A Better Way to Turn Solar Sails

Solar sails are space's ultimate free ride, they get their propulsion from the Sun, so they don't need to carry propellant, but they come with their own challenges. A sail has a large surface area but...

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JWST Cycle 4 Spotlight, Part 2: The Distant Universe

Earlier this week, the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) announced the science objectives for the fourth cycle of the James Webb Space Telescope's (JWST) General Observations program - aka. Cy...

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Building a Solar Power Satellite from Moon Dust

Solar Power Satellite (SPS) advocates have been dreaming of using space resources to build massive constructions for decades. In-space Resource Utilization (ISRU) advocates would love to oblige them, ...

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JWST Cycle 4 Spotlight, Part 1: Exoplanets and Habitability

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For the Sake of Astronaut Health, Should we Make the ISS Dirtier?

There are several well-documented health risks that come from spending extended periods in microgravity, including muscle atrophy, bone density loss, and changes to organ function and health. In addition, astronauts have reported symptoms of immune dysfunction, including skin rashes and other inflammatory conditions. According to a new study, these issues could be due to the … Continue reading "For the Sake of Astronaut Health, Should we Make the ISS Dirtier?"

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Good News! The Subaru Telescope Confirms that Asteroid 2024 YR4 Will Not Hit Earth.

On December 27th, 2024, the Chilean station of the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) detected 2024 YR4. This Near-Earth Asteroid (NEA) belongs to the Apollo group, which orbits the Sun with a period of approximately four years. For most of its orbit, 2024 YR4 orbits far from Earth, but sometimes, it crosses Earth’s orbit. … Continue reading "Good News! The Subaru Telescope Confirms that Asteroid 2024 YR4 Will Not Hit Earth."

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Andromeda's Dwarf Galaxies Reveal Unique Star Formation Histories

Astronomers used a huge number of Hubble observations to study Andromeda's dwarf galaxies. They're very different from the Milky Way's.

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Rogue Planets are Born in Young Star Clusters

Astronomers are finding more and more rogue planets, but their origins are unclear. This research says they form in dense, open clusters.

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How Brine Shrimp Adapted to Mars-like Conditions

The effects of Climate Change on Earth’s living systems have led to a shift in biological studies, with attention now being focused on the boundaries within which life can survive. Studying life forms that can thrive in extreme environments (extremophiles) is also fundamental to predicting if humans can live and work in space for extended … Continue reading "How Brine Shrimp Adapted to Mars-like Conditions"

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A New Way to Measure Where the Milky Way's Dark Matter Is

Our Milky Way Galaxy is rich in dark matter. The problem is, we can’t see where it’s distributed because, well, it’s dark. We also don’t completely understand how it’s distributed—in clumps or what? A team at the University of Alabama-Huntsville has figured out a way to use solitary pulsars to map this stuff and unveil … Continue reading "A New Way to Measure Where the Milky Way’s Dark Matter Is"

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Could Neutrinos Tell Us About the Inside of the Sun?

Neutrinos generated through solar fusion reactions travel effortlessly through the Sun’s dense core. Each specific fusion process creates neutrinos with distinctive signatures, potentially providing a method to examine the Sun’s internal structure. Multiple neutrino detection observatories on Earth are now capturing these solar particles, which can be analysed alongside reactor-produced neutrinos with the data eventually … Continue reading "Could Neutrinos Tell Us About the Inside of the Sun?"

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A Giant Ribbon Can Pull Payloads Along

Innovation is a history of someone trying to build a better mouse trap – or at least that’s how it’s described in business school. But what happens if someone tries to build a better version of something that isn’t even commonly used yet? Maybe we will soon find out, as NASA recently supported an effort … Continue reading "A Giant Ribbon Can Pull Payloads Along"

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Photonic Lightsails are our Best Shot at Reaching Another Star

Chemical rockets are loud, noisy and can only get us so far. If we want to reach another star system, we’ll need something better—either super energy-dense fuel to improve the efficiency of chemical rockets or a way to push spacecraft using beams of energy, like a photonic lightsail. A new paper looks at the pros … Continue reading "Photonic Lightsails are our Best Shot at Reaching Another Star"

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DARPA Wants to Build Structures in Orbit, Without Needing a Launch from Earth

Any satellite sent to space must be able to deal with the battle with Earth’s gravitational pull, withstanding the harsh conditions of launch before reaching the zero-gravity environment it was designed for. But what if we could send raw materials into orbit and build the satellite there instead? DARPA (the Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency) … Continue reading "DARPA Wants to Build Structures in Orbit, Without Needing a Launch from Earth"

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Lucy Sees its Next Target: Asteroid Donaldjohanson

Lucy has its next target in its sights: asteroid Donaldjohanson. It'll remain a tiny dot for weeks, until the day of the flyby.

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Mars's Northern Ice Cap is Surprisingly Young

Analysis of Mars's north polar cap reveals its youth and that it's still depressing the surface underneath, revealing info about the mantle.

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The Solar System is Taking a Fascinating Journey Through the Milky Way

During the Miocene Epoch, the Earth cooled and glaciers and ice sheets expanded. Is our movement through the galaxy responsible?

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Is T Coronae Borealis About to Light Up?

Late is better than never for the ‘Blaze Star’ T Coronae Borealis.

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Perseverance Takes A Second Look At Some Ancient Rocks

The Perseverance Rover is examining ancient uplifted rock on the rim of Jezero Crater. It's taking its time and studying some spots twice.

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Rover Finds the Shoreline of an Ancient Beach on Mars

Data from China's Zhurong rover on Mars shows buried shorelines on the Red Planet that suggest the existence of ancient oceans.

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As Expected, the Threat from 2024 YR4 has Essentially Dropped to Zero

The threat posed by asteroid 2024 YR4 has diminished with more observations. It's now down to a 0.001% chance of impacting Earth.

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So This is How You Get Magnetars

Magnetars are a type of neutron star with the most powerful magnetic fields in the universe. They're formed by the death of massive stars, like pulsars and other neutron stars. So, what creates such intense magnetic fields? Thanks to a new simulation, astronomers have discovered that a magnetar probably forms when material ejected by the supernova explosion falls back down onto the star's surface, amplifying its dynamo effect.

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A New Explanation for Why Mars is Red

Well that’s ruined all my lectures! I’ve spent years talking about space and a go to fact is the red colour of Mars. It’s been long believed that it was caused by the same chemical process that creates rust on Earth, a new paper suggests this is not the case! The team of researchers simulated … Continue reading "A New Explanation for Why Mars is Red"

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This Laser Could Find Fossil Microbes on Mars

Researchers are developing a new method to search for microbial fossils on Mars based on laser technology.

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Can We Develop a More Accurate Habitable Zone Using Sulfur?

The habitable zone is where planets could have liquid water on their surfaces, but not if they're actually habitable. In a new paper, astronomers propose a new way to map the inner edge of habitable zones by searching for sulfur dioxide (SO?) in the atmospheres of exoplanets. If there's SO?, this indicates that the planet doesn't have liquid water on its surface. Telescopes like Webb could scan planets for SO?, creating a more accurate map of habitable zones.

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