Hi everybody, and welcome to the 498th Carnival of Space.  If you’re new to the carnival, it’s a roving event that moves to a different hosting website every week and features the best and most interesting writing on space science and astronomy.  So, without any further delay, let’s get to it.

Woah! Two Carnivals of Space in one?  Sadly, last week’s host was unable to publish the 492nd carnival, so rather than let all that good spacey goodness go to waste, the organisers and I decided to double up this week’s edition instead.  So make sure you’re comfortable before diving in.