London, UK (SPX) Jul 07, 2021
Tantalising evidence has been uncovered for a mysterious population of "free-floating" planets, planets that may be alone in deep space, unbound to any host star. The results include four new discoveries that are consistent with planets of similar masses to Earth, published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. The study, led by Iain McDonald of the University of Manchester

Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain (SPX) Jul 07, 2021
Historically most scientists thought that once a satellite galaxy has passed close by its higher mass parent galaxy its star formation would stop because the larger galaxy would remove the gas from it, leaving it shorn of the material it would need to make new stars. However, for the first time, a team led by the researcher at the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias (IAC), Arianna di Cintio, ha

San Antonio TX (SPX) Jul 07, 2021
Scientists have used data from the Southwest Research Institute-led Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission to explain the presence of energetic heavy elements in galactic cosmic rays (GCRs). GCRs are composed of fast-moving energetic particles, mostly hydrogen ions called protons, the lightest and most abundant elements in the universe. Scientists have long debated how trace amounts of heavy io

St. Louis MO (SPX) Jul 07, 2021
In 2011, scientists confirmed a suspicion: There was a split in the local cosmos. Samples of the solar wind brought back to Earth by the Genesis mission definitively determined oxygen isotopes in the sun differ from those found on Earth, the moon and the other planets and satellites in the solar system. Early in the solar system's history, material that would later coalesce into planets ha

Sendai, Japan (SPX) Jul 07, 2021
Scientists from Tohoku University and the University of Maryland have pinpointed the strong magnetic field of the early sun as the reason behind the radial variation of rock and metal in rocky planets' cores. This magnetic field, which pulled small iron grains inward, explains Mercury's big iron core and why Mars has so little iron in its core. The details of their research were published

Washington DC (SPX) Jul 07, 2021
A unique study of ancient diamonds has shown that the basic chemical composition of the Earth's atmosphere which makes it suitable for life's explosion of diversity was laid down at least 2.7 billion years ago. Volatile gases conserved in diamonds found in ancient rocks were present in similar proportions to those found in today's mantle, which in turn indicates that there has been no fundamenta

Washington DC (UPI) Jul 6, 2021
NASA's Mars helicopter Ingenuity has begun to scout missions for the Perseverance rover, completing its ninth and most challenging flight yet. NASA announced the "most challenging flight yet" was a success Monday via Twitter. Flight nine included a speed record for the aircraft at roughly 11 mph, which NASA called "a high-speed flight across unfriendly terrain, which will take us

New York NY (SPX) Jul 07, 2021
Skyroot Aerospace, India's leading private space launch company, is set to take the global stage with help from its recent $11 million Series A capital raise. The funding will be used to acquire new talent and complete the development of its Vikram-1 launch vehicle. The company aims to reach orbit, with 90 percent less development cost than its competitors, as early as next year. This disr

Rockhampton, Australia (SPX) Jul 07, 2021
On June 25, astronauts Shane Kimbrough and Thomas Pesquet successfully completed an almost seven-hour EVA (extravehicular activity, or spacewalk) to install solar panels on the International Space Station. What does it take to don a spacesuit and venture out on such a technical and dangerous mission? Surprisingly, one of the main criteria (besides the years of astronaut training) is body size.

Tucson AZ (SPX) Jul 07, 2021
An unknown methane-producing process is likely at work in the hidden ocean beneath the icy shell of Saturn's moon Enceladus, suggests a new study published in Nature Astronomy by scientists at the University of Arizona and Paris Sciences and Lettres University. Giant water plumes erupting from Enceladus have long fascinated scientists and the public alike, inspiring research and speculatio