How to sail into interstellar space without melting
In new studies, astronomers from the University of Pennsylvania and the University of California, Los Angeles concluded that if spacecraft are to withstand interstellar...
Supermassive black hole creates massive bubbles at center of Milky Way
Since 2020, when the X-ray telescope eRosita took images of the bubbles, astronomers have debated their origin.
The new study also shows the jet began...
Moon’s orbit could be a natural gravitational wave detector
Gravitational waves, predicted by Albert Einstein at the start of the 20th century and detected for the first time in 2015, are the new...
Astronomers flag three exoplanets that are actually stars
The first worlds beyond our solar system were discovered three decades ago. Since then, close to 5,000 exoplanets have been confirmed in our galaxy.
Astronomers...
Comet 67P has abundant oxygen? No, it’s just an illusion
When the European Space Agency’s Rosetta spacecraft discovered abundant molecular oxygen bursting from comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko (67P) in 2015, it puzzled scientists.
They had never seen...
This snake-like robot will search for water on the moon
The ouroboros—the ancient symbol of a snake swallowing its own tail—generally represents infinity and the natural, endless cycles of the universe.
But for members of...
This comet emits ancient molecular oxygen from its nucleus
Comet 67P/Churyomov-Gerasimenko – arguably the most-studied comet in history – has yielded a cosmic surprise:
It emits molecular oxygen drawn from its nucleus.
Comet comas –...
Scientists reveal the massive bubbles at center of Milky Way galaxy
In 2020, the X-ray telescope eRosita took images of two enormous bubbles extending far above and below the center of our galaxy.
Since then, astronomers...
Scientists find the second known Earth Trojan asteroid
Astronomers observed 2020 XL5 and confirmed it is an Earth Trojan asteroid orbiting the sun along the same path as Earth.
2020 XL5 is the...
New Dragonfly telescope is a galactic gas detector
The Dragonfly telescope is undergoing a metamorphosis.
For the past decade, the Dragonfly Telephoto Array — designed by Yale’s Pieter van Dokkum and the University...