Space News & Blog Articles

One feature of the Solar System that doesn't require a complex explanation is the cratered surfaces of some of the planets and moons. These surfaces have been pummeled by impacts, and on some bodies, these impacts are defining features. The craters tell the tale of our Solar System's history.

Additive manufacturing, also known as 3D printing, has a proven track record for reducing waste and efficiently producing made-to-order tools and components. For years, NASA has been testing the technology aboard the International Space Station (ISS) to investigate how it may increase astronauts' self-sufficiency. This is especially true of missions far from Earth, where opportunities for resupply are few and far between. With their latest experiment, the JPL Additive Compliant Canister (JACC), NASA demonstrated another application: 3D printing space antennas.

The stable Solar System we see around us today took time to develop. Not only did it take time for planetary orbits to stabilize, but planetary atmospheres also needed time to evolve. In fact, planetary orbits and evolving atmospheres work together to determine what a solar system eventually looks like, and photoevaporation drives the process.

Ever since physicist Freeman Dyson first proposed the concept in 1960, the “Dyson sphere” has been the holy grail of techno-signature hunters. A highly advanced civilization could build a “sphere” (or, in our more modern understanding, a “swarm” of smaller components) around their host star to harvest its entire energy output. We know, in theory at least, that such a swarm could exist - but what would it actually look like if we were able to observe one? A new paper available in pre-print on arXiv, and soon to be published in Universe from Amirnezam Amiri of the University of Arkansas digs into that question - and in the process discloses the types of stars that are the most likely to find them around.

Superliminous supernovae are miraculous events. For astronomers, they also provide a vital tool for measuring cosmic distances and the rate at which the Universe is expanding. As part of the Cosmic Distance Ladder, these incredibly bright stellar explosions are the "standard candles" for objects billions of light-years away. In a rare event, researchers from the University of Munich, using the Large Binocular Telescope (LBT) in Arizona, witnessed a superluminous supernova 10 billion light-years away that was far brighter than most explosions of its kind.

Satellite imaging is increasingly important to every field from crop monitoring to poverty reduction. So it’s no surprise that there have been more and more satellites launched to try to meet that growing demand. But with more satellites comes more risk for collision - and the debris field that comes after the collision. A new paper in Advanced in Space Research from John Mackintosh and his co-authors at the University of Manchester looks at how we might use mission design to mitigate some of the hazards of increasing the number of satellites even more.

Aging stars are prolific producers of dust, and the dust plays an important role in the cosmos. Their dust is ejected into the interstellar medium (ISM) where it is taken up in the next generation of stars and planets. This is how stars seed their environments with metals, elements heavier than hydrogen and helium, which are necessary for rocky planets and life to form.