NASA launched its newest space telescope, undertaking its biggest mission yet to study the universe on a much larger scale. A roughly $4 billion project, the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will allow scientists to get panoramic views of space and better understand the nature of powerful forces known as dark energy and dark matter. Miles O'Brien joined Amna Nawaz to discuss more.

Plus, a groundbreaking new space telescope.

© Reuters

Since it was stripped of planetary status, Pluto’s defenders have been fighting the decision – and they’re only getting more passionate

Twenty years ago, Pluto got demoted. After a vote by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) in August 2006, Pluto was relegated from major planet to dwarf planet status. Our solar system dropped from nine planets to eight. At the time, many scientists were unhappy with the decision. Two decades on, the debate is, if anything, even more polarised.

“The definition of a planet they created, you can’t use it at all,” says Philip Metzger, the director of the Stephen W Hawking Centre for Microgravity Research and Education at the University of Central Florida. “It makes the definition of a planet completely non-useful in science.”

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© Photograph: Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group/Getty Images

© Photograph: Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group/Getty Images

© Photograph: Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group/Getty Images

Astronomers will use data collected by Roman’s wide, deep gaze to study the dark universe and hunt for new worlds.

Searching for exoplanets and clues on planet formation, the Roman telescope begins million-mile journey from Florida launchpad

A $4.3bn space telescope that Donald Trump tried to kill has lifted off from Florida as Nasa embarks on the next stage of its quest to unlock the secrets of the universe.

The Nancy Grace Roman space telescope survived two rounds of proposed White House budget cuts, and began a million-mile journey into deep space from a launchpad at the Kennedy Space Center on Sunday morning. .

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© Photograph: Joe Skipper/Reuters

© Photograph: Joe Skipper/Reuters

© Photograph: Joe Skipper/Reuters

Searching for exoplanets and clues on planet formation, the Roman telescope begins million-mile journey from Florida launchpad

A $4.3bn space telescope that Donald Trump tried to kill has lifted off from Florida as Nasa embarks on the next stage of its quest to unlock the secrets of the universe.

The Nancy Grace Roman space telescope survived two rounds of proposed White House budget cuts, and began a million-mile journey into deep space from a launchpad at the Kennedy Space Center on Sunday morning. .

Continue reading...

© Photograph: Joe Skipper/Reuters

© Photograph: Joe Skipper/Reuters

© Photograph: Joe Skipper/Reuters

NASA plans to soon launch a new space telescope that will survey a billion galaxies to trace how the universe evolved over time, all courtesy of America's spy program and decades of research into detector technology. Once in position, it will take data that astronomers hope will help answer some of the field's most puzzling questions.

NASA’s latest offering to the stars comes from a legacy of great observatories that enabled decades of discovery and unearthed new mysteries about the universe.

© Chriss Gunn/NASA

People in the Americas, Africa and Europe will have a chance to see Earth’s shadow create a near-total blood moon.

© Noel Celis/Reuters

At a festival on a disc golf course, on a peninsula in Iceland, waiting for the sky to descend into darkness.