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Crew launch to ISS paves way for 'stranded' astronauts' return

Astronomy & Space news

Crew launch to ISS paves way for 'stranded' astronauts' return

Not long to go now: After more than nine months on the International Space Station, two astronauts are a step closer to returning home following the launch of a crew swap mission on Friday.

Space Exploration

28 minutes ago

Musk says Starship to depart for Mars at end of 2026

SpaceX founder Elon Musk said Saturday its massive Starship rocket would leave for Mars at the end of 2026 with Tesla humanoid robot Optimus onboard, adding that human landings could follow "as soon as 2029."

Space Exploration

38 minutes ago

'Microlightning' in water droplets may have sparked life on Earth

Life may not have begun with a dramatic lightning strike into the ocean but from many smaller "microlightning" exchanges among water droplets from crashing waterfalls or breaking waves.

Astrobiology

17 hours ago

TOI-1453 c: A key sub-Neptune discovered in a system of two exoplanets

Astrophysicists have once again enriched our knowledge of the cosmos with a new discovery: two small planets orbiting TOI-1453. Located at around 250 light years from Earth in the Draco constellation, this star is part of ...

Astronomy

19 hours ago

Crew launch to ISS paves way for stranded astronauts' homecoming

A pair of stranded astronauts will be one step closer to finally coming home when the next crew launches for the International Space Station on Friday.

Space Exploration

17 hours ago

Atmospheric wave-studying mission releases data from first 3,000 orbits

Following the 3,000th orbit of NASA's AWE (Atmospheric Waves Experiment) aboard the International Space Station, researchers publicly released the mission's first trove of scientific data, crucial to investigating how and ...

Planetary Sciences

17 hours ago

SwRI-led sounder instrument deploys across lunar surface

Just hours after touching down on the surface of the moon on March 2nd aboard Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost 1 lander, the Southwest Research Institute-led Lunar Magnetotelluric Sounder (LMS) was activated and deployed its ...

Space Exploration

23 hours ago

Stargazers marvel at 'blood moon', rare total lunar eclipse

Stargazers across a swath of the world marveled at a dramatic red "blood moon" during a rare total lunar eclipse in the early hours of Friday morning.

Space Exploration

Mar 14, 2025

Astronomy's dirty window to space: A detailed map of dust in the Milky Way

When we observe distant celestial objects, there is a possible catch: Is that star I am observing really as reddish as it appears? Or does the star merely look reddish, since its light has had to travel through a cloud of ...

Astronomy

Mar 13, 2025

112

Astronomers discover new supergiant fast X-ray transient, expanding rare class

Italian astronomers report the detection of a new X-ray binary (XRB), which has received the designation 4XMM J181330.1-17511 (J1813 for short). The newfound object represents the rare subclass of XRBs known as supergiant ...

Astronomy

report

Mar 13, 2025

105

Americas to witness rare 'blood moon' total lunar eclipse

Stargazers in North and South America will be able to view a red-colored "blood moon" starting Thursday night in the first total lunar eclipse visible on the continents since 2022.

Space Exploration

Mar 13, 2025

324

Weighing in on a Mars water debate: Analysis challenges previous findings

More than 3 billion years ago, Mars intermittently had liquid water on its surface. After the planet lost much of its atmosphere, however, surface water could no longer persist. The fate of Mars's water—whether it was buried ...

Planetary Sciences

Mar 13, 2025

Violent supernovae 'triggered at least two Earth extinctions,' study suggests

At least two mass extinction events in Earth's history were likely caused by the "devastating" effects of nearby supernova explosions, a new study suggests.

Astrobiology

Mar 13, 2025

272

Asteroid probe snaps rare pics of Martian moon

On the way to investigate the scene of a historic asteroid collision, a European spacecraft swung by Mars and captured rare images of the red planet's mysterious small moon Deimos, the European Space Agency (ESA) said Thursday.

Planetary Sciences

Mar 13, 2025

Mapping cosmic shear to illuminate dark energy

Gravitational lensing often evokes images of a cosmic funhouse mirror: duplicated galaxies, dramatic arcs and distorted shapes. But the web-like, large-scale structure throughout the universe also bends light in a weaker, ...

Astronomy

Mar 13, 2025

Cosmic chameleon: Complex behavior of BL Lacertae blazar escapes established classification

Blazars are active galaxies that emit narrow jets of ionized matter from their centers, aimed towards Earth. Depending on properties of the electromagnetic radiation emitted by the jets, astronomers divide such objects into ...

Astronomy

Mar 13, 2025

Signs of alien life may be hiding in these gases

Scientists have identified a promising new way to detect life on faraway planets, hinging on worlds that look nothing like Earth and gases rarely considered in the search for extraterrestrials.

Astrobiology

Mar 13, 2025

'Blood moon' rising: Rare total lunar eclipse tonight

A "blood moon" will bathe a large swath of the world in red light overnight Thursday during a rare total lunar eclipse.

Planetary Sciences

Mar 13, 2025

Calibrating CubeSat constellations just got easier

CubeSats have a lot of advantages. They are small, inexpensive, and easily reproducible. But those advantages also come with significant disadvantages—they have trouble linking into broader constellations that allow them ...

Planetary Sciences

Mar 13, 2025

Astronomers find 128 new moons orbiting Saturn

An international team of astronomers working with the Canada France Hawaii Telescope have discovered a whopping 128 more moons orbiting Saturn. The Minor Planet Center confirmed the discoveries on March 11. The team observed ...

Planetary Sciences

Mar 13, 2025

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