Space and astronomy news
Humanity’s been fortunate to have a star situated over Earth’s north pole. The star, known as Polaris, or the North Star, has guided many sailors safely to port. But Polaris is a fascinating star in its own right, not just because of its serendipitous position.
Continue reading “Polaris, Earth’s North Star, Has A Surprisingly Spotted Surface”
In 1977, astronomers received a powerful, peculiar radio signal from the direction of the constellation Sagittarius. Its frequency was the same as neutral hydrogen, and astronomers had speculated that any ETIs attempting to communicate would naturally use this frequency. Now the signal, named the Wow! Signal has become lore in the SETI world.
But what was it?
Continue reading “The Wow! Signal Deciphered. It Was Hydrogen All Along.”
According to NASA’s Perseverance rover, ancient rocks in Jezero Crater formed in the presence of water. These sedimentary rocks are more than 3.5 billion years old and may predate the appearance of life on Earth. When and if these samples are returned to Earth, scientists hope to determine if they hold evidence of ancient Martian life.
Continue reading “Ancient Rocks in Mars’ Jezero Crater Confirm Habitability”
There’s a link between Earth’s ocean salinity and its climate. Salinity can have a dramatic effect on the climate of any Earth-like planet orbiting a Sun-like star. But what about exoplanets around M-dwarfs?
Continue reading “Ocean Salinity Affects Earth’s Climate. How About on Exoplanets?”
GPS is ubiquitous on Earth. It guides everything from precision surveying to aircraft navigation. To realize our vision of lunar exploration with a sustained human presence, we’ll need the same precision on the Moon.
That starts with an accurate clock.
Continue reading “What Time is it on the Moon? Lunar GPS Needs to Know”
Mars was once wet, but now its surface is desiccated. Its meagre atmosphere contains only a tiny trace amount of water vapour. But new research says the planet contains ample liquid water. Unfortunately, it’s kilometres under the surface, well out of reach.
Continue reading “Mars Has Lots of Water, But It’s Out of Reach”
The ESA’s Mars Express orbiter captured an image of the remains of a vast ancient lake on Mars. The remnant lake bed has been weathered and altered by the passing of billions of years. In the planet’s distant past, scientists say, it held enough water to fill Earth’s Caspian Sea almost three times over.
Continue reading “An Ancient Martian Lake Was Larger Than Any Lake on Earth”
Supermassive Black Holes (SMBHs) are located in the centers of large galaxies like ours. When they’re actively feeding, they produce more light and are called active galactic nuclei (AGN). But their details are difficult to observe clearly because large clouds of gas block our view.
The JWST was built just for circumstances like these.
Continue reading “The JWST Reveals the Nature of Dust Around an Active Galactic Nuclei”
Neutron stars (NS) are the collapsed cores of supermassive giant stars that contain between 10 and 25 solar masses. Aside from black holes, they are the densest objects in the Universe. Their journey from a main sequence star to a collapsed stellar remnant is a fascinating scientific story.
Sometimes, a binary pair of NS will merge, and what happens then is equally as fascinating.
Continue reading “The Aftermath of Neutron Star Mergers”
Venus is sometimes called Earth’s sister planet because of their shared physical, geological, and atmospheric features. Scientists have discovered something new about Venus’ geology that’s reminding us of the similarities between the two planets. We have to look deep inside both planets to see what the researchers found.
Continue reading “Scientists Discover New Geological Link Between Earth and Venus”