Space Exploration News – Latest Headlines

In rotating galaxies, distribution of normal matter precisely determines gravitational acceleration

A new radial acceleration relation found among spiral and irregular galaxies challenges current understanding - and possibly existence - of dark matter.

September 21, 2016 Read more

ALMA spots possible formation site of icy giant planet

Astronomers found signs of a growing planet around TW Hydra, a nearby young star. Based on the distance from the central star and the distribution of tiny dust grains, the baby planet is thought to be an icy giant, similar to Uranus and Neptune in our Solar System.

September 21, 2016 Read more

Estimating the cosmic consequences of tiny camera imperfections

Almost imperceptible imperfections in camera sensor technology will not hold back the search for cosmic dark matter and dark energy.

September 16, 2016 Read more

Gaia results revealed - first data release from the most detailed map ever made of the sky

The first results from the Gaia satellite, which is completing an unprecedented census of more than one billion stars in the Milky Way, are being released today to astronomers and the public.

September 14, 2016 Read more

Quantum information encoded in spinning black holes

A recent article argues that X-ray radiation coming from fast spinning black holes encompasses quantum information.

September 14, 2016 Read more

Astronomers shed light on different galaxy types

Scientists have taken a critical step towards understanding why different types of galaxies exist throughout the Universe.

September 14, 2016 Read more

Explaining why the universe can be transparent

New research findings explain why the universe has enough energy to become transparent. The study marks the first quantitative study of how the gas content within galaxies scales with the amount of interstellar dust.

September 13, 2016 Read more

Recreating our galaxy in a supercomputer

Astronomers have created the most detailed computer simulation to date of our Milky Way galaxy's formation, from its inception billions of years ago as a loose assemblage of matter to its present-day state as a massive, spiral disk of stars.

September 9, 2016 Read more

The dream of a space elevator

From November 12 to 15, the Technical University of Munich will host the 'European Space Elevator Challenge' for the third time, an international competition for developing space elevator prototypes. Seven teams from Germany, India and Japan will be competing with their concepts - in the hope of laying the foundation for a revolution in astronautics.

September 8, 2016 Read more

Comet lander Philae found

The comet lander Philae has been found. The OSIRIS camera on board the Rosetta orbiter took the revealing images of the surface of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. They show the landing craft lying sideways in a crevasse.

September 7, 2016 Read more

Detailed age map shows how Milky Way came together

Using colors to identify the approximate ages of more than 130,000 stars in the Milky Way's halo, Notre Dame astronomers have produced the clearest picture yet of how the galaxy formed more than 13.5 billion years ago.

September 6, 2016 Read more

First gravitational waves form after 10 million years

If two galaxies collide, the merging of their central black holes triggers gravitational waves, which ripple throughout space. An international research team has now calculated that this occurs around 10 million years after the two galaxies merge - much faster than previously assumed.

September 5, 2016 Read more

One trace of dark matter vanishes

A mysterious X-ray signal most likely originates from sulfur ions which capture electrons.

September 2, 2016 Read more

The Genesis Project: New life on exoplanets

A new essay deals with the question if life can be brought to celestial bodies outside our solar system which are not permanently inhabitable?

August 31, 2016 Read more

The rise and fall of galaxy formation (w/video)

An international team of astronomers has charted the rise and fall of galaxies over 90 percent of cosmic history. Their work includes some of the most sensitive astronomical measurements made to date.

August 30, 2016 Read more

Planet Nine could spell doom for solar system

The solar system could be thrown into disaster when the sun dies if the mysterious 'Planet Nine' exists, according to new research.

August 30, 2016 Read more

Milky Way had a blowout bash 6 million years ago

The center of the Milky Way galaxy is currently a quiet place where a supermassive black hole slumbers, only occasionally slurping small sips of hydrogen gas. But it wasn't always this way. A new study shows that 6 million years ago, when the first human ancestors known as hominins walked the Earth, our galaxy's core blazed forth furiously.

August 30, 2016 Read more

Astronomers probe peculiar age-defying star

Located more than 12,000 light-years from Earth, the object first stood out as peculiar when it was observed at particular radio frequencies. Several teams of astronomers studied it using ground-based telescopes and concluded that it is an oxygen-rich star about 10 times as massive as the sun. The question was: What kind of star?

August 29, 2016 Read more