China's 'space dream': A Long March to the Moon and beyond

China successfully launched the final module of its Tiangong space station on Monday, inching closer to completion by the end of the year and a landmark moment in the country's space ambitions.

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China launches 3rd and final space station component

China on Monday launched the third and final module to complete its permanent space station, realizing a more than decade-long endeavor to maintain a constant crewed presence in orbit.

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Radioactive traces in tree rings reveal Earth's history of unexplained 'radiation storms'

In searching for planets and studying their stars, I've had the privilege to use some of the world's great telescopes. However, our team has recently turned to an even larger system to study the cosmos: Earth's forests.

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Two NASA spacecraft detect biggest meteor strikes at Mars

Two NASA spacecraft at Mars—one on the surface and the other in orbit—have recorded the biggest meteor strikes and impact craters yet.

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NASA's InSight lander detects stunning meteoroid impact on Mars

NASA's InSight lander recorded a magnitude 4 marsquake last Dec. 24, but scientists learned only later the cause of that quake: a meteoroid strike estimated to be one of the biggest seen on Mars since NASA began exploring the cosmos. What's more, the meteoroid excavated boulder-size chunks of ice buried closer to the Martian equator than ever found before—a discovery with implications for NASA's future plans to send astronauts to the Red Planet.

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Rare earth element synthesis confirmed in neutron star mergers

A group of researchers has, for the first time, identified rare earth elements produced by neutron star mergers.

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New technique to determine age will open new era of planetary science, researchers say

The coming decade is expected to bring a veritable bonanza for the science of planets: space missions are scheduled to bring back samples of rock from the moon, Mars, the Martian moon of Phobos, and a primitive asteroid. And scientists say there is a new technique for determining the age of rocks, meteorites, and even artifacts, that could help open up a new era of discovery.

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Astronomers find cosmic rays driving galaxy's winds

Astronomers using the National Science Foundation's Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) have discovered an important new clue about how galaxies put the brakes on vigorous episodes of star formation. Their new study of the neighboring galaxy M33 indicates that fast-moving cosmic ray electrons can drive winds that blow away the gas needed to form new stars.

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Analysis of gases recovered from asteroid Ryugu by Hayabusa2 spacecraft

Three international teams of researchers studying samples of gases recovered by the Hayabusa2 spacecraft from the near-Earth asteroid Ryugu have published their results. The first studied the asteroid's volatile sources and recent surface evolution. The second looked at its nucleosynthetic heritage. And the third team provided an overview of the types of gases that were returned. The first team has published their results in the journal Science; the second and third teams have both have published their results in the journal Science Advances.

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Science sleuths solve century-old mystery of Martian meteorite's discovery

A toxin that makes pigs vomit is the surprising key which has unlocked the century-old mystery of the origins of a Martian meteorite, and the possible identity of the Black student who discovered it.

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Alien megastructures? Cosmic thumbprint? What's behind a James Webb telescope photo that had even astronomers stumped?

In July, a puzzling new image of a distant extreme star system surrounded by surreal concentric geometric rungs had even astronomers scratching their heads. The picture, which looks like a kind of "cosmic thumbprint," came from the James Webb Space Telescope, NASA's newest flagship observatory.

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Scientists discover the source of one of the rarest groups of meteorites

Since return mission Hayabusa2 brought samples of asteroid Ryugu back to Earth in 2020, a team of experts from across the world have been examining them to learn more about the origins of our solar system.

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Hipparchus's map of the stars may finally have been found

A trio of researchers from CNRS, UMR, Tyndale House and Sorbonne Université, respectively, have found what might be the famous Hipparchus's map of the stars. In their paper published in Journal for the History of Astronomy, Victor Gysembergh, Peter Williams and Emanuel Zingg describe a palimpsest manuscript that was found at the Greek Orthodox St Catherine's Monastery on the Sinai Peninsula, and what they believe it describes.

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Looking to move to a galaxy far, far away? An innovative system evaluates habitability of distant planets

The climate crisis presents a huge challenge to all people on Earth. It has led many scientists to look for exo-planets, planets outside our solar system that humans could potentially settle. The James Webb Space Telescope was developed as part of this search to provide detailed observational data about Earth-like exo-planets in the coming years.

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Astronomers explore the properties of supernova SN 2017hcc

Using various spacecraft and ground-based telescopes, astronomers have conducted multiwavelength observations of a Type IIn supernova known as SN 2017hcc. Results of the observational campaign, published October 6 on arXiv.org, shed more light on the properties of this supernova.

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NASA's Geotail mission experiences an anomaly

NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Japan's Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS), and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) are determining how to move forward with the joint Geotail mission since discovering the spacecraft's last operational data recorder has failed.

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X-ray pulsar 1E 1145.1-6141 examined with NuSTAR

Indian astronomers have employed NASA's NuSTAR spacecraft to inspect an X-ray pulsar known as 1E 1145.1-6141. Results of the observations deliver important insights into the properties and nature of this pulsar. The study was detailed in a paper published October 11 on the arXiv pre-print repository.

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Clusters of galaxies easier to view with radio X-ray combination

Through the clever use of two types of telescopes, a team of researchers has produced stunning images of clusters of galaxies. This not only produces beautiful images, but also provides more information about the enormous amounts of energy released around supermassive black holes in clusters. The astronomers, led by Ph.D. student Roland Timmerman (Leiden University, the Netherlands), will soon publish their method in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics.

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Life may have thrived on early Mars, until it drove climate change that caused its demise

If there ever was life on Mars—and that's a huge "if"—conditions during the planet's infancy most likely would have supported it, according to a study led by University of Arizona researchers.

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NASA's Lucy to fly past thousands of objects for Earth gravity assist

Mission engineers will track NASA's Lucy spacecraft nonstop as it prepares to swoop near Earth on Oct. 16 to use this planet's gravity to set itself on a course toward the Jupiter Trojan asteroids.

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Examining our options for automated in-orbit assembly of large structures

The construction of large structures such as space stations, space solar power stations, and space telescopes is one of the main development trends for space exploration in the future. However, due to their large size, such structures cannot be carried directly into space by rockets or spacecraft.

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Heaviest element yet detected in an exoplanet atmosphere

Using the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope (ESO's VLT), astronomers have discovered the heaviest element ever found in an exoplanet atmosphere—barium. They were surprised to discover barium at high altitudes in the atmospheres of the ultra-hot gas giants WASP-76 b and WASP-121 b—two exoplanets, planets which orbit stars outside our solar system. This unexpected discovery raises questions about what these exotic atmospheres may be like.

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Black hole discovered firing jets at neighboring galaxy

With the help of citizen scientists, a team of astronomers has discovered a unique black hole spewing a fiery jet at another galaxy. The black hole is hosted by a galaxy around one billion light years away from Earth named RAD12. The work was published today in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters.

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JPL's Venus aerial robotic balloon prototype aces test flights

A scaled-down version of the aerobot that could one day take to the Venusian skies successfully completed two Nevada test flights, marking a milestone for the project.

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Underground microbes may have swarmed ancient Mars

Ancient Mars may have had an environment capable of harboring an underground world teeming with microscopic organisms, French scientists reported Monday.

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Proposed method for radio-frequency interference mitigation and signal restoration of pulsar signals

Pulsar signals obtained with radio telescopes are extremely weak. Generally, there are two primary difficulties in pulsar signal processing—one is the radio-frequency interference (RFI) mitigation, and the other one is information loss due to the preprocessing and mitigation itself.

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Peculiar giant radio galaxy GRG-J223301+131502 investigated by researchers

An international team of astronomers has conducted radio and optical observations of a peculiar giant radio galaxy known as GRG-J223301+131502. Results of the observational campaign shed more light on the properties of this galaxy and have unveiled its exceptional jet structure. The findings are reported in a paper published September 26 on arXiv.org.

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Citizen scientists enhance new Europa images from NASA's Juno

Citizen scientists have provided unique perspectives of the recent close flyby of Jupiter's icy moon Europa by NASA's Juno spacecraft. By processing raw images from JunoCam, the spacecraft's public-engagement camera, members of the general public have created deep-space portraits of the Jovian moon that are not only awe-inspiring, but also worthy of further scientific scrutiny.

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TESS discovers an old warm Jupiter-like exoplanet

Using the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), an international team of astronomers has detected a new old and warm Jupiter-like alien world orbiting a G-dwarf star. The newfound exoplanet, designated TOI-5542 b, is the size of Jupiter—about 30% more massive than the solar system's biggest gas giant. The finding is reported in a paper published September 29 on the arXiv pre-print server.

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Amid Ukraine war, US set to fly Russian cosmonaut to ISS

The United States will on Wednesday carry a Russian to the International Space Station aboard a SpaceX ship, in a voyage that carries symbolic significance amid the Ukraine war.

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Giant impact could have formed the Moon more rapidly, scientists reveal in new simulations

Scientists from Durham University's Institute for Computational Cosmology used the most detailed supercomputer simulations yet to reveal an alternative explanation for the Moon's origin, with a giant impact immediately placing a Moon-like body into orbit around Earth.

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Hubble spies a lonely spiral

The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope's Wide Field Camera 3 imaged this lonely spiral galaxy called UGC 9391.

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Cosmic ray protons reveal new spectral structures at high energies

Cosmic rays constitute high-energy protons and atomic nuclei that originate from stars (both within our galaxy and from other galaxies) and are accelerated by supernovae and other high-energy astrophysical objects.

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SWIFT J0503.7-2819 is an intermediate polar, research suggests

Using data from various space telescopes, astronomers have investigated a variable X-ray source known as SWIFT J0503.7-2819. Results of the study suggest that this source is an intermediate polar. The finding was detailed in a paper published September 22 on the arXiv pre-print server.

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Firefly Aerospace reaches orbit with new Alpha rocket

A new aerospace company reached orbit with its second rocket launch and deployed multiple small satellites on Saturday.

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Glass beads in lunar soil reveal ancient asteroid bombardments on the moon and Earth

In 2020, China's Chang'e 5 mission sampled more than a kilogram of moon rock and soil and brought it back to Earth. The samples contain countless tiny beads of glass, created when asteroids hit the moon and splashed out droplets of molten rock around the impact site.

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NASA, SpaceX study boosting Hubble to extend its lifespan

NASA and SpaceX have agreed to study the feasibility of awarding Elon Musk's company a contract to boost the Hubble Space Telescope to a higher orbit, with a goal of extending its lifespan, the US space agency said Thursday.

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