To stand the best chance of detecting technosignatures, SETI should survey exoplanets with atmospheres that are at least 18% oxygen.
Space News & Blog Articles
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China launches 2 sets of commercial weather satellites in 3-day span (video)
On Dec. 24 and Dec. 27, China launched clusters of small satellites to provide commercial meteorological data.
Exoplanet-hunting instrument measures Jupiter's wild wind speeds
A Very Large Telescope instrument designed to study exoplanets has turned its focus to our own cosmic neighborhood to measure Jupiter's wind speeds.
Hubble observes a changing exoplanet atmosphere
An international team of astronomers has assembled and reprocessed observations of the exoplanet WASP-121 b that were collected with the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope in the years 2016, 2018 and 2019. This provided them with a unique dataset that allowed them not only to analyse the atmosphere of WASP-121 b, but also to compare the state of the exoplanet’s atmosphere across several years.
Male astronauts headed to Mars could thrive on this vegetarian salad
It turns out the optimal space meal for male astronauts is a tasty vegetarian salad, using ingredients grown in space that offer micronutrients needed to compensate for extra calories burned.
For Astrobotic, big risk (and bigger reward) ride on private Peregrine moon lander's Jan. 8 launch
Pittsburgh-based company Astrobotic is gearing up for the Jan. 8 launch of its Peregrine lander, which will try to become the first private spacecraft to land on the moon.
Doubt Cast on Exomoon Candidates
Exomoon candidates are tantalizing but, according to new research, perhaps unfounded.
Iron Snow Could Explain the Magnetic Fields at Worlds Like Ganymede
Jupiter’s largest moon, Ganymede, features a surprisingly strong magnetic field for its size. Tidal effects from Jupiter continually stretch and squeeze the moon, keeping its core warm and driving the magnetic field. But the exact geological processes occurring within the core are not fully understood. Now, a new experimental study has put one of the leading models of core dynamics to the test: the formation of crystalized ‘iron snow’.
China’s FAST Observatory is Playing a Key Role in the Search for Aliens
Some years ago I rememeber running the SETI at Home screensaver and would watch it for hours to see if any peaks appeared naively thinking they might be signals from an alien civilisation! There is no doubt that the search for extraterrestrials (ET) has captivated the minds of many people across the years. The search has of course to date, been unsuccesful despite multiple observations that seem to suggest the conditions for life across the cosmos may actually be more common than we first thought. Now Chinese agencies are funding projects to use the Five Hundred Meter Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST) to conduct searches for alien signals.
Ingenuity’s 69th Flight is its Farthest So Far
When NASA decided to send the little Ingenuity rotorcraft to Mars on the belly of the Perseverance rover, they weren’t certain of success. Nothing like it had ever been attempted in Mars’ extremely thin atmosphere. Mission planners hoped and planned for a total of five flights, enough for a technology demonstration.
'Cooling glass' could fight climate change by reflecting solar radiation back into space
To combat increasing global temperatures, scientists have developed a new cooling glass paint which effectively uses space as a heat sink.
Ripples in the oldest known spiral galaxy may shed light on the origins of our Milky Way
Observations have revealed the first-ever seismic waves seen in an ancient galaxy, offering new insight on the origins of our very own Milky Way.
Juno Makes its Closest Flyby of Io
NASA’s Juno spacecraft has been getting closer and closer to Jupiter’s volcanic moon Io with each recent orbit. Juno is in its 57th orbit of Jupiter, and on December 30th, Juno came to within 1500 km (930 miles) of Io’s surface. It’s been more than 20 years since a spacecraft came this close.
Live coverage: SpaceX Falcon 9 to launch Ovzon-3 satellite, kicking off launch year at the Cape
The orbital launch year is about to kick off in Florida in the same way it ended 2023: with the launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. On board the workhorse launch vehicle is a communications satellite for Sweden-based Ovzon. Liftoff of the rocket is set at the opening of a ten-minute launch window that begins at 6:04 p.m. EST (2304 UTC). It will mark the second Falcon 9 flight in less than 24 hours, following the launch of 21 Starlink satellites from California late Tuesday.
Up next for Endeavour LA exhibit: Tank lift and shuttle shrink wrap
Just days after it was taken off exhibit and as its external tank is scheduled for its brief return to flight, NASA's retired space shuttle Endeavour is heading under wraps.
The Oldest Known Spiral Galaxy Has Ripples Like the Surface of a Pond
Astronomers have detected pond-like ripples across the gaseous disk of an ancient galaxy. What caused the ripples, and what do they tell us about the distant galaxy’s formation and evolution? And whatever happened, how has it affected the galaxy and its main job: forming stars?
The inside of a dead star might look like a gigantic atomic nucleus
The mystery of what dwells within dead stars could be solved at last, thanks to supercomputer simulations that show neutron stars are comprised of "cold quark matter."
The Most Massive Neutron Stars Probably Have Cores of Quark Matter
Atoms are made of three things: protons, neutrons, and electrons. Electrons are a type of fundamental particle, but protons and neutrons are composite particles made of up and down quarks. Protons have 2 ups and 1 down, while neutrons have 2 downs and 1 up. Because of the curious nature of the strong force, these quarks are always bound to each other, so they can never be truly free particles like electrons, at least in the vacuum of empty space. But a new study in Nature Communications finds that they can liberate themselves within the hearts of neutron stars.
James Webb Space Telescope could look for 'carbon-lite' exoplanet atmospheres in search for alien life
If the James Webb Space Telescope detects depleted carbon dioxide in a planet's atmosphere, that could indicate water.
Vulcan rocket to launch private Peregrine moon lander on debut liftoff Jan. 8. How to watch live.
The private Peregrine moon lander is scheduled to launch Jan. 8 on the debut flight of ULA's Vulcan Centaur rocket, and you can follow along with the mission during a variety of prelaunch events.
Watch a Full Martian Day, From Dawn to Dusk
On November 8th, NASA’s Curiosity Rover paused its incessant science work and just watched the day unfold on Mars. The rover used its black-and-white Hazard-Avoidance Cameras (Hazcams) to watch an entire 12-hour day on Mars as the shifting Sun cast shadows across the Martian landscape. NASA chose this day because of the Mars solar conjunction when the Sun interferes with communications with the Red Planet, meaning the rover doesn’t do any roving about. The timelapse comprises 25 frames from both the front and rear Hazcams.
