This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image of a vibrant spiral galaxy called NGC 5042 resides about 48 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Hydra (the water snake). The galaxy nicely fills the frame of this Hubble image, while a single, foreground star from the Milky Way shines with cross-shaped diffraction spikes near the galaxy’s … Read more
On March 3, 2025, NASA and the Italian Space Agency (ASI) achieved a monumental milestone in space exploration when the Lunar GNSS Receiver Experiment (LuGRE) successfully acquired and tracked Earth-based navigation signals on the Moon’s surface. This breakthrough marks the first time in history that navigation signals from the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS), which … Read more
High-resolution near-infrared imagery captured by the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope has unveiled remarkable new details within Lynds 483 (L483), a dense molecular cloud hosting two actively forming stars. The image reveals intricate structures shaped by the energetic interactions between gas, dust, and radiation, shedding new light on the dynamic processes driving stellar birth. At … Read more
Explosions, whether they occur on Earth or in the depths of space, may seem like completely different phenomena. A supernova, the violent death of a star, and a land mine explosion, a deadly detonation on solid ground, exist in vastly different scales and environments. However, at the microscopic level, these two types of explosions share … Read more
The discovery of potentially abundant ice beneath the lunar surface has taken a significant step forward, thanks to the findings from the Indian Chandrayaan-3 mission. This revelation, published in Communications Earth & Environment in 2023, suggests that ice might be present in larger, more widespread areas of the moon’s polar regions than scientists previously believed. … Read more
Astronomers have recently uncovered strong evidence for the closest supermassive black hole to the Milky Way, located in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), one of our galaxy’s nearest neighbors. This groundbreaking discovery challenges previous assumptions about the presence of such giants in nearby galaxies and has opened a new chapter in our understanding of these … Read more
Nova explosions are among the most fascinating and energetic events in the universe, occurring within binary star systems where a white dwarf—a compact remnant of a once-massive star—continuously siphons matter from a neighboring companion. This process results in a dramatic thermonuclear eruption once enough material accumulates on the white dwarf’s surface, reaching temperatures that trigger … Read more
Astronomers from Poland and Germany have made a significant discovery regarding a mysterious blue variable object named OGLE-GD-WD-0001. Through detailed photometric and spectroscopic observations, they have determined that this celestial body is an extremely hot, pulsating pre-white dwarf (PWD) of the PG 1159 spectral type. This finding, published on February 24 on the arXiv preprint … Read more
Curtin University researchers have made a groundbreaking discovery that could reshape our understanding of Earth’s early history, the origins of life, and the role meteorite impacts played in shaping our planet. Their study, published in Nature Communications, reveals the world’s oldest known meteorite impact crater, dating back an astonishing 3.5 billion years. This finding is … Read more
A groundbreaking study, conducted by researchers including those from the University of Tokyo, has revealed that atmospheric gravity waves (GWs) play a pivotal role in driving latitudinal air currents on Mars, particularly in its high-altitude middle atmosphere. This discovery sheds new light on Martian atmospheric dynamics, offering insights that could enhance future climate models and … Read more