INFORMATION

What new methods can be employed to help astronomers distinguish the light from an exoplanet and its host star so the former’s atmosphere can be better explored? This is what a recent study accepted to Astronomy & Astrophysics hopes to address as an international team of researchers investigated how a novel and proposed telescopic instrument that could be capable of characterizing exoplanet atmospheres in new and exciting ways. This study has the potential to help scientists develop novel tools for examining exoplanets and whether they could possess life as we know it, or even as we don’t know it. from Universe Today https://ift.tt/qJ7CE6A via IFTTT

NASA announced that Artemis II, the first crewed mission to the Moon since the Apollo Era, will launch by February 2026. The crew has named their spacecraft "Integrity" to honor the efforts those working tirelessly to realize NASA's long-awaited return to the Moon. from Universe Today https://ift.tt/7ZdyKeg via IFTTT

A new article published in The Astrophysical Journal explores a new theory of how Type Ia supernovae, the powerful stellar explosions that astronomers use to measure distances across the universe, might be triggered. Traditionally, these supernovae occur when a white dwarf star explodes after interacting with a companion star. But this explanation has limitations, leaving open questions about how these events line up with the consistent patterns astronomers actually observe. from Universe Today https://ift.tt/cU8owNr via IFTTT

Tumbleweeds offer iconic visual depictions of desolate landscapes. Though typically associated with the American West, the most common type of tumbleweed actually originated in Europe, and is known scientifically as salsola targus, or more commonly as Russian thistle. So its only fitting that a team led by European scientists has some up with an idea based on the tumbleweed’s unique properties that could one day have groups of them exploring Mars. from Universe Today https://ift.tt/NwSQ2FB via IFTTT

Visual observations have, over the years had to battle light pollution, weather, aircraft and even satellite constellations. Radio observations have until recently, been reasonably well protected however in their attempt to preserve the “quiet skies” a team of radio astronomers have secured a significant victory. For the first time, they've joined forces with the International Special Committee on Radio Interference, a committee that sets global standards for preventing electronic interference. from Universe Today https://ift.tt/O47vGMu via IFTTT

Are we alone in the universe? It’s a question that has plagued us since the ancient Greeks posed it for the first time in the 5th century and since then we have tried all manner of ways to reach out to our alien cousins….if they exist. We have fixed golden plaques to space probes, beamed messages out from radio telescopes and in 2012 even sent 10,000 ‘X’ (formerly twitter) messages out to three star systems with the hashtag #ChasingUFOs! A new tool has been developed, rather mundane compared to these other examples, which is no bigger than a soft drink can and could detect signs of life on alien worlds with unprecedented precision. from Universe Today https://ift.tt/EC07x3Y via IFTTT

The JWST examined the most vigorous star-forming region in the entire galaxy. It's called Sagittarius B2, and while astronomers have studied it in detail, no other telescope reveals its details the way the JWST can. from Universe Today https://ift.tt/TulgAwD via IFTTT

When astronauts head out into space they are protected from deadly radiation by their spacecraft and on space walks, their space suit. Back on Earth, we too are protected but by an invisible bubble that’s known as the heliosphere. The heliosphere has been subjected to numerous studies over the years but NASA’s newest mission is set to give us the most detailed of it map ever created. from Universe Today https://ift.tt/JzZne9d via IFTTT

Mercury's large metallic core is 70% of its mass, which is way more than the other rocky planets. Scientists have wondered if a collision with a much larger body stripped away much of its mantle and crust, and Mercury is only the remnant core of a once much larger planet. New simulations show that's not quite what happened. from Universe Today https://ift.tt/0fS3DAb via IFTTT

NASA's Chandra X-ray space telescope has found a black hole that's growing at an extremely rapid pace. The telescope is seeing the black hole, which has about one billion solar masses, when the Universe was less than one billion years old. Studying its rapid accretion could explain how some black holes become so massive so soon after the Big Bang. from Universe Today https://ift.tt/2eZR4fP via IFTTT

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A team of scientists in south Australia have discovered tiny pieces of glass that tell the story of a catastrophic event that happened 11 million years ago, an asteroid impact so massive it should have left a crater the size of a major city, yet mysteriously, no one has found it. This discovery represents only the sixth known tektite field ever identified on Earth. The glassy fragments, scattered across the landscape are forcing scientists to reconsider what they know about ancient asteroid impacts and the geological features they leave behind. from Universe Today https://ift.tt/oe6ZsfF via IFTTT

How does spaceflight influence sarcopenia, which is a common age-related muscle decline, specifically for elder adults? This is what a recent study published in Stem Cell Reports hopes to address as a team of researchers investigated how microgravity influences muscle cell function. This study has the potential to help scientists, mission planners, astronauts, and the public better understand the long-term health impacts of microgravity on muscle decline and the steps that can be taken to mitigate it. from Universe Today https://ift.tt/7mGjpe1 via IFTTT

Some NASA missions are designed for very specific tasks, but all of them help feed into our understanding of our universe, and in some cases our pale blue dot, work. A new mission to study one of the more esoteric parts of the atmosphere is scheduled to launch today, and over the next 2-3 years will monitor the outer reaches of our planet’s atmosphere. from Universe Today https://ift.tt/JuFkVTm via IFTTT

Researchers working with a sample from asteroid Ryugu discovered that water flowed on the asteroid almost one billion years after it formed. The finding suggests that carbon-rich asteroids could've delivered far more water to Earth than thought. from Universe Today https://ift.tt/MKA3WcZ via IFTTT

A team of researchers from Kent have demonstrated that it is possible to grow tea in lunar soil as part of a wider field of work to explore how future astronauts living and working on the moon can grow their own food. from Universe Today https://ift.tt/s9uaQkR via IFTTT

A new study, based on years of precise data from telescopes such as the Dark Energy Survey in Chile, above, suggests that the mysterious force known as dark energy may be evolving over time rather than constant. from Universe Today https://ift.tt/EY97our via IFTTT

Earth’s History Written in the Stars: Zircon Crystals Reveal Galactic Influence kerryhensley45577 Tue, 09/16/2025 - 10:27 Earth’s History Written in the Stars: Zircon Crystals Reveal Galactic Influence https://ift.tt/sfCbKcm from Universe Today https://ift.tt/8SnotOC via IFTTT

Let’s say you’ve picked the perfect spot for building a settlement on Mars. But this opens up some pretty nasty questions. Building…what? And building….with what? from Universe Today https://ift.tt/1hGpLrw via IFTTT

The Hubble Space Telescope has spotted a white dwarf that's devouring a chunk of an icy body. It suggests that even in distant solar systems, icy bodies from the distant reaches can deliver water to planets in the inner solar system. from Universe Today https://ift.tt/H6C40jO via IFTTT

Let’s say you’re in charge of a Mars mission. Okay boss, where do we land? from Universe Today https://ift.tt/jnByL4K via IFTTT

NASA says we now know of 6,000 confirmed exoplanets. At first there was just a trickle of discoveries. But the pace has quickened and shows no signs of slowing down. from Universe Today https://ift.tt/lamgKCc via IFTTT

Subtle astronomical events can still produce memorable scenes, hidden away in distant locales. Such a spectacle goes down on Sunday/Monday, September 21st/22nd, with a partial solar eclipse. Although the eclipse only skims the southernmost portion of the South Pacific, viewers along the eastern coast of Australia, Antarctica and all of New Zealand will see an unforgettable sight, as a partially-eclipsed Sun rises out of the sea. from Universe Today https://ift.tt/GK1QTDd via IFTTT

You know, if you take away the lack of air and water, the weaker Sun, the lower gravity, and the toxic soil, Mars isn’t all that bad of a place to live. from Universe Today https://ift.tt/q1J3wYH via IFTTT

It seems like most of the planets have fled the evening scene. But that’s about to change this week. Saturn reaches opposition on Sunday, September 21st, passing closest to the Earth at just over 8.5 Astronomical Units (AU) or 1.3 million kilometers distant, and rising opposite to the setting Sun. This marks the best time to view the ringed world, as it dominates the night sky from sunset until sunrise. from Universe Today https://ift.tt/0EJIO12 via IFTTT

Blue Origin's breakthrough in-space resource utilization system aims to turn lunar regolith into solar arrays, metals, and breathable and propellant-grade oxygen, enabling sustainable robotic and human Moon missions and future Mars exploration. from Universe Today https://ift.tt/HTzR8L9 via IFTTT

Sometimes, it seems as if the Universe is literally smiling down upon us. If skies are clear this coming Friday September 19th, be sure to wake up early to catch a bizarre celestial scene as Venus, Regulus and the slim crescent Moon huddle together in the eastern dawn. This triple play is a complicated one, evolving one of the best conjunctions for 2025. from Universe Today https://ift.tt/fLtcjar via IFTTT

The earliest images of 3I/ATLAS, newly uncovered by Michigan State University, reveal how the interstellar object evolved as it traveled through our solar system—and how other distant solar systems might be different from our own. from Universe Today https://ift.tt/G394OTp via IFTTT

What are the constants of nature? What do they do? What do they tell us…and what do they not tell us? from Universe Today https://ift.tt/F3pfy4m via IFTTT

Lasers aren’t just useful for entertaining cats or pointing out features of powerpoint slides. They can also drill holes on icy extraterrestrial bodies from comets to Mars polar caps. At least according to a new paper in Acta Astronautica by researchers at the Technical University of Dresden, who describe a new laser drill for use on icy surfaces throughout our solar system. from Universe Today https://ift.tt/Bk1ceW3 via IFTTT

Seeking refuge in caves is natural. Animals do it, and so did our ancestors. Future lunar astronauts may do the same when they visit the Moon. Lunar caves can provide protection from the harsh radiation that bathes the Moon, the wild temperature swings on its surface, and from meteorites that can damage spacesuits and equipment. But these caves need to be explored first, and new research outlines how a team of three diverse robots working together could do the job. from Universe Today https://ift.tt/G3KFj4I via IFTTT

It’s really quite reasonable to assume the stars don’t move! Indeed that was the opinion of our ancestors however we now know they are far from stationary. Imagine a star racing through space so fast it could travel from Earth to the Moon in just three minutes. These are known as hypervelocity white dwarfs and they have puzzled astronomers for years. Now, a team of researchers have finally cracked the mystery of how they get launched at such incredible speeds. from Universe Today https://ift.tt/EQWU0nH via IFTTT

When an interstellar object (ISO) travels through our inner Solar System, the immediate question is "Where did it come from?" There are only fleeing opportunities to study these, since their trajectories take them out of the Solar System pretty quickly. A new research effort aims to understand where the most recent ISO, 3I/ATLAS, originated. from Universe Today https://ift.tt/5M3XbN9 via IFTTT

NASA Says Mars Rover Discovered Potential Biosignature Last Year - https://ift.tt/JNkcg1p Redox-driven mineral and organic associations in Jezero Crater, Mars - https://ift.tt/erJTt1j from Universe Today https://ift.tt/F5SUCBY via IFTTT

Are we alone in the universe? It’s a question that has, despite extensive and sometimes ingenious attempts, yet to be answered. In one of the most ambitious searches for extraterrestrial intelligence ever conducted, Chinese scientists have used the world's largest radio telescope to scan the famous TRAPPIST-1 star system for signs of alien technology. The Five hundred metre Aperture Spherical Telescope is the world's largest single dish radio telescope, and the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) is one of its five key science objectives. from Universe Today https://ift.tt/vliLQH7 via IFTTT

Science advances through data that don’t fit our current understanding. At least that was Thomas Kuhn’s theory in his famous On the Structure of Scientific Revolutions. So scientists should welcome new data that challenges their understanding of how the universe works. A recent paper, available in pre-print on arXiv, using data from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) might just have found some data that can do that. It looked at an exoplanet around a millisecond pulsar and found its atmosphere is made up of almost entirely pure carbon. from Universe Today https://ift.tt/MiDyS7K via IFTTT

Traditionally, black holes are usually thought to reside at the centers of galaxies. However, a research team led by Dr. An Tao from the Shanghai Astronomical Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has discovered a wandering black hole in a dwarf galaxy located about 230 million light-years away. from Universe Today https://ift.tt/c0BGzCN via IFTTT

Interstellar comets are rare, and astronomers don't like to miss an opportunity to observe one. Now the Gemini South Telescope has taken a turn at imaging Comet 3I/ATLAS, the visitor from another star system. The images help show that the comet's tail is growing as it approaches the Sun. from Universe Today https://ift.tt/jZTaGYm via IFTTT

A team of Japanese astronomers has detected protostellar outflow jets in the outer regions of the Milky Way. This is the first detection of this type of jets in this part of the galaxy. Since this part of the galaxy is similar to the more ancient Universe, it's evidence that star formation in the modern Universe is similar to star formation in the ancient Universe. from Universe Today https://ift.tt/KgNfQl6 via IFTTT

Rocky material that impacted Mars lies scattered in giant lumps throughout the planet’s mantle, offering clues about Mars’ interior and its ancient past. Data provided by the now-retired InSight lander is shedding light on how this shaped Mars' structure and evolution. from Universe Today https://ift.tt/RnPLChW via IFTTT

Astronomers have detected an explosion of gamma rays that repeated several times over the course of a day, an event unlike anything ever witnessed before. It took place in a distant galaxy and was first detected on July 2nd. Scientists are trying to understand what could've caused it. from Universe Today https://ift.tt/7uHBOkS via IFTTT

Extremophiles are a favorite tool of astrobiologists. But not only are they good for understanding the kind of extreme environments that life can survive in, sometimes they are useful as actual tools, creating materials necessary for other life, like oxygen, in those extreme environments. A recent paper from Daniella Billi of the University of Rome Tor Vergata , published in pre-print form in Acta Astronautica, reviews how one particular extremophile fills the role of both useful test subject and useful tool all at once. from Universe Today https://ift.tt/iOsU79E via IFTTT

Stellar mass black holes have only a few solar masses, and are much different from their gigantic counterparts, supermassive black holes. When these modestly-massive black holes are actively accreting matter, new research shows that the process is anything but orderly. Instead, it's characterized by different velocities, different ionization zones, and other complexities. from Universe Today https://ift.tt/T7VH9j4 via IFTTT

The JWST has begun examining the atmosphere of the habitable zone planet TRAPPIST-1 e. It's not finished yet, but the first observations indicate that the the planet hasn't retained its primary, or original, atmosphere. The TRAPPIST-1 star exhibits powerful flaring that likely stripped it away. from Universe Today https://ift.tt/uEl83N2 via IFTTT

Fomalhaut is one of the brightest stars in the night sky and has been observed in great detail for decades. Some research suggests it hosts exoplanets, while other research counters that. The latest observations of the star's disk with ALMA favour the existence of a planet. from Universe Today https://ift.tt/82OWRVy via IFTTT

Circumstellar discs are believed to be key components in planetary formation. However, we have very little actual evidence of planets growing in the “rings” that surround young stars. So planet formation theorists were ecstatic to learn that two new papers in Astrophysical Journal Letters describe a planet that is actively forming in the gap it most likely created in the ring system of a young, Sun-like star. from Universe Today https://ift.tt/wZQVaLC via IFTTT

After the formation of the Solar System, it took a maximum of three million years for primordial Earth's chemical composition to settle. At the time, there was hardly any water, carbon compounds, or other ingredients necessary for life to emerge. Only a planetary collision that came later would have brought water to Earth, according to a new study by researchers from the Institute of Geological Sciences at the University of Bern. from Universe Today https://ift.tt/VE7IA26 via IFTTT

A new development study from the Southwestern Research Institute outlines a possible mission that could rendezvous with and explore the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS. from Universe Today https://ift.tt/LOiKkUb via IFTTT

This sparkling scene of star birth was captured by the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope. What appears to be a craggy, starlit mountaintop kissed by wispy clouds is actually a cosmic dust-scape being eaten away by the blistering winds and radiation of nearby, massive, infant stars. from Universe Today https://ift.tt/zqQcfbV via IFTTT

Radio astronomy took another step forward recently, with the completion of Phase III of the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) in Western Australia. We’ve reported before on how the MWA has investigated everything from SETI signals to the light from the earliest stars. WIth this upgrade, the MWA will continue to operate with much needed improvements while the radio astronomy awaits the completion of the successor it helped enable - the Square Kilometer Array (SKA). from Universe Today https://ift.tt/ei1Sl3k via IFTTT

Jupiter hosts the brightest and most spectacular auroras in the Solar System, and its largest moons (the Galileans) create their own auroral signatures known as “satellite footprints” in the planet’s atmosphere. Until now, astronomers had detected the auroral signatures of three Galileans (Io, Europa, and Ganymede), but not Callisto. Thanks to an international team, close-up images of Callisto's footprints have been seen at last. from Universe Today https://ift.tt/plkVoSy via IFTTT