Last update: 37 minutes ago

One day we might seed the universe with life. But should we?

Astronomy & Space news

One day we might seed the universe with life. But should we?

Suppose humanity was faced with an extinction-level event. Not just high odds, but certain-sure. A nearby supernova will explode and irradiate all life, a black hole will engulf the Earth, a Mars-sized interstellar asteroid ...

Astrobiology

37 minutes ago

Four new gamma-ray millisecond pulsars discovered

An international team of astronomers reports the detection of four new gamma-ray millisecond pulsars using the Murriyang radio telescope at the Parkes Observatory in Australia. The discovery was detailed in a research paper ...

Astronomy

report

3 hours ago

Scientists develop neural networks to enhance spectral data compression efficiency for new vacuum solar telescope

Researchers from the Yunnan Observatories of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Southwest Forestry University have developed an advanced neural network-based method to improve the compression of spectral data from the New ...

Astronomy

1 hour ago

Small star, mighty flares: ALMA shares new view of Proxima Centauri

At a distance of just over four light years, Proxima Centauri is our nearest stellar neighbor and is known to be a very active M dwarf star. Its flare activity has been well-known to astronomers using visible wavelengths ...

Astronomy

3 hours ago

Atmospheres of new planets might have unexpected mixtures of hydrogen and water

All planets are made of gas, ice, rock and metal, and models of how planets form usually assume that these materials don't react chemically with each other. But what if some of them do?

Planetary Sciences

3 hours ago

New discovery promises to reveal hidden black holes across the universe

Scientists have detected radio signals from hot gas surrounding a supermassive black hole that existed 12.9 billion years ago, according to new research published in Nature Astronomy from an international team of scientists ...

Astronomy

2 hours ago

Earth 1, asteroids 0: The next generation of planetary defense takes shape at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory

There is a non-zero chance that somewhere in the nearby solar system is a rock that might kill us all.

Space Exploration

4 hours ago

Webb telescope sees galaxy in mysteriously clearing fog of early universe

Astronomers have identified a bright hydrogen emission from a galaxy in the very early universe. The surprise finding is challenging researchers to explain how this light could have pierced the thick fog of neutral hydrogen ...

Astronomy

21 hours ago

New insights into little red dots—an early phase of black hole growth

The James Webb Space Telescope has given us a view of the earliest moments of galaxy formation in the universe. It's also revealed a few surprises. One of these is the appearance of small, highly redshifted objects nicknamed ...

Astronomy

23 hours ago

Partial solar eclipse in northern areas on Saturday

The moon will cross in front of the sun for around four hours on Saturday, creating a partial solar eclipse that careful skygazers will be able to see in parts of the Northern Hemisphere.

Space Exploration

21 hours ago

X-ray observations reveal dynamic features of galaxy cluster PLCKG287

Using NASA's Chandra X-ray observatory, astronomers have observed a massive and hot galaxy cluster known as PLCKG287.0+32.9 (or PLCKG287 for short). Results of the observational campaign, presented March 17 on the arXiv pre-print ...

Astronomy

report

Mar 26, 2025

Webb captures Neptune's auroras for first time

Neptune lies in the frigid, dark, vast frontier of the outer edges of our solar system, about 3 billion miles away from the sun.

Astronomy

Mar 26, 2025

Protoplanetary disks are much smaller than previously thought, new study finds

Many protoplanetary disks in which new planets are formed are much smaller than thought. Using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) scientists of the Leiden Observatory (the Netherlands) looked at 73 protoplanetary ...

Astronomy

Mar 26, 2025

NASA puts biggest rocket pieces together for Artemis II moon mission

The slow race of getting NASA's Space Launch System rocket pieced together for next year's Artemis II moon mission jumped a big hurdle over the weekend.

Space Exploration

Mar 26, 2025

Astronomers provide insights into the hot gaseous halo of galaxy NGC 7793

Using Spektr-RG and Chandra space observatories, Chinese astronomers have investigated a nearby spiral galaxy known as NGC 7793. Results of the new study, published March 13 on the arXiv preprint server, deliver important ...

Astronomy

report

Mar 25, 2025

'Mars and Earth are even more different than we thought': Condensing 20 years of atmospheric wave observations

For the first time on a global scale, 20 years of observations on Mars have been condensed into a single study led by Francisco Brasil and Pedro Machado, both researchers from the Faculty of Sciences at the University of ...

Planetary Sciences

Mar 25, 2025

SpaceX rocket fuel makes stunning swirl in European sky

A stunning blue and white spiral spotted in skies across Europe late Monday was created by frozen fuel tumbling from a SpaceX rocket, according to weather forecasters and scientists.

Space Exploration

Mar 25, 2025

Fluorescent caves could explain how life persists in extraterrestrial environments

Deep below Earth's surface, rock and mineral formations lay hidden with a secret brilliance. Under a black light, the chemicals fossilized within shine in brilliant hues of pink, blue and green. Scientists are using these ...

Astrobiology

Mar 25, 2025

Image: Hubble captures the Small Magellanic Cloud

Say hello to one of the Milky Way's neighbors! This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image features a scene from one of the closest galaxies to the Milky Way, the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC). The SMC is a dwarf galaxy located ...

Astronomy

Mar 25, 2025