Space Exploration News – Latest Headlines

Spiral arms: not just in galaxies

Astronomers have found a distinct structure involving spiral arms in the reservoir of gas and dust disk surrounding the young star Elias 2-27. While spiral features have been observed on the surfaces of protoplanetary disks, these new ALMA observations are the first to reveal that such spirals occur at the disk midplane, the region where planet formation takes place.

September 30, 2016 Read more

Discovery of an extragalactic hot molecular core

Astronomers have discovered a 'hot molecular core', a cocoon of molecules surrounding a newborn massive star, for the first time outside our Galaxy. The discovery, which marks the first important step for observational studies of extragalactic hot molecular cores and challenges the hidden chemical diversity of our universe.

September 29, 2016 Read more

Researchers use cosmic 'dust-buster' to test theoretical calculations

Researchers have developed a new experimental Meteoric Ablation Simulator (MASI) that can help answer questions about cosmic dust and how it impacts Earth and everything on it.

September 27, 2016 Read more

How to merge two black holes in a simple way

Two theoretical physicists have demonstrated that what occurs on the space-time boundary of the two merging objects can be explained using simple equations, at least when a giant black hole collides with a tiny black hole.

September 26, 2016 Read more

Feeding a Mars mission: the challenges of growing plants in space

Plants will play a critical role in the survival of human beings on long-duration space missions, such as a mission to Mars. However, as a new study shows, many challenges need to be addressed if astronauts are to successfully grow enough food on board spacecraft and on other planets.

September 21, 2016 Read more

Galactic fireworks illuminate monster hydrogen blob

Astronomers have discovered the power source illuminating a so-called Lyman-alpha Blob - a rare, brightly glowing, and enormous concentration of gas in the distant universe.

September 21, 2016 Read more

In rotating galaxies, distribution of normal matter precisely determines gravitational acceleration

A new radial acceleration relation found among spiral and irregular galaxies challenges current understanding - and possibly existence - of dark matter.

September 21, 2016 Read more

ALMA spots possible formation site of icy giant planet

Astronomers found signs of a growing planet around TW Hydra, a nearby young star. Based on the distance from the central star and the distribution of tiny dust grains, the baby planet is thought to be an icy giant, similar to Uranus and Neptune in our Solar System.

September 21, 2016 Read more

Estimating the cosmic consequences of tiny camera imperfections

Almost imperceptible imperfections in camera sensor technology will not hold back the search for cosmic dark matter and dark energy.

September 16, 2016 Read more

Gaia results revealed - first data release from the most detailed map ever made of the sky

The first results from the Gaia satellite, which is completing an unprecedented census of more than one billion stars in the Milky Way, are being released today to astronomers and the public.

September 14, 2016 Read more

Quantum information encoded in spinning black holes

A recent article argues that X-ray radiation coming from fast spinning black holes encompasses quantum information.

September 14, 2016 Read more

Astronomers shed light on different galaxy types

Scientists have taken a critical step towards understanding why different types of galaxies exist throughout the Universe.

September 14, 2016 Read more

Explaining why the universe can be transparent

New research findings explain why the universe has enough energy to become transparent. The study marks the first quantitative study of how the gas content within galaxies scales with the amount of interstellar dust.

September 13, 2016 Read more

Recreating our galaxy in a supercomputer

Astronomers have created the most detailed computer simulation to date of our Milky Way galaxy's formation, from its inception billions of years ago as a loose assemblage of matter to its present-day state as a massive, spiral disk of stars.

September 9, 2016 Read more

The dream of a space elevator

From November 12 to 15, the Technical University of Munich will host the 'European Space Elevator Challenge' for the third time, an international competition for developing space elevator prototypes. Seven teams from Germany, India and Japan will be competing with their concepts - in the hope of laying the foundation for a revolution in astronautics.

September 8, 2016 Read more

Comet lander Philae found

The comet lander Philae has been found. The OSIRIS camera on board the Rosetta orbiter took the revealing images of the surface of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. They show the landing craft lying sideways in a crevasse.

September 7, 2016 Read more

Detailed age map shows how Milky Way came together

Using colors to identify the approximate ages of more than 130,000 stars in the Milky Way's halo, Notre Dame astronomers have produced the clearest picture yet of how the galaxy formed more than 13.5 billion years ago.

September 6, 2016 Read more

First gravitational waves form after 10 million years

If two galaxies collide, the merging of their central black holes triggers gravitational waves, which ripple throughout space. An international research team has now calculated that this occurs around 10 million years after the two galaxies merge - much faster than previously assumed.

September 5, 2016 Read more