Space Exploration News – Latest Headlines

Subscribe to our Space Exploration News feed

Spots on supergiant star drive spirals in stellar wind

An international team of astronomers recently discovered that spots on the surface of a supergiant star are driving huge spiral structures in its stellar wind.

Oct 24th, 2017

Tiny tornados at the dawn of the universe

Swirling soup of matter's fundamental building blocks spins ten billion trillion times faster than the most powerful tornado, setting new record for 'vorticity'.

Oct 23rd, 2017

To keep Saturn's A ring contained, its moons stand united

For three decades, astronomers thought that only Saturn's moon Janus confined the planet's A ring -- the largest and farthest of the visible rings. But after poring over NASA's Cassini mission data, astronomers now conclude that the teamwork of seven moons keeps this ring corralled.

Oct 17th, 2017

Gold origin confirmed with first ever gravitational wave sighting

Collision created large amounts of the heaviest elements, such as gold, platinum and uranium, pumping them into space and unlocking the mystery of how they are formed.

Oct 16th, 2017

A gamma ray burst observed in unprecedented detail

A new study with observations from the robotic telescope MASTER-IAC at the Teide Observatory will help to clear up some unknown factors in the initial phase.

Oct 13th, 2017

Jupiter's volcano-powered auroral lights

NASA's Juno spacecraft has helped explain how volcanoes on the moon Io spew particles that are flung out by Jupiter's magnetic field, before rebounding back. A high-speed atmospheric encounter on the return leg creates the Red Giant's once mysterious transient auroras.

Oct 13th, 2017

The far side of the Milky Way

Astronomers have directly measured the distance to a star-forming region on the opposite side of our Milky Way Galaxy from the Sun, using the Very Long Baseline Array.

Oct 13th, 2017

A better understanding of space - via helicopter

An algorithm that helps engineers design better helicopters may help astronomers more precisely envision the formation of planets and galaxies.

Oct 12th, 2017

Ring around a dwarf planet detected

Ten observatories put their sight on the dwarf planet.

Oct 11th, 2017

Scientists discover one of the most luminous 'new stars' ever

Astronomers have announced that they have discovered possibly the most luminous 'new star' ever - a nova discovered in the direction of the Small Magellanic Cloud.

Oct 11th, 2017

Violent helium reaction on white dwarf surface triggers supernova explosion

An international team of researchers has found evidence a supernova explosion that was first triggered by a helium detonation.

Oct 5th, 2017

Milky Way's 'most-mysterious star' continues to confound

Speculation to account for KIC 8462852's dips in brightness has ranged from it having swallowed a nearby planet to an unusually large group of comets orbiting the star to an alien megastructure.

Oct 5th, 2017

Organohalogens - indicators of extraterrestrial life?

First-time discovery of chemical compound Freon-40 in space.

Oct 4th, 2017

Astronomers reveal evidence of dynamical dark energy

The discovery found that the nature of dark energy may not be the cosmological constant introduced by Albert Einstein 100 years ago, which is crucial for the study of dark energy.

Oct 3rd, 2017

Private companies are launching a new space race - here's what to expect

The space environment is no longer the sole preserve of government agencies. Private companies have entered the exploration domain and are propelling the sector forward more vigorously and swiftly than would be the case if left to governments alone.

Oct 3rd, 2017

Three-detector observation of gravitational waves (w/video)

The cosmic ripples were not only observed by the two Ligo observatories in the USA, but also the Italian detector Virgo.

Sep 27th, 2017

Searching for distant worlds with a flying telescope

Astronomers, using an observatory on board a jumbo jet, have observed how the extrasolar Planet GJ 1214b is passing in front of its star, causing a kind of mini-eclipse.

Sep 27th, 2017

The strange structures of the Saturn nebula

The Saturn Nebula is located approximately 5000 light years away in the constellation of Aquarius (The Water Bearer). Its name derives from its odd shape, which resembles everyone's favourite ringed planet seen edge-on.

Sep 27th, 2017