Observations explore the nature of infrared source IRAS 07253-2001

Using the Caucasian Mountain Observatory (CMO), Russian astronomers have observed a peculiar infrared source designated IRAS 07253-2001. Results of the observational campaign, published July 20 on the preprint server arXiv, reveal insights into the properties of this source, shedding more light on its nature.

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Mystery object on Australian beach identified as part of Indian rocket

A mysterious object that washed up on an Australian beach has been identified as debris from an Indian rocket, officials said Monday.

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Two supermoons in August mean double the stargazing fun

The cosmos is offering up a double feature in August: a pair of supermoons culminating in a rare blue moon.

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Astronomers find high-frequency magnetic waves may play essential role in coronal heating

A joint scientific team led by the Royal Observatory of Belgium (ROB) and the KU Leuven has found that high-frequency magnetic waves could play an essential role in keeping the sun's atmosphere at millions of degrees. This finding sheds a new light on the most intriguing solar mystery: what makes the sun's atmosphere hotter than its surface?

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Twinkling of giant stars reveals how their innards churn in first-ever simulations

Secrets hide in the twinkling of stars. A research team led by scientists at the Flatiron Institute and Northwestern University has created first-of-their-kind computer simulations showing how churning deep in a star's depths can cause the star's light to flicker. This effect is different from the visible twinkling of stars in the night sky caused by Earth's atmosphere.

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Astronomers find multiple microsecond-length fast radio bursts in data from the Green Bank Telescope

A team of space scientists from several institutions in The Netherlands, two in the U.S. and one in Sweden, has found evidence of multiple microsecond-length fast radio bursts (FRBs) by analyzing data from the Green Bank Telescope, in West Virginia. The group has posted their study on the arXiv preprint server.

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New image reveals secrets of planet birth

A spectacular new image released today by the European Southern Observatory gives us clues about how planets as massive as Jupiter could form. Using ESO's Very Large Telescope (VLT) and the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), researchers have detected large dusty clumps, close to a young star, that could collapse to create giant planets.

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Older evolved stars passing through a star-forming region could have heated an early Earth

Researchers from the University of Sheffield and Imperial College London have spotted a "retired" asymptotic giant branch (AGB) star passing through a young star-forming region, something which was previously thought not to happen.

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New advances in formation theory of supermassive black holes

With breakthroughs in astronomical observation, scientists now have confirmed the existence of supermassive black holes at the centers of galaxies. The recent release of black hole images has further charged people's curiosity about black holes while providing additional evidence to support Einstein's general theory of relativity.

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Observers investigate a short-period X-ray binary system

Using the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) and the Chandra X-ray Observatory, astronomers have taken a closer look at a short-period high-mass X-ray binary known as CXOU J121538.2+361921. Results of the observational campaign, presented July 13 on the preprint server arXiv, shed more light on the properties of this system.

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A mysterious interstellar radio signal has been blinking on and off every 22 minutes for more than 30 years

Last year, we made an intriguing discovery—a radio signal in space that switched on and off every 18 minutes.

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Asteroid-smashing NASA probe sent boulders into space

When a NASA spacecraft successfully knocked an asteroid off course last year it sent dozens of boulders skittering into space, images from the Hubble telescope showed on Thursday.

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Hubble images a starstruck galaxy

The irregular galaxy Arp 263 lurks in the background of this image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, but the view is dominated by a stellar photobomber, the bright star BD+17 2217. Arp 263—also known as NGC 3239—is a patchy, irregular galaxy studded with regions of recent star formation, and astronomers believe that its ragged appearance is due to its having formed from the merger of two galaxies. It lies around 25 million light-years away in the constellation Leo.

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California Science Center starts complex process to display Space Shuttle Endeavour vertically

A highly technical process began Thursday in Los Angeles to put NASA's retired Space Shuttle Endeavour on permanent display in the vertical launch position complete with external tank and two solid rocket boosters.

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Did that message come from Earth or space? Now SETI researchers can be sure

In radio astronomy, there are lots of natural radio signals to observe. The glow of hydrogen gas, the swirl of electrons along a magnetic field, or the pop-pop-pop of pulsars. These signals usually have a very natural character to them, so astronomers can distinguish them from the artificial chirps and chatters of terrestrial sources. But when you're looking for the signals of alien civilizations, things can get more tricky. They should have an artificial character similar to the radio signals of humans. So how can astronomers distinguish between the distant artificial signal and the local ones?

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Two-faced star exposed: Unusual white dwarf with a hydrogen side and a helium side

In a first for white dwarfs, the burnt-out cores of dead stars, astronomers have discovered that at least one member of this cosmic family is two faced. One side of the white dwarf is composed of hydrogen, while the other is made up of helium.

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Mystery object that washed up on the Australian coast could be space junk, officials say

Authorities were investigating on Tuesday whether a cylindrical object about the size of a small car that washed up on a remote Australian beach is space junk from a foreign rocket.

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Preserved presolar silicate grains found in Ryugu samples

A large international team of space scientists and geochemists has found preserved presolar silicate grains in surface samples collected from the Ryugu asteroid by the Japanese space probe Hayabusa2 in 2018 and 2019 and returned to Earth in 2020. In their study, reported in the journal Science Advances, the group found two clasts (unique and identifiable fragments of rock) in Ryugu samples.

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Astronomers explore the chromosphere of peculiar white dwarfs

Using the 3.6-m New Technology Telescope (NTT) at the La Silla Observatory in Chile, astronomers have observed three peculiar white dwarfs of the DAHe subtype. In their results, they found dipolar chromospheres in two of these objects. The findings were reported in a paper published July 5 on the preprint server arXiv.

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We've detected a star barely hotter than a pizza oven—the coldest ever found to emit radio waves

We have identified the coldest star ever found to produce radio waves—a brown dwarf too small to be a regular star and too massive to be a planet.

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Astronomers observe subpulse drifting and nulling of pulsar PSR J0026–1955

Using the upgraded Giant Meterwave Radio Telescope (uGMRT), astronomers from India and Australia have performed radio observations of a pulsar known as PSR J0026–1955. Results of the observational campaign, published July 5 on the preprint server arXiv, shed more light on the subpulse drifting and nulling behavior of this pulsar.

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Stellar cradles and graves observed in farthest galaxy ever

New observations using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) have distinguished the sites of star formation and a possible site of star death from the surrounding nebula in a galaxy 13.2 billion light-years away. This is the farthest that such structures have been observed.

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Dynamical dark energy might explain strange 21-cm signal

Dark energy may evolve in time, and it may even connect through a new force of nature with dark matter. A researcher believes that we may have already seen evidence for this. Their findings have been reported on the preprint server arXiv.

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PM 1-322 is a variable planetary nebula, study finds

By analyzing the data from various ground-based facilities and space telescopes, European astronomers have investigated the nature of a peculiar object known as PM 1-322. As a result, they found evidence indicating that PM 1-322 is a variable planetary nebula. The finding was reported July 3 on the preprint server arXiv.

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Webb Space Telescope reveals moment of stellar birth, dramatic close-up of 50 baby stars

The Webb Space Telescope is marking one year of cosmic photographs with one of its best yet: the dramatic close-up of dozens of stars at the moment of birth.

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Solar storm on Thursday expected to make northern lights visible in limited US states

A solar storm forecast for Thursday is expected to give skygazers in some states along the U.S.-Canada border a faint glimpse of the northern lights which—at their peak—produce a colorful sky show when solar wind hits the atmosphere.

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Astronomers scan the skies for nanosecond pulses of light from interstellar civilizations

In 2015, Russian-Israeli billionaire Yuri Milner and his non-profit organization, Breakthrough Initiatives, launched the largest Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) project. Known as Breakthrough Listen, this SETI effort relies on the most powerful radio telescopes in the world and advanced analytics to search for potential evidence of technological activity (aka. "technosignatures"). The ten-year project will survey the one million stars closest to Earth, the center of our galaxy, the entire galactic plane, and the 100 galaxies closest to the Milky Way.

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Scientists look at feasibility of power beaming through the Venus atmosphere

A few weeks ago, a team of scientists from Caltech announced that they had successfully transmitted energy from an orbiting satellite down to Earth. It wasn't a lot of energy, but it showed that it was possible.

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'Like a mirror': Astronomers identify most reflective exoplanet

A scorching hot world where metal clouds rain drops of titanium is the most reflective planet ever observed outside of our Solar System, astronomers said on Monday.

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Solar storm on Thursday expected to make Northern Lights visible in 17 states

A solar storm forecast for Thursday is expected to give skygazers in 17 American states a chance to glimpse the Northern Lights, the colorful sky show that happens when solar wind hits the atmosphere.

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Scientists work to prevent interplanetary pollution that could pose a threat to life on Earth

Formulating policies for planetary protection issues and keeping them up-to-date is the responsibility of the Committee on Space Research (COSPAR) panel on planetary protection. In an article in Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences, an international group of experts affiliated with COSPAR reviewed the panel's role, and its Planetary Protection Policy, including recent considerations regarding the Policy for the Moon, Venus, Mars and small planetary bodies.

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Final Ariane 5 blasts off amid Europe rocket crisis

Europe's workhorse Ariane 5 rocket blasted off for a final time on Wednesday, with its farewell flight after 27 years of launches coming at a difficult time for European space efforts.

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Large sub-surface granite formation signals ancient volcanic activity on moon's dark side

A large formation of granite discovered below the lunar surface likely was formed from the cooling of molten lava that fed a volcano or volcanoes that erupted early in the moon's history—as long as 3.5 billion years ago.

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Unfavorable weather delays final Ariane 5 launch

The farewell flight of Europe's workhorse Ariane 5 rocket, scheduled for Tuesday, has been postponed for 24 hours due to bad weather, operator Arianespace said.

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Hawai'i observatories add color, depth to European Euclid mission

Launched on July 1, 2023, the European Euclid mission will observe billions of galaxies over one-third of the sky to create a map of the Universe. But Euclid's map will be in black and white; telescopes in Hawai'i, including the Subaru Telescope, are needed to determine the colors of the galaxies. The color data will be used to deduce the distance, thus creating a 3D map, uncovering the mysteries of dark matter and dark energy.

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New eclipsing cataclysmic variable system discovered

Using the Spektr-RG (SRG) spacecraft and the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF), an international team of astronomers has discovered a new eclipsing cataclysmic variable system, which received designation SRGeJ045359.9+622444 (or SRGeJ0453 for short). The finding is reported in a paper published June 22 on the pre-print server arXiv.

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Collaborative research detects nanojets with machine learning algorithms

A mystery that has baffled astronomers and physicists for decades is a step closer to being solved thanks to a collaboration between Northumbria University and leading US aerospace technology organization, Lockheed Martin.

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Scientists have finally 'heard' the chorus of gravitational waves that ripple through the universe

Scientists have observed for the first time the faint ripples caused by the motion of black holes that are gently stretching and squeezing everything in the universe.

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Europe's space telescope to target universe's dark mysteries

Europe's Euclid space telescope is scheduled to blast off Saturday on the first-ever mission aiming to shed light on two of the universe's greatest mysteries: dark energy and dark matter.

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Team working on Hera mission discusses what it would be like to walk on an asteroid

The team working on ESA's Hera asteroid mission has glimpsed its destination. Last September NASA's DART mission returned images of the boulder-strewn Dimorphos moonlet just before impacting it, in an audacious and ultimately successful attempt to shift its orbit around its parent asteroid Didymos.

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