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Astronomers detect exceptional cosmic blast
Astronomers around the world are captivated by an unusually bright and long-lasting pulse of high-energy radiation that swept over Earth. The emission came from a gamma-ray burst that ranks among the most luminous events known.
October 15, 2022 Read more
New walking robot design could revolutionize how we build things in space
Researchers have designed a state-of-the-art walking robot that could revolutionize large construction projects in space. They tested the feasibility of the robot for the in-space assembly of a 25m Large Aperture Space Telescope.
October 14, 2022 Read more
Red Alert: massive stars sound warning they are about to go supernova
Astronomers have devised an 'early warning' system to sound the alert when a massive star is about to end its life in a supernova explosion.
October 13, 2022 Read more
Baffling 'spiderweb' star is a nesting binary - not an alien megastructure
A bizarre image of the distant star known as WR140 surrounded by concentric geometric ripples, captured by the James Webb Space Telescope, has baffled astronomers worldwide - even triggering frenzied internet speculation that it might be evidence of an alien megastructure light-years across.
October 12, 2022 Read more
Black hole spews out material years after shredding star
Astronomers have observed a black hole burping up stellar remains years after it shredded and consumed the star.
October 12, 2022 Read more
Revealing the mysteries of the universe under the skin of an atomic nucleus
Massive neutron stars colliding in space are thought to be able to create precious metals such as gold and platinum. The properties of these stars are still an enigma, but the answer may lie beneath the skin of one of the smallest building blocks on Earth - an atomic nucleus of lead.
October 12, 2022 Read more
Broccoli gas: A better way to find life in space
Broccoli, along with many other plants and microorganisms, emit gases to help them expel toxins. Scientists believe these gases could provide compelling evidence of life on other planets.
October 12, 2022 Read more
NASA confirms DART mission impact changed asteroid's motion in space
Analysis of data obtained over the past two weeks by NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) investigation team shows the spacecraft's kinetic impact with its target asteroid, Dimorphos, successfully altered the asteroid's orbit.
October 12, 2022 Read more
Astronomers find a 'cataclysmic' pair of stars with the shortest orbit yet
The stars circle each other every 51 minutes, confirming a decades-old prediction.
October 5, 2022 Read more
Spin flips show how galaxies grow from the cosmic web
The alignment between galaxy spins and the large-scale structure of the universe reveals the processes by which different components of galaxies form.
October 5, 2022 Read more
New evidence for liquid water beneath the south polar ice cap of Mars
An international team of researchers has revealed new evidence for the possible existence of liquid water beneath the south polar ice cap of Mars.
October 1, 2022 Read more
Milky Way's graveyard of dead stars found
The first map of the 'galactic underworld' - a chart of the corpses of once massive suns that have since collapsed into black holes and neutron stars - has revealed a graveyard that stretches three times the height of the Milky Way, and that almost a third of the objects have been flung out from the galaxy altogether.
September 30, 2022 Read more
Webb reveals a galaxy sparkling with the universe's oldest star clusters
Using the James Webb Space Telescope, astronomers have identified the most distant globular clusters ever discovered. These dense groups of millions of stars may be relics that contain the first and oldest stars in the universe.
September 29, 2022 Read more
Synthetic lava in the lab aids exoplanet exploration
A multidisciplinary group of researchers has modeled and synthesized lava in the laboratory as the kinds of rock that may form on far-away exoplanets. They developed 16 types of surface compositions as a starter catalog for finding volcanic worlds that feature fiery landscapes and oceans of magma.
September 28, 2022 Read more
DART mission hits asteroid in first-ever planetary defense test
After 10 months flying in space, NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) - the world's first planetary defense technology demonstration - successfully impacted its asteroid target on Monday, the agency's first attempt to move an asteroid in space.
September 27, 2022 Read more
Astronomers map distances to 56,000 galaxies, largest-ever catalog
Aresearch team assembled the largest-ever compilation of high-precision galaxy distances, called Cosmicflows-4.
September 26, 2022 Read more
Layering, not liquid: Astronomers explain Mars' watery reflections
A group of astronomers believe bright reflections beneath the surface of Mars' South Pole are not necessarily evidence of liquid water, but instead geological layers.
September 26, 2022 Read more
Dozens of newly discovered gravitational lenses could reveal ancient galaxies and the nature of dark matter
Earlier this year a machine learning algorithm identified up to 5,000 potential gravitational lenses that could transform our ability to chart the evolution of galaxies since the Big Bang.
September 26, 2022 Read more