Astronomy
Earth from Space: Gibson Desert, Australia
SpaceX launches powerful satellite to orbit for Indonesian telecom company
Astronomers finally find elusive, dust-shrouded supermassive black holes at ‘Cosmic Dawn’
108 million degrees! Solar flares are far hotter than thought, study suggests
The Messy Habits Of Small Black Holes
Stellar mass black holes have only a few solar masses, and are much different from their gigantic counterparts, supermassive black holes. When these modestly-massive black holes are actively accreting matter, new research shows that the process is anything but orderly. Instead, it's characterized by different velocities, different ionization zones, and other complexities.
The Exoplanet TRAPPIST-1 e Takes Its Turn In The JWST's Spotlight
The JWST has begun examining the atmosphere of the habitable zone planet TRAPPIST-1 e. It's not finished yet, but the first observations indicate that the the planet hasn't retained its primary, or original, atmosphere. The TRAPPIST-1 star exhibits powerful flaring that likely stripped it away.
Is A Young Exoplanet Warping The Disk Around Fomalhaut?
Fomalhaut is one of the brightest stars in the night sky and has been observed in great detail for decades. Some research suggests it hosts exoplanets, while other research counters that. The latest observations of the star's disk with ALMA favour the existence of a planet.
Exoplanet In A Ring Gap Shows How Protoplanets Can Shape Their Environment
Circumstellar discs are believed to be key components in planetary formation. However, we have very little actual evidence of planets growing in the “rings” that surround young stars. So planet formation theorists were ecstatic to learn that two new papers in Astrophysical Journal Letters describe a planet that is actively forming in the gap it most likely created in the ring system of a young, Sun-like star.
Life on Earth Probably Got Some Help From Space
After the formation of the Solar System, it took a maximum of three million years for primordial Earth's chemical composition to settle. At the time, there was hardly any water, carbon compounds, or other ingredients necessary for life to emerge. Only a planetary collision that came later would have brought water to Earth, according to a new study by researchers from the Institute of Geological Sciences at the University of Bern.
Researchers at SwRI Produced a Mission Concept for Exploring Interstellar Objects Like 3I/ATLAS
A new development study from the Southwestern Research Institute outlines a possible mission that could rendezvous with and explore the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS.
A Glittering Stellar Nursery Shines In New JWST Image
This sparkling scene of star birth was captured by the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope. What appears to be a craggy, starlit mountaintop kissed by wispy clouds is actually a cosmic dust-scape being eaten away by the blistering winds and radiation of nearby, massive, infant stars.
Shining Pismis 24
James Webb Space Telescope studies a 'failed star' named 'The Accident' to solve an old mystery of Jupiter and Saturn
A weird cloud forms on Mars each year and now we know why
A weird cloud forms on Mars each year and now we know why
Sun dogs, rainbows and glories are celestial wonders – and they may appear in alien skies too
Early Neanderthals hunted ibex on steep mountain slopes
Early Neanderthals hunted ibex on steep mountain slopes
Infrared instruments could spot exotic ice on other worlds
Best Evidence Yet for Past Life on Mars?
The Perseverance has found compounds associated with life on Earth. But whether they indicate life on Mars awaits sample return.
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