Latest science news in Astronomy & Space
Could corporations control territory in space? Under new US rules, it might be possible
Last weekend, NASA launched US astronauts to the International Space Station for the first time in a decade, in a rocket designed by Elon Musk's SpaceX.
Zooming in on the origins of fast radio bursts
Astronomers have peered into the home galaxies of fast radio bursts, ruling out supermassive black holes as a cause and bringing us a step closer to understanding the origins of...
Snowball's chance in Earth and early signs of life
New research led by the University of St Andrews helps answer one of the most asked questions in geoscience, when did Earth start to become habitable to complex life?
Researchers discover a new type of matter inside neutron stars
A Finnish research group has found strong evidence for the presence of exotic quark matter inside the cores of the largest neutron stars in existence. They reached this conclusion by...
Solving the mysteries of water and air underground
Stand outside and look underneath your feet. There, perhaps under some grass, is the soil. On a dry day, all the spaces in the soil are filled with air. And...
Atmospheric scientists identify cleanest air on Earth in first-of-its-kind study
Colorado State University Distinguished Professor Sonia Kreidenweis and her research group identified an atmospheric region unchanged by human-related activities in the first study to measure bioaerosol composition of the Southern...
Queen’s Brian May works to probe origin of asteroids
Queen guitarist and astrophysicist Brian May has teamed up with asteroid researchers to investigate striking similarities and a puzzling difference between separate bodies explored by space probes. The research team...
SpaceX captures the flag, beating Boeing in cosmic contest
The first astronauts launched by SpaceX declared victory Monday in NASA's cosmic capture-the-flag game.
U.S. astronauts welcomed at International Space Station after historic launch
Two NASA astronauts became the first Americans sent into space by a private company, SpaceX. This was the first manned launch from American soil in almost a decade. Mark Strassmann...
Scientists shed light on growth of black holes
Scientists at the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian, and the Black Hole Initiative (BHI), have shed light on how black holes grow over time by developing a new...
Astronomers find hot stars peppered with massive magnetic spots
Astronomers have discovered giant magnetic spots on the surfaces of hot stars hidden away in stellar clusters.
Class of stellar explosions found to be galactic producers of lithium
Astrophysicists have combined theory with both observations and laboratory studies and determined that a class of stellar explosions, called classical novae, are responsible for most of the lithium in our...
Class of stellar explosions found to be galactic producers of lithium
A team of researchers, led by astrophysicist Sumner Starrfield of Arizona State University, has combined theory with both observations and laboratory studies and determined that a class of stellar explosions,...
Asymmetry found in spin directions of galaxies
The patterns formed by spiral galaxies show that the universe may have a defined structure and suggest that the early universe could have been spinning, according to a computational astronomer.
Study finds that patterns formed by spiral galaxies show that the universe may have a defined structure
An analysis of more than 200,000 spiral galaxies has revealed unexpected links between spin directions of galaxies, and the structure formed by these links might suggest that the early universe...
Watch: Twice releases 'More & More' EP, video
K-pop stars Twice released the new mini album "More & More" and a video for the lead single of the same name.
‘Oumuamua may be a hydrogen iceberg
‘Oumuamua, the first known interstellar object to pass through Earth’s solar system, has been called many things: a comet, an asteroid, a cigar-shaped spaceship. Now it has a new description:...
The Milky Way has one very hot halo, astronomers find
The halo that surrounds our own Milky Way galaxy is much hotter than scientists once believed - and it may not be unique among galaxies.
Hot stars are plagued by giant magnetic spots, ESO data shows
Astronomers have discovered giant spots on the surface of extremely hot stars hidden in stellar clusters. Not only are these stars plagued by magnetic spots, some also experience superflare events,...
A new type of matter discovered inside neutron stars
A research group has found strong evidence for the presence of exotic quark matter inside the cores of the largest neutron stars in existence. The conclusion was reached by combining...
Telescope instrument is poised to begin its search for answers about dark energy
Even as the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument, or DESI, lies dormant within a telescope dome on a mountaintop in Arizona, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the DESI project has moved...
Hot stars are plagued by giant magnetic spots
Astronomers using European Southern Observatory (ESO) telescopes have discovered giant spots on the surface of extremely hot stars hidden in stellar clusters. Not only are these stars plagued by magnetic...
The Milky Way has one very hot halo, astronomers find
The halo that surrounds our own Milky Way galaxy is much hotter than scientists once believed—and it may not be unique among galaxies.
First SpaceX astronauts to speak from the International Space Station
NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley made history as they successfully arrived on the ISS Sunday, becoming the first to do so on a commercial spacecraft.
Astronomers find cosmic golden needle buried for two decades
Determined to find a needle in a cosmic haystack, a pair of astronomers time traveled through archives of old data from W. M. Keck Observatory on Mauankea in Hawaii and...
How to make the food and water Mars-bound astronauts will need for their mission
If we ever intend to send crewed missions to deep-space locations, then we need to come up with solutions for keeping the crews supplied. For astronauts aboard the International Space...
Scientists reveal energy exchange between troposphere and ionosphere in Congo Basin
The Earth's ionosphere, extending about 80 to 1,000 km above the Earth's surface, connects outer space and the middle atmosphere. It's an important part and key layer in the whole...
New sunspots potentially herald increased solar activity
On May 29, 2020, a family of sunspots—dark spots that freckle the face of the sun, representing areas of complex magnetic fields—sported the biggest solar flare since October 2017. Although...