By analysing meteorites, Imperial researchers have uncovered the likely far-flung origin of Earth’s volatile chemicals, some of which form the building blocks of life.
On Oct. 5, 2020, the rapidly rotating corpse of a long-dead star about 30,000 light years from Earth changed speeds. In a cosmic instant, its spinning slowed. And a few days later, it abruptly started emitting radio waves.
A Northumbria University physicist has been awarded more than half a million pounds to develop artificial intelligence which will protect the Earth from devastating space storms.
The Universe is a dynamic and exciting place, with stars, planets, and galaxies being born, dying, and undergoing dramatic changes. In 2022, the telescopes of the National Science Foundation's National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) revealed fascinating new details about several of these processes, and we're giving you a taste of the greatest radio astronomy moments of the year.
Are there other Earth-like planets? Is there extraterrestrial life? In the quest to find planets that orbit stars other than the sun, “Earth 2.0” is the Holy Grail. Earth 2.0 is a planet similar enough to Earth to enable the existence of life as we know it. It would be the right temperature for liquid water, and it would orbit a star with a steady supply of light.
Fans of science history can now access a new gem: a 20-minute video interview with the father of the Big Bang theory, Georges Lemaître. European broadcast network VRT found the 20-minute recording that is thought to be the only video of Lemaître. His interview, originally aired in 1964 and conducted in French, has now been transcribed and translated into English by physicists at Berkeley Lab and the Vatican Observatory.
Astronomers have developed a powerful technique for identifying starspots, according to research presented this month at the 241st meeting of the American Astronomical Society.
The Heineman Foundation, AIP, and AAS are pleased to announce Karen Meech, astronomer at the Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawai’i, as the winner of the 2023 Dannie Heineman Prize for Astrophysics. Meech was selected “for her pioneering work in expanding and pushing boundaries in the field of small body solar system observational science, and for making transformative contributions to shape the broader field of planetary science in general.” She will be awarded $10,000 and a certificate and invited to give a talk at a future AAS meeting.
An array of 350 radio telescopes in the Karoo desert of South Africa is getting closer to detecting “cosmic dawn” — the era after the Big Bang when stars first ignited and galaxies began to bloom.
Curtin University-led research into the durability and age of an ancient asteroid made of rocky rubble and dust, revealed significant findings that could contribute to potentially saving the planet if one ever hurtled toward Earth.
Researchers at NASA recently announced the discovery of another planet about 95% the size of Earth that is 100 light-years away and could potentially sustain life.
The discovery of diverse ices in the darkest regions of a cold molecular cloud measured to date has been announced by an international team of astronomers using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope. This result allows astronomers to examine the simple icy molecules that will be incorporated into future exoplanets, while opening a new window on the origin of more complex molecules that are the first step in the creation of the building blocks of life.
Matter outflows in the form of jets are observed in astronomical systems at fast, medium and slow speeds. The fastest jets are highly relativistic, namely travel very close to the speed of light. The origin, as well as many properties of the jets, is uncertain.
Citizen science projects offer the general public, or segments of that public such as school students, an opportunity to take part in scientific research.
PPPL scientists have advanced in discovering how to use ripples in space-time known as gravitational waves to peer back to the beginning of everything we know.
Research led by the University of Southampton has revealed how supermassive black holes (SMBHs) are feeding off gas clouds which reach them by travelling hundreds of thousands of light years from one galaxy to another.
A startling analysis from Globe at Night — a citizen science program run by NSF’s NOIRLab — concludes that stars are disappearing from human sight at an astonishing rate. The study finds that, to human eyes, artificial lighting has dulled the night sky more rapidly than indicated by satellite measurements. The study published in the journal Science showcases the unique contributions that citizen scientists can make in essential fields of research.
A startling analysis from Globe at Night — a citizen science program run by NSF’s NOIRLab — concludes that stars are disappearing from human sight at an astonishing rate. The study finds that, to human eyes, artificial lighting has dulled the night sky more rapidly than indicated by satellite measurements. The study published in the journal Science showcases the unique contributions that citizen scientists can make in essential fields of research.
Astronomers have released a gargantuan survey of the galactic plane of the Milky Way. The new dataset contains a staggering 3.32 billion celestial objects — arguably the largest such catalog so far. The data for this unprecedented survey were taken with the Dark Energy Camera, built by the US Department of Energy, at the NSF’s Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile, a Program of NOIRLab.