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Astronomers discover TOI-5734 b, a hot sub-Neptune twice Earth’s size

Using the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) and High Accuracy Radial velocity Planet Searcher for the Northern Hemisphere (HARPS-N), an international team of astronomers has discovered a hot sub-Neptune exoplanet orbiting a nearby star. The newfound alien world, designated TOI-5734 b, is about two times larger and nine times more massive than Earth. The discovery […]

Hubble and Euclid zoom into cosmic eye

For this month’s ESA/Hubble Picture of the Month, NASA/ESA’s Hubble Space Telescope is joined by ESA’s Euclid to create a new view of the most visually intricate remnants of a dying star: the Cat’s Eye Nebula, also known as NGC 6543. This extraordinary planetary nebula in the constellation Draco has captivated astronomers for decades with […]

Space Force won’t launch Vulcan rockets until booster problem solved

United Launch Alliance was hoping to ramp up its new Vulcan rocket launches this year, but won’t be launching any national security missions until it solves a recurring issue of booster nozzles burning off the rocket on launch.

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Four decades of data give unique insight into the sun’s inner life

Scientists have analyzed more than 40 years of astronomical data to uncover evidence that the sun’s internal structure subtly changes from one solar cycle minimum to the next. Publishing their findings in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, researchers from the University of Birmingham and Yale University reveal that even small differences in solar […]

A Plan B for space? On the risks of concentrating national space power in private hands

Private companies are no longer peripheral participants in U.S. space activities. They provide key services, including launching and deploying satellites, transporting cargo and astronauts to the International Space Station, and even sending landers to the moon.

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World’s biggest astronomy camera seeks to answer pressing questions about the universe

The Vera C. Rubin Observatory has started releasing its first discoveries: including supernovae, variable stars and asteroids, which will from now on be discovered at an astonishing rate as it begins its Legacy Survey of Space and Time, a ten-year survey probing the deepest reaches of the universe.

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The RCW 36 nebula: A cosmic hawk and its baby stars

This image, taken with ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT), seems to have captured a cosmic hawk as it spans its wings. While the dark clouds in the middle of the image make up the head and body of the bird of prey, the filaments extending away from the body to the left and right compose […]

HETDEX data reveal a vast ‘sea of light’ between early galaxies

Astronomers with the Hobby-Eberly Telescope Dark Energy Experiment (HETDEX) have used data from the project to make the largest, most accurate 3D map yet of the light emitted by excited hydrogen in the early universe, 9 billion to 11 billion years ago. This specific form of light, called Lyman alpha, is emitted in large quantities […]

Life forms can planet hop on asteroid debris—and survive

Tiny life forms tucked into debris from an asteroid hit could catapult to other planets—including Earth—and survive, a new Johns Hopkins University study finds. The work demonstrates that a certain hardy bacterium easily withstands extreme pressure comparable to an ejection from Mars after an asteroid hit, as well as the inhospitable conditions it would face […]

Asteroid Ryugu samples offer new insights into early solar system magnetism

To uncover the history of our solar system, it is necessary to study the dynamic evolution of the ancient solar nebula materials. These materials interacted and coevolved with the weak but widespread magnetic field of the solar nebula, which was generated by the weakly ionized nebular gas in the protoplanetary disk. During the formation or […]

A 690-million-kilometer journey through space ends for Australia’s SpIRIT mission

After more than 25 months of successful operations in space, the SpIRIT mission has ended, marking a major milestone for Australia’s growing space capability. Led by the University of Melbourne, in collaboration with the Italian Space Agency, the Space Industry Responsive Intelligent Thermal (SpIRIT) nanosatellite exceeded its original two-year design life.

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Europe’s answer to Starship

In the summer of 2023, something happened that engineers had talked about for decades but few genuinely expected to see in their lifetimes. SpaceX’s Starship, a stainless steel tower taller than a 30-story building, lit its 33 engines simultaneously and lifted off from the Texas coast. It did not go entirely to plan. But it […]

Research reveals cosmic tug-of-war behind the Crab Pulsar’s zebra stripes

For the past two decades, scientists have wondered about a bright, distinct striped pattern seen in radio waves emanating from the Crab Pulsar, the remnant of a supernova observed by Chinese and Japanese astronomers in the year 1054.

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How to weigh a killer asteroid at 22 kilometers per second

Estimating a mass for a potentially hazardous asteroid (PHA) is perhaps the single most important thing to understand about it, after its trajectory. Actually doing so isn’t easy though, as the mass for objects in the tens to hundreds of kilometers in size are too small to have their mass calculated by traditional radio-frequency tracking […]

ISS photo captures Atlantic sunglint 263 miles up, showing mirror-like ocean glare

“Sunlight” beams off a partly cloudy Atlantic Ocean just after sunrise as the International Space Station orbited 263 miles above on March 5, 2025. This is an example of sunglint, an optical phenomenon that occurs when sunlight reflects off the surface of water at the same angle that a satellite sensor views it. The result […]