Latest science news in Astronomy & Space
‘Cold Neptune’ and two temperate super-Earths found orbiting nearby stars
A “cold Neptune” and two potentially habitable worlds are part of a cache of five newly discovered exoplanets and eight exoplanet candidates found orbiting nearby red dwarf stars, which are...
Data from antipodal places: First use of CMB polarization to detect gravitational lensing from galaxy clusters
Galaxies. Amalgamations of stars, interstellar gas, dust, stellar debris and dark matter. They waltz through the cold universe, gravity nurturing their embrace. Occasionally, galaxies snowball into enormous galaxy clusters with...
X-rays and gravitational waves combine to illuminate massive black hole collision
A new study by a group of researchers at the University of Birmingham has found that collisions of supermassive black holes may be simultaneously observable in both gravitational waves and...
Betelgeuse: Star's weird dimming sparks rumors that its death is imminent
Every season has its characteristic star constellations in the night sky. Orion—one of the most recognizable—is distinctly visible on crisp, clear winter nights in the northern hemisphere. The constellation is...
'Cold Neptune' and two temperate super-Earths found orbiting nearby stars
A 'cold Neptune' and two potentially habitable worlds are part of a cache of five newly discovered exoplanets and eight exoplanet candidates found orbiting nearby red dwarf stars. The two...
AstroSat observations unveil properties of black hole binary MAXI J1820+070
Simultaneous spectral and temporal observations of the newly detected black hole X-ray binary (BHXB) MAXI J1820+070 using the AstroSat spacecraft, have delivered more insights into the properties of this source....
Physicists prove that 2-D and 3-D liquids are fundamentally different
A 50-year-old puzzle in statistical mechanics has been solved by an international team of researchers who have proved that two-dimensional (2-D) liquids have fundamentally different dynamical properties to three-dimensional (3-D)...
Up in smoke
Image: Another pair of eyes provides a sobering perspective on the fires ravaging Australia. ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano took images such as this one on 12 January from his vantage point of...
Oldest stuff on Earth found inside meteorite
A meteorite that crashed into rural southeastern Australia in a fireball in 1969 contained the oldest material ever found on Earth, stardust that predated the formation of our solar system...
NASA's Mars 2020 rover closer to getting its name
NASA's Mars 2020 rover is one step closer to having its own name after 155 students across the U.S. were chosen as semifinalists in the "Name the Rover" essay contest....
Magnetic storms originate closer to Earth than previously thought, threatening satellites
Beyond Earth's atmosphere are swirling clouds of energized particles—ions and electrons—that emanate from the sun. This "solar wind" buffets the magnetosphere, the magnetic force field that surrounds Earth.
Billionaire hosts girlfriend contest for 'first woman to the moon' and (shocker) people hate it
Will the first woman to travel to the moon be the winner of a billionaire's "girlfriend contest"? We really hope not.
First new sunspots in 40 days herald coming solar cycle
Two new sunspots have ended a long period of relative quiet on the surface of our blazing host star, heralding the start of a new 11-year cycle of sunspot activity.
This newly discovered asteroid is the second-closest natural object to the sun
Excluding Mercury, this newly discovered asteroid has the smallest known aphelion distance in our entire solar system.
Smoke and flames in Australia
Image: Ferocious bushfires have been sweeping across Australia since September, fuelled by record-breaking temperatures, drought and wind. The country has always experienced fires, but this season has been horrific. A staggering 10 million...
Connecting the dots in the sky could shed new light on dark matter
Astrophysicists have come a step closer to understanding the origin of a faint glow of gamma rays covering the night sky. They found that this light is brighter in regions...
South Korean President Moon: Door not closed on U.S.-North Korea dialogue
South Korean President Moon Jae-in said on Tuesday that it was "too early to be pessimistic" about the future of dialogue between the United States and North Korea.
Baylor star defensive lineman James Lynch declares for 2020 NFL Draft
Baylor standout defensive lineman James Lynch will forgo his senior season and enter the 2020 NFL Draft.
Meteorite contains the oldest material on Earth: 7-billion-year-old stardust
Scientists have discovered the oldest solid material on Earth: 7-billion-year-old stardust trapped inside a meteorite. This stardust provides evidence for a 'baby boom' of new stars that formed 7 billion...
Kathryn Sullivan: Spacewalker and Earth Explorer
Few know the globe's nooks and crannies more intimately than Kathryn Sullivan — explorer and student of the sky and the sea.
The scars of Puerto Rico's earthquakes are visible from space, NASA says
The swarm of earthquakes that have rocked Puerto Rico recently left marks that are visible from space.
Oldest stuff on Earth found inside meteorite that hit Australia
A meteorite that crashed into rural southeastern Australia in a fireball in 1969 contained the oldest material ever found on Earth, stardust that predated the formation of our solar system...
Watch: 'Star Wars' fan 3D prints a bulletproof Stormtrooper costume
A dedicated "Star Wars" fan in Utah used a 3D printer to make his own Stormtrooper costume with one significant improvement -- it's bulletproof.
Connecting the dots in the sky could shed new light on dark matter
Astrophysicists have come a step closer to understanding the origin of a faint glow of gamma rays covering the night sky. They found that this light is brighter in regions...
Saudi military trainees to return home after Pensacola shooting probe
At least 20 Saudi students receiving military training in the U.S. will be sent back to Saudi Arabia following a Pentagon and FBI investigation spurred by a shooting incident at...
This ancient stardust is the oldest ever to be examined in a lab
Ancient stardust extracted from a meteorite contains specks that are up to about 3 billion years older than the solar system, making them the oldest solids ever dated in a lab, researchers...
Meteorite contains the oldest material on Earth: 7-billion-year-old stardust
Stars have life cycles. They're born when bits of dust and gas floating through space find each other and collapse in on each other and heat up. They burn for...
Can Solar Geoengineering Mitigate both Climate Change and Income Inequality?
New research from the University of California San Diego finds that solar geoengineering--the intentional reflection of sunlight away from the Earth's surface--may reduce income inequality between countries.