If you are going to look for intelligent life beyond Earth, there are few better candidates than the TRAPPIST-1 star system. It isn’t a perfect choice. Red dwarf stars like TRAPPIST-1 are notorious for emitting flares and hard X-rays in their youth, but the system is just 40 light-years away and has seven Earth-sized worlds. Three of them are in the potentially habitable zone of the star. They are clustered closely enough to experience tidal forces and thus be geologically active. If intelligent life arises easily in the cosmos, then there’s a good chance it exists in the TRAPPIST-1 system.
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Earth had Saturn-like rings 466 million years ago, new study suggests
Earth may have had a Saturn-like ring system long ago, created from the debris of a passing asteroid that our planet tore apart.
A Star Was Kicked Out of a Globular Cluster by an Intermediate-Mass Black Hole
Astronomers have solid evidence for the existence of stellar-mass black holes and supermassive black holes. However, evidence for Intermediate Black Holes (IMBHs) is more elusive. Their existence remains hypothetical.
'Lego Star Wars: Rebuild the Galaxy' is a fabulous multiverse frolic (review)
A review of Disney+ miniseries, "Lego Star Wars: Rebuild the Galaxy."
NASA scientists solve mystery of curious 'spiders' on Mars
Scientists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory have recreated spider-like araneiform terrain, a geologic formation found on Mars, in a lab on Earth.
Best-ever 'Cloud Atlas' of Mars showcases stunning cloud patterns (photos)
The most comprehensive map of clouds on Mars includes a variety of cloud patterns, including some that are unlike anything seen on Earth.
Black Hole's Colossal Jets Pierce the Cosmic Void
A pair of black hole jets powered by a supermassive black hole span far beyond their host galaxy — potentially affecting the cosmic web around it.
Black hole blasts largest jet ever seen at 23 million light-years long
Astronomers have seen the largest jets ever found erupting from a black hole. The giant jet system Porphyrion is 23 million light-years long, equal to 140 side-by-side Milky Way galaxies.
'Space for Birds': Astronaut Roberta Bondar captures avian habitats from Earth, in air and on orbit in new book (interview)
Roberta Bondar knew that she would not be able to hear birds, let alone seen them from space, but when she really thought about it, their absence struck her deeply.
Behold! 1st-ever photo of Earth and Mars' moon Phobos captured from Red Planet
NASA's Curiosity rover has captured a spectacular sight from the surface of Mars: The first-ever photo of Earth alongside the Red Planet's moon Phobos.
Sentinel-2C to Vega and orbit – fit-check to liftoff timelapse
Video: 00:03:02
From the arrival of the Earth obversation satellite Sentinel-2C in July 2024 and the first fit-check to launch from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana, this timelapse shows how the third Sentinel-2 satellite was prepared for launch. The last Vega rocket, flight VV24, lifted off on 5 September at 03:50 CEST (4 September 22:50 local time).
Astronomers Have Found a Star with a Hot Jupiter and a Cold Super Jupiter in Orbit
Located in the constellation Ursa Major, roughly 300 light-years from Earth, is the Sun-like star HD 118203 (Liesma). In 2006, astronomers detected an exoplanet (HD 118203 b) similar in size and twice as massive as Jupiter that orbits very closely to Liesma (7% of the distance between Earth and the Sun), making it a “Hot Jupiter.” In a recent study, an international team of astronomers announced the detection of a second exoplanet in this system: a Super Jupiter with a wide orbit around its star. In short, they discovered a “Cold Super-Jupiter” in the outskirts of this system.
Future Gravitational Wave Observatories Could See the Earliest Black Hole Mergers in the Universe
In February 2016, scientists at the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) confirmed they made the first-ever detection of gravitational waves (GWs). These events occur when massive objects like neutron stars and black holes merge, sending ripples through spacetime that can be detected millions (and even billions) of light-years away. Since the first event, more than 100 GW events have been confirmed by LIGO, the Advanced VIRGO collaboration, and the Kamioka Gravitational Wave Detector (KAGRA).
SpaceX launching 2 European navigation satellites tonight
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is set to launch two European navigation satellites tonight (Sept. 17). It will be the 22nd flight for this particular booster.
Could You Find What A Lunar Crater Is Made Of By Shooting It?
Americans are famously fond of their guns. So it should come as no surprise that a team of NASA scientists has devised a way to “shoot” a modified type of sensor into the soil of an otherworldly body and determine what it is made out of. That is precisely what Sang Choi and Robert Moses from NASA’s Langley Research Center did, though their bullets are miniaturized spectrometers rather than hollow metal casings.
There are Plenty of Uses for Powerful Lasers in Space. But Where Should We Put Them?
Is it time for space lasers yet? Almost.
A 'primordial' black hole may zoom through our solar system every decade
If microscopic black holes born a fraction of a second after the Big Bang exist, then at least one may fly through the solar system per decade, generating tiny gravitational distortions that scientists can detect.
Live coverage: SpaceX to launch European Commission’s Galileo satellites on Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral
A rendering of a Galileo satellite in medium Earth orbit. Graphic: European Space Agency
SpaceX is preparing to launch the latest pair of Galileo spacecraft for the European Union’s navigation satellite constellation.
FAA plans to fine SpaceX $630,000 for alleged launch violations
The FAA has proposed fining SpaceX more than $630,000 for allegedly failing to comply with regulations on two launches in 2023.
Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS nears the sun this month. Will it be visible to the naked eye?
Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS will sweep around the sun on Sept. 27 to make a brief foray into the morning sky. Will it be a bright naked-eye object with a significant tail? Here's where and when you might be able to see it.
