Space Exploration News – Latest Headlines

Resolving the black hole 'fuzzball or wormhole' debate

Study adds more certainty to theory involving information paradox.

January 4, 2022 Read more

Researchers capture high-frequency oscillations in the gigantic eruption of a neutron star

An international scientific group has managed to measure for the first time oscillations in the brightness of a neutron star during its most violent moments. In just a tenth of a second, the magnetar released energy equivalent to that produced by the Sun in 100,000 years.

December 27, 2021 Read more

Billions of starless planets haunt dark cloud cradles

In Lovecraftian horror, the Universe is filled with 'dark planets' ungraced by the light of a host star. New research shows that reality might be even scarier. An international team of astronomers has found about 100 planets floating freely in space rather than orbiting stars.

December 22, 2021 Read more

Tracking down the forces that shaped our Solar System's evolution

Meteorites are remnants of the building blocks that formed Earth and the other planets orbiting our Sun. Recent analysis of their isotopic makeup led settles a longstanding debate about the geochemical evolution of our Solar System and our home planet.

December 22, 2021 Read more

Astronomers capture black hole eruption spanning 16 times the full Moon in the sky

Astronomers have produced the most comprehensive image of radio emission from the nearest actively feeding supermassive black hole to Earth. The emission is powered by a central black hole in the galaxy Centaurus A, about 12 million light years away.

December 22, 2021 Read more

Could acid-neutralizing life-forms make habitable pockets in Venus' clouds?

A new study shows it's theoretically possible. The hypothesis could be tested soon with proposed Venus-bound missions.

December 21, 2021 Read more

Engineers test an idea for a new hovering rover

A levitating vehicle might someday explore the moon, asteroids, and other airless planetary surfaces.

December 21, 2021 Read more

Are black holes and dark matter the same?

Proposing an alternative model for how the universe came to be, a team of astrophysicists suggests that all black holes - from those as tiny as a pin head to those covering billions of miles - were created instantly after the Big Bang and account for all dark matter.

December 20, 2021 Read more

Unveiling substructures at the edge of the Galaxy

An international team of astronomers has revealed a new map of the Milky Way's outer disc showing remains of tidal arms excited from interactions with satellite galaxies in the distant past.

December 17, 2021 Read more

Scientists predict the rotation periods of stars

A new study features a method of deriving the rotation periods of stars from just one observation of the stellar activity rather than repeated observations over several weeks which are needed to directly measure the rotation period. The method has possible implications for the determination of the ages of stars.

December 16, 2021 Read more

Spacecraft enters the Sun's corona for the first time in history

A spacecraft launched by NASA has done what was once thought impossible. On April 28, the Parker Solar Probe successfully entered the corona of the Sun - an extreme environment that's roughly 1.1 million degrees C.

December 14, 2021 Read more

Stellar 'ashfall' could help distant planets grow

The world's first 3D simulation simultaneously considering dust motion and growth in a disk around a young star has shown that large dust from the central region can be entrained by and then ejected by gas outflows, and eventually fall back onto the outer regions of the disk where it may enable planetesimal formation.

December 14, 2021 Read more

Super-bright stellar explosion is likely a dying star giving birth to a black hole or neutron star (w/video)

The discovery, based on an unusual event dubbed 'the Cow', may offer astronomers a new way to spot infant compact objects.

December 13, 2021 Read more

Einstein wins again

The theory of general relativity passes a range of precise tests set by pair of extreme stars.

December 13, 2021 Read more

Astronomers find clue to solar system formation through little-known star

An international study focusing on an infamous star in Orion may help to shed light on how the solar system formed.

December 10, 2021 Read more

You can help scientists study the Sun

If you ever wanted to be an astronomer, now is your chance. A new citizen science project allows volunteers to play an important role in learning more about the Sun by using their personal computers.

December 9, 2021 Read more

Researchers capture the fastest optical flash emitted from a newborn supernova

A team of astronomers has discovered the fastest optical flash of a Type Ia supernova.

December 9, 2021 Read more

Machine Learning decodes the tremors of the Universe

Researchers trained a neural network to estimate - in just a few seconds - the precise characteristics of merging black holes based on their gravitational-wave emissions. The network determines the masses and spins of the black holes, where in the sky, at what angle, and how far away from Earth the merger took place.

December 9, 2021 Read more