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Starlight and the first black holes: researchers detect the host galaxies of quasars in the early universe
For the first time, the James Webb Space Telescope has revealed starlight from two massive galaxies hosting actively growing black holes - quasars - seen less than a billion years after the Big Bang.
June 28, 2023 Read more
Life beyond certain death: astronomers find a planet that shouldn't be there
Scientists have encountered a planet that appears to have survived its host star expanding outwards to become a red giant. However, the single star, Baekdu, might once have been a binary star system, helping the lucky planet survive.
June 28, 2023 Read more
Mori3: a polygon shapeshifting robot for space travel (w/video)
Researchers have created an origami-like robot that can change shape, move around and interact with objects and people.
June 27, 2023 Read more
Webb makes first detection of crucial carbon molecule
This molecule, never before seen in space, is believed to be a cornerstone of interstellar organic chemistry.
June 26, 2023 Read more
Never-before-seen way to annihilate a star
International Gemini Observatory traces gamma-ray burst to nucleus of ancient galaxy, suggesting stars can undergo demolition-derby-like collisions.
June 22, 2023 Read more
Exoplanet may reveal secrets about the edge of habitability
How close can a rocky planet be to a star, and still sustain water and life? A recently discovered exoplanet may be key to solving that mystery, providing important insights about conditions at the inner edge of a star's habitable zone and why Earth and Venus developed so differently.
June 21, 2023 Read more
Observations of high-mass star seeds defy models
Astronomers have mapped 39 interstellar clouds where high-mass stars are expected to form. This large data set shows that the accepted model of low-mass star formation needs to be expanded to explain the formation of high-mass stars.
June 20, 2023 Read more
Discovery of white dwarf pulsar sheds light on stellar evolution
The discovery of a rare type of star system provides new insights into the dynamo model's predictions for stellar evolution. The new white dwarf pulsar, an extremely close binary system of a white dwarf star and a red dwarf star that together would fit inside the Sun, is only the second known of its kind.
June 15, 2023 Read more
Key building block for life found at Saturn's moon Enceladus
The search for extraterrestrial life in our solar system just got more exciting. A team of scientists has discovered new evidence that the subsurface ocean of Enceladus contains a key building block for life. The team directly detected phosphorus in the form of phosphates originating from the moon's ice-covered global ocean.
June 14, 2023 Read more
Weighing a quasar's galaxy with precision
Scientists have managed to weigh - more precisely than any other technique - a galaxy hosting a quasar, thanks to the fact that it acts as a gravitational lens.
June 13, 2023 Read more
Using photosynthesis for Martian occupation
Researchers are working on sustainable technology to harvest solar power in space - which could supplement life support systems on the Moon and Mars.
June 10, 2023 Read more
Gravitational waves innovation could help unlock cosmic secrets
A groundbreaking development in thin film technology promises to enhance the sensitivity of current and future gravitational wave detectors.
June 8, 2023 Read more
Researchers discover chemical evidence for pair-instability supernova from a very massive first star
A new study has identified a chemically peculiar star in the galactic halo as clear evidence of the existence of pair-instability supernovae from very massive first stars in the early Universe.
June 7, 2023 Read more
Not your average space explosion: Researchers find classical novae are anything but simple
While studying classical novae using the National Radio Astronomy Observatory's Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA), a graduate researcher uncovered evidence the objects may have been erroneously typecast as simple.
June 7, 2023 Read more
The laws of physics used to be different, which may explain why you exist
The laws of physics must have been different at the start of the universe than they are now, according to a mind-bending study conducted by astronomers, which provides clues to why stars, planets and life itself managed to form in the universe.
June 6, 2023 Read more
One-third of galaxy's most common planets could be in habitable zone
In a new analysis based on the latest telescope data, astronomers have discovered that a third of the planets around the most common stars in the galaxy could be in a goldilocks orbit close enough, and gentle enough, to hold onto liquid water - and possibly harbor life.
June 6, 2023 Read more
Dying stars' cocoons could be new source of gravitational waves
New simulations suggest, for the first time, that cocoons of debris around dying stars likely emit gravitational waves.
June 5, 2023 Read more