The lifecycle of a star is regularly articulated as formation taking place inside vast clouds of gas and dust and then ending either as a planetary nebula or supernova explosion. In the last 70 years however, there seems to be a number of massive stars that are just disappearing! According to stellar evolution models, they should be exploding as supernova but instead, they just seem to vanish. A team of researchers have studied the behaviour of star VFTS 243 – a main sequence star with a black hole companion – and now believe it, like the others, have just collapsed, imploding into a black hole!
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What’s Under This Hole on the Surface of Mars?
Human visitors to Mars need somewhere to shelter from the radiation, temperature swings, and dust storms that plague the planet. If the planet is anything like Earth or the Moon, it may have large underground lava tubes that could house shelters. Collapsed sections of lava tubes, called skylights, could provide access to these subterranean refuges.
Starliner capsule's 1st astronaut mission cleared for June 1 liftoff
The first-ever astronaut launch of Boeing's Starliner capsule, known as Crew Flight Test, is "go" for its planned June 1 launch, NASA announced today (May 29).
SpaceX fuels Starship megarocket again to prep for test flight (photos)
SpaceX fueled up its Starship rocket again on Tuesday (May 28), continuing preparations for the giant vehicle's upcoming test flight.
Watch Russian cargo ship launch toward the ISS this morning
Russia will launch the robotic Progress 88 freighter toward the International Space Station early this morning (May 30), and you can watch the action live.
Sorry Spock, But “Vulcan” Isn’t a Planet After All
In 2018, astronomers detected an exoplanet around the star 40 Eridani. It’s about 16 light-years away in the constellation Eridanus. The discovery generated a wave of interest for a couple of reasons. Not only is it the closest Super-Earth around a star similar to our Sun, but the star system is the fictional home of Star Trek’s Vulcan science officer, Mr. Spock.
NASA's Lucy Mission Reveals Asteroid's Strange Moon
The asteroid Dinkinesh surprised NASA’s Lucy mission when it turned out to have a moon. Now, scientists are taking a closer look at the pair’s formation.
Watch Chinese company launch 4 satellites to orbit from ship at sea (video)
The Chinese company Galactic Energy sent four satellites into orbit on Wednesday (May 29) with the second sea launch of the Ceres-1 solid rocket.
A Mini-Neptune in the Habitable Zone in a Binary Star System
Sometimes, it seems like habitable worlds can pop up almost anywhere in the universe. A recent paper from a team of citizen scientists led by researchers at the Flatiron Institute might have found an excellent candidate to look for one – on a moon orbiting a mini-Neptune orbiting a star that is also orbited by another star.
'Star Trek #500' cover showcases a commanding collection of cosmic captains
A preview of IDW Publishing's "Star Trek #500" special issue that pays homage to the series' many unforgettable starship captains arriving this year on Star Trek Day.
Watch 1st 'Star Wars: Hunters' gameplay trailer ahead of June 4 launch (video)
We’ll soon be playing 'Star Wars: Hunters' on Nintendo Switch and mobile phones, and the latest gameplay trailer has a fun look at game modes and more.
Massive sunspot responsible for May's epic auroras unleashes major X-class solar flare (video)
Sunspot region AR3697 has returned — unleashing yet another X-class solar flare. Watch it erupt from the sun's eastern limb here.
Boeing Starliner astronauts arrive at launch site for 1st flight test on June 1 (photos)
NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams are back near their launch site in Florida ahead of their Crew Flight Test launch on June 1. A key flight readiness review today will confirm if Boeing Starliner is ready to go, after a helium leak.
Astronomy Generates Mountains of Data. That’s Perfect for AI
Consumer-grade AI is finding its way into people’s daily lives with its ability to generate text and images and automate tasks. But astronomers need much more powerful, specialized AI. The vast amounts of observational data generated by modern telescopes and observatories defies astronomers’ efforts to extract all of its meaning.
Real-life 'Star Trek' planet was actually just an illusion caused by a 'jittery' star
Just like the fictional planet of Vulcan was wiped out in Star Trek, new research has destroyed the real-life version of Spock's homeworld, albeit in a less violent fashion.
Asteroid 'Dinky,' visited by NASA's Lucy spacecraft, birthed its own moon
Dinkinesh, the asteroid visited by NSA’s Lucy mission in 2023, has a small moon that is made from two objects touching each other.
That giant sunspot that supercharged auroras on Earth? It's back and may amp up the northern lights with June solar storms.
Old sunspot region AR 13664, now renamed AR 13697, is back. With its re-arrival, can we expect a resurgence of solar activity?
Doctor Who '73 Yards': Who exactly is that old woman following Ruby Sunday?
The TARDIS lands in Wales, where the Doctor disappears and Ruby finds herself at the heart of a creepy folk horror tale in episode 4 of Doctor Who, "73 Yards."
Fly across Nili Fossae with ESA’s Mars Express
Video: 00:03:29
Mars’s surface is covered in all manner of scratches and scars. Its many marks include the fingernail scratches of Tantalus Fossae, the colossal canyon system of Valles Marineris, the oddly orderly ridges of Angustus Labyrinthus, and the fascinating features captured in today’s video release from Mars Express: the cat scratches of Nili Fossae.
Virtual flying lessons for Hera asteroid mission
As ESA’s Hera spacecraft for planetary defence goes through pre-flight testing, the system that will steer it around its target binary asteroid system is also undergoing its final checks for space.
Taking EarthCARE into orbit
Video: 00:02:36
ESA’s EarthCARE satellite lifted off on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, US, on 29 May at 00:20 CEST (28 May, 15:20 local time).
