Universe Today
Perseverance is Definitely Inside an Ancient Lake on Mars
Japan's SLIM Lander Finds Power Even Though It's Face Down
This is How Astronauts Would Escape from the Artemis II Launch Pad
Did We Find Exomoons or Not? The Question Lingers.
Atmosphere Pressure Changes Could Explain Mars Methane
Another Explanation for K2-18b? A Gas-Rich Mini-Neptune with No Habitable Surface
It's a Fine Line Between a Black Hole Energy Factory and a Black Hole Bomb
You might be surprised to learn there's a way to extract enormous energy from a rapidly spinning black hole. Known as the "Penrose Process," an advanced civilization would feed material into a black hole and extract energy as some of it is hurled into space. A new paper suggests that the process could be even more efficient, cycling the material back into the black hole for another round. Or maybe this will turn into an extremely powerful bomb.
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NASA Gives us an Update on its Long-term Plans for the Moon and Mars
There's Less Dark Matter at the Core of the Milky Way
Plants Growing in Space are at Risk from Bacterial Infections
Is the Habitable Zone Really Habitable?
NASA Wants to Put a Massive Telescope on the Moon
New Types of Hidden Stars Seen for the First Time
Astronomers performing a vast infrared variable star survey have discovered new additions to the stellar menagerie. These new types of stars are normally hidden by gas and dust, but infrared radiation can pierce the shroud, revealing them for the first time. They watched hundreds of millions of stars, noting 222 that showed the greatest changes in brightness. Some were protostars coming to life, and others were ancient stars shedding material in their old age.
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The Improbable Origins of Life on Earth
New Webb Image of a Massive Star Forming Complex
The Galactic Habitable Zone
Nancy Grace Roman Could Find the First Stars in the Universe
The first stars in the Universe were made out of the primordial hydrogen and helium left over from the Big Bang. They were probably monsterous, with dozens or even hundreds of times the mass of the Sun. They lived short lives and then detonated as supernovae. Current telescopes will have a tough time spotting these stars, but a new paper suggests that the upcoming Nancy Grace Roman Telescope might have a clever trick to spot them.
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Watch a House-Sized Space Habitat (Intentionally) Burst
The Moon is Still Shrinking, Explaining Why it Still Has Landslides
How Rare Are Total Solar Eclipses... Really?
As April's 'Great North American Eclipse' nears, here's a look at eclipses in time and space.
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Early Life Was Radically Different Than Today
Ingenuity Suffers Rotor Damage, Ending the Mission
Another Asteroid Discovered Hours Before it Impacts the Earth
Japan's Moon Lander Is Lying On Its Side After Hitting Its Target
NASA 2024 NIAC Program Selects Deep-Space Hibernation Technology for Development
The World's Largest Iceberg Sets Sail for Adventure Beyond Antarctic Waters
China Reveals How it's Planning to Search for Water Ice at the Moon's South Pole
Why Venus Died
Exoplanets: Why study them? What are the challenges? What can they teach us about finding life beyond Earth?
Exploring the Solar System with Swarms of Microprobes
Webb Sees Dozens Of Young Quasars in the First Billion Years of the Universe
One of JWST's big tasks is to help astronomers understand how the early Universe came together, with dwarf galaxies merging into larger, more mature galaxies. Supermassive black holes at these galaxies' hearts also grew, shining as quasars within the first billion years. A new paper uses several extragalactic surveys by JWST to find dozens of compact galaxies that seem to host faint quasars as young as 650 million years after the Big Bang.
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Chinese Firm Successfully Tests a New Reusable Booster
Why Mars Died
It's Time to Go Back to Uranus. What Questions do Scientists Have About the Ice Giants?
NASA Invests in New Nuclear Rocket Concept for the Future of Space Exploration and Astrophysics
This Galaxy Hosted One of the Most Powerful Supernovae Ever Seen
NASA Lost Contact With its Ingenuity Helicopter Briefly, but it's Back
What Could the Extremely Large Telescope See at Proxima Centauri's Planet?
Astronomers discovered a rocky exoplanet in the habitable zone of Proxima Centauri, the closest star to the Sun. Could there be life there? The European Southern Observatory's 39-meter Extremely Large Telescope is under construction and expected to be completed in the next few years. Could this mighty observatory see evidence of biosignatures in the reflected light from the planet?
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Thirsty? Water is More Common than you Think
Venus' Clouds Contain Sulfuric Acid. That's Not a Problem for Life.
Finally, Let's Look at the Asteroid Treasure Returned to Earth by OSIRIS-REx
This is the Oldest Black Hole Ever Seen
Private Axiom Mission 3 is Off to the Space Station
Now We Know Why Starship's Second Flight Test Failed
The Next Generation LIFE Telescope Could Detect Some Intriguing Biosignatures
JWST has shown that it can detect various chemicals in the atmospheres of other worlds, from water vapor to carbon dioxide. Although it's an incredible demonstration of the telescope's power, it wasn't designed for only this job. The Large Interferometer for Exoplanets (LIFE) is a next-generation space telescope under consideration by ESA. According to a new paper, this telescope could detect rare biosignatures like laughing gas within a few days of study.
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Life on Earth Uses Water as a Solvent. What are Some Other Options for Life as We Don't Know it?
Your body's cells use water to dissolve chemicals. It's the same with all life on Earth. But could other fluids work as a solvent? A new paper reviews the potential for different liquid solvents to support life and proposes some surprising candidates, like liquid carbon dioxide, ammonia, and even concentrated sulfuric acid. Each of these solvents is liquid in dramatically different conditions, helping expand the possibilities for life as we don't know it.
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Future Mars Helicopters Could Explore Lava Tubes
Japan's Moon Lander Touches Down, But Power Problem Mars Its Mission
What Future Propulsion Technologies Should NASA Invest In?
Diamond Rain on Ice Giants Could Influence Their Magnetic Fields
