Space Exploration News – Latest Headlines

Cosmic flashes pinpointed to a surprising location in space

The location matched exactly with a dense cluster of very old stars, known as a globular cluster.

March 19, 2022 Read more

Three space station studies helping scientists understand the early universe

Research conducted aboard the International Space Station is helping scientists answer questions about the formation of the universe and origins of life on Earth.

March 18, 2022 Read more

Theoretical model explains how dust grains can grow into the seeds of new planets

By amassing in high-density regions, dust grains avoid drifting toward the star they are orbiting.

March 18, 2022 Read more

Ensuring the performance of microelectronics in space (w/video)

Researchers have developed advanced microelectronics that are resistant to harsh radiation in space and other environments. The microelectronics were tested with a high energy microprobe technology that can simulate the effects of space radiation.

March 18, 2022 Read more

Moon's orbit proposed as a gravitational wave detector

Scientists propose using the variations in distance between the Earth and the Moon, which can be measured with a precision of less than a centimeter, as a new gravitational wave detector within a frequency range that current devices cannot detect.

March 17, 2022 Read more

Combing the cosmos: New color catalog aids hunt for life on frozen worlds

Aided by microbes found in the subarctic conditions of Canada's Hudson Bay, an international team of scientists has created the first color catalog of icy planet surface signatures to uncover the existence of life in the cosmos.

March 15, 2022 Read more

Comet 67P's abundant oxygen more of an illusion, new study suggests

A new study suggests the comet has two internal reservoirs that make it seem like there's more oxygen than is actually there.

March 14, 2022 Read more

Meteorites that helped form earth may have formed in the outer solar system

Evidence suggests surface minerals of outer main-belt asteroids, proposed to have sourced building blocks of Earth's water and life, are only stable at low temperatures. These asteroids formed in distant orbits and may help explain Earth's composition.

March 12, 2022 Read more

Scientists announce discovery of supermassive binary black holes

Astronomers have discovered a supermassive black hole binary system, one of only two known such systems. The two black holes, which orbit each other, likely weigh 100 million suns each.

March 11, 2022 Read more

'Bubble-through' nuclear engine might be a future NASA workhorse

A cutting-edge nuclear thermal propulsion rocket engine using what's called centrifugal liquid fuel bubble-through could one day be a ticket for NASA to go directly into deep space.

March 11, 2022 Read more

Cosmic particle accelerator at its limit

Gamma ray observatory H.E.S.S. reveals a cosmic particle acceleration process in unprecedented detail.

March 10, 2022 Read more

The new, improved Dragonfly is a galactic gas detector

The Dragonfly telescope is undergoing a metamorphosis. For the past decade, the Dragonfly Telephoto Array has conducted groundbreaking science by detecting faint starlight within dimly lit parts of the night sky. The telescope uses clusters of telephoto lenses to create images, much the way a dragonfly's eyes gather visual data. Now Dragonfly is setting its sights on extragalactic gas.

March 10, 2022 Read more

Imagining an Earthly neighbor

New modelling work provides deep insight into how an Earth-like planet orbiting the Sun-like stars closest to us, the α Centauri A/B binary, would look like, should it exist.

March 10, 2022 Read more

196 lasers help scientists recreate the conditions inside gigantic galaxy clusters

Experiments point the way to solving mystery that keeps clusters hot.

March 9, 2022 Read more

Black hole billiards in the centers of galaxies

Researchers provide the first plausible explanation to why one of the most massive black hole pairs observed to date by gravitational waves also seemed to merge on a non-circular orbit. Their suggested solution involves a chaotic triple drama inside a giant disk of gas around a super massive black hole in a galaxy far, far away.

March 9, 2022 Read more

Mathematical discovery could shed light on secrets of the Universe

Scientists show how gravity emerges from a special quantum mechanical system, in a simplified model for quantum gravity called the 'holographic principle'.

March 9, 2022 Read more

Astronomers discover largest molecule yet in a planet-forming disc

Astronomers have for the first time detected dimethyl ether in a planet-forming disc. With nine atoms, this is the largest molecule identified in such a disc to date. It is also a precursor of larger organic molecules that can lead to the emergence of life.

March 8, 2022 Read more

Wormholes help resolve black hole information paradox

A mathematical analysis helps illuminate the puzzle over how information escapes from a black hole.

March 8, 2022 Read more