Space Exploration News – Latest Headlines

Is the 'fine-tuned universe' an illusion?

New report re-assesses claims that the cosmos is precisely tuned to foster life, challenging popular arguments for a multiverse.

February 8, 2022 Read more

Too many disk galaxies than theory allows

The Standard Model of Cosmology describes how the universe came into being according to the view of most physicists. Researchers have now studied the evolution of galaxies within this model, finding considerable discrepancies with actual observations.

February 4, 2022 Read more

Puffy planets lose atmospheres, become super Earths

Astronomers have identified two different cases of 'mini-Neptune' planets that are losing their puffy atmospheres and likely transforming into super-Earths.

February 4, 2022 Read more

Warps drive disruptions in planet formation in young solar systems

Scientists identify a process that hinders the formation of planets through Gravitational Instability in the early evolution of solar systems.

February 3, 2022 Read more

Shadow of cosmic water cloud reveals the temperature of the young Universe

Astronomers have found a new and original method for measuring the cosmic microwave background's temperature when the Universe was still in its infancy. They confirm in their new study the early cooling of our Universe shortly after the Big Bang and open up new perspectives on the elusive dark energy.

February 2, 2022 Read more

Controlling robots from space

Research from the European Space Agency has shown for the first time that it is possible for an operator in orbit to feel the weight of rocks on the ground collected by a robot in a simulated geological exploration mission.

February 1, 2022 Read more

Even dying stars can still give birth to planets

Even if they are near death, some types of stars can possibly still form planets. If this is confirmed, theories on planet formation will need to be adjusted.

February 1, 2022 Read more

What the rise of oxygen on early Earth tells us about life on other planets

Deeper understanding of Earth's atmosphere could help us identify signs of life beyond our solar system.

January 31, 2022 Read more

Exotic cocktail in the atmosphere of extreme exoplanet

Using high-resolution spectroscopy, researchers have succeeded in mapping the atmosphere of an exoplanet located 322 light years from Earth. The knowledge gained about the hot gas surrounding the Jupiter-like planet is important for the understanding of Earth-like planets.

January 28, 2022 Read more

Scientists explain mysterious finger-like features in solar flares

Astronomers have presented a new explanation for the mysterious downward-moving dark voids seen in some solar flares.

January 27, 2022 Read more

New anti-reflective structures will improve the performance of telescopes studying radiation from the Big Bang

An international team has developed an alumina short-wavelength absorber patterned with moth eye-like structures. These new anti-reflective structures will improve the performance of telescopes studying radiation from the Big Bang.

January 27, 2022 Read more

Mysterious object unlike anything astronomers have seen before

A team mapping radio waves in the Universe has discovered something unusual that releases a giant burst of energy three times an hour, and it's unlike anything astronomers have seen before.

January 26, 2022 Read more

Cosmic chemistry in the lab

Scientists have recreated some of the harsh environment of interstellar space in the lab and analysed the reaction of astrochemical molecules to these conditions.

January 26, 2022 Read more

Studying the Big Bang with artificial intelligence

Can machine learning be used to uncover the secrets of the quark-gluon plasma? Yes - but only with sophisticated new methods.

January 25, 2022 Read more

Extraordinary black hole found in neighboring galaxy

The discovery, one of the only confirmed intermediate-mass black holes, lives in an equally rare object known as a low-mass, stripped nucleus.

January 24, 2022 Read more

Hope for present-day Martian groundwater dries up

Liquid water previously detected under Mars' ice-covered south pole is probably just a dusty mirage, according to a new study of the red planet.

January 24, 2022 Read more

Scientists make first detection of exotic 'X' particles in quark-gluon plasma

The findings could redefine the kinds of particles that were abundant in the early universe.

January 24, 2022 Read more

Astronomers confirm a highly eccentric black hole merger for the first time

For the first time, scientists believe they have detected a merger of two black holes with eccentric orbits. This can help explain how some of the black hole mergers detected are much heavier than previously thought possible.

January 21, 2022 Read more