Using novel plasma reactors, researchers have shown that it is possible to extract key ingredients from Mars' carbon dioxide-rich atmosphere to provide future astronauts with oxygen, fuel and fertiliser. This technological leap could make it viable for humans to live on Mars.

Beijing (XNA) Sep 06, 2022
Chinese astronomers have released the world's first collection of large-field X-ray maps of the sky, captured by a small satellite put into orbit last month. The Wide-field X-ray Telescope, launched into orbit on July 27 by a solid-propellant-fuelled rocket, is the first large-field X-ray imaging telescope, according to the National Astronomical Observatory of China. After a four-day

Pittsburgh PA (SPX) Sep 06, 2022
Six billion years ago, two galaxies were colliding, their combined forces hurling a stream of gas hundreds of thousands of light years away. Reported this week by a team including Pitt astronomers, that unusual feature provides a new possible explanation for why galaxies stop forming stars. "One of the biggest questions in astronomy is why the biggest galaxies are dead," said David Setton,

Maunakea HI (SPX) Sep 07, 2022
Astronomers using W. M. Keck Observatory on Hawaii Island have captured from Maunakea the most detailed and complete images ever taken of the zone where the famed constellation of Orion gets zapped with ultraviolet (UV) radiation from massive young stars. This irradiated neutral zone, called a Photo-Dissociation Region (PDR), is located in the Orion Bar within the Orion Nebula, an active s

Kennedy Space Center FL (SPX) Sep 07, 2022
After standing down on Saturday's Artemis I launch attempt when engineers could not overcome a hydrogen leak in a quick disconnect, an interface between the liquid hydrogen fuel feed line and the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, mission managers met and decided they will forego additional launch attempts in early September. Over the next several days, teams will establish access to the ar

Charlottesville VA (SPX) Sep 06, 2022
While observing a newly-dormant galaxy using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) and the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), scientists discovered that it had stopped forming stars not because it had used up all of its gas but because most of its star-forming fuel had been thrown out of the system as it merged with another galaxy. The result is a first for ALMA scientists. What's m

Leiden, Netherlands (SPX) Sep 07, 2022
Compared to most other wavelengths, astronomy has a blind spot in the area of far-infrared radiation. A far-infrared space telescope can only utilize its full sensitivity with an actively cooled mirror below 4 Kelvin (-269 C). Such a telescope doesn't exist yet, which is why there has been little worldwide investment in the development of corresponding detectors. In 2004, SRON decided to b

Sheffield UK (SPX) Sep 07, 2022
Jupiter-sized planets can be stolen or captured by massive stars in the densely populated stellar nurseries where most stars are born, a new study has found. Researchers from the University of Sheffield have proposed a novel explanation for the recently discovered B-star Exoplanet Abundance STudy (BEAST) planets. These are Jupiter-like planets at large distances (hundreds of times the dist

Berlin, Germany (SPX) Sep 07, 2022
Magnetic skyrmions are extremely small and stable swirls of magnetization, often referred to as 'topological quasi-particles' since an emerging stability embraces this spin ensemble. As such, skyrmions can be manipulated while retaining their shape. In ferromagnetic thin films, they can conveniently be created with an electrical current pulse or, even faster, with a laser pulse ? albeit, so far,

Rochester NY (SPX) Sep 06, 2022
By using radio telescopes to study sun-like stars in their death throes, scientists hope to reveal important information about the origin of life-enabling chemicals in the universe. The National Science Foundation is awarding a $339,362 Astronomy and Astrophysics Research Grant to a team led by Rochester Institute of Technology Professor Joel Kastner to conduct such a study. Planetary nebu