Open cluster Berkeley 27 examined by researchers

Using data from ESA's Gaia satellite, astronomers from Taiwan and India have inspected a galactic open cluster known as Berkeley 27. Results of the study, published September 22 on the arXiv pre-print repository, yield essential information regarding the properties of this cluster.

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'Incredible': Astronomers hail first images of asteroid impact

The asteroid is flying through space in the grainy black and white video, when suddenly a massive cloud of debris sprays out in front of it, meaning only one thing: impact.

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Chinese astronomers discover more than 1,600 new star clusters

By analyzing the data from ESA's Gaia satellite, astronomers from the China West Normal University have detected 1,656 new star clusters in our Milky Way galaxy. The discovery was presented in a research paper published September 18 on the arXiv pre-print repository.

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Synchronous atmospheric correction method proposed for multi-spectral satellite images

Atmospheric conditions vary significantly at both temporal and spatial scales. The purpose of atmospheric correction based on radiative transfer model is to eliminate the atmospheric radiative effect on remote sensing images, but it is always limited by the difficulty of obtaining atmospheric parameters that match image at temporal and spatial scales.

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Astronomers discover new brown dwarf with quasi-spherical mass loss

Astronomers report the detection of a new brown dwarf as part of the Ophiuchus Disk Survey Employing ALMA (ODISEA) program. The newfound object, designated SSTc2d J163134.1-24006, appears to be experiencing a quasi-spherical mass loss. The discovery was detailed in a paper published September 2 on the arXiv pre-print repository.

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Researchers find source of gamma rays in small neighboring galaxy

Through giant lobes of gamma radiation, an international team of researchers have found a small satellite galaxy of the Milky Way filled with dark matter, but whose emissions are more likely the result of millisecond pulsars blasting out cosmic particles, reports a new study in Nature Astronomy.

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NASA's Webb catches Tarantula Nebula

A stellar nursery nicknamed the Tarantula Nebula has been captured in crisp detail by NASA's Webb telescope, revealing hitherto unseen features that deepen scientific understanding, the agency said Tuesday.

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Why go back to the Moon?

On September 12, 1962, then US president John F Kennedy informed the public of his plan to put a man on the Moon by the end of the decade.

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DART sets sights on asteroid target

NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) spacecraft recently got its first look at Didymos, the double-asteroid system that includes its target, Dimorphos. On Sept. 26, DART will intentionally crash into Dimorphos, the asteroid moonlet of Didymos. While the asteroid poses no threat to Earth, this is the world's first test of the kinetic impact technique, using a spacecraft to deflect an asteroid for planetary defense.

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Preparing the MTG-I1 weather satellite for launch

Before Europe's first Meteosat Third Generation Imager leaves the south of France at the end of the month aboard a ship bound for French Guiana, this remarkable new weather satellite has been taking center stage at Thales Alenia Space's facilities in Cannes.

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Spectroscopy used to look for life on Mars by rovers capable of probing deeper sediments

An international team of researchers has found evidence indicating that despite the hostile environmental conditions on Mars, the equipment used by rovers on its surface should be capable of detecting evidence of life if it ever existed there. In their paper published in the journal Science Advances, the group describes how they subjected sample materials to Mars-like conditions and then tested them to see how well they withstood the abuse.

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Simulation suggests gravitational interactions drive Milky Way's galactic bar bulges

A new simulation conducted on the world's most powerful supercomputer dedicated to astronomy has produced a testable scenario to explain the appearance of the bar of the Milky Way. Comparing this scenario to data from current and future space telescopes will help clarify the evolution of our home galaxy.

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Could more of Earth's surface host life? Jupiter's orbit shape plays key, overlooked role on Earth

Of all known planets, Earth is as friendly to life as any planet could possibly be—or is it? If Jupiter's orbit changes, a new study shows Earth could be more hospitable than it is today.

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Surprise finding suggests 'water worlds' are more common than we thought

Water is the one thing all life on Earth needs, and the cycle of rain to river to ocean to rain is an essential part of what keeps our planet's climate stable and hospitable. When scientists talk about where to search for signs of life throughout the galaxy, planets with water are always at the top of the list.

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A first glimpse at the high-productivity star factory in the galactic center

With the help of detailed observations, astronomers have managed to get a first representative glimpse of the numerous young stars in the central regions of our home galaxy. The observations provide evidence for star formation in the galactic center having started off near the center and then worked its way outwards. This confirms a mode of star formation that had earlier been found in the centers of other, distant galaxies. The results also reveal that most stars in that region did not form in tightly-bound massive clusters, but in loose associations whose member stars have long since gone their separate ways. The results have been published in Nature Astronomy.

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Young open cluster NGC 602 inspected with ALMA

Using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), astronomers have investigated a young open cluster in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC), known as NGC 602. Results of the research, presented August 29 on the arXiv pre-print server, deliver important insights into the properties of this cluster, revealing that it experienced a sequential star formation process.

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What's next for Artemis I after 2nd scrub?

What went wrong with Artemis I was on the launch pad at Kennedy Space Center, so that's where NASA has decided to try and fix it.

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Glaciers flowed on ancient Mars, but slowly

The weight and grinding movement of glaciers has carved distinctive valleys and fjords into Earth's surface. Because Mars lacks similar landscapes, researchers believed ancient ice masses on the Red Planet must have been frozen firmly to the ground. New research suggests they were not stuck in place, but just moved very slowly.

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A new explanation for the reddish north pole of Pluto's moon Charon

A trio of researchers at Purdue University has developed a new theory to explain why Pluto's moon Charon has a reddish north pole. In their paper published in the journal Nature Communications, Stephanie Menten, Michael Sori and Ali Bramson, describe their study of the reddish surfaces of many icy objects in the Kuiper Belt, and how they might relate to Charon's reddish pole.

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Planetary heist: Astronomers show massive stars can steal Jupiter-sized planets

Jupiter-sized planets can be stolen or captured by massive stars in the densely populated stellar nurseries where most stars are born, a new study has found.

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Birmingham telescope discovers two new temperate rocky worlds

An international research team including astronomers at the University of Birmingham, has just announced the discovery of two "super-Earth" planets orbiting LP 890-9, a small, cool star located about 100 light-years from Earth.

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Astronomers capture most detailed images yet of radiation region in Orionʻs 'sword'

Astronomers using the W. M. Keck Observatory on Hawaiʻi Island have captured from Maunakea the most detailed and complete images ever taken of the zone where the famed constellation of Orion gets zapped with ultraviolet (UV) radiation from massive young stars.

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Webb captures a cosmic tarantula

Thousands of never-before-seen young stars are spotted in a stellar nursery called 30 Doradus, captured by the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope. Nicknamed the Tarantula Nebula for the appearance of its dusty filaments in previous telescope images, the nebula has long been a favorite for astronomers studying star formation. In addition to young stars, Webb reveals distant background galaxies, as well as the detailed structure and composition of the nebula's gas and dust.

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Frank Drake has passed away but his equation for alien intelligence is more important than ever

How many intelligent civilizations should there be in our galaxy right now? In 1961, U.S. astrophysicist Frank Drake, who passed away on September 2 at the age of 92, came up with an equation to estimate this. The Drake equation, dating from a stage in his career when he was "too naive to be nervous" (as he later put it), has become famous and bears his name.

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Martian rock-metal composite shows potential of 3D printing on Mars

A little Martian dust appears to go a long way. A small amount of simulated crushed Martian rock mixed with a titanium alloy made a stronger, high-performance material in a 3D-printing process that could one day be used on Mars to make tools or rocket parts.

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Far-infrared detector KID reaches highest possible sensitivity

Astronomy has a blind spot in the area of far-infrared radiation compared to most other wavelengths. A far-infrared space telescope can only utilize its full sensitivity with an actively cooled mirror at temperatures below 4 Kelvin (-269 ℃). Such a telescope doesn't exist yet, which is why there has been little worldwide investment in the development of corresponding detectors.

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Training astronauts to be scientists on the moon

Astronauts with their sights on the moon are receiving world-class geology training during the fifth edition of ESA's Pangaea campaign. From choosing landing sites for a future Artemis mission, to designing science operations for the lunar surface, the course challenges space explorers to become field scientists.

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Hubble observes a glittering gathering of stars

This glittering gathering of stars is the globular cluster NGC 6558, and it was captured by the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope's Advanced Camera for Surveys. NGC 6558 is closer to the center of the Milky Way than Earth is, and lies about 23,000 light-years away in the constellation Sagittarius.

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New polar ring galaxy discovered

Japanese astronomers report the detection of a new polar ring galaxy using the data obtained with the Subaru Telescope as part of the Hyper Suprime-Cam Subaru Strategic Program (HSC-SSP). The discovery was detailed in a paper published August 26 on the arXiv pre-print server.

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NASA unsure next Moon rocket launch attempt possible this month

After scrapping a second attempt to get its new 30-story lunar rocket off the ground due to a fuel leak, NASA officials said Saturday it may not be possible to try again this month.

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Fuel leak ruins NASA's 2nd shot at launching moon rocket

NASA's new moon rocket sprang another dangerous fuel leak Saturday, forcing launch controllers to call off their second attempt to send a crew capsule into lunar orbit with test dummies.

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Why do galaxies stop making stars? A huge collision in space provides new clues

Six billion years ago, two galaxies were colliding, their combined forces hurling a stream of gas hundreds of thousands of light years away. Reported this week by a team including Pitt astronomers, that unusual feature provides a new possible explanation for why galaxies stop forming stars.

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NASA Moon launch to attract up to 400,000 visitors

Up to 400,000 visitors are expected to flock to the Florida coast on Saturday, hoping to catch a glimpse—and hear the roar—of NASA's rocket launch to the Moon.

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EP-WXT pathfinder catches first wide-field snapshots of X-ray universe

EP-WXT Pathfinder, the experimental version of a module that will eventually be part of the wide-field X-ray telescope (WXT) aboard the astronomical satellite Einstein Probe (EP), released its first results Aug. 27 from an earlier test flight. These include an 800-second X-ray time-lapse photograph of a region of the Galactic center, a dense area at the core of our home galaxy, the Milky Way.

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It's not just rocket science: Hidden chemistry powers moon launches and sustains life in space

Many around the world will watch eagerly this Saturday as NASA launches Artemis I, the agency's first Moon exploration mission since the 1970s.

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Once in the doldrums, Florida coast hums with space launches

A decade ago, Florida's Space Coast was in the doldrums.

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We're heading to the moon and maybe Mars. So who owns them?

Humanity is set to make a return to the moon with the Artemis program, in what NASA says is a first step to Mars. So, who gets first dibs?

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System study of proposed inflatable moon base

A vision of a future moon settlement is assembled from semi-buried inflatable habitats. Sited beside the lunar poles in regions of near-perpetual solar illumination, mirrors positioned above each habitat would reflect sunlight into greenhouses within the doughnut-shaped habitats.

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Ten new pulsating variable stars discovered

By analyzing the data from NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), Turkish astronomers have detected 10 new pulsating variable stars, including five Delta Scuti variables. The finding is reported in a paper published August 25 on the arXiv pre-print server.

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