Space

Apr 8th, 2026 - Follow Earth on Google Researchers have captured the first X-ray image of a bubble around a young, Sun-like star called HD 61005, revealing hot gas extending far beyond the star itself. That discovery turns a distant system into a direct look at the kind of shield that once surrounded the early Sun. Chandra and HD 61005 In images from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, the star HD 61005 appears as a bright central point wrapped in a broad halo of X-ray light. Reading that glow, Carey M. Lisse at ... [Read More]

Apr 8th, 2026 - As the U.S. government slashes its spending on basic science, one thing seems certain: there's still plenty of money to go back to the moon. is only the tip of the space agency's lunar-exploration spear: planning for a plethora of additional crewed and robotic follow-ups is well underway. And all of these trips could carry equipment for groundbreaking research, too. There's a lot to learn on the moon. Most of it is about the moon itself —its murky origins, expansive history and even the ... [Read More]

Apr 8th, 2026 - Reading time 3 minutes Over the past eight days, the world has watched four intrepid explorers leave Earth , fly around the Moon , and make spaceflight history . The moments of reverence, camaraderie, and bravery we've witnessed since the launch of NASA's Artemis 2 mission have done wonders for my faith in humanity , but sadly, all good things must come to an end. Having completed the lunar flyby on Monday , the Orion spacecraft is now on its way back to Earth, targeting a splashdown off the ... [Read More]

Apr 8th, 2026 - Samples collected from the asteroid Ryugu contain the four genetic "letters" of DNA. The basic ingredients for life as we know it are common in the cosmos. Scientists are still learning which of those ingredients were present on primordial Earth, and how they combined to make life remains an unsolved mystery. However, many researchers now think many of the molecules necessary for life were already present in the nebula that grew into our solar system, which would mean the components for all ... [Read More]

Apr 8th, 2026 - Follow Earth on Google Astronomers using LOFAR have mapped 13.7 million radio sources across most of the northern sky, creating the most complete census yet of actively growing supermassive black holes. That map turns the quiet radio sky into a record of violent collisions, rapid star birth, and rare signals that reshape how the universe is understood. LOFAR Sky Survey Across 12,950 hours of observations, the LOFAR Two-metre Sky Survey stitched the northern sky into a dense radio map filled ... [Read More]

Apr 7th, 2026 - crew during their lunar flyby. Gravitational data from NASA's Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) mission are depicted in false colors on this image's right side, and chart the basin's subsurface structure. Right now all eyes are on , NASA's historic mission that just sent astronauts around the moon for the first time in more than a half-century. But, as detailed by NASA administrator Jared Isaacman at the space agency's recent "Ignition" event in Washington, D.C., is only the ... [Read More]

Apr 7th, 2026 - Nasa 's Artemis II mission have captured a rare image of the Moon eclipsing the Sun, with Mars and two other planets visible in the same frame. The photograph, taken during the crew's deep-space journey, shows the Moon completely blocking the Sun and revealing the glowing solar corona. Just off the lower right edge of the Moon, three bright points of light appear, with the middle one having a subtle reddish tint. Nasa confirmed that this object is Mars, while the other two are likely bright ... [Read More]

Apr 7th, 2026 - The newly identified star carries almost no heavy elements, making it a rare surviving relic from the universe's earliest chapters. Researchers have found what may be the most chemically pristine star ever seen — a dim red giant star carrying almost no heavy elements, a fossil from an era when the universe was still learning how to make stars. The object, known as SDSS J0715-7334 , appears to have formed from gas touched by only a single earlier supernova, offering precious insight from ... [Read More]

Apr 6th, 2026 - 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. Facebook X Whatsapp Reddit Pinterest Flipboard Join the conversation Add us as a preferred source on Google Sign up for the Live Science daily newsletter now Get the world's most fascinating discoveries delivered straight to your inbox. By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & ... [Read More]

Apr 6th, 2026 - To understand how long a planetary nebula remains visible, we first need to understand why a planetary nebula is visible at all. When a solar-type star (one with a mass of 0.8 to eight times that of our Sun) reaches the end of its life cycle, it casts off its outer layers, leaving behind a hot core that emits copious amounts of high-energy ultraviolet rays. The expanding gas shell absorbs the rays, and this absorption leaves the gases in an excited state, meaning that the electrons within the ... [Read More]

Apr 6th, 2026 - Follow Earth on Google A comet passed through our solar system in late 2025, but it wasn't from here. It came from another star system. Scientists named it 3I/ATLAS. It swung past the Sun and then continued back out into deep space. By pure luck, it crossed paths with a spacecraft already on its journey. That gave scientists a rare chance to study something billions of years old – possibly even older than our solar system itself. Right time, right place for Juice The spacecraft, called ... [Read More]

Apr 6th, 2026 - The ExoLife Finder (ELF) looks like no telescope ever built. A spectacular crown of 15 five-meter mirrors perches atop a sprawling metal lattice, resembling petals on a 10-story-tall mechanical flower — more sculpture than observatory. It is a fundamentally new type of telescope, one that its designers say could discover life on Earth-like planets beyond our solar system.  The radical design is the brainchild of astrophysicist Jeff Kuhn of the University of Hawai'i. For now, it ... [Read More]

Apr 6th, 2026 - crew experience total solar eclipse from space Most people never get to experience a total solar eclipse , when the moon blots out the disk of the sun and reveals its fiery outermost atmospheric layer, or corona. But astronauts are not most people, so perhaps it's only fitting that the four crew members of NASA's mission were treated to a spectacle no human has ever experienced before—a total solar eclipse as seen from just a few thousand miles above the moon. "Seconds after the sun set ... [Read More]

Apr 5th, 2026 - Twin probes designed to explore the outer solar system, Pioneer 10 and 11 would become two of just five spacecraft destined for interstellar space. Originally built as a back-up to Pioneer 10, Pioneer 11's mission was expanded when Pioneer 10 launched successfully in March 1972. With Pioneer 10 on a path to a December 1973 encounter with Jupiter , Pioneer 11 could be turned to a more daring polar flyby at the gas giant, as well as exploration of Saturn. Pioneer 11 launched April 5, 1973, ... [Read More]

Apr 5th, 2026 - 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. Facebook X Whatsapp Reddit Pinterest Flipboard Join the conversation Add us as a preferred source on Google Sign up for the Live Science daily newsletter now Get the world's most fascinating discoveries delivered straight to your inbox. By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & ... [Read More]

Apr 5th, 2026 - Follow Earth on Google In a short span of time, scientists have identified more than 11,000 new asteroids. Instead of a slow buildup, the discoveries have come in a surge – prompting scientists to rethink just how busy and complex the space around us truly is. These objects range from rocky bodies near Earth to icy worlds far beyond Neptune, each one adding a small piece to a much larger story. This massive dataset comes from early observations by the NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin ... [Read More]