Astronomy

Image: The Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission captures the striking landscape surrounding the Waza National Park in Cameroon.

Can the cosmic rays bombarding the lunar surface be used to identify subsurface water ice deposits? This is what a recent study and iposter presented at the 56th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (LPSC) hopes to address as a team of researchers developed a novel method called the Cosmic Ray Lunar Sounder (CoRaLS) capable of detecting subsurface lunar water ice deposits that are elusive to current radar systems. This study has the potential to help expand the human presence on the Moon since water ice deposits are currently being focused on the permanently shadowed regions (PSRs) of the Moon for the upcoming Artemis missions.

When researchers asked people to work on a computer with their phones 1.5 metres away, the amount of time they spent on their phone went down – but they just scrolled social media on their laptop instead

When researchers asked people to work on a computer with their phones 1.5 metres away, the amount of time they spent on their phone went down – but they just scrolled social media on their laptop instead

What can Venus-like exoplanets, also known as exoVenuses, teach us about our own solar system and potentially finding life beyond Earth, and how can the planned Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO) provide these insights? This is what a recent study presented at the 56th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (LPSC) hopes to address as a team of scientists discussed the difficulties of studying exoVenuses and how HWO can help alleviate these challenges by directly imaging them. This study has the potential to help astronomers develop advanced methods for better identifying and understanding potentially life-harboring exoplanets throughout the cosmos.

Way back in 2006, the Spitzer Space Telescope (SST) took an infrared look at a strange object called Herbig-Haro 49/50. It's a jet flowing away from a hot young star. The Spitzer image showed a fuzzy blob at the end of the jet. Was it part of the jet, or something more distant? Recently, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) focused its infrared eye on the same object and sent home a fantastic snapshot of this cosmic tornado. It also answered the question about the blob: it turns out to be a distant galaxy, itself bursting with hot young stars.

The U.S. Space Force has certified ULA's new Vulcan Centaur rocket to launch national security missions, doubling the number of providers for such flights.

Mars is cold and dry, but long ago, it was warmer and wetter. Today, its geology is driven by wind and sand, but it was also shaped by water and maybe even glaciers. Glacial activity on Mars was long assumed to be dry, with glaciers frozen right to their beds, scouring the landscape of the Red Planet. But now, researchers think they've found evidence of subglacial melting, where a layer of water forms under the glacier, helping to form various features on Mars.

NASA has canceled the planned June liftoff of a Cygnus ISS resupply mission due to damage the freighter incurred during transport to the launch site.

NASA's Parker Solar Probe has successfully completed its second science-gathering flyby of the sun, the space agency announced earlier this week.

Europe's star-mapping Gaia space observatory has entered its retirement orbit, after gathering valuable cosmic data for more than a decade.

The instrument enclosure of NASA's Near-Earth Object Surveyor is prepared for critical environmental tests inside the historic Chamber A at the Space Environment Simulation Laboratory at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston in December 2024.

Astronomers have discovered two new exoplanets that are similar to other worlds found in the Milky Way, but unlike any in our own solar system.

Dark matter is a confounding concept that teeters on the leading edges of cosmology and physics. We don't know what it is or how exactly it fits into the Standard Cosmological Model. We only know that its unseen mass is a critical part of the Universe.

Sabine Wren's Force FX lightsaber is a huge 55% off for Amazon's Big Spring Sale and it's the lowest price we've ever seen it, better than half price.

If you need something done, do it yourselves.

Red specks in the early universe are puzzling astronomers, but a proposed explanation suggests they are the progenitors of supermassive black holes

Red specks in the early universe are puzzling astronomers, but a proposed explanation suggests they are the progenitors of supermassive black holes

Fat is one of the most active, dynamic organs we have. Why can’t we learn to love it?

The Space Launch System (SLS) core stage and rocket boosters have now been stood up and mated in preparation for NASA's Artemis 2 moon mission.