Surprising findings sometimes come in small packages. And sometimes those small packages have to be delivered by very big systems. Physicists at MIT made some surprising findings from a very small radioactive molecule that was created in an accelerator at CERN. They believe that, if studied closely enough, these new types of radioactive molecules could shine some light on why there is more matter than anti-matter in the universe.
Space News & Blog Articles
The mystery of what causes Jupiter’s X-ray auroras is solved
The 40-year-old mystery of what causes Jupiter’s X-ray auroras has been solved. For the first time, astronomers have seen the entire mechanism at work – and it could be a process occurring in many other parts of the Universe too.
The last voyage of NASA's space shuttle: Looking back at Atlantis' final mission 10 years later
The final space shuttle mission, which launched 10 years ago this week, almost didn't happen.
Earth-observing satellite startup Planet is going public
Planet, which operates the world's largest fleet of Earth-observing satellites, announced Wednesday (July 7) that it will merge with a special purpose acquisition company.
Chinese Astronauts Take Their First Spacewalk Outside the new Station
Spacewalks are a relatively rare occurrence, and they normally draw at least a moderate amount of media coverage. So when a team of Chinese astronauts performed a spacewalk outside of their newly launched space station for the first time, it was bound to attract some notice. The successful walk installed equipment, including cameras, outside of the new Tiangong (“Heavenly Palace”) station.
Celebrations to mark 60 years since second suborbital spaceflight
Celebrations in Indiana and Kansas are marking the 60 years since Virgil "Gus" Grissom, the second U.S. astronaut, made the short hop into space.
Swarm yields new insight into animal migration
Using measurements from ESA’s Earth Explorer Swarm mission, scientists have developed a new tool that links the strength and direction of the magnetic field to the flight paths of migrating birds. This is a huge step forward to understanding how animals use Earth’s magnetic field to navigate vast distances.
What Will ESA's EnVision Learn at Venus?
ESA's EnVision mission to Venus adds to the growing number of spacecraft investigating our sister planet. How will they work together to understand our sister planet'?
Mars helicopter Ingenuity spotted a 'heart' in Perseverance rover's tracks on 9th flight (video)
Ingenuity spotted a heart-shaped track created when the Perseverance Mars rover took a slight detour, likely to investigate an interesting rock or patch of dirt.
Rare 'hypernova' explosion detected on fringes of the Milky Way for the first time
Researchers found evidence of an elusive magneto-rotational hypernova explosion for the first time ever.
As space billionaires take flight, 'the right stuff' for space travel enters a new era
This month, two billionaires will take to the skies in a pair of historic suborbital spaceflights that mark a dramatic change in what it takes to become an astronaut.
Former NASA astronaut's return to space on private Axiom flight will be 'a dream come true' (exclusive)
Almost a decade after retiring from NASA, Michael López-Alegría is once again strapping in to launch to the final frontier.
US intelligence report on UFOs: No aliens, but government transparency and desire for better data might bring science to the UFO world
On June 25, 2021, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence released a much-anticipated report on UFOs to Congress.
This Week's Sky at a Glance, July 9 – 17
Bright Venus and tiny Mars come to conjunction low in the western twilight, as the crescent Moon stands watch. On the other side of the sky, Saturn and Jupiter rise after dark. And before moonlight comes back, delve the deep sky in Scorpius and Sagittarius.
Earth from Space: Gulf of Martaban
The Gulf of Martaban, an arm of the Andaman Sea located in southern Myanmar, is featured in this false-colour image captured by the Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission.
There are Probably Many More Earth-Sized Worlds Than Previously Believed
In the past decade, the discovery of extrasolar planets has accelerated immensely. To date, 4,424 exoplanets have been confirmed in 3,280 star systems, with another 7,453 awaiting confirmation. So far, most of these planets have been gas giants, with about 66% being similar to Jupiter or Neptune, while another 30% have been giant rocky planets (aka. “Super-Earths). Only a small fraction of confirmed exoplanets (less than 4%) have been similar in size to Earth.
The Streetlights in an Entire County Were Swapped to LEDs. Light Pollution got Worse
“The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry” – this famous paraphrase of Scottish poet Robert Burns sometimes sums up human ingenuity. That is exactly what happened when a county in Washington State decided to replace all of its county-owned streetlights with LEDs at least partially in an effort to combat light pollution. New research shows that they actually made the light pollution worse.
Multiple Earth-Mass Rogue Planets Have Been Discovered Drifting Through the Milky Way
Last year we reported on how the Roman Space Telescope’s backers hoped it would be able to detect rogue planets using a technique called “microlensing”. Now, a team led by Iain McDonald, then at the University of Manchester, beat them to the punch by finding a few examples of Earth-sized rogue planets using data from an already aging space telescope – Kepler.
Star cluster overrun with black holes may dissolve into space, study finds
A cluster composed of thousands of stars may dissolve to become a mob of dozens of black holes in a billion years.
China's Chang'e 5 moon landing site finally has a name
The landing site for China's complex Chang'e 5 moon sample and return mission now has a name: Statio Tianchuan.
Venus: The hot, hellish & volcanic planet
Venus is the brightest planet in our solar system, has a hellish atmosphere and is covered in volcanoes. Learn more about Venus here.