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The multiverse: our universe is suspiciously unlikely to exist - unless it is one of many

It's easy to envisage other universes, governed by slightly different laws of physics, in which no intelligent life, nor indeed any kind of organised complex systems, could arise. Should we therefore be surprised that a universe exists in which we were able to emerge?

Mar 15th, 2023

Largest catalog of exploding stars now available

The largest data release of relatively nearby supernovae (colossal explosions of stars), containing three years of data from thePan-STARRS telescope is publicly available via the Young Supernova Experiment (YSE).

Mar 15th, 2023

Researchers uncover the first bubble in an intergalactic stew

Researchers have found the earliest evidence of parts of the universe that were heated to temperatures more characteristic to the intergalactic gas medium where most atoms reside in the universe today.

Mar 15th, 2023

Webb Telescope captures rarely seen prelude to supernova

The rare sight of a Wolf-Rayet star - among the most luminous, most massive, and most briefly detectable stars known - was one of the first observations made by the James Webb Space Telescope in June 2022. Webb shows the star, WR 124, in unprecedented detail with its powerful infrared instruments.

Mar 14th, 2023

Mix-and-match kit could enable astronauts to build a menagerie of lunar exploration bots (w/video)

Robotic parts could be assembled into nimble spider bots for exploring lava tubes or heavy-duty elephant bots for transporting solar panels.

Mar 14th, 2023

Astronomers detect radio recombination lines of carbon/oxygen ions for first time

Scientists detected radio recombination lines of ions heavier than helium for the first time. These lines were assigned to carbon and/or oxygen ions.

Mar 6th, 2023

New NASA DART data prove viability of asteroid deflection as planetary defense strategy

Astronomers offer new insight into how deflection missions can protect the planet from future Earth-bound asteroids and comets.

Mar 1st, 2023

To new worlds with quantitative spectroscopy

Astronomers spectroscopically surveyed more than 1000 bright stars that potentially host exoplanets.

Feb 28th, 2023

Spiral pattern gives clue to how high-mass stars form

New observations have revealed a spiral pattern in a disk of material around a still forming, but already high-mass, baby star. This indicates that there is gravitational instability in the disk, which has important implications for how high-mass stars form.

Feb 28th, 2023

Astronomers discover metal-rich galaxy in early universe

While analyzing data from the first images of a well-known early galaxy taken by the James Webb Space Telescope, astronomers discovered a companion galaxy previously hidden behind the light of the foreground galaxy - one that surprisingly seems to have already hosted multiple generations of stars despite its young age, estimated at 1.4 billion years old.

Feb 27th, 2023

A mysterious object is being dragged into the supermassive black hole at the Milky Way's center

Astronomers think the object, X7, might be debris cloud from a stellar collision

Feb 25th, 2023

Unusual atom helps in search for Universe's building blocks

Scientists say the unusual atom - made up of an ordinary caesium atom and an elementary particle called a muon - may prove essential in better understanding the Universe's fundamental building blocks.

Feb 24th, 2023

Galaxies 'too big to even exist' discovered using James Webb Space Telescope

Using the powerful James Webb Space Telescope, astronomers have observed massive candidate galaxies at the beginning of time, up to 100 billion times the mass of the Sun which, if confirmed, would contain more mass than was thought to exist in the whole Universe at that time.

Feb 22nd, 2023

Is there life on Mars? Our rovers might not be able to tell

Scientific instruments currently deployed on Mars may lack the sensitivity to identify possible traces of life in this environment.

Feb 21st, 2023

Unknown class of water-rich asteroids identified

New astronomical measurements in the infrared range have led to the identification of a heretofore unknown class of asteroids. They are located in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter and are - similar to the dwarf planet Ceres - rich in water.

Feb 20th, 2023

The perfect explosion in space - the mystery of the spherical kilonova

When neutron stars collide, they produce an explosion that, contrary to what was believed until recently, is shaped almost like a perfect sphere. Although how this is possible is still a mystery, the discovery may provide a new key to measuring the age of the Universe.

Feb 20th, 2023

The mysterious black behemoths controlling our galaxies

Scientists try to unravel the birth, growth and power of black holes, some of the most forceful yet difficult-to-detect objects in our Universe.

Feb 18th, 2023

Space travel influences the way the brain works

Scientists have found how the human brain changes and adapts to weightlessness, after being in space for 6 months. Some of the changes turned out to be lasting - even after 8 months back on Earth.

Feb 17th, 2023