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Astronomy & Space news
Observations detect the lowest mass ratio contact binary to date
Astronomers from China and South Korea report the detection of a contact binary system with an extremely low mass ratio of only 0.0356. The newfound system, which received the designation TYC 3801-1529-1, is therefore the ...
Ultrawide binary objects in the Kuiper belt may not have come from the earliest solar system, research suggests
Trying to understand the makeup and evolution of the solar system's Kuiper belt has kept researchers busy since it was hypothesized soon after the discovery of Pluto in 1930. In particular, binary pairs of objects there are ...
Magnetically driven vortices may be generating Earth-size concentrations of hydrocarbon haze at Jupiter's poles
While Jupiter's Great Red Spot has been a constant feature of the planet for centuries, University of California, Berkeley, astronomers have discovered equally large spots at the planet's north and south poles that appear ...
Planetary Sciences
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Next up to the moon: Firefly's Blue Ghost lander to ship soon to Florida
Another private company will soon try its hand at sticking a landing on the moon for NASA.
Space Exploration
3 hours ago
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The engine of Japan's flagship new small rocket explodes during a test for a second time
The engine for a new flagship small Japanese rocket burst into flames Tuesday during a combustion test, causing no injury or damage to the outside but destroying the engine and extensively damaging its test facility, officials ...
Space Exploration
5 hours ago
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Record-breaking run on Frontier sets new bar for simulating the universe in exascale era
The universe just got a whole lot bigger—or at least in the world of computer simulations, that is. In early November, researchers at the Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory used the fastest supercomputer ...
Astronomy
20 hours ago
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Sombrero Galaxy dazzles in new Webb images and video
A new mid-infrared image from the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope features the Sombrero galaxy, also known as Messier 104 (M104). The signature, glowing core seen in visible-light images does not shine, and instead ...
Astronomy
19 hours ago
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AI and astronomy: Neural networks simulate solar observations
Research by astronomers and computer scientists at the University of Hawaiʻi Institute for Astronomy (IfA) could revolutionize our understanding of the sun. The study, part of the "SPIn4D" project, combines cutting-edge ...
Astronomy
18 hours ago
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Uranus's swaying moons could help spacecraft seek out hidden oceans
When NASA's Voyager 2 flew by Uranus in 1986, it captured grainy photographs of large ice-covered moons. Now nearly 40 years later, NASA plans to send another spacecraft to Uranus, this time equipped to see if those icy moons ...
Planetary Sciences
18 hours ago
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Planetary scientist proposes an alternative theory for what lies beneath the surfaces of Uranus and Neptune
Diamond rain? Super-ionic water? These are just two proposals that planetary scientists have come up with for what lies beneath the thick, bluish, hydrogen-and-helium atmospheres of Uranus and Neptune, our solar system's ...
Planetary Sciences
19 hours ago
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Astronomers measure cosmic electrons at the highest energies to date
Five telescopes of the H.E.S.S.-collaboration in Namibia are used to study cosmic radiation, especially gamma radiation. With data from 10 years of observations, researchers have now been able to detect cosmic electrons and ...
Astronomy
18 hours ago
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XRISM mission looks deeply into 'hidden' stellar system
The Japan-led XRISM (X-ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission) observatory has captured the most detailed portrait yet of gases flowing within Cygnus X-3, one of the most studied sources in the X-ray sky.
Astronomy
20 hours ago
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Earth-bound asteroids 'could be tracked more precisely' with new equation
Identifying asteroids on a potential collision course with Earth could be made easier thanks to an advancement in how to track their orbits more precisely.
Planetary Sciences
22 hours ago
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Unusual supernova observations grant astronomers a peek into the cosmic past
An international team of researchers has made new observations of an unusual supernova, finding the most metal-poor stellar explosion ever observed.
Astronomy
22 hours ago
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Einstein predicted how gravity should work at the largest scales. And he was right, suggests new research
When Albert Einstein introduced his theory of general relativity in 1915, it changed the way we viewed the universe. His gravitational model showed how Newtonian gravity, which had dominated astronomy and physics for more ...
Astronomy
17 hours ago
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Europa Clipper: Millions of miles down, instruments deploying
NASA's Europa Clipper, which launched Oct. 14 on a journey to Jupiter's moon Europa, is already 13 million miles (20 million kilometers) from Earth. Two science instruments have deployed hardware that will remain at attention, ...
Planetary Sciences
19 hours ago
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Axion dark matter may make spacetime ring
Dark matter made out of axions may have the power to make space-time ring like a bell, but only if it is able to steal energy from black holes, according to new research.
Astronomy
19 hours ago
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A 4.45 billion-year-old crystal from Mars reveals the planet had water from the beginning
Water is ubiquitous on Earth—about 70% of Earth's surface is covered by the stuff. Water is in the air, on the surface and inside rocks. Geologic evidence suggests water has been stable on Earth since about 4.3 billion ...
Planetary Sciences
22 hours ago
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This week's space station science: Leads on cancer drugs, satellite sustainability, glass from magnesium silicates
Recent findings from the International Space Station address
Space Exploration
20 hours ago
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Astronomers discover a rare group of dwarf galaxies
Astronomers from the Yonsei University in Seoul, South Korea and elsewhere have discovered a rare isolated group of five star-forming dwarf galaxies in the local universe. The finding was reported in a research paper published ...