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NASA moves its Artemis II moon rocket off the launch pad for more repairs

NASA moved its grounded Artemis moon rocket from the launch pad back to its hangar Wednesday for more repairs.

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How long could Earth microbes live on Mars?

Searching for past or present life on Mars is the sole driving force behind every mission we send to the red planet, from orbiters to landers to rovers. However, there remains a concern in the scientific community about Earth-based microbes hitching a ride on Mars-bound spacecraft, also called forward contamination. The concern is potentially mistaking […]

ALMA explores giant molecular clouds in nearby galaxy NGC 1387

An international team of astronomers has employed the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) to investigate molecular gas in a nearby galaxy known as NGC 1387. Results of the observational campaign, published Feb. 3 in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, deliver important insights regarding the properties of giant molecular clouds of this galaxy.

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ALMA reveals Milky Way’s core in largest-ever mosaic, tracing cold gas filaments

Astronomers have captured the central region of our Milky Way in a striking new image, unveiling a complex network of filaments of cosmic gas in unprecedented detail. Obtained with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), this rich dataset—the largest ALMA image to date—will allow astronomers to probe the lives of stars in the most extreme […]

Physicists develop new method to measure universe’s expansion rate

We have known for several decades that the universe is expanding. Scientists use multiple techniques to measure the present-day expansion rate of the universe, known as the Hubble constant. These methods are internally consistent and based on the same physics, so all observed values of the Hubble constant should agree. But those that come from […]

Are there aliens broadcasting from Hycean world K2-18b? Astronomers just listened in

If you’ve been following exoplanet research over the last couple of years, you’ve definitely heard of K2-18b. Located 124 light years away in the constellation Leo, it’s attracted a lot of attention as it sits squarely in its red dwarf host star’s habitable zone, and measurements of the James Webb Space Telescope show its atmosphere […]

Surprise solar eruptions on sun’s far side validate new forecasting method

A team of scientists from around the world has created the first system that can predict when and where extremely powerful solar storms, called superflares, are most likely to happen. These storms can disrupt power grids, communications, and satellites, and even pose dangers to astronauts in space.

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The legal void of the asteroid gold rush

Asteroid mining companies are finally getting off the ground, and that is raising some concerns about the impact those activities will have on the space environment. A new paper published in Acta Astronautica by Anna Marie Brenna of the University of Waikato in New Zealand discusses a framework that she thinks might work to solve […]

Astronomers inspect ultraluminous X-ray pulsar’s magnetic field evolution in the Whale galaxy

Indian astronomers have investigated an ultraluminous X-ray pulsar in the galaxy NGC 4631, designated X-8. The new study, described in a paper published Feb. 16 on the arXiv preprint server, provides essential information regarding the magnetic field evolution of this pulsar.

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One of the biggest stars in the universe might be getting ready to explode

One of the largest known stars in the universe underwent a dramatic transformation in 2014, new research shows, and may be preparing to explode. A study led by Gonzalo Muñoz-Sanchez at the National Observatory of Athens, published in Nature Astronomy today, argues that the enormous star WOH G64 has transitioned from a red supergiant to […]

CINEMA mission will explore auroras and Earth’s mysterious magnetotail

Every winter, thousands of tourists travel to high-latitude regions like Scandinavia, Canada, and Alaska hoping to see the Aurora Borealis or Northern Lights. Vincent Ledvina, an aurora guide and Ph.D. student in space physics at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, estimates he leads 1,000 people on aurora tours each year. Some ask Ledvina how the […]

Study finds Subaru Telescope papers doubled world-average citations in early years

How did the construction of the Subaru Telescope transform Japanese astronomy? A new study provides a quantitative answer by analyzing scientific publications and their citation impact during the telescope’s early years. Drawing on large-scale publication data, the research shows that the Subaru Telescope generated many internationally influential results and significantly enhanced Japan’s global visibility in […]

Image: Curiosity rover surveys boxwork region of Mars

NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover captured this panorama of boxwork formations—the low ridges seen here with hollows in between them—using its Mastcam on Sept. 26, 2025, the 4,671st Martian day (sol) of the mission. These boxwork formations were created billions of years ago when water leaked through rock cracks. Minerals carried into the cracks later hardened; […]

6 planets will parade across the night sky at the end of February

Six planets are linking up in the sky at the end of February, and most will be visible to the naked eye.

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Young ‘sun’ caught blowing bubbles by Chandra

For the first time, a much younger version of the sun has been caught red-handed blowing bubbles in the galaxy by astronomers using NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory. The bubble—called an “astrosphere”—completely surrounds the juvenile star. Winds from the star’s surface are blowing up the bubble and filling it with hot gas as it expands into […]