Using data from the Japan-led XRISM observatory, astronomers have directly observed a giant star’s stellar wind captured by its compact companion (triggering X-ray flares) for the first time.
Asteroid sample return missions have brought well preserved samples of the early solar system (that hadn’t been roasted in a fireball) back to Earth for the first time. But those samples, like the OSIRIS-REx sample from asteroid (101955) Bennu, sometimes provide more questions than answers. A new…
NASA announced Wednesday a mission to explore the history and evolution of the universe, PRIMA (PRobe far-Infrared Mission for Astrophysics), is advancing to the next phase of development. This space telescope is the first in a new class of NASA astrophysics missions, called Probe Explorers, within…
NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope completed its 200,000th orbit around Earth on Sept. 19th and marked this milestone with observations that could help refine astronomers' measurements of cosmic expansion (aka. the Hubble Constant).
Getting a human body to Mars will take a toll on it. NASA and other space agencies have been concerned for years that the 6-9 month travel time to get to the Red Planet could have such a deleterious impact on human anatomy that any crewed mission would fail before it even began. But a new study…
The planet Mars is known for its massive dust storms, dust devils, and two large polar ice caps, with its north polar cap being one of the Red Planet’s most striking features. Comprised of water ice, the north polar cap not only holds potential for being a source of water for future human missions…
The formation and evolution of planets is the driving force behind both where and how we might find life beyond Earth. This complex and lengthy process first begins with a massive ball of gas and dust that swirls until it flattens into a disk, followed by rocks ranging in size from pebbles to…
Exoplanets continue to challenge our understanding of planetary formation, evolution, and whether they might be able to support life as we know it. Scientists often use planets in our solar system as analogs for exoplanets, studying exoplanets with extremely short orbital periods forces scientists…
It’s a busy skywatching month ahead. The first full week of October sees two top-notch skywatching events, with Saturn reaching opposition, and the Moon occulting Jupiter for North America on October 6th. This month’s occultation of Jupiter by the Moon is one of the best-placed and top skywatching…
Planetary scientists from Freie Universität Berlin have published two new studies that indicate that a spacecraft could identify evidence of life much more easily than previously thought.