Despite its great oceans, Earth is not really an ocean world. It has less water than icy moons such as Europa and Enceladus, a relatively thin nitrogen-rich atmosphere, and vast continents that rise above sea level. A true ocean world would have no continents, a warm sea hundreds of kilometers deep, and a thick hydrogen and water-rich atmosphere. They are known as hydrogen-ocean planets or hycean worlds. While we’ve long thought they exist, the James Webb Space Telescope may now have found one.
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'Star Trek's' Celia Rose Gooding reveals how she channels Lt. Uhura interview excerpt (exclusive)
Celia Rose Gooding reflects on her "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" role as a young Lt. Nyota Uhura in this exclusive excerpt from "Star Trek Explorer" magazine.
OSIRIS-Rex's Dante Lauretta shares final preparations for Sept. 24 asteroid-sample return
NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission will see a sample of an asteroid return to Earth on Sept. 24. Here's how the mission's head scientist feels about the chances of success.
'Artificial star' helps test satellite navigation systems (photo)
The builders of star trackers need to test their tools before launching them aboard satellites. And that's where star simulators come in handy.
Webb discovers methane and carbon dioxide in atmosphere of K2-18 b
A new investigation by an international team of astronomers using data from the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope into K2-18 b, an exoplanet 8.6 times as massive as Earth, has revealed the presence of carbon-bearing molecules including methane and carbon dioxide. The discovery adds to recent studies suggesting that K2-18 b could be a Hycean exoplanet, one which has the potential to possess a hydrogen-rich atmosphere and a water ocean-covered surface.
Hitchhiking microbes on ISS cargo ships can make astronauts sick. Scientists have a solution
A specific lubricant seems to be a promising solution to mitigate microbial biofilms onboard ISS.
Japan's SLIM moon lander is carrying this transforming ball robot (it's not BB-8)
A small, spherical robot will roll and walk across the lunar surface thanks to some children's toy technologies.
Meteosat Third Generation: painting the full picture
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In a significant leap forward for meteorology, the preliminary data obtained by Meteosat Third Generation’s two instruments, the Flexible Combined Imager (FCI) and the Lightning Imager (LI), were successfully combined today for the first time – highlighting their complementary capabilities. This first set of animations gives us a preview of the system’s future impact.
Astronaut Frank Rubio breaks US record on way to spending a year in space
Frank Rubio didn't set out to break a record, but today on the International Space Station, he will do just that. Rubio, a NASA astronaut, will have flown the longest mission in U.S. history.
Mysterious moonquake traced to Apollo 17 lunar lander base
A reanalysis of Apollo 17 seismic data has revealed that the Apollo 17 lunar lander base is creating its own moonquakes.
Galileo becomes faster for every user
ESA satnav receiver vans – driving between the busy heart of Rotterdam, quiet countryside, and the Agency’s ESTEC technical centre – have confirmed that Galileo signals now provide a first position fix more rapidly, while also offering improved robustness in challenging environments and streamlined access to time information.
Kombucha: Ally for Moon and Mars
ESA is testing kombucha cultures, famous for their fermentative properties and potential health benefits, to assess their resilience in space. These cultures hold great promise for supporting humans on the Moon and Mars.
Polaris is the Closest, Brightest Cepheid Variable. Very Recently, Something Changed.
When you look up in the night sky and find your way to the North Star, you are looking at Polaris. Not only is it the brightest star in the Ursa Minor constellation (the Little Dipper), but its position relative to the north celestial pole (less than 1° away) makes it useful for orienteering and navigation. Since the age of modern astronomy, scientists have understood that the star is a binary system consisting of an F-type yellow supergiant (Polaris Aa) and a smaller main-sequence yellow dwarf (Polaris B). Further observations revealed that Polaris Aa is a classic Cepheid variable, a stellar class that pulses regularly.
The Closest Black Holes to Earth are Probably Hidden in This Nearby Star Cluster
In the constellation Taurus, there is a cluster of a few hundred stars known as the Hyades. The cluster is just 150 light-years away, and it could be harboring a stellar-mass black hole.
Experience the Overview Effect with the Felix & Paul VR trilogy 'Space Explorers: Blue Marble'
Felix & Paul Studios announces the release of the VR space trilogy, "Space Explorers: Blue Marble"
Globular cluster glitters in stunning new Hubble photo
A new photo from the Hubble Space Telescope captures a glittering globular cluster deep in our Milky Way galaxy.
Astronaut wields new space camera to see lightning strikes on Earth
European astronaut Andreas Mogensen captured incredible footage of lightning strikes during just 10 days in space in 2015. He plans a deeper study during his new six-month stay on the International Space Station, with a new camera.
India's Chandrayaan-3 robotic moon explorers don't have heaters. Can they survive the frigid lunar night?
India's Chandrayaan-3 moon lander and rover are facing their first lunar night. Their chances of waking up at dawn whittle down to luck.
Every Night and Every Morning, the Moon Rumbles With Tiny Quakes
The Moon was geologically active between 3.7 and 2.5 billion years ago, experiencing quakes, volcanic eruptions, and outgassing. Thanks to the Moon being an airless body, evidence of this past has been carefully preserved in the form of extinct volcanoes, lava tubes, and other features. While the Moon has been geologically inert for billions of years, it still experiences small seismic events due to tidal flexing (because of Earth’s gravitational pull) and temperature variations. These latter events happen regularly and are known as “moonquakes.”
