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Turning the Moon into a cosmic ray detector

Scientists are to turn the Moon into a giant particle detector to help understand the origin of Ultra-High-Energy (UHE) cosmic rays - the most energetic particles in the Universe.

Sep 26th, 2014

Earth's water is older than the sun

Water was crucial to the rise of life on Earth and is also important to evaluating the possibility of life on other planets. Identifying the original source of Earth's water is key to understanding how life-fostering environments come into being and how likely they are to be found elsewhere. New work found that much of our solar system's water likely originated as ices that formed in interstellar space.

Sep 25th, 2014

New molecule found in space connotes life origins

Hunting from a distance of 27,000 light years, astronomers have discovered an unusual carbon-based molecule contained within a giant gas cloud in interstellar space. The discovery suggests that the complex molecules needed for life may have their origins in interstellar space.

Sep 25th, 2014

A galaxy of deception

Astronomers usually have to peer very far into the distance to see back in time, and view the Universe as it was when it was young. This new NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image of galaxy DDO 68, otherwise known as UGC 5340, was thought to offer an exception. This ragged collection of stars and gas clouds looks at first glance like a recently-formed galaxy in our own cosmic neighborhood. But, is it really as young as it looks?

Sep 25th, 2014

Most metal-poor star hints at universe's first supernovae

In a new study, researchers point out that the elemental abundance of the most iron-poor star can be explained by elements ejected from supernova explosions of the universe's first stars. This reveals that massive stars, which are several tens of times more immense than the Sun, were present among the first stars.

Sep 24th, 2014

Astronomers find clear skies and water vapor on exoplanet

Astronomers using data from three space telescopes - Hubble, Spitzer and Kepler - have discovered clear skies and steamy water vapor on a gaseous planet outside our solar system. The planet is about the size of Neptune, making it the smallest planet from which molecules of any kind have been detected.

Sep 24th, 2014

Most stars are born in clusters, some leave 'home'

New modeling studies demonstrate that most of the stars we see were formed when unstable clusters of newly formed protostars broke up. These protostars are born out of rotating clouds of dust and gas, which act as nurseries for star formation. Rare clusters of multiple protostars remain stable and mature into multi-star systems. The unstable ones will eject stars until they achieve stability and end up as single or binary stars.

Sep 24th, 2014

Solar explosions inside a computer

Strong solar flares can bring down communications and power grids on Earth. By demonstrating how these gigantic eruptions are caused, physicists are laying the foundations for future predictions.

Sep 24th, 2014

Explainer: why are countries vying for a piece of Mars?

The red planet is about to welcome a new visitor: India's Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) is hoping to start orbiting Mars on September 24. MOM is not the only new kid in town. There are currently five operational spacecraft orbiting Mars and two rovers on its surface. China, Japan, Russia, the US and joint European countries have all tried to send missions to Mars before India. What is it about our rocky neighbour that makes it such a focus of interest?

Sep 23rd, 2014

The origin of Uranus and Neptune elucidated?

Researchers have proposed a solution to the problematic chemical composition of Uranus and Neptune, thus providing clues for understanding their formation. The researchers focused on the positioning of these two outermost planets of the Solar System, and propose a new model explaining how and where they formed.

Sep 23rd, 2014

Infant solar system shows signs of windy weather

Astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array have observed what may be the first-ever signs of windy weather around a T Tauri star, an infant analog of our own Sun. This may help explain why some T Tauri stars have disks that glow weirdly in infrared light while others shine in a more expected fashion.

Sep 22nd, 2014

Thermonuclear X-ray bursts on neutron stars set speed record

A new study of thermonuclear X-ray bursts on neutron stars reveals that shells can be expelled at speeds up to 30% of the speed of light.

Sep 22nd, 2014

Where is that spacecraft?

Space surveillance is inherently challenging when compared to other tracking environments due to various reasons, not least of which is the long time gap between surveillance updates. Scientists propose a more statistically rigorous treatment of uncertainty in the near-Earth space environment than currently available.

Sep 22nd, 2014

Finding hints of gravitational waves in the stars

Scientists have shown how gravitational waves might be 'seen' by looking at the stars. The new model proposes that a star that oscillates at the same frequency as a gravitational wave will absorb energy from that wave and brighten, an overlooked prediction of Einstein's 1916 theory of general relativity. The study contradicts previous assumptions about the behavior of gravitational waves.

Sep 22nd, 2014

Shrink-wrapping spacesuits

The BioSuit is a skintight spacesuit that offers improved mobility and reduced mass compared to modern gas-pressurized spacesuits.

Sep 19th, 2014

Monster galaxies gain weight by eating smaller neighbors

Research to be published this Friday shows that massive galaxies in the universe have stopped making their own stars and are instead 'snacking' on nearby galaxies. Astronomers looked at more than 22,000 galaxies and found that while smaller galaxies are very efficient at creating stars from gas, the most massive galaxies are much less efficient at star formation, producing hardly any new stars themselves, and instead grow by eating other galaxies.

Sep 19th, 2014