"When beggars die, there are no comets seen;
The heavens themselves blaze forth the death of princes."

— William Shakespeare
Julius Cæsar

Astronomy

What Is the Luhn Algorithm? The Math Behind Credit Card Transactions

Scientific American.com - Tue, 08/12/2025 - 11:30am

Find out how this simple algorithm from the 1960s catches your typos

Categories: Astronomy

Social media toxicity can't be fixed by changing the algorithms

New Scientist Space - Cosmology - Tue, 08/12/2025 - 11:00am
Experiments involving AI chatbots interacting on a simulated social media platform suggest efforts to design out antagonistic user behaviour will not succeed
Categories: Astronomy

Social media toxicity can't be fixed by changing the algorithms

New Scientist Space - Space Headlines - Tue, 08/12/2025 - 11:00am
Experiments involving AI chatbots interacting on a simulated social media platform suggest efforts to design out antagonistic user behaviour will not succeed
Categories: Astronomy

New Pluto mission could uncover dwarf planet's hidden ocean — if the 'queen of the underworld' gets to fly

Space.com - Tue, 08/12/2025 - 11:00am
A conceptual mission known as "Persephone" could explore Pluto and its moons for 50 years  — if it ever gets funded and approved.
Categories: Astronomy

Is Mining Asteroids That Impacted The Moon Moon Easier Than Mining Asteroids Themselves?

Universe Today - Tue, 08/12/2025 - 10:40am

The resources tucked away in asteroids promise to provide the building blocks of humanity’s expansion into space. However, accessing those resources can prove tricky. There’s the engineering challenge of landing a spacecraft on one of the low-gravity targets and essentially dismantling it while still remaining attached to it. But there’s also a challenge in finding ones that make economic sense to do that to, both in terms of the amount of material they contain as well as the ease of getting to them from Earth. A much easier solution might be right under our noses, according to a new paper from Jayanth Chennamangalam and his co-authors - mine the remnants of asteroids that hit the Moon.

Categories: Astronomy

The Martian Landscape Reveals Climate Secrets

Universe Today - Tue, 08/12/2025 - 10:40am

Deep cracks stretching hundreds of kilometers across the Martian surface might look like simple scars from ancient impacts, but they're actually windows into a surprisingly dynamic planetary history. New images from Europe's Mars Express spacecraft reveal how these valleys, filled with slow moving rivers of ice and rock, have preserved evidence of climate swings far more extreme than anything Earth has experienced. The story written in these Martian fractures challenges our view of the red planet.

Categories: Astronomy

Perseverance Takes a new Panoramic Image of Mars on a Clear Day

Universe Today - Tue, 08/12/2025 - 10:40am

‘Float rocks,’ sand ripples, and vast distances are among the sights to see in the latest high-resolution panorama by NASA's Perseverance rover, taken on a particularly clear day.

Categories: Astronomy

The JWST Found Evidence Of An Exo-Gas Giant Around Alpha Centauri, Our Closest Sun-Like Neighbour

Universe Today - Tue, 08/12/2025 - 10:40am

Astronomers using the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope have found strong evidence of a giant planet orbiting a star in the stellar system closest to our own Sun. At just 4 light-years away from Earth, the Alpha Centauri triple star system has long been a compelling target in the search for worlds beyond our solar system.

Categories: Astronomy

A Fast Radio Burst from the Early Universe

Sky & Telescope Magazine - Tue, 08/12/2025 - 10:19am

Astronomers at the South African MeerKAT observatory have discovered the most distant flash of radio waves to date, most likely stemming from activity around a magnetar.

The post A Fast Radio Burst from the Early Universe appeared first on Sky & Telescope.

Categories: Astronomy

Vulcan Centaur rocket launches experimental military satellite on its 1st-ever US Space Force mission (video)

Space.com - Tue, 08/12/2025 - 10:00am
United Launch Alliance lofted an experimental navigation satellite on the first national security mission of its new Vulcan Centaur rocket on Tuesday night (Aug. 12).
Categories: Astronomy

Vanishing Y chromosomes seem to be driving heart disease in men

New Scientist Space - Cosmology - Tue, 08/12/2025 - 9:47am
Men typically lose Y chromosomes from their cells as they get older, which could be affecting their heart health
Categories: Astronomy

Vanishing Y chromosomes seem to be driving heart disease in men

New Scientist Space - Space Headlines - Tue, 08/12/2025 - 9:47am
Men typically lose Y chromosomes from their cells as they get older, which could be affecting their heart health
Categories: Astronomy

Know this photo? Test your knowledge of these famous firsts in our astrophotography quiz!

Space.com - Tue, 08/12/2025 - 9:00am
Test out your knowledge of these famous firsts in skywatching and astrophotography, from the first photos of Earth and the moon to the invention of telescopes!
Categories: Astronomy

Hubble spots stars forming in the Tarantula nebula | Space photo of the day for Aug. 12, 2025

Space.com - Tue, 08/12/2025 - 8:00am
The Tarantula nebula was recently captured by the Hubble Space Telescope, where the Scylla program helped create the colored image of this star-forming area.
Categories: Astronomy

Scientists may have found a powerful new space object: 'It doesn't fit comfortably into any known category'

Space.com - Tue, 08/12/2025 - 7:45am
Nicknamed 'Punctum,' this puzzling phenomenon is highly energetic, but is only seen in millimeter-wavelength light and cannot be explained by any known object.
Categories: Astronomy

Trees may be getting more flammable because of climate change

New Scientist Space - Cosmology - Tue, 08/12/2025 - 7:00am
Researchers are testing whether increasing UV radiation is altering chemistry of tree leaves, increasing the likelihood and severity of wildfires
Categories: Astronomy

Trees may be getting more flammable because of climate change

New Scientist Space - Space Headlines - Tue, 08/12/2025 - 7:00am
Researchers are testing whether increasing UV radiation is altering chemistry of tree leaves, increasing the likelihood and severity of wildfires
Categories: Astronomy

How to watch 'Alien: Earth' online and from anywhere

Space.com - Tue, 08/12/2025 - 7:00am
'Alien: Earth' is the first-ever Alien TV show and it's finally arrived. Here's how to watch 'Alien: Earth' wherever you are on the planet.
Categories: Astronomy

Cosmic Tornado from Star’s Birth Whirls in Dazzling JWST Image

Scientific American.com - Tue, 08/12/2025 - 6:45am

This telescope has revealed the whipped-up dust from the birth of a star—and a shining background galaxy—more clearly than ever before

Categories: Astronomy

CREAM: avoiding collisions in space through automation

ESO Top News - Tue, 08/12/2025 - 4:00am

Earth orbit is becoming increasingly crowded. With over 11 000 active satellites and many thousands more expected in the coming years as well as over 1.2 million pieces of space debris greater than 1 cm, the risk of in-orbit collisions has turned into a daily operational concern. ESA is investing in automation technologies that can help satellite operators respond more effectively to collision risks.

Categories: Astronomy