Astronomy
This wild bioplastic made of algae just aced a Mars pressure test. Can astronauts use it to build on the Red Planet?
Discover where the Eagle might have landed: How to find Apollo 11's backup sites on the moon
This Planet's Death Spiral Could Teach Us A Lesson About Rocky Exoplanets
Macquarie University astronomers have tracked an extreme planet's orbital decay, confirming it is spiraling toward its star in a cosmic death dance that could end in three possible ways. It could cross the Roche line and be torn apart, it could plunge to destruction in its star, or it could be stripped all the way down to a rocky core.
To Find Another Earth, We Need to Understand Atmospheric Escape
Atmospheric escape shapes an exoplanet's future. Earth's exosphere is extended and detectable due to ocean-related atmospheric escape. If we can detect the same features on an exoplanet, it could suggest oceans and habitability. But we need to build the Habitable Worlds Observatory first.
Astronomers Use the Colours of Trans-Neptunian Objects' to Track an Ancient Stellar Flyby
Trans-Neptunian Objects reside in the distant Solar System as remnants of the System's early days. They follow unusual orbits and range in colour from reds to greys. New research uses their colours and orbits to show how a stellar flyby can account for their modern-day orbits.
Newly-Discovered Interstellar Comet is Billions of Years Older Than the Solar System
All eyes are on the newly discovered interstellar object 3I/ATLAS, currently inbound to the inner solar system. Initial observations have revealed that it's rich in water ice, and it's believed that it originated from the Milky Way's thick disk, ancient stars that orbit above and below the galactic plane. This could mean that 3I/ATLAS is billions of years older than the Solar System, the oldest comet ever discovered. It should reveal more as it heats up and outgasses as it gets closer to the Sun.
