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Astronomers find a 'cataclysmic' pair of stars with the shortest orbit yet
The stars circle each other every 51 minutes, confirming a decades-old prediction.
October 5, 2022 Read more
Spin flips show how galaxies grow from the cosmic web
The alignment between galaxy spins and the large-scale structure of the universe reveals the processes by which different components of galaxies form.
October 5, 2022 Read more
New evidence for liquid water beneath the south polar ice cap of Mars
An international team of researchers has revealed new evidence for the possible existence of liquid water beneath the south polar ice cap of Mars.
October 1, 2022 Read more
Milky Way's graveyard of dead stars found
The first map of the 'galactic underworld' - a chart of the corpses of once massive suns that have since collapsed into black holes and neutron stars - has revealed a graveyard that stretches three times the height of the Milky Way, and that almost a third of the objects have been flung out from the galaxy altogether.
September 30, 2022 Read more
Webb reveals a galaxy sparkling with the universe's oldest star clusters
Using the James Webb Space Telescope, astronomers have identified the most distant globular clusters ever discovered. These dense groups of millions of stars may be relics that contain the first and oldest stars in the universe.
September 29, 2022 Read more
Synthetic lava in the lab aids exoplanet exploration
A multidisciplinary group of researchers has modeled and synthesized lava in the laboratory as the kinds of rock that may form on far-away exoplanets. They developed 16 types of surface compositions as a starter catalog for finding volcanic worlds that feature fiery landscapes and oceans of magma.
September 28, 2022 Read more
DART mission hits asteroid in first-ever planetary defense test
After 10 months flying in space, NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) - the world's first planetary defense technology demonstration - successfully impacted its asteroid target on Monday, the agency's first attempt to move an asteroid in space.
September 27, 2022 Read more
Astronomers map distances to 56,000 galaxies, largest-ever catalog
Aresearch team assembled the largest-ever compilation of high-precision galaxy distances, called Cosmicflows-4.
September 26, 2022 Read more
Layering, not liquid: Astronomers explain Mars' watery reflections
A group of astronomers believe bright reflections beneath the surface of Mars' South Pole are not necessarily evidence of liquid water, but instead geological layers.
September 26, 2022 Read more
Dozens of newly discovered gravitational lenses could reveal ancient galaxies and the nature of dark matter
Earlier this year a machine learning algorithm identified up to 5,000 potential gravitational lenses that could transform our ability to chart the evolution of galaxies since the Big Bang.
September 26, 2022 Read more
Mysterious ripples in the Milky Way were caused by a passing dwarf galaxy
Using data from the Gaia space telescope, a team has shown that large parts of the Milky Way's outer disk vibrate. The ripples are caused by a dwarf galaxy, now seen in the constellation Sagittarius, that shook our galaxy as it passed by hundreds of millions of years ago.
September 23, 2022 Read more
Analysis of particles of the asteroid Ryugu delivers surprising results
Scientists discovered areas with a massive accumulation of rare earths and unexpected structures.
September 23, 2022 Read more
Astronomers detect hot gas bubble swirling around the Milky Way's supermassive black hole
The finding helps us better understand the enigmatic and dynamic environment of our galaxy's supermassive black hole.
September 22, 2022 Read more
Virtual hiking map for Jezero Crater, the Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover landing site
Prospective Mars explorers can now take a hike around the landing site of NASA's Mars 2020 Perseverance rover with aninteractive maploaded with orbital imagery, terrain data as well as synthetic and real 3D panoramic views of Jezero crater and its surrounding area.
September 21, 2022 Read more
Could a magnetar and a Be-Star be the source of Fast Radio Bursts?
Astrophysicists are one step closer to figuring out what Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs) are, thanks to an analysis of nearly 2000 bursts from a single source called FRB 20201124A.
September 21, 2022 Read more
New Webb image captures clearest view of Neptune's rings in decades
Not only has Webb captured the clearest view of this distant planet's rings in more than 30 years, but its cameras reveal the ice giant in a whole new light.
September 21, 2022 Read more
Mars is littered with 7,119 kg of human trash from 50 years of robotic exploration
Nations have sent 18 human-made objects to Mars over 14 separate missions. Many of these missions are still ongoing, but over the decades of Martian exploration, humankind has left behind many pieces of debris on the planet's surface.
September 20, 2022 Read more
Earth-like exoplanets unlikely to be another 'pale blue dot'
It is tempting to assume that a second Earth would be just like ours, but new modelling results suggest that this is not likely to be the case.
September 20, 2022 Read more