Beautiful image of young planets sheds new light on planet formation
Researchers have been examining data from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array in Chile on protoplanetary disks -- the belts of dust that eventually form planets. And they have shared fascinating images of the planets from their survey, showing the various stages of planet formation.
InSight lander successfully places its seismometer onto the surface of Mars
Another update from the surface of Mars, as NASA's InSight lander has successfully deployed its first instrument onto the planet's surface. This week the lander placed its copper-colored seismometer onto the ground in front of it from where it can gather data about vibrations deep within the planet.
‘Hippo-shaped’ asteroid to fly close to Earth this Christmas
This Christmas, an unusual visitor will be swinging through our Solar System: an asteroid shaped like a hippo. The 2003 SD220 asteroid will pass close to Earth this weekend, coming as close as 1.8 million miles from our planet. This events marks the asteroid's closest approach in more than 400 years.
Research into how plants respond to microgravity could help grow food in space
One challenge to making long-distance space travel viable is how to feed astronauts. A difficulty with growing plants during spaceflight is that they behave strangely in space, and we are not sure why. Now researchers have made a breakthrough in understanding this process.
Researchers find a way to ‘see’ dark matter
Two astronomers have come up with a method to "see" dark matter by looking at the distribution of starlight in galaxy clusters. They used data from the Hubble telescope to look at a faint source of light called intracluster light, which is believed to be distributed in the same locations as dark matter.
Why are there no hot Neptunes? Atmospheric escape could be the culprit
For unknown reasons, there is an notable absence of planets the size of Neptune which lie close to their respective stars. New research suggests that this may be due to atmospheric escape: the loss of atmospheric gases like hydrogen into space because of the energy of nearby stars.
Ancient ‘fossil cloud’ could shed light on formation of the early universe
A fossilized cloud of gas that may be left over from the Big Bang has been discovered by researchers using data from the W. M. Keck Observatory. The distant cloud is one of only three known fossil clouds in the universe, and could provide valuable information about the formation of the earliest galaxies.
Artificial soil made from lava rock allows growing of food in space
New research has succeeded in growing plants in high-tech planters which use artificial soil made from lava rock. The planters regulate the water, nutrients, gas, and air that plants require and record the ways that plants adapt to conditions similar to those in space such as low levels of nitrogen.
Dark matter heats up and moves around in dwarf galaxies during star formation
The exact nature of dark matter is one of the enduring questions of physics, as it is difficult to identify and has many mysterious manifestations. Now a team from the University of Surrey, UK, have discovered that dark matter can be heated up and moved around due to star formation within galaxies.
Nearby dwarf galaxy will collide with Milky Way, awaken black hole at its heart
In two billion years' time our galaxy will collide with the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), the brightest satellite galaxy of the Milky Way which currently sits around 163,000 light-years from us, waking the dormant black hole at the heart of our galaxy and causing it to devour nearby gases and grow.
Scientists debate mysterious flash of light in space, known as ‘The Cow’
On June 16, 2018 there was an unusual flash in the sky which puzzled astronomers around the world. NASA researchers have collected data on the event and have shared two competing theories for what could have caused it: a black hole shredding a white dwarf, or a supernova giving birth to a neutron star.
Saturn didn’t always have rings, according to new analysis of Cassini data
Saturn's rings are younger than previously believed, according to new data gathered from the Cassini mission. Cassini took a loop between the planet and its rings acting as a gravity probe and found that the rings are certainly less than 100 million years old and perhaps as young as 10 million years old.
Could satellites be 3D-printed in order to reduce space junk?
Scientists are becoming increasingly concerned about space junk -- the detritus orbiting around our planet left over from artificially created space objects. Now a researcher at MIT's Media Lab has spoken out about how satellite design could be improved to reduce space junk and make construction cheaper.
How long is a day on Saturn? Scientists finally have an answer
How long is a day on Saturn? This figure was hard to calculate because the gas giant does not have a solid surface and a magnetic field makes the rate of rotation hard to see. But now scientists have used data from Cassini to pin down a final answer: a day is ten hours, 33 minutes, and 38 seconds long.
See our galactic neighbor, the orderly Triangulum galaxy, in high definition
Take some time out of your day to ooh and ahh at the beauty of the universe - Hubble has shared another stunning image of a nearby galaxy. The Hubble Space Telescope has produced a gorgeous high resolution image of the Triangulum galaxy (M33), made up of 25 million viewable stars.
Where did Titan’s thick, nitrogen-rich atmosphere come from?
There's a mystery about Titan, Saturn's largest moon, that has been puzzling astronomers - where did its thick, nitrogen-rich atmosphere come from? Titan is the only moon in our Solar System to have such a thick atmosphere. A new study posits it is generated by the cooking of organic materials in the moon's core.
Boeing’s astronaut taxi is a go, will launch a test flight next month
Boeing had problems with the development of their spacecraft, the Starliner, when a propellant leak occurred during testing last year. But now the craft is ready for its first test flight, according to Boeing. Eventually the craft will ferry astronauts from Earth to the International Space Station.
Ultima Thule’s peculiar shape is a puzzle for scientists
Ultima Thule, the farthest object ever explored, has yet more mysteries to reveal. Forget the debates about whether it is looks most like a snowman or more like Star Wars' BB-8 -- NASA scientists have revealed that it is even more oddly shaped than previously thought, with two uneven non-spherical lobes.
NASA to launch SPHEREx mission to investigate the origins of our universe
NASA is launching an ambitious mission to map the entire sky in order to understand the origins of the universe. The Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer (SPHEREx) mission will launch in 2023 and is planned to last for two years.
Ninja-like black hole discovered gobbling up a gas cloud 25,000 light-years away
How do you find something you can't see? Japanese astronomers have hunted a hidden black hole by observing the movement of a cloud of gas it is consuming, located 25,000 light-years away from Earth. This is the first intermediate-sized black hole ever found, giving clues to how black holes merge and grow.
Bad news: Neutralizing doomsday asteroids is way harder than we thought
If reality ever follows Hollywood movies like Armageddon or Deep Impact and a chunk of space debris comes hurling toward our planet, then we're in trouble. New evidence from computing modeling shows that asteroids are even tougher and harder to destroy than we previously thought.
See the beautiful first image captured by a new telescope in the Chilean desert
The SPECULOOS project, part of the European Southern Observatory in the Atacama Desert, Chile, is the site of four robotic telescopes named after Jupiter's moons which are used for planet hunting. Now the Ganymede telescope has obtained its first light image, showing the beautiful spiral galaxy NGC 6902.
See baby stars being born in the beautiful Butterfly Nebula
NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope was launched in 2003 and was supposed to only be on its mission for two and a half years. But remarkably enough, 16 years later it is still going. Now astronomers have used its data to create this infrared image of a beautiful nebula that acts as a nursery for baby stars.
NASA’s planet-hunting satellite TESS locates its first exoplanet
NASA's planet-hunting satellite, TESS, was launched last year to search for exoplanets. The satellite will observe 400,000 stars and select a target from the new TESS Habitable Zone Star Catalog. The search is already paying off, as astronomers announce they have discovered a Saturn-sized planet.
A tiny pebble could have caused the dramatic self-destruction of a 5-mile-long asteroid
The Hubble telescope has captured images of a self-destructing asteroid called 6478 Gault with a distinctive double tail. The two comet-like tails of debris are evidence of activity in the asteroid which is ejecting material into space, suggesting that Gault is breaking apart.
See a cluster of cosmic wild ducks in flight in Hubble’s picture of the week
Hubble has provided another space picture for us to marvel at. The telescope has been imaging the Messier 11 cluster, a group of stars in the southern constellation of Scutum also known by another name: the Wild Duck Cluster, because the brightest stars look like a flock of ducks in flight.
NASA’s twin study reveals effects of time spent in space on the human body
A NASA study has revealed clues about the effects of space by studying twins. Two retired astronauts, twin brothers Scott and Mark Kelly, lent their bodies to science to be studied between 2015 and 2016. Mark stayed on Earth while Scott spent 340 days aboard the International Space Station.
Time spent in space affects connectivity of astronauts’ brains, new study shows
We already know that spending time in space has effects on the body, and recent evidence suggests it could have an effect on the mind as well. Now, scientists have used magnetic resonance imaging to look at how astronauts' brains changed after they adapted to an environment without gravity.
The supermassive black hole at the heart of the Milky Way is getting hungrier
Last month, we learned that the supermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy was flaring, although no one was sure why. Now, astronomers from the University of California, Los Angeles have revealed more about what they think may be driving this unprecedented event.
Hubble scientists find new way to measure the age of star clusters
A new Hubble image shows a scene within the bounds of our galactic neighbor, the Large Magellanic Cloud galaxy. This particular object, NGC 1466, is a type of star cluster called a globular cluster -- a group of stars that are held together by gravity and which move together through the edges of the LMC.
Was hellish hothouse Venus once a temperate planet covered in water?
It sounds outlandish, but according to new research, the scorching planet of Venus could once have been habitable. The average surface temperature on Venus today is 863°F, but a new study claims that millions of years ago, the planet could have been a temperate place with liquid water on its surface.
NASA’s troubled next-generation rocket is finally assembled
NASA's Space Launch System should be the next generation of rocket, suitable for launching heavy payloads and traveling to deep space. But the project has been troubled, suffering from delays and ballooning costs. Progress is being made, however, and recently NASA shared an update on the rocket.
Stunning image shows astronaut’s-eye view of rocket approaching the ISS
This week a new group of astronauts headed for the International Space Station. Astronaut Christina Koch was looking forward to being joined by her best friend and fellow NASA astronaut Jessica Meir, so she decided to capture an image of the incoming craft from her perspective on board the ISS.
Two new images show Mars’ icy poles and pockmarked surface
The European Space Agency has captured a stunning image of Mars from top to bottom with its Mars Express craft which is currently in orbit around the planet. The slice shows Mars from its north to its south pole, with frozen ice caps on top and bottom and a boundary of rock formations between them.
Planet Nine could be a miniature black hole hiding in our solar system
The concept of a ninth planet in our solar system captured the public's imagination and gained steam when astronomers found more evidence in support of its existence. Now, a different team has suggested that the strange body we're seeing evidence of is not a planet but a miniature black hole.
SpaceX shows off its new Starship tonight. Here’s how to watch
Today we should get a first look at SpaceX's Starship project, a reusable rocket for carrying cargo and crew "to Earth orbit, the Moon, Mars, and anywhere else in the solar system." We're expecting an announcement from Elon Musk tonight, and you can watch the livestream here from 8 p.m. EST.
Strange radio bursts shed light on mysterious galactic halos
In a galactic version of killing two birds with one stone, astronomers have come up with a way to investigate two puzzling cosmic phenomena at the same time. They observed a fast radio burst from a distant galaxy which passed through a galactic halo, shedding light on both the bursts and the halo.
The Medusa merger galaxy is the site of a galactic mystery
A new Hubble image features a legendary monster who gave her name to the merging of two galaxies, the Medusa merger. Located 130 million light-years away in the constellation of Ursa Major, this merger was created when a large galaxy collided with a smaller system rich in gas and devoured it.