Space Exploration News – Latest Headlines

New type of supernova discovered

A first-of-its-kind exploding star - thought to have existed only in theory - was recently discovered.

January 20, 2022 Read more

Enhancing simulations of curved space with qubits

One of the mind-bending ideas that physicists and mathematicians have come up with is that space itself - not just objects in space - can be curved. When space curves (as happens dramatically near a black hole), sizes and directions defy normal intuition. Understanding curved spaces is important to expanding our knowledge of the universe, but it is fiendishly difficult to study curved spaces in a lab setting.

January 20, 2022 Read more

Hubble finds a black hole igniting star formation In a dwarf galaxy

A black hole at the heart of the dwarf galaxy Henize 2-10 is creating stars rather than gobbling them up. The black hole is apparently contributing to the firestorm of new star formation taking place in the galaxy.

January 19, 2022 Read more

Scientists uncover evidence for an internal ocean in small Saturn moon

Scientist set out to prove that the tiny, innermost moon of Saturn was a frozen inert satellite and instead discovered compelling evidence that Mimas has a liquid internal ocean.

January 19, 2022 Read more

SETI Institute teams up to help students design science program for sky-monitoring telescope based on the moon

The lunar-based camera L-CAM1 will capture images for research in astrophysics, planetary science and planetary defense.

January 18, 2022 Read more

Researchers uncover model for extremely luminous and fast rising supernova

COW and GEP are new types of exploding stars. Researchers have succeeded in explaining the features of a new type of supernova which appears ten to a hundred times brighter at its peak, and with a much faster rise toward the peak compared to an ordinary supernova.

January 18, 2022 Read more

From dust to planet: How gas giants form

Gas giant planets, such as Jupiter, can form rapidly by incorporating nearby icy bodies made from drifting pebbles born in the outer parts of young planetary systems - all in a period of about 200,000 years. This finding has implications for understanding how habitable planets are created; not just in our solar system, but in others too.

January 17, 2022 Read more

New research may help scientists unravel the physics of the solar wind

Understanding the solar wind can help scientists predict how it will affect Earth's satellites and astronauts in space.

January 15, 2022 Read more

Being in space destroys more red blood cells

A world-first study has revealed how space travel can cause lower red blood cell counts, known as space anemia. Analysis of 14 astronauts showed their bodies destroyed 54 percent more red blood cells in space than they normally would on Earth.

January 14, 2022 Read more

New insights into seasons on a planet outside our solar system

Observations of a hot Jupiter may also advance our understanding of planet origins and evolution.

January 14, 2022 Read more

Newly-found planets on the edge of destruction

Astronomers have found three Jupiter-like exoplanets that are dangerously close to being 'swallowed up' by their host stars. The discovery gives new insight into how planetary systems evolve over time, helping to reveal the fate of solar systems like our own.

January 13, 2022 Read more

Have astronomers finally found an exomoon? (w/video)

International researchers have found a new candidate for an exomoon - a moon that orbits planets beyond the realm of our Solar System. If its exomoon status is confirmed, Kepler-1708 b-i - which is 2.6 times larger than Earth - could represent a missing piece in the puzzle to understand the formation and evolution of planetary systems long ago in galaxies far, far away.

January 13, 2022 Read more

Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) creates largest 3d map of the cosmos

DESI has already mapped out more galaxies than all previous 3D surveys combined - and it's just getting started.

January 13, 2022 Read more

Twelve for dinner: The Milky Way's feeding habits shine a light on dark matter

Astronomers are one step closer to revealing the properties of dark matter enveloping our Milky Way galaxy, thanks to a new map of twelve streams of stars orbiting within our galactic halo.

January 13, 2022 Read more

Oxygen ions in Jupiter's innermost radiation belts

Researchers find high-energy oxygen and sulfur ions in Jupiter's inner radiation belts - and a previously unknown ion source.

January 12, 2022 Read more

'Self-driving' satellites poised to unlock space engineering potential

In the future, mass transportation will almost certainly involve self-driving vehicles. The aerospace industry is pushing that idea even further, all the way to space.

January 12, 2022 Read more

The search for an isotropic gravitational wave background

An international team of astronomers has announced the results of a comprehensive search for a background of low-frequency gravitational waves. These light-year-scale ripples, a consequence of general relativity, permeate all of spacetime and could originate from mergers of the most massive black holes in the Universe or from events occurring soon after the formation of the Universe in the Big Bang.

January 12, 2022 Read more

Black hole at center of Milky Way unpredictable and chaotic

An international team of researchers has found that the black hole at the centre of our galaxy, Sagittarius A*, not only flares irregularly from day to day but also in the long term. The team analysed 15 years' worth of data to come to this conclusion.

January 12, 2022 Read more