Hubble image: IC 486—where spiral arms and star formation meet

by quasarn01 | Mar 27, 2026 | Astronomy

A luminous swirl set against the deep black of space, the barred spiral galaxy IC 486 glows with a soft, ethereal light in this new NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope Picture of the Month image. IC 486 lies right on the edge of the constellation Gemini (the Twins), about...

The northern lights’ dark twin is a wild card for the power grid

by quasarn01 | Mar 27, 2026 | Astronomy

Scientists are working to understand how magnetic currents from the sun spread beneath Earth’s crust when the northern lights dance across the sky. Their goal is to tame its “dark twin” and prevent damage to our power grid. Go to Source

Piezoelectric materials enable a new approach to searching for axions

by quasarn01 | Mar 27, 2026 | Latest in Physics

Dark matter, a type of matter that does not emit, reflect or absorb light, is predicted to account for most of the matter in the universe. As it eludes common experimental techniques for studying ordinary matter, understanding the nature and composition of dark matter...

NASA’s Artemis II mission will take an astronaut crew around the Moon: The long road to launch

by quasarn01 | Mar 26, 2026 | Astronomy

NASA is once again shooting for the moon, for the first time since the 1970s. As soon as April 2026, NASA will launch its Artemis II mission, using the Space Launch System heavy lift rocket to send a crewed spacecraft, called Orion, into orbit. From there, the crew...

Direct confirmation of two baby planets forming around a young, sun-like star

by quasarn01 | Mar 26, 2026 | Astronomy

As the number of exoplanet detections has breached 6,000 and continues to grow, scientists are finding a wide variety of different solar system architectures. Critical to understanding how these architectures take shape is finding young planets forming around very...