New observatory in Chile—the highest in the world—aims to reveal origins of planets, galaxies and more

How do planets form? How do galaxies evolve? And ultimately, how did the universe itself begin? A unique astronomical observatory that researchers hope will unravel some of the biggest mysteries out there marks its opening on April 30, 2024.

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Launch date set for NASA's PREFIRE mission to study polar energy loss

NASA and Rocket Lab are targeting no earlier than Wednesday, May 22, 2024, for the first of two launches of the agency's PREFIRE (Polar Radiant Energy in the Far-InfraRed Experiment) mission to study heat loss to space in Earth's polar regions.

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Citizen scientists help discover record-breaking exoplanet in binary star system

A team of astronomers and citizen scientists has discovered a planet in the habitable zone of an unusual star system, including two stars and potentially another exoplanet.

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Novel calculations peg age of 'baby' asteroid

An asteroid dubbed "Lucy's baby" after a NASA spacecraft discovered it is orbiting another asteroid last November is,, in fact,, a solar system toddler—just 2–3 million years old, a Cornell-led research team estimates using novel statistical calculations.

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Astronomers' simulations support dark matter theory

Computer simulations by astronomers support the idea that dark matter—matter that no one has yet directly detected but which many physicists think must be there to explain several aspects of the observable universe—exists, according to the researchers, who include those at the University of California, Irvine.

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Q&A: How to catch a glimpse of a new star about to appear in the night sky

If you peer up at the constellation Corona Borealis—the Northern Crown—over the next several months, you may catch a glimpse: Astronomers predict that sometime this year, a new star will appear in the night sky, growing as bright as the North Star, then vanishing in a matter of days.

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Revealing the origin of unexpected differences in giant binary stars

Using the Gemini South telescope a team of astronomers have confirmed for the first time that differences in binary stars' composition can originate from chemical variations in the cloud of stellar material from which they formed. The results help explain why stars born from the same molecular cloud can possess different chemical composition and host different planetary systems, as well as pose challenges to current stellar and planet formation models.

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Tidal disruption event ASASSN-19bt experiences unusual radio evolution, observations show

An international team of astronomers has conducted detailed radio and X-ray observations of a tidal disruption event (TDE) designated ASASSN-19bt. Results of the observational campaign, presented April 18 on the pre-print server arXiv, shed more light on the emission from this TDE, revealing that it showcases an unusual radio evolution.

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New study reveals mystery of decaying exoplanet orbits

A new study led by researchers at Durham University has uncovered a novel mechanism that could solve a long-standing mystery about decaying planetary orbits around stars like our sun.

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Probing the effects of interplanetary space on asteroid Ryugu

Analyzing samples retrieved from the asteroid Ryugu by the Japanese Space Agency's Hayabusa2 spacecraft has revealed new insights into the magnetic and physical bombardment environment of interplanetary space. The results of the study, carried out by Professor Yuki Kimura at Hokkaido University and co-workers at 13 other institutions in Japan, are published in the journal Nature Communications.

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Here's why we should put a gravitational wave observatory on the moon

Scientists detected the first long-predicted gravitational wave in 2015, and since then, researchers have been hungering for better detectors. But the Earth is warm and seismically noisy, and that will always limit the effectiveness of Earth-based detectors.

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The planetary orbit in Netflix's '3 Body Problem' is random and chaotic, but could it exist?

I first encountered the three-body problem 60 years ago, in a short story called "Placet is a Crazy Place" by American science fiction writer Frederic Brown.

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Mapping the Milky Way's magnetic field in 3D

We are all very familiar with the concept of the Earth's magnetic field. It turns out that most objects in space have magnetic fields but it's quite tricky to measure them. Astronomers have developed an ingenious way to measure the magnetic field of the Milky Way using polarized light from interstellar dust grains that align themselves to the magnetic field lines. A new survey has begun this mapping process and has mapped an area that covers the equivalent of 15 times the full moon.

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Research investigates radio emission of the rotating radio transient RRAT J1854+0306

Using the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope (FAST), Chinese astronomers have investigated radio emission from a rotating radio transient known as RRAT J1854+0306. Results of the study, published April 15 on the preprint server arXiv, shed more light on the properties of this transient.

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China's Shenzhou-18 mission docks with space station

A spaceship carrying three astronauts from China's Shenzhou-18 mission safely docked at Tiangong space station Friday, state-run media reported, the latest step in Beijing's space program that aims to send astronauts to the Moon by 2030.

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NASA's Deep Space Optical Communications demonstration transmits data over 140 million miles

Riding aboard NASA's Psyche spacecraft, the agency's Deep Space Optical Communications technology demonstration continues to break records. While the asteroid-bound spacecraft doesn't rely on optical communications to send data, the new technology has proven that it's up to the task. After interfacing with the Psyche's radio frequency transmitter, the laser communications demo sent a copy of engineering data from over 140 million miles (226 million kilometers) away, 1.5 times the distance between Earth and the sun.

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NASA astronauts arrive for Boeing's first human spaceflight

The two NASA astronauts assigned to Boeing's first human spaceflight arrived at their launch site Thursday, just over a week before their scheduled liftoff.

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Hera asteroid mission's side-trip to Mars

ESA's Hera asteroid mission for planetary defense will make a swingby of Mars next March, borrowing speed to help reach its target Didymos binary asteroid system.

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If we want to visit more asteroids, we need to let the spacecraft think for themselves

Missions to asteroids have been on a tear recently. Visits by Rosetta, Osirix-REX, and Hayabusa2 have all visited small bodies and, in some cases, successfully returned samples to the Earth. But as humanity starts reaching out to asteroids, it will run into a significant technical problem—bandwidth.

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New young and warm Jupiter-like exoplanet detected

An international team of astronomers reports the detection of a new young and warm exoplanet orbiting a distant star. The newfound alien world, designated TOI-4862 b (or NGTS-30 b), is similar in size and mass to Jupiter. The finding was published April 3 on the pre-print server arXiv.

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Total solar eclipse wows North America. Clouds part just in time for most

After beholding the midday darkness of a total solar eclipse that raced across the continent, thousands of spectators in New England were stuck seeing only brake lights Monday night as highway traffic backed up for hours.

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Charting the night sky with exascale computers

Creating multiple universes to see how they run might be tempting to scientists, but it's obviously not possible. That is, as long as you need physical universes. If you can make do with virtual ones, there are far more options.

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The sun was born when a dense gas cloud collapsed 4.6 billion years ago

While the upcoming total solar eclipse is a special moment to reflect on our place in the universe, scientists have been studying the birth of the sun and the formation of our solar system for a long time.

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Astronomers detect unprecedented behavior from nearby magnetar

Researchers using Murriyang, CSIRO's Parkes radio telescope, have detected unusual radio pulses from a previously dormant star with a powerful magnetic field.

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Astronomers discover the longest-period classical Cepheid in our galaxy

Astronomers from the University of Warsaw, Poland and elsewhere have detected a new classical Cepheid variable star. The newfound star, which received designation OGLE-GD-CEP-1884, has the longest pulsation period known among such variables in the Milky Way. The finding was detailed in a research paper published March 29 on the pre-print server arXiv.

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Weather is the hot topic as eclipse spectators stake out their spots in US, Mexico and Canada

Eclipse spectators staked out their spots across three countries Sunday, fervently hoping for clear skies despite forecasts calling for clouds along most of the sun-vanishing route.

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Eclipse viewing safety: Keeping your & your kid's vision safe

People preparing to watch Monday's total eclipse of the sun need to protect their vision during the event, eye doctors say.

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Eclipse weather forecast: clear skies in the Northeast, clouds in Texas

Clouds are likely to spoil the view of the total solar eclipse in Texas and other spots along the path in North America, according to forecasts on Saturday,

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Citizen science group plans to use the 2024 eclipse for ionospheric discovery

As the total solar eclipse on April 8, 2024, draws closer, a vibrant community of enthusiastic amateur radio operators, known as "hams," is gearing up for an exciting project with the Ham Radio Science Citizen Investigation (HamSCI) group. Our goal is clear and ambitious: to use the moon's shadow as a natural laboratory to uncover the intricacies of the ionosphere, a layer of Earth's atmosphere crucial for radio communication.

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The universe's accelerated expansion might be slowing down

The universe is still expanding at an accelerating rate, but it may have slowed down recently compared to a few billion years ago, early results from the most precise measurement of its evolution yet suggested Thursday.

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DESI first-year data delivers unprecedented measurements of expanding universe

Scientists have analyzed the first batch of data from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument's quest to map the universe and unravel the mysteries of dark energy.

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Huge star explosion to appear in sky in once-in-a-lifetime event

Sometime between now and September, a massive explosion 3,000 light years from Earth will flare up in the night sky, giving amateur astronomers a once-in-a-lifetime chance to witness this space oddity.

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Eclipse weather forecast points to clear skies in the Northeast and central US. Texas is iffy

Some who hope to witness Monday's total solar eclipse may see the sun obscured by clouds instead of by the moon.

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If life exists on Jupiter's moon Europa, scientists might soon be able to detect it

Europa is one of the largest of more than 90 moons in orbit around the planet Jupiter. It is also one of the best places to look for alien life.

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The total solar eclipse is a cosmic spectacle well worth the hype

Eclipse fever has gripped North America, where many people are talking, worrying—and obsessing—about the April 8 total solar eclipse.

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New observations provide insights into whether the birth of brown dwarfs takes a similar course to that of stars

The birth of stars is a chaotic and dynamic process, especially in the early phase, which is characterized by complex gas structures in the form of spirals and streamers. Such structures are termed "feeding filaments" because they feed the gaseous material from the surroundings to the newly born star, akin to cosmic umbilical cords.

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What's the earliest the moon could have formed?

Astronomers are pretty sure they know where the moon came from. In the early solar system, a Mars-sized object dubbed Theia smashed into Earth. This cataclysmic collision knocked a huge mass of material into orbit, which coalesced and cooled into the moon. But establishing exactly when this occurred is a difficult task.

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Space scientists' new sensors shine spotlight on sun-Earth studies

Small, low-cost sensors developed by space scientists at The University of Texas at Dallas to study the Earth's upper atmosphere recently—and unexpectedly—provided information about the sun, something the devices were not designed to do.

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Researchers use the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument to make the largest 3D map of our universe

With 5,000 tiny robots in a mountaintop telescope, researchers can look 11 billion years into the past. The light from far-flung objects in space is just now reaching the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI), enabling us to map our cosmos as it was in its youth and trace its growth to what we see today.

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Three companies in the running for NASA's next moon rover

Three companies are in the running to provide NASA's next moon rover for crewed missions planned later this decade, the space agency said Wednesday.

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One Tech Tip: How to use apps to track and photograph the total solar eclipse

Monday's total solar eclipse might become one of the most filmed and photographed events of the year.

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Why do we need a leap second? A physicist explains what is messing with the Earth's rotation

Meltwater from the polar ice caps, combined with the shifting spin of Earth's core, is messing with the Earth's rotation to the point that we might need to adjust for a "negative leap second."

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First tidally locked super-Earth exoplanet confirmed

An international team of astronomers and astrophysicists has confirmed the first known observance of a tidally locked super-Earth exoplanet. In their paper published in The Astrophysical Journal, the group describes the unique approach they took to confirm that the exoplanet LHS 3844b is tidally locked and what the finding suggests about other planets in the galaxy.

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Luminous quasar PDS 456 explored with MUSE

Using the Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) at the Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile, an international team of astronomers has inspected a luminous quasar known as PDS 456. Results of the observational campaign, published March 26 on the pre-print server arXiv, shed more light on the ionized emission from this quasar.

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Study reports that age is the driving force in changing how stars move within galaxies

Galaxies start life with their stars rotating in an orderly pattern but in some the motion of stars is more random. Until now, scientists have been uncertain about what causes this—possibly the surrounding environment or the mass of the galaxy itself.

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A total eclipse, with a partial failure: Scientific expeditions don't always go as planned

For centuries, astronomers have realized that total solar eclipses offer a valuable scientific opportunity. During what's called totality, the opaque moon completely hides the bright photosphere of the sun—its thin surface layer that emits most of the sun's light. An eclipse allows astronomers to study the sun's colorful outer atmosphere and its delicate extended corona, ordinarily invisible in the dazzling light of the photosphere.

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Where are all these rogue planets coming from?

There's a population of planets that drifts through space untethered to any stars. They're called rogue planets or free-floating planets (FFPs.) Some FFPs form as loners, never having enjoyed the company of a star. But most are ejected from solar systems somehow, and there are different ways that can happen.

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Astronomers find 10 new millisecond pulsars in globular cluster Terzan 5

Using the MeerKAT radio telescope, an international team of astronomers has detected 10 new millisecond pulsars in a Galactic globular cluster known as Terzan 5. The finding, which makes Terzan 5 the most pulsar-rich globular cluster, was reported in a research paper published March 26 on the pre-print server arXiv.

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Unveiling the sun: NASA's open data approach to solar eclipse research

As the world eagerly anticipates the upcoming total solar eclipse on April 8, 2024, NASA is preparing for an extraordinary opportunity for scientific discovery, open collaboration, and public engagement. At the heart of the agency's approach to this unusual event lies a commitment to open science, ensuring that the data captured during the eclipse is readily accessible to all.

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Tips to safely watch the total solar eclipse

On April 8, North America will experience a total solar eclipse, stretching across parts of Mexico, the U.S. and Canada, with approximately 31.6 million people living in the path of totality. According to NASA, every contiguous state in the U.S., along with parts of Alaska and Hawaii, will witness at least a partial solar eclipse.

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