Observing the earliest stars is one of the holy Grails of astronomy. Now, a team at the University of Hong Kong led by astronomer Jane Lixin Dai is proposing a new method for detecting them. If it works, the approach promises to open a window on the origin of the cosmos itself.
Space News & Blog Articles
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Is there really a huge subsurface lake near Mars' south pole?
Evidence for a lake beneath the south polar cap of Mars may have been misinterpreted, a new study reports.
Solar flare blasts out strongest radiation storm since 2017
The sunspot that produced the historic geomagnetic storm that led to May's global auroras has made headlines again, producing the strongest radiation storm since 2017.
Take a video tour of Boeing’s Starliner with its 2 NASA astronauts
In a new video, NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams conduct a guided tour of Starliner, the Boeing craft that carried them to the International Space Station last week.
Landing on Pluto May Only Be A Hop Skip and Jump Away
There are plenty of crazy ideas for missions in the space exploration community. Some are just better funded than others. One of the early pathways to funding the crazy ideas is NASA’s Institute for Advanced Concepts. In 2017 and again in 2021, it funded a mission study of what most space enthusiasts would consider only a modestly ambitious goal but what those outside the community might consider outlandish—landing on Pluto.
The Milky Way’s Last Merger Event Was More Recent Than Thought
The Milky Way is only as massive as it is because of collisions and mergers with other galaxies. This is a messy process, and we see the same thing happening with other galaxies throughout the Universe. Currently, we see the Milky Way nibbling at its two satellite galaxies, the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds. Their fate is likely sealed, and they’ll be absorbed into our galaxy.
A 'new star' could appear in the sky any night now. Here's how to see the Blaze Star ignite
T Coronae Borealis will erupt with a magnificent explosion sometime between now and September, becoming visible to the unaided eye. Here's how to find it when it does.
"Death Star" Black Holes Can Swivel Their Million Light-Year Long Plasma Beams
Heavyweight black holes sometimes topple over on their sides, according to X-ray and radio observations of the jets these black holes power.
Astrophotographer gets close-up look at monster sunspot that led to May's global auroras
Astrophotographer Miguel Claro explains how he captured this incredible image of the sun's surface that includes the giant sunspot AR3664 that led to May's widespread auroras.
Boeing's 1st Starliner astronaut mission extended through June 18
The first astronaut mission of Boeing's Starliner capsule won't come back to Earth until June 18 at the earliest, NASA announced over the weekend.
'We thought it was impossible:' Water frost on Mars discovered near Red Planet's equator
Water frost has been found on huge volcanoes at the equator of Mars, a region where scientists thought frost was impossible.
Frosty volcanoes discovered in Mars’s tropics
ESA’s ExoMars and Mars Express missions have spotted water frost for the first time near Mars’s equator, a part of the planet where it was thought impossible for frost to exist.
A milestone in digital Earth modelling
Destination Earth is now live! Launched today during a ceremony at the EuroHPC LUMI Supercomputer Centre in Kajaani, Finland, Destination Earth provides unprecedented insights into the complexity of our planet to advance climate change adaption and environmental resilience modelling.
Youthful galaxy in the early universe was a heavy metal rebel
The existence of carbon in the early universe means that planets and perhaps even life could have formed sooner than anticipated.
The Milky Way's last major act of galactic cannibalism was surprisingly recent
Gaia discovers the Milky Way's last major act of galactic cannibalism was surprisingly recent, as the space telescope counts the "wrinkles" of our galaxy to retell its history."
'Supercharged rhino' black holes may have formed and died a second after the Big Bang
Tiny 'supercharged' black holes born just after the Big Bang may have been brief companions to primordial black holes, dying before the universe was a second old.
Starlink Flares Can Fool Anyone — Even Airline Pilots
Starlink satellites can flare as brightly as Venus, confusing ground observers and airline pilots alike.
Help us improve the ESA website
The ESA website is a key tool to help us communicate about our activities. We want to make sure that our website meets the needs and expectations of our audience. That's why we are launching a survey to collect your feedback and suggestions on how to improve the esa.int website.
Teaming up for space fun
PLAYMOBIL's little robot space explorer ROBert was reunited with ESA astronaut Matthias Maurer and ESA Kids mascot Paxi as they teamed up to meet young space fans at ESA's Space Days. Children had an absolute blast at ESA's Space Days, held at the PLAYMOBIL FunPark in Zirndorf, Germany from 30 May to 2 June 2024.
Instead of Losing its Atmosphere, an Exoplanet Puffed Up and Held Onto it
To date, astronomers have confirmed the existence of 5638 extrasolar planets in 4,199 star systems. In the process, scientists have found many worlds that have defied expectations. This is certainly the case regarding “hot Neptunes,” planets that are similar to the “ice giants” of the outer Solar System but orbit much closer to their stars. But when a Johns Hopkins University-led team of astronomers discovered TIC365102760 b (aka. Pheonix), they observed something entirely unexpected: a Neptune-sized planet that retained its atmosphere by puffing up.
Carbon is Surprisingly Abundant in an Early Galaxy
The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has once again found evidence that the early universe was a far more complex place than we thought. This time, it has detected the signature of carbon atoms present in a galaxy that formed just 350 million years after the Big Bang – one of the earliest galaxies ever observed.
