Space News & Blog Articles

Scientists discovered the Andromeda galaxy, known as M31, hundreds of years ago, and around a century ago, we realized that it had negative radial velocity toward the Milky Way. In other words, eventually, the two galaxies would merge spectacularly. That has been common knowledge for astronomers since then, but is it really true? A new paper from researchers at the University of Helsinki looks at several confounding factors, including the gravitational influence of other galaxies in our local group, and finds only a 50% chance that the Milky Way will merge with the Andromeda galaxy in the next 10 billion years. 

We recently reported on how the mountains of data produced by astronomical instruments are “perfect for AI.” We’ve also started reporting on several use cases for different AI algorithms. Now, a team of researchers from the University of Texas has developed a new use case that focuses on discovering the interior makeup of exoplanets by looking at a specific type of star.

The construction of the Vera C. Rubin observatory has just crossed a major milestone with the successful installation of its 3.5 meter diameter secondary mirror. The observatory is now one step closer to first light in 2025, when it will begin the Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST): a mission to repeatedly image the entire sky, at high resolution, to create a time-lapse record of the Universe.

“Today’s science fiction is tomorrow’s science fact.” This quote, attributed to Isaac Asimov, captures science’s intricate relationship with science fiction. And it is hardly a one-way relationship. Whereas science fiction is constantly evolving to reflect new scientific discoveries and theories, science itself has a long history of drawing inspiration from the works of visionary authors, filmmakers, and popular culture. And in some cases, where scientists themselves were the visionaries (like Asimov himself), you had an instance of both!

Astronomers have confirmed the existence of exoplanets with extremely small orbits around their stars. But what about exoplanets that get close enough to be devoured by their star, and what if it’s an Earth-sized exoplanet? This is what a recent study accepted to AAS Journals hopes to address as an international team of more than 50 researchers investigated an Earth-sized exoplanet with an orbital period of only 5.7 hours, known as “ultra-short-period” (USP) exoplanets, that could eventually experience what’s known as tidal disruption, resulting in its devourment by its star. This study holds the potential to help researchers better understand the processes responsible for this, along with continuing to challenge our understanding of exoplanetary architectures, as well.