Space Exploration News – Latest Headlines

Multi-layered, nanostructured 'space skin' can help future satellites and spacecraft harvest energy

Researchers show that their innovative nano-coating, called the Multifunctional Nanobarrier Structure (MFNS), can reduce the operating temperatures of space-qualified structures from 120 C to 60 C.

January 16, 2023 Read more

Study finds active galactic nuclei are even more powerful than thought

A new study indicates that scientists have substantially underestimated the energy output of these objects by not recognizing the extent to which their light is dimmed by dust.

January 16, 2023 Read more

A star's unexpected survival

A team of physicists devise a model that maps a star's surprising orbit about a supermassive black hole - revealing new information about one of the cosmos' most extreme environments.

January 14, 2023 Read more

Researchers measure size-luminosity relation of galaxies less than a billion years after Big Bang

Astronomers have studied the relation between galaxy size and luminosity of some of the earliest galaxies in the universe taken by the James Webb Space Telescope, less than a billion years after the Big Bang.

January 13, 2023 Read more

QUIJOTE maps the structure of our galaxy's magnetic field

Almost a decade after starting observations of the sky in the northern hemisphere in the microwave range, the QUIJOTE Collaboration has presented an initial series of 6 scientific articles, giving the most accurate description we have of the polarization of the emission of the Milky Way at these wavelengths.

January 12, 2023 Read more

The seven-year photobomb: Distant star's dimming was likely a 'dusty' companion getting in the way, astronomers say

Gaia17bpp dimmed by about 4.5 orders of magnitude - or roughly 45,000 times. The star remained dim over the course of nearly seven years, from 2012 to 2019. The sudden brightening that the Gaia survey had uncovered was the end of that seven-year dim.

January 11, 2023 Read more

NASA's TESS discovers planetary system's second Earth-size world

Using data from NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, scientists have identified an Earth-size world, called TOI 700 e, orbiting within the habitable zone of its star - the range of distances where liquid water could occur on a planet's surface. The world is 95% Earth's size and likely rocky.

January 11, 2023 Read more

Model-independent method to weigh protoplanetary disks

Astronomers have found a way to directly measure the amount of gas in protoplanetary disks without needing to make assumptions about the relative amounts of different types of gas, making this method more accurate and robust than previous methods.

January 11, 2023 Read more

Astronomers spotted unusual stellar explosion rich in oxygen and magnesium

Scientists discovered a supernova explosion that expands our understanding of the later life stages of massive stars.

January 10, 2023 Read more

Researchers develop AI method for mapping planets

Can the mapping of planets become an automated process? Scientists have now developed a novel, open-source approach for the mapping of planetary landforms using artificial intelligence.

January 10, 2023 Read more

Astronomers find the most distant stars in our galaxy halfway to Andromeda

A search for variable stars called RR Lyrae has found some of the most distant stars in the Milky Way's halo a million light years away.

January 10, 2023 Read more

James Webb Space Telescope reveals links between galaxies near and far

Scientists use CEERS Survey to examine the structure and morphology of 850 high-redshift galaxies.

January 9, 2023 Read more

Physicists confirm effective wave growth theory in space

Physicists used spacecraft data to confirm an important theory of plasma physics that improves our understanding of space weather.

January 6, 2023 Read more

Cosmological enigma of Milky Way's satellite galaxies solved

Astronomers say they have solved an outstanding problem that challenged our understanding of how the Universe evolved - the spatial distribution of faint satellite galaxies orbiting the Milky Way.

December 20, 2022 Read more

New study confirms the light from outside our galaxy brighter than expected

Scientists analyzed new measurements showing that the light emitted by stars outside our galaxy is two to three times brighter than the light from known populations of galaxies, challenging assumptions about the number and environment of stars are in the universe.

December 17, 2022 Read more

Astronomers may have uncovered how galaxies change their shape

Researchers may have answered a decades-old question about galaxy evolution, leveraging the power of artificial intelligence (AI) to accelerate their research.

December 16, 2022 Read more

Astronomers find that two exoplanets may be mostly water

Astronomers have found evidence that two exoplanets orbiting a red dwarf star are water worlds, planets where water makes up a large fraction of the volume.

December 16, 2022 Read more

What microorganisms on Mars would need to survive

Scientists studied the cellular processes that regulate the adaptation of microorganisms to perchlorates. If microorganisms could genetically adapt their stress response to this salt, which occurs in some deserts and on Mars, their survival on the red planet might be possible.

December 15, 2022 Read more