Universe Today

The coming of asteroid (99942) Apophis in April 2029 has sparked plenty of discussion both inside and outside the astronomical community. Despite original fears that it be pose a threat, Apophis will safely pass around 32,000 km away from Earth - though admittedly that is still closer than some geostationary communications satellites. That close approach offers a unique opportunity for those interested in asteroid science to take an up-close look at one of these relic of the early solar system, and various groups are planning to do just that. A new paper from Victor Hernandez Megia and his colleagues at the German Aerospace Center (DLR) suggests a new mission that could provide even further insight into the interior of Apophis - by returning part of it to Earth.

If there are permanent stations on the Moon, the residents will need to learn to live off the land, using local resources to manufacture building material and supplies. Ceramics work well on Earth, and they'll have a role to play on the Moon. The problem is, we don't know how to make them. In a new paper, researchers propose chemical reactions that could produce useful ceramics and even useful byproducts, like aluminum.

Hundreds of millions of years ago, temperatures cooled on Earth to the point that almost the entire planet was covered in glaciers: snowball Earth. Just how life survived has perplexed scientists for some time! A team of researchers believe they have found answers in Antarctica's tiny meltwater ponds, discovering thriving ecosystems packed with diverse microbes, algae, and microscopic animals. These ice bound oases show how ancient life could have weathered Earth's deepest freeze, and not just survived, but flourished.

Astronomers know that red dwarf stars can release powerful flares on a regular basis, and these could irradiate nearby planets. But are there other effects? Researchers have simulated four scenarios of flare activity from quiescent to extreme flare activity and found that it can change temperature fluctuations at different levels in the atmosphere. The upper atmosphere actually cools while the middle and lower atmosphere warms up. Ozone can also be depleted and wind speeds dramatically affected.

What imaging systems can NASA’s Artemis astronauts use on the Moon to conduct groundbreaking science and efficient documentation on the lunar surface? This is what a recent study presented at the 56th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (LPSC) aspired to address as a team of researchers from the University of Texas at El Paso and Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory investigated using next-generation cameras on the Artemis III mission, which is slated to be the first lunar surface mission of the Artemis program.

Astronomers have found a new way of accurately mapping the outer gas disk of the Milky Way using the positions of young stars. In the process, they've also discovered that our galaxy's structure is more complex than everyone thought, complete with tufty-looking "flocculent" gas clouds.

A new solar observing telescope on the exterior of the International Space Station is open for business. NASA recently released images from the newly commissioned Coronal Diagnostic Experiment (CODEX) mounted on the station.

The observed exoplanet population contains a large number of solar systems where multiple exoplanets follow short orbital periods. The most well-known example of a compact solar system is the TRAPPIST-1 system. There are many others, and exoplanet scientists are trying to understand how they form. Scientists at the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) may have figured it out.

Mercury doesn't give up its secrets easily. The smallest planet in our Solar System is also one of the most extreme, a sun-scorched, metal-rich world with a puzzling magnetic field and lavas unlike anything found on Earth. Now, groundbreaking laboratory experiments are finally beginning to unlock these mysteries, revealing how this planetary oddball could hold the key to understanding rocky planets throughout the universe.

Pulsars are spinning neutron stars, with several times the mass of the Sun compressed into a sphere just 10 km across. They have a theoretical "death line,” a point where pulsars should stop emitting radio waves as they slow down. But researchers have detected two pulsars still beaming radio signals despite being below this death line. One explanation is that there are tiny irregularities on their surfaces, mountains just 1 cm tall. These peaks amplify local electric fields, making it easier for the pulsars to accelerate particles and produce radio emissions that should be impossible.

The Japanese ispace HAKUTO-R Mission 2 was supposed to touch down gently on the Moon on June 5, 2025. Unfortunately, communications with the RESILIENCE lander were lost about 90 seconds before it should have landed, and it was assumed to have crashed on the lunar surface. Now, NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter has captured the crash site from orbit at an altitude of 80 km and confirmed where it smashed into the Moon.

Since 2025, Solar Orbiter is the first Sun-watching spacecraft to ever get a clear look at the Sun's poles. It discovered that at the south pole, the Sun’s magnetic field is currently a mess.  This image shows a magnetic field map from Solar Orbiter's Polarimetric and Helioseismic Imager (PHI) instrument, centred on the Sun's south pole. Blue indicates positive magnetic field, pointing towards the spacecraft, and red indicates negative magnetic field.  There are clear blue and red patches vi...

After years of research, and a completed pathfinder mission, the European Space Agency has officially begun the construction of the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA). This will consist of three spacecraft flying in formation, sending laser signals back and forth to detect passing gravitational waves - including previously undetected supermassive black hole mergers. ESA has chosen OHB System AG to construct the spacecraft, which are due to launch in 2035 on an Ariane 6 rocket.

I can recall the excitement of waiting for the first CCD Image I had taken to download, THAT was exciting. I was using a Starlight Express MX716 for those who can remember. This however is far more exciting. The Vera C. Rubin Observatory has officially come online and now we're looking at its first pictures. The telescope has completed ten hours of test observations, viewing millions of galaxies and Milky Way stars. It found thousands of new asteroids in just a few hours of observations, and took incredible pictures of the Triffid and Lagoon Nebulae. Over the course of its 10-year primary mission, it'll capture 800 images of every spot in the southern sky.

Mars holds two of humanity's greatest space ambitions, discovering alien life and establishing our first foothold on another world. Key to both is the discovery of water. We know it's at the poles, but where could we find it at lower latitudes? In a new paper, researchers carefully examined images of Mars taken by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. They found examples of features, like "brain coral terrain", expanded craters, and ridges which are evidence of water ice just under the surface.

The Solar System lacks hot-jupiters, intensely hot gas giant planets, so close to their stars they take just days or even hours to orbit once. But there are some systems that have not one, but two hot-jupiters. In a new study, researchers show the long-term gravitational interactions with binary stars that can push multiple gas giants into these extremely close orbits around their stars. Both stars can end up with hot-jupiters.

The Earth's magnetosphere is a giant magnetic field that arises from the flow of material deep inside the planet. Because the flow of material isn't constant, the strength and shape of the magnetosphere can change over geologic time. But researchers have found that changes in the magnetosphere seem to be correlated with fluctuations in the amount of oxygen in the Earth's atmosphere. Both could be responding to a single underlying process.

Just when you thought the race to reusable rockets was all wrapped up, a new competitor emerges from the shadows. Honda R&D Co (a subsidiary of Honda Motor Co) successfully tested their new experimental reusable rocket. The 6.3-meter rocket blasted off, reached an altitude of 271.4 m, and then landed within 37 cm of their touchdown point. The flight lasted for 56.6 seconds.

The early Universe was a busy place some 13 billion years ago. That's when countless young galaxies began to evolve and birthed stars at a prodigious rate. The hearts of those very distant galaxies show turbulent, lumpy disks studded with even thicker clumps of dust and gas that spawned huge batches of stars. Astronomers want to understand what's driving the clumping, so they've turned to recent surveys of closer galaxies in the "local Universe" that contain similar lumpy regions.