Space Exploration News – Latest Headlines

Telescopes unite in unprecedented observations of famous black hole

Data from nineteen observatories are being released that promise to give unparalleled insight into this black hole and the system it powers, and to improve tests of Einstein's General Theory of Relativity.

April 14, 2021 Read more

Atom interferometry demonstrated in space for the first time

Scientists have established the technological basis for atom interferometry on board of a sounding rocket and demonstrated that such experiments are not only possible on Earth, but also in space.

April 13, 2021 Read more

CO2 mitigation on Earth and magnesium civilization on Mars

Researchers employed magnesium to convert CO2 to methane, methanol and formic acid, using water as the sole hydrogen source.

April 10, 2021 Read more

Helicopter to attempt first trip on Mars surface (w/video)

The first helicopter ever to fly on another planet will soon attempt its first trip above the surface of Mars.

April 9, 2021 Read more

Amounts of organic molecules in planetary systems differ from early on

An international group of scientists have studied the chemical composition of 50 protoplanetary-disk forming regions in the Perseus Molecular Cloud, and found that despite being in the same cloud, the amounts of complex organic molecules they contain are quite different.

April 9, 2021 Read more

New research shows that Mars did not dry up all at once

Mars had dry and wet eras and dried up for good 3 billion years ago.

April 9, 2021 Read more

Seeing quadruple

Machine-learning methods lead to discovery of rare 'quadruply imaged quasars' that can help solve cosmological puzzles.

April 9, 2021 Read more

Shedding more light on molecules linked to life on other planets

To confirm life on other planets, we need to detect far more molecules in their atmospheres than we currently do to rule out non-biological chemical processes.

April 9, 2021 Read more

Caught speeding: Clocking the fastest-spinning brown dwarfs (w/video)

Astronomers have discovered the most rapidly rotating brown dwarfs known. They found three brown dwarfs that each complete a full rotation roughly once every hour.

April 8, 2021 Read more

Giant radio pulses from pulsars are hundreds of times more energetic than previously believed

Scientists, using coordinated observations of the Crab pulsar in a number of frequencies, have discovered that the 'giant radio pulses' which it emits include an increase in x-ray emissions in addition to the radio and visible light emissions that had been previously observed.

April 8, 2021 Read more

More than 5,000 tons of extraterrestrial dust fall to Earth each year

An international program conducted for nearly 20 years by scientists, has determined that 5,200 tons per year of micrometeorites reach the ground.

April 8, 2021 Read more

First transiting exoplanet's 'chemical fingerprint' reveals its distant birthplace

Astronomers have found evidence that the first exoplanet that was identified transiting its star could have migrated to a close orbit with its star from its original birthplace further away.

April 7, 2021 Read more

New study sews doubt about the composition of 70 percent of our universe

Researchers the world over have long believed that 70 percent of the universe is composed of dark energy, a substance that makes it possible for the universe to expand at an ever-increasing rate. But in a new study, researchers tested a model which suggests that the universe's expansion is due to a dark substance with a kind of magnetic force.

April 6, 2021 Read more

Exploring comet thermal history: Burnt-out comet covered with talcum powder

The world's first ground-based observations of the bare nucleus of a comet nearing the end of its active life revealed that the nucleus has a diameter of 800 meters and is covered with large grains of phyllosilicate.

April 6, 2021 Read more

From stardust to pale blue dot: Carbon's interstellar journey to Earth

We are made of stardust, the saying goes, and a pair of studies finds that may be more true than we previously thought.

April 2, 2021 Read more

Distant, spiralling stars give clues to the forces that bind sub-atomic particles

Space scientists have found a new way to probe the internal structure of neutron stars, giving clues about the makeup of matter at an atomic level.

April 1, 2021 Read more

Decades of hunting detects footprint of cosmic ray superaccelerators in our galaxy

An enormous telescope complex in Tibet has captured the first evidence of ultrahigh-energy gamma rays spread across the Milky Way. The findings offer proof that undetected starry accelerators churn out cosmic rays, which have floated around our galaxy for millions of years.

March 31, 2021 Read more

First X-rays from Uranus discovered

Astronomers have detected X-rays from Uranus for the first time, using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory. This result may help scientists learn more about this enigmatic ice giant planet in our Solar System.

March 31, 2021 Read more