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A cataclysmic collision in space provides new clues on astronomy’s biggest stalemate

Second only to black holes, neutron stars—incredibly dense star remnants—are the densest objects in the universe. When neutron stars collide, they create ripples in the fabric of space and time that we can detect on Earth.

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Nearby ‘Super Earth’ may be a better candidate for life than previously thought

Using the Hobby-Eberly Telescope at McDonald Observatory, astronomers have taken a closer look at a nearby exoplanet and discovered it may be more Earth-like than previously thought. The planet, known as GJ 3378b, orbits a small, cool star called a red dwarf. Just 25 light-years from Earth in the direction of the northern constellation Camelopardalis, […]

The largest digital camera ever built begins decade-long survey of the universe

The largest digital camera ever built is starting to capture images of unseen corners of the universe.

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The little red galaxies that may be sending us neutrinos

Peering far into the distant, high-redshift universe, the James Webb telescope has discovered an abundance of small red galaxies known as the Little Red Dots. From their observations, astronomers believe that at least some of these galaxies may be home to growing supermassive black holes at their centers, objects which they believe are embedded in […]

Rice grown on the moon? Air-to-fertilizer technology helps rice grow in lunar soil simulant

Securing sustainable food supplies is a key challenge for long-term human exploration and potential habitation of the moon. The moon’s soil contains no organic material, and essential plant nitrogen sources like ammonia and nitrate are virtually nonexistent.

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Open cluster NGC 6134 in Norma is 1.38 billion years old and hosts a core, tidal tail and diffuse halo

Indonesian astronomers have conducted a comprehensive study of an open cluster in the constellation Norma, known as NGC 6134. Results of the new study, available in a research paper published June 23 on the preprint server arXiv, deliver important insights into the properties and nature of this cluster.

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One of the most distant ‘leaky’ galaxies ever found may reveal how the universe reionized

Astronomers have identified one of the most distant candidate galaxies known to leak ionizing radiation—the same kind of radiation thought to have transformed the early universe during the epoch of reionization.

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NASA launches robot to rescue aging Swift telescope from fiery demise

NASA on Tuesday is set to launch a daring robotic rescue mission, a long-shot bid to prevent one of its aging telescopes from vanishing into dust.

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The rise of space AI might explain the Fermi paradox

Artificial intelligence (AI) is continuing to have a disruptive impact on ever more parts of humanity. But what does it mean in the long run? A new paper, available as a preprint on arXiv from Austrian researcher Sergey Ivliev, extrapolates what the wide-scale adoption of AI means for the future of humanity in space—and in […]

New Horizons tracks solar wind slowdown as interstellar atoms add drag

A new Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) study based on data from NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft has uncovered insights into why the solar wind gradually slows as it moves toward the edge of the solar system and the boundary with interstellar space. The study “The Gradual Slowing of the Solar Wind in the Outer Heliosphere” is […]

Testing the orbital mechanics of giant mirrors

Giant mirrors in space have been a staple of science fiction for decades. But so far, there’s been very little work looking at the actual physics behind the concept—possibly because we’re still so far from making them ourselves. Still, they could potentially serve as a passive technosignature if we manage to find one. In order […]

NASA tests new refuel device for future in-space refueling missions

For NASA’s next generation of deep-space exploration missions, spacecraft may need to refuel in Earth orbit before pushing farther into the solar system. Similar to how a gas pump needs a nozzle to fit your fuel tank, future spacecraft could require a special device in order to fill up before departure, known as a cryocoupler. […]

Analyzing avalanches on asteroid Vesta offers new method for understanding regolith processes

A study conducted at the Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris uses images from NASA’s Dawn mission and a Bayesian inversion of the Hapke photometric model to analyze avalanches and ejecta deposits on the asteroid Vesta. The results show that the brightest deposits correspond to the most recently mobilized surfaces, offering a new way […]

Nova V612 Scuti’s light curve becomes audio, revealing how stellar shocks evolved

Researchers in the Department of Physics & Astronomy at Texas Tech University recently used audio to represent the spectacular explosion of a star in deep space while also delving into the data to better understand how the phenomenon unfolded.

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Solar storms leave their mark on cosmic rays that reach Earth

A new study has revealed an unexpected link between solar storms and the flux of high-energy cosmic rays arriving at Earth. The findings, made using one of the world’s largest cosmic ray detectors, could open up a new way to probe the magnetic structures inside solar storms—and potentially improve our ability to forecast their effects […]