Astronomers using the Hubble space telescope have discovered water in the atmosphere of an exoplanet in its star’s habitable zone. The water was detected as vapour in the atmosphere. The planet is called K2-18b.
Largest documented asteroid breakup in the asteroid belt during the past two billion years caused enormous amounts of dust to spread through the solar system. The blocking effect of this dust lead to cooler temperatures which in turn caused diversification.
China’s new radio telescope FAST (Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope) has double the collecting power of the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico, which has a 305 meter dish.
The exoplanet is three times more massive than Jupiter and circles its star in an unusual elliptical orbit, one that would carry it between the Sun’s asteroid belt and the orbit of Neptune if it were transported to Earth’s solar system.
A new statistical analysis shows Earth-size planets are likely orbiting one in six Sun-like stars. The study is the most accurate estimate yet, researchers say, of the potential population of roughly Earth-size worlds in the Milky Way.
An international team of astronomers led by the University of Tokyo used ALMA to view 39 previously-undiscovered ancient galaxies, a find that could have major implications for astronomy and cosmology.
Observing Sagitarius A ( a supermassive balck hole in the center of our galaxy ) with the Keck's telescope, scientists just watched as its brightness bloomed to over 75 times normal for a few hours. Astronomers aren’t certain what caused the flaring.
Thursday, July 25th Elon Musk’s aerospace company succeeded in conducting their first untethered test with the Starhopper. This test once again validated the engine that will fulfill Musk’s promise of sending people to the Moon and to Mars.
Launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Saturday, Spektr-RG will detect X-ray emissions from across the sky, including those from huge clusters of galaxies. It could help astronomers better understand dark energy.
India launched an ambitious robotic lunar mission named Chandrayaan 2 on Monday, targeting a touchdown near the lunar south pole on 6 September. The Chandrayaan 2 mission is India’s most daring space project to date.
Astronomers have made a new measurement of how fast the universe is expanding, using an entirely different kind of star than previous endeavors. The revised measurement may lead to a new interpretation of the universe's fundamental properties.
Scientists now propose using an insulating material called silica aerogel to make parts of the Martian surface friendlier to photosynthetic life. Perhaps an aerogel blanket could more easily melt the water on the Martian ice caps to make a small section of the planet habitable.
Using Earth's most powerful array of radio telescopes, astronomers have made the first observations of a circumplanetary disk of gas and dust like the one that is believed to have birthed the moons of Jupiter.
As if black holes weren't mysterious enough, astronomers have found an unexpected thin disk of material furiously whirling around a supermassive black hole at the heart of the magnificent spiral galaxy NGC 3147, 130 million light-years away.
LightSail 2 is the third attempt to send a light sail spacecraft into orbit by the global non-profit society, which is devoted to promoting space exploration. Since reaching orbit, the LightSail 2 has been indicated that it is in good working order.
