Who are we? We find that we live on an insignificant planet of a humdrum star lost in a galaxy tucked away in some forgotten corner of a universe in which there are far more galaxies than people

— Carl Sagan

Astronomy

Attacks on Higher Education Are Attacks on All Americans

Scientific American.com - Thu, 07/10/2025 - 8:00am

If Americans don’t fight back against efforts to dismantle higher education, the U.S. will lose lifesaving medical research, innovation that spurs our economy and the ability to freely study science and society

Categories: Astronomy

Dark Matter Could Create Dark Dwarfs at the Center of the Milky Way

Universe Today - Thu, 07/10/2025 - 7:47am

Although dark matter doesn't seem to interact with regular matter or itself, if it has particle-like properties, it could self-annihilate if packed into a tight space. In a new paper, researchers have proposed that dark matter could make its way into brown dwarfs near the Galactic Center, where everything is packed more closely together. The dark matter could annihilate inside the brown dwarfs, creating Dark Dwarfs that could be detected.

Categories: Astronomy

High Frequency Gravitational Waves Could Be Detect By Changing The Angle Of A Mirror

Universe Today - Thu, 07/10/2025 - 7:47am

Gravitational waves come in all shapes and sizes - and frequencies. But, so far, we haven’t been able to capture any of the higher frequency ones. That’s unfortunate, as they might hold the key to unlocking our understanding of some really interesting physical phenomena, such as Boson clouds and tiny block hole mergers. A new paper from researchers at Notre Dame and Caltech, led by PhD student Christopher Jungkind, explores how we might use one of the world’s most prolific gravitational wave observatories, GEO600, to capture signals from those phenomena for the first time.

Categories: Astronomy

Planets Can Trigger Damaging Flares

Universe Today - Thu, 07/10/2025 - 7:47am

We all know what it's like when Earth is on the receiving end of a solar flare. Things get spicy in the upper atmosphere, and the outbursts have the potential to disrupt technology here at home. Catastrophic flares of radiation devastate planets around other stars, too. Now it looks like scientists have found that planets orbiting close to their stars can trigger the flares that threaten to harm them.

Categories: Astronomy

How the Chemistry of Mars Both Extended and Ended Its Habitability

Universe Today - Thu, 07/10/2025 - 7:47am

NASA's Curiosity Rover has been exploring Gale Crater and found that carbonate materials make up to 11% of rocks in the region. These are important because carbonates formed by pulling CO2 out of Mars's atmosphere. A new paper suggests that Mars once had a self-regulating climate system that created oases of liquid water on its surface over billions of years, keeping the planet barely habitable with alternating wet and dry periods. The atmosphere is thin because its CO2 was locked away in rocks.

Categories: Astronomy

What if you Threw a Paper Airplane from the Space Station?

Universe Today - Thu, 07/10/2025 - 7:47am

Here's a thought experiment. What would happen if you were on the International Space Station, folded up a paper airplane, and threw it from the station? According to a new paper, it would fall from orbit in just 3.5 days, but still keep aerodynamic stability until about 120 km. Then it would heat up and combust at about 90-110 km altitude. It's a fun idea, but there are actual practical uses to probe the density of the atmosphere or test thin-film space technologies.

Categories: Astronomy

Quaoar's Atmosphere Doesn't Exist And Its Rings Shouldn't

Universe Today - Thu, 07/10/2025 - 7:47am

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) can tell us a lot about the subjects of its observations if it spends enough time with them. That includes lonely rocks on the edges of our solar system, such as the Trans-Neptunian Object (TNO) Quaoar. Recent observations using the NIRCam on JWST and pre-published on arXiv by researchers at the University of Central Florida, the Space Telescope Science Institute, and Kyoto University add a plethora of new data to our understanding of this enigmatic object, including insights into what might be causing its ring system and its hydrocarbon atmosphere.

Categories: Astronomy

Globular Clusters: The Vera Rubin Observatory is Just Getting Started

Universe Today - Thu, 07/10/2025 - 7:47am

The long-awaited Vera Rubin Observatory has delivered some preliminary observations of the globular cluster 47 Tucanae field. 47 Tuc is the Milky Way's second-brightest globular cluster, second to Omega Centauri. The Rubin Observatory's data demonstrates the telescope's promising scientific potential.

Categories: Astronomy

Four New Autism Subtypes Link Genes to Children's Traits

Scientific American.com - Thu, 07/10/2025 - 7:00am

Autism has at least four subtypes, an analysis of more than 5,000 children’s genes, traits and developmental trajectories has shown

Categories: Astronomy

Cheapest ever! Feel the force with 20% off this stunning Lego Star Wars C-3PO set, its lowest ever price

Space.com - Thu, 07/10/2025 - 7:00am
Has the price put you off this seriously cool Lego Star Wars C-3PO? Save a fantastic $28 on this set for Prime Day, the cheapest it's ever been.
Categories: Astronomy

Lego Thanos-snapped this awesome Avengers set away, but Amazon has blipped it back for Prime Day

Space.com - Thu, 07/10/2025 - 6:25am
$37 off for Prime Day, this Lego Avengers set is an action-packed reminder of when the MCU was good. But you'll have to move fast if you want to claim it!
Categories: Astronomy

July full moon 2025 rises tonight: Everything you need to know about the low-riding 'Buck Moon'

Space.com - Thu, 07/10/2025 - 6:00am
The 'Buck Moon' will be the farthest full moon from the sun in 2025.
Categories: Astronomy

Europe's first deep-space optical communication link

ESO Top News - Thu, 07/10/2025 - 5:02am

The European Space Agency (ESA) successfully established a transmission-reception optical link with NASA’s Deep Space Optical Communications (DSOC) experiment onboard its Psyche mission, located 265 million kilometres away, using two optical grounds stations developed for this purpose in Greece.

Categories: Astronomy

We loved this star projector for kids and now it's 37% off for Prime Day

Space.com - Thu, 07/10/2025 - 4:24am
The Govee Star Light Projector is the best overall star projector for kids, and it excels in environments with background noise — now 37% off for Prime Day.
Categories: Astronomy

Spotted! All the best hidden binocular deals this Amazon Prime Day!

Space.com - Thu, 07/10/2025 - 4:21am
Many top binoculars from Nikon, Canon and Bushnell are on sale for cheap this Amazon Prime Day.
Categories: Astronomy

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APOD - Thu, 07/10/2025 - 4:00am

Face-on spiral galaxy NGC 6946 and open star cluster NGC 6939 share


Categories: Astronomy, NASA

My go-to pair of budget binoculars are now even cheaper this Prime Day

Space.com - Wed, 07/09/2025 - 11:00pm
Explore the night sky with your family — Get the Celestron Cometron 7x50 binoculars for less than $35 this Amazon Prime Day.
Categories: Astronomy

The perfect binoculars for casual stargazing are now under $100 for Amazon Prime Day

Space.com - Wed, 07/09/2025 - 6:00pm
Spot Saturn's return to our night sky with these Nikon Prostaff P3 10x42 binoculars, now under $100 for Amazon Prime Day.
Categories: Astronomy

Private Ax-4 astronauts aboard ISS are filling their time with science, views of Earth and pierogis (video)

Space.com - Wed, 07/09/2025 - 6:00pm
As the Axiom-4 mission approaches its two-week mark before returning to Earth, the private space mission crew discusses science and pierogis.
Categories: Astronomy

‘Science Fair’ of Lost Research Protests Trump Cuts

Scientific American.com - Wed, 07/09/2025 - 5:00pm

A protest at a congressional office building highlighted future research findings that vast cuts to science will erase

Categories: Astronomy