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How newborn stars prepare for the birth of planets

An international team of astronomers used two of the most powerful radio telescopes in the world to create more than three hundred images of planet-forming disks around very young stars in the Orion Clouds. These images reveal new details about the birthplaces of planets and the earliest stages of star formation.

Feb 20th, 2020

Scientists develop an autonomous orbital greenhouse

Researchers have developed an orbital greenhouse, an autonomous module, which enables cultivating various plants in space.

Feb 20th, 2020

Journey to the center of Mars

While NASA's InSight's seismometer has been patiently waiting for the next big marsquake to illuminate its interior and define its crust-mantle-core structure, two scientists have built a new compositional model for Mars.

Feb 20th, 2020

18-hour year planet on edge of destruction

The 'hot Jupiter' orbits perilously close, to the point that it will be destroyed by the star. This research could shed light on how long a planet can orbit that close to a star before it spirals to its destruction.

Feb 20th, 2020

How to deflect an asteroid

Engineers devise a decision map to identify the best mission type to deflect an incoming asteroid.

Feb 20th, 2020

Simple, fuel-efficient rocket engine could enable cheaper, lighter spacecraft

A new type of engine - called a rotating detonation engine - promises to make rockets not only more fuel-efficient but also more lightweight and less complicated to construct. There is just one problem: Right now this engine is too unpredictable to be used in an actual rocket.

Feb 19th, 2020

Scientists pioneer new way to study exoplanets

Astronomers observed radio waves that carry the distinct signatures of aurorae, caused by the interaction between a star's magnetic field and a planet in orbit around it.

Feb 18th, 2020

Solar wind samples suggest new physics of massive solar ejections

A new study has helped refine understanding of the amount of hydrogen, helium and other elements present in violent outbursts from the Sun, and other types of solar wind, a stream of ionized atoms ejected from the Sun.

Feb 17th, 2020

Study reveals details of 'golf ball asteroid'

A tilted orbit may explain the asteroid Pallas' highly cratered surface.

Feb 11th, 2020

Distant giant planets form differently than 'failed stars'

Astronomers have probed the formation process of giant exoplanets and brown dwarfs by using a combination of direct imaging of these objects and custom software to model their orbits.

Feb 11th, 2020

Supercharged light pulverises asteroids, study finds

Radiation from dying stars is luminous enough to easily spin up orbiting asteroids to break-up speed.

Feb 10th, 2020

One small grain of moon dust, one giant leap for lunar studies

Scientists found a new way to analyze the chemistry of the Moon's soil using a single grain of dust. Their technique can help us learn more about conditions on the surface of the Moon and formation of precious resources like water and helium there.

Feb 8th, 2020

Galaxy formation simulated without dark matter

For the first time, researchers have simulated the formation of galaxies in a universe without dark matter. According to the scientists, their assumptions could solve many mysteries of modern cosmology.

Feb 7th, 2020

Astronomers discover unusual monster galaxy in the very early universe

An international team of astronomers has found an unusual monster galaxy that existed about 12 billion years ago, when the universe was only 1.8 billion years old. Dubbed XMM-2599, the galaxy formed stars at a high rate and then died. Why it suddenly stopped forming stars is unclear.