Stefanie Waldek

Stefanie Waldek

Contributor

Space.com contributing writer Stefanie Waldek is a self-taught space nerd and aviation geek who is passionate about all things spaceflight and astronomy. With a background in travel and design journalism, as well as a Bachelor of Arts degree from New York University, she specializes in the budding space tourism industry and Earth-based astrotourism. In her free time, you can find her watching rocket launches or looking up at the stars, wondering what is out there. Learn more about her work at www.stefaniewaldek.com.

Articles by: Stefanie Waldek

An image of the moon showing the elevation of its craters using rainbow colors

Scientists have dated the moon's oldest, and largest, impact site

By Stefanie Waldek published

The largest and oldest-known impact site on the moon is the South Pole-Aitken basin. Thanks to new research, scientists have dated the basin to the period between 4.32 and 4.33 billion years ago.

A blurry photo of Mars' moon Phobos passing in front of the sun in a partial eclipse

Perseverance rover watches a solar eclipse on Mars

By Stefanie Waldek published

On Sept. 30, NASA's Perseverance rover turned its eyes toward the sky and photographed a solar eclipse from Mars, capturing the tiny moon Phobos crossing the sun's face.

an image of earth as seen from space. a silvery edge of a spacecraft can be seen along one side of the image

ESA's JUICE spacecraft confirmed Earth is habitable. Here's why

By Stefanie Waldek published

JUICE successfully identified water and the building blocks of life in Earth's atmosphere. In doing so, the probe headed for Jupiter's moons confirmed that its instruments are working properly.

A view of the top of Io, a slight haze protrudes from the surface in one isolated location.

NASA's Juno probe reveals 'fire-breathing' lava lakes across Jupiter's volcanic moon Io

By Stefanie Waldek published

New infrared images showcase "fire-breathing" lakes all across the surface of Jupiter's volcanic moon Io.

An image of Jupiter's great red spot

Is Jupiter's Great Red Spot an impostor? Giant storm may not be the original one discovered 350 years ago

By Stefanie Waldek published

Astronomer Giovanni Cassini observed Jupiter's 'Permanent Spot' in 1665, but new research suggests it's a different vortex from today's Great Red Spot.

An illustration of rocky terrain on Mars with an eerie green sky in the background

Astronauts on Mars may see a green sky, eerie new study suggests

By Stefanie Waldek published

Scientists just observed Mars' eerie green nightglow in the visible light spectrum for the very first time.

The moon and Mars (tiny orange dot) appear side by side in the sky before an occultation

Mars is about to be eclipsed by the moon. Here's how to watch.

By Stefanie Waldek published

On Monday (Jan. 30), the moon will pass in front of Mars from the perspective of Earth in what's known as an occultation.

This artist's concept shows a young star surrounded by a dusty protoplanetary disk. This disk contains the raw material that can form planets as the star system matures. Even in the closest star-forming regions, such disks are tiny and difficult to observe directly, but their strong infrared glow can easily be seen by the detectors on the Spitzer Space Telescope.

Deep space 'hurricanes' could point the way to alien worlds

By Stefanie Waldek published

When new planets form in distant solar systems, they carve out 'hurricanes' and 'vortices' in the surrounding dust that could lead astronomers straight to them.

The asteroid Didymos and its moonlet Dimorphos are shown in a composite image taken by DART's DRACO instrument on July 27, 2022.

NASA's asteroid-slamming DART spacecraft catches 1st look at target (photo)

By Stefanie Waldek published

Using its DRACO camera, DART has imaged the asteroid Didymos and its moonlet Dimorphos.

A fireball observed by the CA000P Global Meteor Network camera in Ontario on April 17.

Massive fireball scattered loads of meteorites across southern Ontario

By Stefanie Waldek published

On Sunday (April 17), skywatching cameras in Ontario recorded a massive fireball that likely produced tens to hundreds of grams of meteorites.

An artist's representation of a supermassive black hole.

Could the secret of supermassive black holes lie in ultralight dark matter?

By Stefanie Waldek published

Though scientists know there's a supermassive black hole at the center of most galaxies, they can't explain how the gravitational giants formed.