Astronomy

NASA's Europa Clipper, the largest interplanetary probe, tested its radar during a Mars flyby. The results show the kind of detailed imagery the probe will capture once it arrives at Jupiter’s moon Europa.

Engineers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison uncovered a critical flaw in how lunar and Martian rovers are tested on Earth. Simulations revealed that test results have been misleading for decades because researchers only adjusted rover weight to simulate low gravity—but ignored how Earth’s gravity affects the terrain itself. Using a powerful simulation tool called Chrono, the team showed that sandy surfaces behave very differently on the Moon, where they’re fluffier and less supportive.

Astronomers have detected a fast radio burst (FRB) from when the Universe was just 3 billion years old, a remarkable achievement that opens new windows into the early universe and the mysterious phenomena that shaped it.

A team of astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope have achieved a breakthrough in understanding TRAPPIST-1, the famous red dwarf star hosting seven Earth sized planets. By analysing stellar flares, the team discovered that flares cause dark magnetic features on the star's surface to disappear, creating persistent brightening effects. This represents the first-ever measurement of magnetic feature spectra on an M8 dwarf star.

Lucy is already well on its way to Jupiter’s Trojan asteroids. But that doesn't mean that it can’t make some improvements to its trajectory along the way. A new paper suggests it might be possible to nudge Lucy into a slightly different orbit, allowing it to pass an as-yet-undiscovered asteroid sometime during its exploration of the L5 cloud of Trojan around Jupiter. If completed, it could lend an entirely new research target to Lucy’s repertoire and further define the differences between the two Trojan clouds.

What if we could send a probe smaller than a paperclip, yes a paperclip to visit a black hole? It sounds impossible, but one scientist believes this extraordinary mission could become reality within our lifetimes. Astrophysicist Cosimo Bambi has outlined a bold plan to launch microscopic spacecraft toward the nearest black hole, potentially revolutionising our understanding of physics and Einstein's theory of general relativity. While the technology doesn't exist today and would cost trillions, within the next 20-30 years it could become a reality!

NASA has selected six companies to produce studies focused on lower-cost ways to launch and deliver spacecraft of various sizes and forms to multiple, difficult-to-reach orbits. The firm-fixed-price awards comprise nine studies with a maximum total value of approximately $1.4 million.

An international team of astronomers led by The University of Texas at Austin’s Cosmic Frontier Center has confirmed the most distant black hole ever observed. Located at the center of the galaxy CAPERS-LRD-z9, this black hole existed 13.3 billion years ago, just 500 million years after the Big Bang. As such, it provides a unique opportunity to study the structure and evolution of the period known as "Cosmic Dawn."

A Long March 5B rocket launched the eighth batch of satellites for China's Guowang broadband network on Wednesday (Aug. 13). It was the fourth Guowang launch in less than three weeks.

This quiz tests your knowledge of which female astronauts broke barriers and reached for the stars.

mRNA drugs might be able to protect against a huge range of viruses by turning on key parts of our innate defences against infection

A material made from bacterial cellulose alters its insulating properties in dry and moist conditions, which could help you stay a comfortable temperature whatever the weather

NASA's Orion spacecraft for the crewed Artemis 2 mission to fly astronauts around the moon is all fueled up and going through final preparations to ready the vehicle for stacking with its SLS rocket.

What's the best exercise to help you sleep better? Grace Wade investigates – and makes some unexpected discoveries

A major cycle of Pacific Ocean temperatures is shifting due to climate change, and that could drive decades of megadrought in the western US

It's a 300-year reunion in our violent peek at this week's episode, 'The Shape of Time'.

Artificial intelligence helps astronomers observe what may be the first known case of a star exploding while interacting with a black hole.

Travel through time to witness some of the most remarkable episodes in our solar system's history, uncovering its ancient origins and glimpsing the destiny that awaits it in the distant future

Travel through time to witness some of the most remarkable episodes in our solar system's history, uncovering its ancient origins and glimpsing the destiny that awaits it in the distant future

A physics phenomenon discovered 150 years ago allows tiny objects to levitate using just sunlight – and now it could enable swarms of sensors to explore part of Earth’s long-neglected upper atmosphere