particle survived. So, what we observe now, including the planets, stars, and galaxies, are the collisions’ leftovers. But it is still a mystery why one matter particle survived. But it is just one solution to the anti-matter problem.
Another explanation is that when the universe cooled down, the anti-matter could have separated and existed somewhere else, far away from our observable universe. There might exist anti-planets, anti-stars, anti-galaxies, and maybe even the entire anti-universe. A universe that is entirely composed of anti-matter. String theory also predicts the concept of parallel universes, with more dimensions than we know today.
String theory is another theory trying to unify all four forces in nature: gravity, strong force, weak force, and electromagnetic force. Don’t forget that PAUL DIRAC also attempted to unify the forces and came up with anti-matter.
Maybe we will discover much more in this field, and this will be an exciting journey.
Let us see how to find bright planets in the sky tonight. Don’t worry! It is painless to find these riches above the sky. Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn can be seen by our naked eyes. You just have to snatch them at the perfect hour. They just appear as bright lights, yet they shine steadier than most stars.
Venus – The morning star and the Evening Sun. It is named after the Roman goddess of love. Spot the celestial at 48 degrees away from the sun and can be seen brightly a little less than three hours after sunset or before dawn. March is the perfect month to catch the beauty of Venus. Snatch it this March 26.
Mars – Named after the Roman god of war, can be brightly seen in January and slowly fades as the year unfolds. It can be seen as a red star at night after dusk; then it descends gradually westward until midnight.
You can spot Jupiter and Saturn just 45 to 60 minutes after sundown. The mighty Saturn sits just above Jupiter. They could be best seen in January. Jupiter in Roman mythology is the god of skies and heavens. He is the son of Saturn, who is the god of wealth and agriculture.
Now, you can also locate these beaming stars and let them navigate you at nightfall.
Sirius A (Alpha Canis Majoris)- Also known as the “Dog Star” To locate Sirius A, first, we need to point the three belt stars of Orion. You can see that the three stars are pointing downward lower left to a bright star. That is the “Bright Dog Star”. It is part of the constellation “Canis Majoris” or “the greater dog”
Canopus (Alpha Carinae)- To look for Canopus, search for a clear night. You can use the Great Winter Triangle and the Sirius as guides. Look down from Sirius to the Southern horizon and you will find Canopus.
Rigil Kentaurus (Alpha Centauri) – Do you know that Rigel Kentaurus is the third brightest star in the night sky. Its name means “the foot of the Centaur” because it is part of the constellation Alpha Centauri). It is visible only in the far southern sky and is part of the Alpha Centaur as the third brightest point in the sky.
Arcturus (Alpha Booti)- This bright red giant star falls between the diamond of Virgo, the Kite, and the Big Dipper and can be found in the Northern Hemisphere. It is part of the constellation, the Bootis, or the “Herdsman.”
Vega (Alpha Lyrae)- It is interesting to note that Vega comes from the Arabic word “woqi” which means “falling’ or “swooping”. It was said that in ancient times it was referred to as the swooping vulture. You could see Vega as a very prominent blue-white light in the midsummer nights as it sits just above the mid-northern latitudes. You could locate Lyra as a box-shaped in a parallelogram with a small triangle at its end. The constellation is also close to another constellation Cygnus, “the swan.”
Are you excited to start your quality time with your kids and your loved ones? Stargazing with them is one of the most memorable times that you could spend with them because you’re not just enjoying, but you are also educating them on basic astronomy principles at the same time leaving a mark on their mind and hearts for eternity. It is also one way of telling them immortal stories that they could commemorate every time they gaze above on a night.
Not all stars are visible in the night sky, especially in the cities. It helps that all the constellations (a group of visible stars that form patterns) you are looking for can be easily be found in a place away from the contrasting lights of the city. It’s best to look at a hiking field, camping field, over the night beach skies, or maybe right at your backyards.
There are 88 different constellations, 40 are ancient, and 48 are newly added or discovered. You cannot see all constellations in one place. The sky maps divide up into northern hemispheres and southern hemispheres. Seasons of the year could also affect the visibility of stars from your placement on earth.
Hey! This star hunter is also one of the easiest to spot constellations in the night sky. When you are on your way home, or maybe you are just peeking out from your window. You must have seen three bright stars vividly forming in a row. If you are living in the northern part of the world, you will find them to the south. If you are living near the equator, they will be overhead. Now, if you are living in the southern part of the world, you will spot them in the north.
You have already spotted the three bright stars. But do you know that there are dozens of stories behind those stars?
First, let’s begin by extending your left arm wide and cover the three stars with your palm. You will see that bright orange star above your little finger. That is Betelgeuse, the brightest of all the stars in the constellation. Just below your thumb, you’ll see another bright blue star. This is the second brightest star in the constellation and it is named Rigel. Now, you can take away your palm and try to connect the dots. If you see those patches of stars above, that represents Orion’s head, and the bow of lights to the right represents his arch.
One of the Greek stories told of Orion as the great hunter, but he was banished to the sky because he was bragging about slaying many kinds of animals. Another one tells of him as a god who fell in love with a goddess, but he was tricked to shot by the goddess’ brother.
Ursa Major (The Great Bear)
Yes!, this is the largest constellation in the northern night sky and the third-largest in the night sky. Ursa Major means “great bear’ or “she-bear.” Do you know the story of the great bear? Well, in Greek mythology, a beautiful nymph vowed chastity to the goddess Artemis. But one day, Zeus fell in love with Callisto, and they both bore a child, and they named him Arcas. Artemis banished Callisto after hearing of her broken vow. Hera was furious about Zeus’ betrayal and she transformed Callisto into a bear.
Callisto roamed the forest for 15 years. She spent her years hiding and running away from hunters. One day, Arcas was trudging the forest when he saw she-bear. He immediately grabbed his spear as he was very frightened.
Zeus saw this scene from mount Olympus and intervened. He sent a storm to carry Callisto and Arcas into heaven, where he turned Arcas into the constellation Ursa Minor or the lesser bear. You can now find Ursa Major in the northern sky. Just draw a line from the North Star towards the Ursa Major.
Ursa Minor (The little bear)
This is also called “the little bear”, is represented by a “small ladle” in the night sky. You can find it in the northern hemisphere also. The North Star forms the tail tip of the little bear.
Pegasus, the Winged Horse
You can easily spot this awesome constellation. The first is to find the “Great Square”. The easiest map is to draw a line from the North Star through the Caph Star of Cassiopeia. The great square falls right in front of the North Star. Pegasus is a very big constellation that everyone can see both in the northern and southern hemispheres. It is made up of almost 20 stars, but the brightest of all is the Enis, which make up the nose of the horse.
Draco the Dragon
Draco, the dragon, can be located from the North Star. This sky gem formation sits between the North Star and the Ursa Major as a long series of spectacles of stars.
Once upon a time, in Greek and Roman mythology, Zeus was at war with his father, Cronus. It has been prophesized that Cronus will be overthrown by one of his sons, so each time his wife Rhea bore a child, he would swallow it. One time, Rhea tricked him into swallowing a stone, and baby Zeus managed to escape by turning himself into a serpent and his nurses into bears. This story is immortalized by the Draco, Ursa Major (“greater she-bear), and the Ursa Minor (“lesser bear).
Are you excited to start your quality time with your kids and your loved ones? Stargazing with them is one of the most memorable times that you could spend with them because you’re not just enjoying, but you are also educating them on basic astronomy principles at the same time leaving a mark on their mind and hearts for eternity. It is also one way of telling them immortal stories that they could commemorate every time they gaze above on a night.
Not all stars are visible in the night sky, especially in the cities. It helps that all the constellations (a group of visible stars that form patterns) you are looking for can be easily be found in a place away from the contrasting lights of the city. It’s best to look at a hiking field, camping field, over the night beach skies, or maybe right at your backyards.
There are 88 different constellations, 40 are ancient, and 48 are newly added or discovered. You cannot see all constellations in one place. The sky maps divide up into northern hemispheres and southern hemispheres. Seasons of the year could also affect the visibility of stars from your placement on earth.
Finding North Star
Polaris or North Star is a very significant navigational tool even from the ancient world. The ancient Vikings and Egyptians use this star as an indicator of the North Sky and find their way on the open seas or for their travels. It means that when you are gazing at the North Star or Polaris, you are precisely almost facing the North. This star is almost exactly in line with the earth’s rotational axis. So, how do we find this guide star?
Step 1: Find the Big Dipper (Ursa Major)
The first step is to find the Big Dipper, also known as the Ursa Major. It is the most recognizable constellation in the sky. I remember as a kid that it was the first constellation that I happily traced. You can find this as Spoon shaped constellation with seven bright stars (Four bright stars forming the head and three bright stars forming the tail or the spoon handle).
Did you find it? Great!
Step 2: Trace and draw a line to the North Star
Okay, the next step is to find the Big Dipper’s two front (head) stars. Then, imagine a line connecting it with the adjacent bright star at the Dipper’s upper right. Yes! That bright star is the Polaris, the North Star! Great!
Step 3:
Congratulations on finding the Big Dipper or the Ursa Major. Do you know that right in front of the Big Dipper is the Little Dipper? And do you know that the Polaris (North Star) is a significant part of the Little Dipper itself! Yes!
First, the little Dipper floats right in front of its big brother, the big Dipper. It looks like pouring water into the bigger spoon, like this.
Now, you have two constellations already in mind when you gaze at the 14 brightest stars in the night sky. It helps that at the end tail of the little Dipper is the North Star, itself. Now you can test your skills, finding other sky constellations. Are you excited? What else are we going to find out? I am excited for you too. For you to maximize the visual and stargazing experience, it helps that some apps are there for you to be your visual guide. You can use the software Stellarium helpful applications such as Sky guide, or Skymap to help you navigate through your night skies.
Learning about the Universe or what’s beyond our atmosphere is an exciting field of study. This guide will introduce you to the top 5 steps to get started with astronomy and related explorations.
Step 1: Visiting your local Planetarium.
Most Planetarium host shows about the night sky, which will give you an excellent overview of what’s up there in Sky.
Step 2: Learn to use a Sky Map.
A planisphere is a simple analog star chart instrument with two adjustable disks that rotate on a common pivot in astronomy. It can be adjusted to display the visible stars for any time and date. It assists in learning how to recognize stars and constellations.
Nowadays, we have Modern Skymaps tools available on Mobile phones and desktops. Very easy to use. You can use these tools should for navigating the Sky and finding celestial objects quickly.
North star, also called a Polaris, is key to Navigate the sky correctly. Finding Polaris is really easy, you just need a compass and should know how to find the pattern of big and little dipper constellations.
Use your Magnetic compass device or compass app on your Phone to find the Magnetic North.
On the Northern side looks above the sky and you should see the dipper constellation.
As shown in the diagram below, use the Big dipper (Ursa Major) and Little Dipper (Ursa Minor) constellation to find the North Star.
Step 4: Learn to find Key Constellation patterns.
A constellation is a cluster of stars that form a visual pattern when viewed from Earth. The pattern they form was identified with a name or form known to humans. For example, people have named constellation patterns based on mythological creatures, animals, men, and women.
These patterns are basically a shortcut to remember various celestial objects and their location in the sky. In the previous step, we used the URSA constellation to identify Polaris. similarly learning and remembering various constellation patterns will be helpful to grow as an amateur astronomer.
Step 5: Understand Lunar patterns.
Moon is the closest celestial object clearly visible in the sky. Understanding Lunar Patterns is very important. Moon is very bright and could impair your ability to view the night sky clearly. Understanding the position of the Moon in the sky will help you to identify the right date and time period for stargazing.
If you are planning to stargaze deep and faint stars or less bright planets, it is advisable to plan during no moon Night. As the bright light from the moon could temporarily block your eye ability to see in the dark.
For the same reason when you plan a stargazing Night don’t use any bright white light or other light sources near you. Instead, Use low-energy red flashlights to minimize loss of our night vision so we can more easily see the detail of the universe.
Finding Brighter Planets and stars using Naked eyes.
Once you master steps 1 to 5, Now you are ready to rock as an amateur astronomer. Use your Mobile sky map apps to locate various planets like Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Venus. View them using your Naked eye and enjoy.
Once you train yourself to observe various planets and stars just with naked eyes with the support of start map tools now you can progress to the next steps to use Binoculars for stargazing.
Akatsuki: Mission to explore Venus launched in 2010
Akatsuki: a JAXA orbiter mission to explore Venus launched in 2010, it was Japan’s first mission to explore another planet. The spacecraft is a 1.04 m x 1.45 m x 1.40 m (3.4 feet x 4.7 feet x 4.5 feet) box, with the solar panels, dimensions extend to 5.1 meters (16.7 feet) from end to end. The mission’s main objectives are to scan and study the atmospheric motion of Venus and the mystery of Venus’ surface and clouds slow rotation.
The mission is equipped with five cameras to help it study Venus’ climate and atmosphere. Three cameras are within the infrared ranges, another is within the ultraviolet range, and another that senses lightning flashes on Venus. Additionally, Akatsuki is equipped with an oscillator giving the climate profiles of Venus and its atmosphere.
HERA: an ESA orbiter launching in 2024 to the binary asteroid system
HERA: an ESA orbiter mission is launching in 2024 to the binary asteroid system, Didymos, and reaching it in 2026. HERA is a complementary mission to DART, and combined; they will be the first spacecraft ever to visit a binary asteroid system. HERA will study and scan the small body in the asteroid system after NASA performs an impact on it using DART.
ESA will also use this mission for technology demonstrations like testing autonomous navigation around an asteroid and releasing ESA’s first deep-space CubeSats. The spacecraft is propelled by a hydrazine propulsion system and weighs 870 kilograms fully fuelled, and powering it are two solar arrays with a total area of 8.7 meter2 (93.6 feet2.)
