Space and astronomy

RUSSIA has been trying to jam British military satellites every week, according to the head of the UK Space Command.

Major General Paul Tedman accused Moscow of actively attempting to disrupt the UK’s space-based assets through constant stalking and manipulation tactics.

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Maj Gen Tedman told the BBC the disruptions are happening on a weekly basis.

He said: “We’re seeing our satellites being jammed by the Russians on a reasonably persistent basis.

“They’ve got payloads onboard that can see our satellites and are trying to collect information from them.

“They can jam, blind, manipulate or kinetically disrupt satellites.”

All six of the dedicated military satellites operated by the UK are equipped with counter-jamming technology, Tedman confirmed.

Britain continues to fall far behind other powerful nations in terms of their space surveillance systems.

The US, China and Russia each have more than a hundred in orbit.

Beijing and Moscow are both being viewed as potential threats, according to Gen Tedman.

He said both nations had tested anti-satellite weapons in recent years.

Both the UK and the US have warned that Russia is developing the capability to put nuclear weapons in space.

Speaking on the dangers of both countries, Gen Tedman said: “I would say the Chinese have by far the more sophisticated capability but the Russians have more will to use their counter-space systems.”

The UK government is now promising to invest more space missile defence – including plans to test sensors to detect laser threats in space.

Russia’s interference on an astral level comes after Germany’s Defence Minister, Boris Pistorius, also blasted Russia for shadowing satellites used by their military last month.

Berlin said a pair of Russian satellites were “pursuing” space capsules used by Germany’s armed forces.

Pistorius called for talks to draw up offensive capabilities in space as a deterrent – and revealed that Germany will spend $41billion on space defence by 2030.

It comes months after a secretive Russian “killer satellite” was detected launching another mysterious flying object near a US spacecraft.

Kosmos-2558 is on an orbital path which is suspiciously close to USA-326 – an American spy satellite.

It is believed to have the capacity to monitor enemy spy satellites – and potentially shoot them down if needed.

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And last year, Putin launched a terrifying weapon system into space – capable of killing other satellites.

The Russian space object, believed to be Cosmos-2576, was launched on a Soyuz-2.1b carrier rocket.

In response to growing international tensions, the UK and the US conducted their first coordinated satellite manoeuvre in space in September.

Defence officials hailed it as a major step forward in allied space cooperation.

The mission saw a US satellite be repositioned in orbit to inspect a UK satellite and confirm it was functioning properly.

The test formed part of Operation Olympic Defender – a joint military framework aimed at improving satellite defence and resilience.

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BRITS will have a brilliant view of Saturn tonight – and it’ll be looking pretty unusual to boot.

This week marks Saturn’s opposition, which is a premium stargazing (or rather, planet-gazing) event.

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During the opposition, Saturn is at its closest point to Earth.

And Saturn will be visible opposite the Sun in the sky so it’s fully illuminated.

That means it’ll be at its brightest point of the year.

So if you want to spy it, you’ll have your best chance tonight – assuming that it’s not cloudy.

It should rise after sunset and be visible all night.

This event will make Saturn easily visible to the naked eye,” said the Royal Observatory Greenwich.

“Appearing as pale yellow and rising in the east, located in the constellation of Pisces.”

Interestingly, this is a particularly special event because Saturn’s rings will be difficult to see.

They’re tilted at a severe angle to us, as we passed through their “plane” back in March.

We do that roughly every 13 to 15 years.

During a few weeks either side of that crossing, you can’t see the rings unless you have a very good telescope.

And even though we’re well on from March, the rings are still very severely tilted.

In fact, they’re just two degrees off dead straight to us.

“Saturn’s beautiful rings won’t be fully visible due to Saturn’s rotation turning edge-on to us,” Royal Observatory Greenwich said.

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“So unfortunately the rings will appear very narrow.”

If you miss Saturn (or you really enjoy it) then there’s another opposition opportunity just a couple of days later.

Neptune can be seen at opposition on September 23 – that’s the Tuesday.

“The planet will be visible with a telescope, rising in the east and setting in the west at sunrise,” Royal Observatory Greenwich explained.

“Neptune, the farthest planet in our Solar System at 4.3 billion kilometres away, will be at its closest point to Earth, shining blue and brighter than any other time of the year.”

But it won’t be easy to see.

Neptune is extremely far away – much further than Saturn.

So you’ll need a very good telescope to spy it.

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“Even with an optical aid, Neptune appears faint and you’ll need a high magnification to get a clear view,” the observatory added.

EVEN though humans have never set foot on Mars, we’ve still got plenty of photos of the red planet.

And if you went by those pics alone, you’d think the Martian surface was littered with mysterious faces, swarms of monstrous spiders, and even alien beings.

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Of course, Mars is just a barren wasteland – only occupied by camera-toting rovers shipped there from Earth.

So why do we see all of these strange faces and figures on Mars?

Well it’s a phenomenon known as pareidolia, which is a human tendency to see patterns when there isn’t one – and it’s often to blame for those bizarre sightings on the red planet.

Here are some of the creepiest “sightings” from our space neighbour, Mars.

CYDONIA ‘FACE ON MARS’

One of the most iconic Martian faces is from the Cydonia region.

The feature was first captured in 1976, revealing a strikingly humanlike formation on the Martian surface.

Early images of the region were snapped by Viking 1 and Viking 2, a pair of Nasa orbiters tasked with imaging Mars.

It’s since been captured in several later photographs, clearly exposing it as an optical illusion.

Sadly it’s not a giant alien face at all – but a massive 1.2-mile-long Cydonian mesa.

The region is known for its flat-topped mesas.

BEAR WE GO

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Forget Stonehenge – what about a giant bear circle?

That’s what was seemingly snapped by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter on December 12, 2022.

It looks like the face of an enormous grizzly, but it’s actually just a weird hill, as Nasa explains: “A V-shaped collapse structure makes the nose, two craters form the eyes, and a circular fracture pattern shapes the head.

“The circular fracture pattern might be due to the settling of a deposit over a buried impact crater.”

LEG IT!

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Several images of what look like terrifyingly large spiders have been captured on Mars.

The first was caught by the European Space Agency‘s (ESA) ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter in October 2020, and the second was picked up by Nasa’s MRO in May 2018.

Thankfully they’re not spiders at all – but a strange phenomenon called “araneiform terrain”.

“This is an active seasonal process not seen on Earth,” Nasa explained.

“Like dry ice on Earth, the carbon dioxide ice on Mars sublimates as it warms (changes from solid to gas) and the gas becomes trapped below the surface.

“Over time the trapped carbon dioxide gas builds in pressure and is eventually strong enough to break through the ice as a jet that erupts dust.

“The gas is released into the atmosphere and darker dust may be deposited around the vent or transported by winds to produce streaks.

“The loss of the sublimated carbon dioxide leaves behind these spider-like features etched into the surface.”

LIVING ON A PRAYER

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In 2007, Nasa’s Mars Exploration Rover Spirit captured what appeared to be a person kneeling in prayer.

It made headlines around the world when the image was released in early 2008.

The eerie scene was part of a vast panorama of Martian hills taken during the closing months of Spirit’s mission.

Of course, all we’re actually seeing is an interesting rock, and a trick of the light.

GHANDI’S MARTIAN TWIN

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Pictures from Europe‘s Mars Express probe appear to have captured a Ghandi lookalike on Mars.

The Mars Orbiter has been used to pack out the Google Mars project with satellite-style snaps of the red planet.

And in 2011, Italian space fan Matteo Lanneo thought he spotted Ghandi’s likeness on the surface.

Of course, it’s just another classic example of pareidolia, where we’re simply seeing things that aren’t really there.

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MARTIAN DOORWAY

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In mid-2022, Nasa captured what appeared to be a “doorway” into a mound of rock nicknamed ‘East Cliffs’.

The picture of the mound on Mount Sharp was snapped by Nasa’s Curiosity Rover.

Sadly it’s not really a doorway, as Nasa explains: “The mound, on Mount Sharp, has a number of naturally occurring open fractures – including one roughly 12 inches (30 centimeters) tall and 16 inches (40 centimeters) wide, similar in size to a dog door.

“These kinds of open fractures are common in bedrock, both on Earth and on Mars.”

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