It is clear to everyone that astronomy at all events compels the soul to look upwards, and draws it from the things of this world to the other.

— Plato

Astronomy

NGC 1333: Stellar Nursery in Perseus

APOD - 11 hours 16 min ago

NGC 1333 is seen in visible light as a


Categories: Astronomy, NASA

NGC 2442: Galaxy in Volans

APOD - 11 hours 16 min ago

NGC 2442: Galaxy in Volans


Categories: Astronomy, NASA

<p><a href="https://apod.nasa.gov/apod

APOD - 11 hours 16 min ago


Categories: Astronomy, NASA

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APOD - 11 hours 16 min ago

Rising over a frozen valley in the


Categories: Astronomy, NASA

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APOD - 11 hours 16 min ago

Can you see nebulas in other galaxies?


Categories: Astronomy, NASA

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APOD - 11 hours 16 min ago

This moon is doomed.


Categories: Astronomy, NASA

Artemis I: Flight Day 13

APOD - 11 hours 16 min ago

Artemis I: Flight Day 13


Categories: Astronomy, NASA

For the First Time, Scientists Detect Molecule Critical to Life in Interstellar Space

Universe Today - Fri, 01/30/2026 - 7:12pm

For the first time, a complex, ring-shaped molecule containing 13 atoms—including sulfur—has been detected in interstellar space, based on laboratory measurements. The discovery closes a critical gap by linking simple chemistry in space with the complex organic building blocks found in comets and meteorites. This represents a major step toward explaining the cosmic origins of the chemistry of life.

Categories: Astronomy

Cracks on Europa Sport Traces of Ammonia

Universe Today - Fri, 01/30/2026 - 7:07pm

The search for life-supporting worlds in the Solar System includes the Jovian moon Europa. Yes, it's an iceberg of a world, but underneath its frozen exterior lies a deep, salty ocean and a nickel-iron core. It's heated by tidal flexing, and that puts pressure on the interior ocean, sending water and salts to the surface. As things turn out, there's also evidence of ammonia-bearing compounds on the surface. All these things combine to provide a fascinating look at Europa's geology and potential as a haven for life.

Categories: Astronomy

"Red Geyser" Galaxies Have Plenty of Star-Forming Gas But Don't Form Stars

Universe Today - Fri, 01/30/2026 - 5:27pm

Red Geysers are an unusual class of galaxy that contain only old stars. Despite having plenty of star-forming gas, Red Geysers are quenched. Astronomers have mapped the flow of gas in these galaxies and figure out why they're dormant.

Categories: Astronomy

Can we genetically improve humans using George Church’s famous list?

New Scientist Space - Cosmology - Fri, 01/30/2026 - 12:30pm
Columnist Michael Le Page delves into a catalogue of hundreds of potentially beneficial gene mutations and variants that is popular with transhumanists
Categories: Astronomy

Can we genetically improve humans using George Church’s famous list?

New Scientist Space - Space Headlines - Fri, 01/30/2026 - 12:30pm
Columnist Michael Le Page delves into a catalogue of hundreds of potentially beneficial gene mutations and variants that is popular with transhumanists
Categories: Astronomy

Goldstone’s DSS-15 Antenna and the Milky Way

NASA Image of the Day - Fri, 01/30/2026 - 12:23pm
Deep Space Station 15 (DSS-15), one of the 112-foot (34-meter) antennas at the Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex near Barstow, California, looks skyward, with the stars of the Milky Way overhead, in September 2025.
Categories: Astronomy, NASA

New Measurements of Europa's Ice Shell Taint the Icy Moon's Potential Habitability

Universe Today - Fri, 01/30/2026 - 12:00pm

Jupiter's icy moon Europa is a tantalizing target in the search for habitability in our Solar System. Its thick, global ice sheet overlies a warm, salty, chemically-rich ocean. But for life to exist in that ocean, nutrients need to find their way from the surface to the ocean. New research says that may be very difficult.

Categories: Astronomy

Boron Could Be Astrobiology’s Unsung Hero

Universe Today - Fri, 01/30/2026 - 11:25am

The light, rare element boron, better known as the primary component of borax, a longtime household cleaner, was almost mined to exhaustion in parts of the old American West. But boron could arguably be an unsung hero in cosmic astrobiology, although it's still not listed as one of the key elements needed for the onset of life.

Categories: Astronomy

For predatory dinosaurs, the Late Jurassic was an all-you-can-eat sauropod buffet

Scientific American.com - Fri, 01/30/2026 - 10:20am

Some 150 million years ago, sauropods dramatically shaped the dinosaur ecosystem in what is now the western U.S., according to a new study

Categories: Astronomy

A bomb cyclone and extreme cold will freeze the eastern U.S.—again

Scientific American.com - Fri, 01/30/2026 - 10:16am

In the latest bout of winter weather, a bomb cyclone could bring blizzard conditions to the Carolinas while freezing temperatures reach all the way to Florida

Categories: Astronomy

Perseverance Rover Discovers an Ancient Martian Beach, Complete with Waves

Universe Today - Fri, 01/30/2026 - 10:06am

When the rover now named Perseverance landed in Jezero crater in early 2021, scientists already knew they had picked an interesting place to scope out. From space, they could see what looked like a bathtub ring around the crater, indicating there could once have been water there. But there was some debate about what exactly that meant, and it’s taken almost five years to settle it. A new paper from PhD student Alex Jones at Imperial College London and his co-authors has definitively settled the debate on the source of that feature - part of it was once a beach.

Categories: Astronomy

Why people can have Alzheimer's-related brain damage but no symptoms

New Scientist Space - Cosmology - Fri, 01/30/2026 - 10:00am
Some people don’t develop dementia despite showing signs of Alzheimer’s disease in their brain, and we're starting to understand why
Categories: Astronomy

Why people can have Alzheimer's-related brain damage but no symptoms

New Scientist Space - Space Headlines - Fri, 01/30/2026 - 10:00am
Some people don’t develop dementia despite showing signs of Alzheimer’s disease in their brain, and we're starting to understand why
Categories: Astronomy