Space

Mar 19th, 2025 - An accidental discovery by a team of astronomers has upended existing theories about how galaxies formed in the early universe. The discovery, led by the "Cosmic Web" research group and international collaborators, revealed a disk galaxy with a red glow that is far larger than current models predicted for such an early cosmic time. The galaxy, now dubbed "Big Wheel," was identified using data from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), in an observation campaign that originally had different ... [Read More]

Mar 19th, 2025 - If today's Universe were an adult human, at 380,000 years old it would be only a few hours old. Imagine rewinding the clock to the very beginning of the universe. What would you see? Not the glittering galaxies captured by Hubble, but a universe shrouded in a dense, primordial fog. To peer into this ancient past, you'd need to look at the cosmic microwave background (CMB)—the oldest light in existence, a faint afterglow left behind by the Big Bang. About 380,000 years after the Big Bang, ... [Read More]

Mar 19th, 2025 - A quartet of Earth-like worlds, each about 20% to 30% the size of our planet, circle one of our closest stellar neighbors, a new study reveals. The rocky alien worlds are close enough that future generations of humans may be able to visit them with futuristic rocket propulsion technology. However, it is unlikely that we will find any life there. Astronomers have long suspected that there was at least one exoplanet orbiting Barnard's Star — a red dwarf with a mass around one-sixth that of ... [Read More]

Mar 19th, 2025 - China's Chang'e 6 mission uncovers evidence of a molten lunar magma ocean and a violent ancient impact. For decades, scientists have pieced together the moon's history using samples from its near side, collected during NASA's Apollo missions. But then in May 2024, China's Chang'e 6 mission touched down on the mysterious far side of the moon. By June, it returned to Earth with precious cargo: 1,935.3 grams of lunar material, the first-ever samples from the moon's hidden half. Now, a team of ... [Read More]

Mar 19th, 2025 - By Will Dunham (Reuters) - The European Space Agency has released its first tranche of data from the Euclid space telescope's mission to map the universe's large-scale structure in order to better understand the mysterious cosmic components dark energy and dark matter. Scientists unveiled on Wednesday Euclid's observations of three patches of the sky populated by a panoply of galaxies. The data covered a survey of the sky equal to more than 300 times the size of the moon as viewed from Earth - ... [Read More]

Mar 18th, 2025 - Scientists have studied starlight for ages, yet there is more to learn about the photosphere, the outermost layer of the Sun where light is emitted. Getting accurate data on which elements exist in the Sun, and in what amounts, is no simple feat. According to Dr. Katharina Lodders, a researcher at Washington University in St. Louis , matching the Sun's element abundances with materials found in CI-chondrites (a rare type of stony, carbonaceous meteorite) has opened fresh avenues for discussing ... [Read More]

Mar 18th, 2025 - It started as another exoplanet in a group labeled "ordinary." No one expected that a world, once thought to be a mini-Neptune, would reveal traits of a super-Venus and change how we see certain planetary types. Astronomers used JWST data to learn more about an unusual place called Enaiposha, that orbits a red dwarf star about 47 light-years away from the Sun. A surprising "super-Venus" Enaiposha, that also goes by the identifier GJ 1214 b , was first placed in a category that normally ... [Read More]

Mar 18th, 2025 - Fresh data have bolstered the discovery that dark energy, the mysterious force that makes galaxies accelerate away from each other, has weakened over the past 4.5 billion years. The effect was first tentatively reported in April last year , but the latest results — presented on 19 March by the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) collaboration at a meeting of the American Physical Society in Anaheim, California — are based on three years' worth of data-taking, versus one year ... [Read More]

Mar 18th, 2025 - At the center of most large galaxies, including the Milky Way, resides a supermassive black hole. Periodically, this cosmic entity accumulates interstellar gas, switching into an active galactic nucleus (AGN), a state in which it releases intense radiation throughout the galaxy.  Given that environment, one would not expect any life-form to thrive under such intense energy bombardment.  Yet a new study published in The Astrophysical Journal proposes that AGN radiation may ... [Read More]

Mar 17th, 2025 - There may be an ocean's worth of water trapped inside rocks miles below the surface. In 2024, scientists made headlines when they found evidence of copious amounts of water inside a layer of the Martian crust. This layer lies 11.5 to 20 kilometers below the surface and is about 1-2 km thick. Now, these findings have been backed by a new study from Japan. Using seismic data from NASA's InSight lander, researchers Ikuo Katayama of Hiroshima University and Yuya Akamatsu of the Research Institute ... [Read More]

Mar 17th, 2025 - Learn about the 128 newly discovered moons of Saturn, believed to be the remnants of collisions that occurred early in the planet's history. While Earth's one and only moon enthralls everyone on this planet, it can't hold a candle to Saturn's 274 moons, 128 of which were recently discovered and recognized by the International Astronomical Union. With this new surge in its moon count, Saturn prevails with the most moons out of any other planet in the Solar System. Astronomers are now wondering, ... [Read More]

Mar 17th, 2025 - New Horizons needs a new flyby target—Vera Rubin can help Exploration of the outer solar system may be getting a boost from the Vera Rubin Observatory (VRO). When this gigantic telescope opens its eye later in 2025, it begins a decade-long survey of the ever-changing sky. As part of this time-lapse vision of the cosmos, distant objects in the Kuiper Belt will be among its most challenging targets. A team of planetary scientists led by JJ Kavelaars of Canada's Herzberg Astronomy and ... [Read More]

Mar 17th, 2025 - The universe is full of surprises, with each new discovery reshaping our understanding and offering astonishing new perspectives on space objects such as galaxies. The James Webb Space Telescope ( JWST ), launched just over three years ago, has already exceeded expectations. It peers deep into space, revealing galaxies from the dawn of time and answering questions once thought impossible. A recent study from Kansas State University has revealed something strange. The way galaxies rotate isn't ... [Read More]

Mar 17th, 2025 - Despite their overall similarities, asteroids are usually pretty distinct from one another. Vesta has a very different spectroscopic profile than Psyche, for example. So it might come as no surprise that another of the main asteroids—Pallas—is in a class all its own except for the 300 or so members of its "family" with similar orbital profiles and spectroscopic lines. A posted to the arXiv preprint server by researchers who were then Visiting Astronomers at NASA's Infrared Telescope ... [Read More]

Mar 16th, 2025 - What it is: The Flame Nebula (NGC 2024) star-forming region Where it is: 1,400 light-years away, in the constellation Orion When it was shared: March 10, 2025 Why it's so special: What are the smallest stars? A deep dive into the star-forming Flame Nebula by the James Webb Space Telescope ( JWST ) has revealed free-floating, Jupiter-size objects that could help answer that key question in astronomy. The free-floating objects are brown dwarfs, which straddle the line between stars and planets. ... [Read More]

Mar 15th, 2025 - Using the James Webb Space Telescope ( JWST ), researchers have generated the first-ever weather report of a rogue exoplanet-like object — and it shows patches of clouds and carbon chemicals, along with high-altitude auroras . The findings, published March 3 in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, also revealed that the celestial object possesses a complex, layered atmosphere. Earth's atmosphere is a blanket of gases, primarily nitrogen and oxygen. But other planets in the solar system have ... [Read More]