The Vera Rubin Observatory (VRO) has barely begun observations and is already wowing us. Images like its Cosmic Treasure Chest have us anticipating even more cosmic glory. And when the observatory sent out 800,000 alerts in one night in February, we got a taste of the scientific boost it will give astronomers. But while it’s […]

Two new studies have measured the expansion of the universe in our immediate cosmic neighborhood using a novel method that analyzes the motion of two nearby galaxy groups within their surrounding cosmic flow. The results indicate that the local universe is expanding more slowly than previously estimated, bringing measurements of nearby galaxies into close agreement […]

Liquid water is considered essential for life. Surprisingly, however, stable conditions that are conducive to life could exist far from any sun. A research team from the Excellence Cluster ORIGINS at LMU and the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics (MPE) has shown that moons around free-floating planets can keep their water oceans liquid for […]

Lunar dust can be a pain—but it’s also literally the ground we will have to traverse if we are ever to have a permanent human settlement on the moon. In that specific use case, its clingy, jagged, staticky properties can actually be an advantage, according to a new paper recently published in Research from scientists […]

We all know that stars radiate light and much more. But radiation belts can also surround many other celestial bodies, such as planets. These belts do not generate particles themselves—the belts receive them from nearby stars—but they accelerate the speed of particles in a way that has remained elusive.

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Up until now, exoplanet surveys have mostly focused on nearby, bright stars that are sun-like or are red dwarfs, which are known to frequently host planets. While astronomers have discovered thousands of planets this way, a new study, published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, seems to have found a more efficient […]

NASA’s Van Allen Probe A is expected to reenter Earth’s atmosphere almost 14 years after launch. From 2012 to 2019, the spacecraft and its twin, Van Allen Probe B, flew through the Van Allen belts, rings of charged particles trapped by Earth’s magnetic field, to understand how particles were gained and lost. The belts shield […]

Observations of the Rimae Bode region on the moon reveal five distinct types of terrain and identify several potential landing sites for China’s first crewed mission, according to research titled “Geology of Rimae Bode region as priority site candidate for China’s first crewed lunar mission.” The work is published in Nature Astronomy.

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