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GJ 1132 b Doesn't Have An Atmosphere, According To New JWST Data
Astronomers sometimes find conflicting data when trying to answer a question. This is a normal part of the scientific process, and it simply means that more data is needed to prove or disprove the theory they are trying to test. One prominent example of conflicting data in recent exoplanet research was that of planet GJ 1132 b, which either had or didn’t have an atmosphere, depending on which data set was being used. A new paper from researchers using more observational time on the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) can now definitively say that, most likely, GJ 1132 b doesn’t have an atmosphere - and that finding has wider implications for exoplanet research more generally.
Parabolic Flights to Test Electrolyzer for Future Moon and Mars Missions
What can parabolic flights teach scientists and engineers about electrolyzers and how the latter can help advance human missions to the Moon and Mars? This is the goal of a recent grant awarded to the Mars Atmospheric Reactor for Synthesis of Consumables (MARS-C) project, which is sponsored by the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) and The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA). The $500,000 award for this research is part of NASA’s TechLeap Prize program with the goal of testing experimental electrolyzer technology that can be used for future missions.
Mystery Objects in the Distant Universe Challenge Galaxy Formation Ideas
The early Universe continues to spring surprises on astronomers. In a recent study of dim, distant objects, astronomers at the University of Missouri found at least 300 of them that look way too bright. That means they're forming stars much earlier than expected, or something else is going on. Whatever it is could affect our understanding of events in the infant cosmos.
A Blaze of Glory: SpaceX's Starship Goes the Distance in 10th Flight Test
After a string of setbacks, SpaceX executed the most successful flight test of its Starship launch system to date, featuring a first-of-its-kind payload deployment and a thrilling Indian Ocean splashdown.
JWST Improves Its Detection Techniques, But Fails To Find Planets at Epsilon Eridani
Sometimes in science a negative result is just as important as a positive one. And sometimes data artifacts get the better of even the best space observatories. Both of those ideas seem to hold true for the James Webb Space Telescope’s recent observation of Epsilon Eridani, one of our nearest stars, and one that has decades worth of debate about whether there is a planet orbiting it or not. Unfortunately, while JWST’s NIRCam did find some interesting features, they were too close to a noise source in the telescope's instruments to be definitively labeled a “planet”. Their results were recently published on arXiv, and while it may sound disappointing, this type of work is exactly how science progresses.
NASA's Perseverance Rover Studies Giant Sand Ripples on Mars
NASA's Perseverance rover has turned its attention to towering sand formations called megaripples at a site named Kerrlaguna on Mars. These windblown features, standing up to 1 metre tall, are providing new insights into how wind shapes the red planet today and could even help prepare for future human missions to Mars.
Catching Ghost Particles in Real Time
Scientists at the South Pole have developed revolutionary new algorithms that can track mysterious particles coming from space called neutrinos in just 30 seconds, helping astronomers around the world hunt for the sources of cosmic radiation. This breakthrough technology has already eliminated some promising candidates and is transforming our ability to solve one of the universe's greatest mysteries.
The Mystery of the Vanishing Star
A star 3,000 light years away pulled off the ultimate disappearing act, dimming by 97% for eight months before mysteriously returning to full brightness. This unexpected vanishing trick has finally been solved by astronomers who discovered a massive dust disk and a hidden companion star orchestrating one of the rarest eclipsing events ever observed, a one in a million phenomenon that won't happen again until 2068.
High-Mass Stars Are Fed By Elongated Streamers Of Gas
Stars with eight or more stellar masses are termed high-mass stars. There are questions around how these stars can become so massive, since as they form they lose mass through stellar winds and radiation. New research shows that elongated streams of gas that feed these stars explains their high masses.
Could Exoplanets Help in the Search for Dark Matter?
According to a recent study by a team from the University of California, Riverside, exoplanets could be used by astronomers to investigate Dark Matter - the mysterious mass that makes up 85% of matter in the Universe.
The Exposed Core Of This Supernova Is A Headscratcher
For the first time, astrophysicists have spotted a supernova right before it explodes. This is a rare glimpse inside a massive star before it meets its doom. The star was stripped down to its core, and the observations confirm theories that show stars have onion-like layers.
The Great Filter Part 2: We’ve Made It Through
Now versions of the Great Filter argument had been around for decades (just like Fermi was not the first person to ask where everybody is), but the most comprehensive form of the argument comes from Robin Hanson in 1996.
Researchers Pinpoint A Non-Repeating FRB To Within A Few Light Years
Fast radio bursts (FRBs) are some of the most powerful signals in the universe. They can emit as much power in a few milliseconds as our Sun does in several days. Despite their strength, we still don’t have a definitive answer to what causes them. That is partly because, at least for the ones that only happen once, they are really hard to point down. But a new extension to the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment (CHIME) might provide the resolution needed to determine where non-repeating FRBs come from - and its first discovery was one of the brightest FRBs of all time, which helped researchers track it with an unprecedented level of precision, as described in a new paper in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.
A Promising New Method for Detecting Supernovae at Record Speed
A new study led by the Institute of Space Sciences (ICE-CSIC) in Barcelona presents a new method and protocol for detecting supernovae within days. Their findings are crucial to astronomers hoping to learn more about these powerful events and the life cycles of stars.
New Study Rocks Jupiter's Giant Impact Theory
Scientists thought they had Jupiter figured out until NASA's Juno spacecraft peered inside our Solar System’s largest planet and discovered something completely unexpected. Jupiter doesn't have the solid, well defined core that researchers had imagined, instead, Jupiter's core is mysteriously fuzzy and blurred, defying everything we thought we knew about how giant planets form. Now, powerful computer simulations are overturning the leading theory about how this strange structure came to be, suggesting that Jupiter's secrets run deeper than anyone realised.
Space Rocks Tell Tale of Shared Ancient Past
Asteroids floating through our Solar System are debris left over from when our planetary neighbourhood formed 4.6 billion years ago. Scientists study these ancient fragments as time capsules that reveal secrets about our Solar System's earliest days. Now, new research has uncovered a surprising connection between two completely different types of asteroids that may actually share the same dramatic origin story.
Roman Space Telescope Joins Earth's Asteroid Defence Team
When NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope launches in October 2026, it won't just be peering into the distant universe to study dark energy and exoplanets. This powerful observatory will also serve as Earth's newest guardian, helping scientists track and understand potentially dangerous asteroids and comets that could threaten our planet.
The Great Filter Part 1: The Legacy of Fermi’s Paradox
Where is everybody? For decades that question was merely a part of physics legend, the kind of thing grad students overhear when their advisors take them out to dinner.
The "Wow!" Signal Gets An Update - It Was Even Strong Than We Thought
The “Wow!” signal has been etched red marker in the memory of advocates for the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) since its unveiling in 1977. To this day, it remains one of the most enigmatic radio frequency signals ever found. Now a new paper from a wide collection of authors, including some volunteers, provides some corrections, and some new insights, into both the signal and its potential causes.
Finding Life Using Old Instruments In New Ways
A Ph.D. student and his supervisor at Imperial College London have developed a simple way to test for active life on Mars and other planets using equipment already on the Mars Curiosity rover and planned for future use on the ExoMars Rosalind Franklin rover.