Space

Nov 16th, 2025 - Comet C/2025 K1 (ATLAS) has become a major point of interest for astronomers following a series of rapid changes observed in recent weeks. First detected in May 2025, the comet moved steadily towards its perihelion in early October, then began displaying fluctuations in brightness and visible shape that hinted at underlying instability. Researchers have continued to track these developments closely, as they offer insights into how newly arriving long-period comets behave when exposed to strong ... [Read More]

Nov 16th, 2025 - Follow Earth on Google Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) report finding silane – a silicon-hydrogen molecule – in a brown dwarf called the Accident. That simple molecule points to a long-missing piece in Jupiter and Saturn. The object sits about 50 light-years from Earth, as earlier analysis established using space- and ground-based data. A brown dwarf, a star-like body too small to sustain fusion, often cools into planet-like temperatures. Surprising silane ... [Read More]

Nov 16th, 2025 - Milestone results released by the Large High Altitude Air Shower Observatory (LHAASO) on November 16 have solved a decades-old mystery about the cosmic ray energy spectrum—which shows a sharp decrease in cosmic rays above 3 PeV, giving it an unusual knee-like shape. The cause of the "knee" has remained unclear since its discovery nearly 70 years ago. Scientists have speculated that it is linked to the acceleration limit of the astrophysical sources of cosmic rays and reflects the ... [Read More]

Nov 16th, 2025 - Follow Earth on Google Astronomers used the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) to spot a mid-infrared flare from Sagittarius A*, the Milky Way's central black hole. The flash lasted about 40 minutes and revealed fresh clues about how these outbursts start. The signal came from near the black hole 's disk of hot gas, where magnetic fields twist and particles race close to the speed of light. It is the first time this part of the spectrum has been seen during a flare from our galaxy's center. ... [Read More]

Nov 16th, 2025 - It's quick and easy to access Live Science Plus, simply enter your email below. We'll send you a confirmation and sign you up for our daily newsletter, keeping you up to date with the latest science news. QUICK FACTS What it is: Barred spiral galaxy Messier 61, AKA NGC 4303 Where it is: 55 million light-years away in the constellation Virgo When it was shared: Oct. 28, 2025 Even before its full science operations have begun, the Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile has already helped astronomers ... [Read More]

Nov 16th, 2025 - Follow Earth on Google Meet HD 98800, a nearby quadruple‑star system in the constellation Crater. It sits about 150 light‑years away and is approximately 10 million years old. That age places it in a formative phase when stars finish settling and nearby material can still glow in infrared light. The system belongs to the TW Hydrae association, a group of about twenty very young stars located 160 light‑years from Earth. HD 98800 contains four stars arranged as two close ... [Read More]

Nov 15th, 2025 - It's quick and easy to access Live Science Plus, simply enter your email below. We'll send you a confirmation and sign you up for our daily newsletter, keeping you up to date with the latest science news. Look into the night sky, and it might seem like space is a vast expanse of darkness . But are any regions darker than others? What's the darkest place in the solar system and, on a grander scale, the universe ? In short, the answer isn't straightforward, and it depends on whom you ask, experts ... [Read More]

Nov 14th, 2025 - A galaxy in a practically empty area of the universe seems to be impossibly forming stars, and new observations have only deepened the puzzle About 12 million light years away lies an impossible galaxy. Over the last 600 million years, its core has been forming new stars – but there is no apparent source for the fuel that has fed that star formation. This galaxy, called NGC 6789, was first discovered in 1883, but it wasn't until the last few decades that it became clear it was still ... [Read More]

Nov 14th, 2025 - Astronomy can be a difficult topic for newcomers. Like any scientific field, it has its own jargon and buzzwords—and terms with meanings that can be not only odd but downright counterintuitive. The most obvious one is astronomers' use of the word metal to mean any element heavier than helium. Lithium? Metal. Oxygen? Metal. Carbon? That's a metal, too, as far as astronomy is concerned. Using a single term to cover these heavier-than-helium elements makes some sense because the universe is ... [Read More]

Nov 14th, 2025 - The speed and direction of our solar system through the universe may defy current cosmological models. Our solar system is speeding through space much faster than previously thought, challenging the fundamental assumptions that have long shaped our understanding of the cosmos. That's according to physicists led by Lukas Böhme at Bielefeld University, whose findings suggest that the solar system's velocity is more than three times greater than what current models predict. Specifically, it's ... [Read More]

Nov 14th, 2025 - Sky This Week is brought to you in part by Celestron. Friday, November 14 Auriga the Charioteer rides high in the sky tonight, reaching an altitude of 70° above the eastern horizon by local midnight. Several bright deep-sky objects call Auriga home, such as open clusters M36, M37, and M38.  Highest in the sky this evening is magnitude 7.4 M38, which lies just under 1.5° north of magnitude 5.1 Phi (φ) Aurigae. Spanning 21' on the sky, this loose cluster contains many ... [Read More]

Nov 14th, 2025 - Follow Earth on Google Astronomers have spotted auroras on a planet-sized object called SIMP 0136, which is currently roaming around our Milky Way galaxy without a star. The auroral activity seems to be warming the objects upper atmosphere, creating a steady blanket of sand like clouds. The scientists were able to track the weather on SIMP 0136 using the James Webb Space Telescope as it spins rapidly on its axis, completing one Earth day every 2.4 hours. The team measured tiny brightness ... [Read More]

Nov 13th, 2025 - It's quick and easy to access Live Science Plus, simply enter your email below. We'll send you a confirmation and sign you up for our daily newsletter, keeping you up to date with the latest science news. Millions of mysterious black streaks littered across the surface of Mars have puzzled scientists for decades, but now researchers may finally have a proper explanation. The new theory also explains why it has taken so long to solve this particular problem. Martian "slope streaks" are dark ... [Read More]

Nov 13th, 2025 - Tracking winds across Mars' surface and their association with dust storms. Mars is cold, parched, and extremely dusty. Powerful gusts of wind kick up literal tons of reddish dust that often takes the form of whorls known as dust devils. These winds also shroud the planet in dust by lifting material from the surface and blowing it into the atmosphere (what little Mars has left of an atmosphere), sometimes creating dust storms that rage for days. Researcher Valentin Bickel wanted to know just ... [Read More]

Nov 13th, 2025 - For the first time, astronomers unveiled the shape of a supernova at its earliest stage. In a first, astronomers were able to capture a supernova in its very first moments. A star 22 million light-years away gave up the ghost and astronomers were able to react fast enough to watch the blast punch through the star's outer layers. In that short window—hours, not days—they measured the newborn supernova's shape. In a surprise to some, it was not a tidy sphere; it looked more like an ... [Read More]

Nov 12th, 2025 - It's quick and easy to access Live Science Plus, simply enter your email below. We'll send you a confirmation and sign you up for our daily newsletter, keeping you up to date with the latest science news. A powerful blast spotted from a dwarf star was strong enough to strip away the atmosphere of any Earth-like planets that might have been lurking close by, new research suggests. The study, published Wednesday (Nov. 12) in the journal Nature , was the first to confirm a coronal mass ejection ... [Read More]