https://phys.org/space-news/ en-us The latest science news on astronomy, astrobiology, and space exploration from Phys.org. A ring of icy rocks orbiting our sun just beyond Neptune may give us a glimpse of how Neptune—and other objects in the outskirts of our solar system—were formed. https://phys.org/news/2024-03-scientists-james-webb-space-telescope.html Planetary Sciences Wed, 06 Mar 2024 16:57:04 EST news628966621 Elon Musk's SpaceX on Wednesday announced it was eyeing March 14 as the earliest date for the next test launch of its giant Starship rocket, with which it hopes to one day colonize Mars. https://phys.org/news/2024-03-spacex-eyes-starship.html Space Exploration Wed, 06 Mar 2024 16:38:05 EST news628965479 Using some of the largest telescopes in the world, including the Subaru Telescope, a team of astronomers discovered three new natural satellites orbiting the outermost planets in our solar system—one around Uranus and two around Neptune. One of the new moons, initially detected by the Subaru Telescope, is the faintest moon ever discovered by ground-based telescopes. https://phys.org/news/2024-03-subaru-telescope-faintest-moon-icy.html Astronomy Planetary Sciences Wed, 06 Mar 2024 14:52:58 EST news628959176 Neutron star mergers are a treasure trove for new physics signals, with implications for determining the true nature of dark matter, according to research from Washington University in St. Louis. https://phys.org/news/2024-03-physics-debris-colliding-neutron-stars.html Astronomy Wed, 06 Mar 2024 14:24:12 EST news628957449 Scientists have revealed why some white dwarfs mysteriously stop cooling—changing ideas on just how old stars really are and what happens to them when they die. https://phys.org/news/2024-03-astrophysicists-unveil-phenomenon-textbook-definition.html Astronomy Wed, 06 Mar 2024 14:23:46 EST news628957423 Astronomers from the University of Hawaiʻi Institute for Astronomy (IfA) have uncovered the closest recorded occurrence of a star being torn apart by a supermassive black hole (SMBH). Using the All-Sky Automated Survey for Supernovae (ASAS-SN) system, on February 22, 2023, the team detected a sudden surge in brightness followed by a rapid dimming in the galaxy NGC 3799, located about 160 million light-years from Earth. https://phys.org/news/2024-03-star-ripped-black-hole-rare.html Astronomy Wed, 06 Mar 2024 11:38:02 EST news628947481 A galaxy that suddenly stopped forming new stars more than 13 billion years ago has been observed by astronomers. https://phys.org/news/2024-03-astronomers-oldest-dead-galaxy.html Astronomy Wed, 06 Mar 2024 11:00:01 EST news628942866 Using the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), astronomers have investigated the stellar population of the globular cluster NGC 1835. They detected a remarkably extended horizontal branch in this system. The discovery, reported February 28 on the preprint server arXiv, marks the first time when such a feature is found in a globular cluster beyond our Milky Way galaxy. https://phys.org/news/2024-03-horizontal-globular-cluster-ngc.html Astronomy Wed, 06 Mar 2024 10:02:17 EST news628941734 Looking deep into space and time, two teams using the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope have studied the exceptionally luminous galaxy GN-z11, which existed when our 13.8 billion-year-old universe was only about 430 million years old. https://phys.org/news/2024-03-webb-secrets-primeval-galaxy.html Astronomy Tue, 05 Mar 2024 12:33:30 EST news628864407 When they are active, supermassive black holes play a crucial role in the way galaxies evolve. Until now, growth was thought to be triggered by the violent collision of two galaxies followed by their merger; however, new research led by the University of Bath suggests galaxy mergers alone are not enough to fuel a black hole—a reservoir of cold gas at the center the host galaxy is needed too. https://phys.org/news/2024-03-black-holes-stars-machine-mystery.html Astronomy Tue, 05 Mar 2024 11:18:04 EST news628859881 An international team of astronomers reports the discovery of a new exoplanet orbiting a solar-type star. The newfound alien world, designated TOI-1135 b is young, hot and comparable in size to Saturn. The discovery was detailed in a paper published February 27 on the pre-print server arXiv. https://phys.org/news/2024-03-astronomers-saturn-sized-exoplanet.html Planetary Sciences Tue, 05 Mar 2024 08:59:10 EST news628851548 In a series of studies, a team of astronomers has shed new light on the fascinating and complex process of planet formation. The stunning images, captured using the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope (ESO's VLT) in Chile, represent one of the largest ever surveys of planet-forming disks. The research brings together observations of more than 80 young stars that might have planets forming around them, providing astronomers with a wealth of data and unique insights into how planets arise in different regions of our galaxy. https://phys.org/news/2024-03-groundbreaking-survey-reveals-secrets-planet.html Astronomy Planetary Sciences Tue, 05 Mar 2024 08:00:01 EST news628834856 April 17, 2021, was a day like any other day on the sun, until a brilliant flash erupted and an enormous cloud of solar material billowed away from our star. Such outbursts from the sun are not unusual, but this one was unusually widespread, hurling high-speed protons and electrons at velocities nearing the speed of light and striking several spacecraft across the inner solar system. https://phys.org/news/2024-03-multiple-spacecraft-story-giant-solar.html Astronomy Planetary Sciences Mon, 04 Mar 2024 16:47:03 EST news628793221 The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is helping scientists uncover how planets form by advancing understanding of their birthplaces and the circumstellar disks surrounding young stars. https://phys.org/news/2024-03-james-webb-space-telescope-captures.html Planetary Sciences Mon, 04 Mar 2024 15:57:04 EST news628790221 Correcting 50-year-old errors in the math used to understand how electromagnetic waves scatter electrons trapped in Earth's magnetic fields will lead to better protection for technology in space. https://phys.org/news/2024-03-space-physics-satellite-safety.html Space Exploration Planetary Sciences Mon, 04 Mar 2024 13:36:01 EST news628781759 When it was first discovered in 2004, Apophis was identified as one of the most dangerous asteroids in that there was a risk that it could impact Earth. But that impact assessment changed over the years after astronomers tracked Apophis, also known as asteroid 99942, and its orbit became better determined, and it became clear that it was on course to miss our planet. https://phys.org/news/2024-03-chance-infamous-apophis-collides-asteroid.html Astronomy Planetary Sciences Mon, 04 Mar 2024 13:27:57 EST news628781274 An astronomy lesson on binary stars could begin with a series of complex diagrams and data or with a clip from the movie Star Wars where Luke Skywalker looks up at the sky of his home planet, Tatooine, and sees two suns shining. Which will more easily awaken the interest of a sleepy high school class? https://phys.org/news/2024-03-tatooine-reality-exoplanet-science-fiction.html Planetary Sciences Mon, 04 Mar 2024 13:09:31 EST news628780169 As it trundles around an ancient lakebed on Mars, NASA's Perseverance rover is assembling a one-of-a-kind rock collection. The car-sized explorer is methodically drilling into the Red Planet's surface and pulling out cores of bedrock that it's storing in sturdy titanium tubes. Scientists hope to one day return the tubes to Earth and analyze their contents for traces of embedded microbial life. https://phys.org/news/2024-03-drilled-mars.html Planetary Sciences Mon, 04 Mar 2024 12:02:04 EST news628776122 New research suggests there's less oxygen on the icy surface of Jupiter's moon Europa than thought—and that could affect what if any life might be lurking in the moon's underground ocean. https://phys.org/news/2024-03-jupiter-moon-europa-oxygen-damper.html Astronomy Planetary Sciences Mon, 04 Mar 2024 11:06:22 EST news628772767 In a study published in The Astrophysical Journal, researchers from the Yunnan Observatories of the Chinese Academy of Sciences depicted a complete physical image of the anomalous heating in the upper atmosphere of the sun (the solar corona and the solar chromosphere). https://phys.org/news/2024-03-reveal-anomalous-sun-upper-atmosphere.html Astronomy Mon, 04 Mar 2024 09:57:04 EST news628768622 Astronomers have performed multi-wavelength photometric observations of a nearby planetary-mass object known as SIMP J013656.5+093347. Results of the observational campaign, presented February 22 on the pre-print server arXiv, suggest that the object hosts patchy cloud layers in its atmosphere. https://phys.org/news/2024-03-evidence-patchy-cloud-layers-atmosphere.html Astronomy Planetary Sciences Mon, 04 Mar 2024 09:00:01 EST news628764905 Four astronauts headed to the International Space Station on Sunday where they will oversee the arrivals of two new rocketships during their half-year stint. https://phys.org/news/2024-03-astronauts-international-space-station-month.html Space Exploration Mon, 04 Mar 2024 03:55:42 EST news628746932 Where will you be watching the April 8 total solar eclipse? There are just a few weeks left to pick your spot to see the skies darken along a strip of North America, whether by land, sea or air. https://phys.org/news/2024-03-april-total-solar-eclipse.html Space Exploration Sat, 02 Mar 2024 08:48:46 EST news628591717 Three physicists have taken a new look at the circumstances surrounding the mysterious Chinguetti meteorite and developed a means for confirming whether it exists or not. In their paper posted to the arXiv preprint server, Robert Warren, Stephen Warren and Ekaterini Protopapa suggest that there are only a few possible places the meteorite could be and thus a magnetometer-based survey over the region could solve the mystery. https://phys.org/news/2024-03-physicists-deny-chinguetti-meteorite.html Planetary Sciences Fri, 01 Mar 2024 11:30:01 EST news628512729 When shifting from the microgravity of a spacecraft to the gravity-rich environment of the moon or Mars, astronauts experience deficits in perceptual and motor functions. The vestibular system in the inner ear, which detects the position and movement of the head, must adjust to reinterpret new gravity cues. https://phys.org/news/2024-03-augmented-reality-astronaut-adjustment-gravity.html Space Exploration Fri, 01 Mar 2024 11:17:03 EST news628514221 Astronomers can use supercomputers to simulate the formation of galaxies from the Big Bang 13.8 billion years ago to the present day. But there are a number of sources of error. An international research team, led by researchers in Lund, has spent a hundred million computer hours over eight years trying to correct these. https://phys.org/news/2024-03-high-resolution-simulations-insights-galaxies.html Astronomy Fri, 01 Mar 2024 10:54:16 EST news628512854 The first U.S. spacecraft to land on the moon since the Apollo astronauts fell silent Thursday, a week after breaking a leg at touchdown and tipping over near the lunar south pole. https://phys.org/news/2024-03-moon-lander-century-week-touchdown.html Space Exploration Fri, 01 Mar 2024 04:28:17 EST news628489692 Using archival data from the Gemini North telescope, a team of astronomers has measured the heaviest pair of supermassive black holes ever found. The merging of two supermassive black holes is a phenomenon that has long been predicted, though never observed. This massive pair gives clues as to why such an event seems so unlikely in the universe. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-astronomers-heaviest-black-hole-pair.html Astronomy Thu, 29 Feb 2024 15:26:03 EST news628442761 Decades before any probe dips a toe—and thermometer—into the waters of distant ocean worlds, Cornell astrobiologists have devised a novel way to determine ocean temperatures based on the thickness of their ice shells, effectively conducting oceanography from space. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-ice-shell-thickness-reveals-temperature.html Planetary Sciences Thu, 29 Feb 2024 15:09:26 EST news628441762 How do planetary systems such as the solar system form? To find out, CNRS scientists taking part in an international research team studied a stellar nursery, the Orion Nebula, using the James Webb Space Telescope. By observing a protoplanetary disk named d203-506, they have discovered the key role played by massive stars in the formation of such nascent planetary systems. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-scientists-massive-stars-planetary.html Planetary Sciences Thu, 29 Feb 2024 14:00:01 EST news628421237