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The International Space Station marks 25 years of nonstop human presence in orbit

It’s an unprecedented space streak: 25 years of people living off-planet without even a moment’s pause.

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With more moon missions on the horizon, avoiding crowding and collisions will be a growing challenge

Interest in the moon has been high—just in the past two years there have been 12 attempts to send missions to the moon, nearly half of which private companies undertook. With so much activity, it’s important to start thinking about coordination and safety.

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Large quantities of water are created as a natural consequence of planet formation, experimental work demonstrates

Our galaxy’s most abundant type of planet could be rich in liquid water due to formative interactions between magma oceans and primitive atmospheres during their early years, according to new research published in Nature by Carnegie’s Francesca Miozzi and Anat Shahar.

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Scientists find an explanation for oddball, water-rich exoplanets: They make their own water

As more and more exoplanets are discovered throughout the galaxy, scientists find some that defy explanation—at least for awhile. A new study, published in Nature, describes a process that might explain why a large portion of exoplanets have water on their surface, even when it doesn’t make sense.

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Surveying atmospheric escape from gas giants orbiting F-type stars

Why is it important to know about exoplanets having their atmospheres stripped while orbiting F-type stars? This is what a recent study submitted to The Astronomical Journal hopes to address as an international team of scientists conducted a first-time investigation into atmospheric escape on planets orbiting F-type stars, the latter of which are larger and […]

China to send youngest astronaut, mice on space mission this week

The crew for China’s next manned flight to its space station will include the country’s youngest astronaut to undertake a space mission, authorities said Thursday, as well as four lab mice.

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Why Weakly Interacting Massive Particles became the toughest particles in physics

As a kid, did you ever play that game Guess Who? If you haven’t, it’s actually kinda fun. You have two players, each with a board in front of them. On the board are a bunch of flip cards with different characters. You have to guess your opponent’s secret identity through a process of elimination. […]

Nova Scorpii 2023 shows months-long X-ray variability after stellar outburst

Using NASA’s Swift spacecraft, an international team of astronomers have performed X-ray observations of a classical nova named Nova Scorpii 2023. Results of the observational campaign, published October 21 on the pre-print server arXiv, deliver important insights into the properties and behavior of this eruption.

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Mini-Neptune exoplanet orbiting bright K-type star discovered with TESS

Using NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), an international team of astronomers have detected a new exoplanet orbiting a bright K-type star known as TOI-283. The newfound alien world, which received the designation TOI-283 b, is about 40% smaller than Neptune. The discovery was detailed in a research paper published October 16 on the pre-print […]

Research suggests Halloween fireballs could signal increased risk of cosmic impact or airburst in 2032 and 2036

Every year, the Taurid meteor shower lights up the night sky from late October through early November. Sometimes called the “Halloween fireballs,” they are named for the constellation Taurus—the bull—from which the meteors appear to radiate. The shower is best viewed from dark-sky locations.

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China says it’s on track to land astronauts on the moon by 2030 ahead of space station mission

China said Thursday it’s on track to land astronauts on the moon by 2030 as it introduced the next crew of astronauts who will head to its space station as part of the country’s ambitious plans to be a leader in space exploration.

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What made the moon?

Our moon—or la Luna—has inspired humankind for millennia.

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New images reveal the Milky Way’s stunning galactic plane in more detail than ever before

The Milky Way is a rich and complex environment. We see it as a luminous line stretching across the night sky, composed of innumerable stars.

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A second instrument on HWO could track down nearby Earth-size planets

The Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO) is slated to be the next Great Observatory for the world. Its main focus has been searching for biosignatures in the atmospheres of at least 25 Earth-like exoplanets. However, to do that, it will require a significant amount of effort with only a coronagraph, the currently planned primary instrument, no […]

Spaceflight study reveals men experience greater eye changes, while brain differences between sexes are subtle

A new study into how spaceflight impacts the human brain and eyes revealed notable sex differences in brain fluid shifts, with female astronauts showing a greater reduction in fluid around the uppermost part of the brain than their male counterparts.

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