Los Angeles CA (SPX) Apr 17, 2024
The seemingly empty interstellar space is a bustling hub of atoms, ions, and molecules, comprising the Interstellar Medium (ISM). This vast expanse has been a focal point for scientists, with over 200 unique molecules discovered in its cold, low-pressure confines. The interplay of chemistry, physics, and astronomy is crucial as researchers from these disciplines explore the types of chemical rea

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Apr 17, 2024
In 2023, a supernova burst in the Pinwheel galaxy, creating an ideal scenario for testing theories on cosmic ray acceleration. However, the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, which has been operational since 2008, did not detect the anticipated high-energy gamma rays. On May 18, 2023, the supernova named SN 2023ixf occurred about 22 million light-years away in Ursa Major, marking it as one o

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Apr 17, 2024
Researchers are expanding the criteria for life on other planets beyond the familiar green of Earthly vegetation. Scientists at Cornell University have suggested that purple, not green, might be the predominant color of life on other worlds, based on a study of bacteria that absorb infrared light for photosynthesis. These purple bacteria, which exhibit a range of hues including yellow, ora

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Apr 17, 2024
NASA has officially given the greenlight for the Dragonfly rotorcraft mission to Saturn's moon Titan, authorizing the project's transition to final design and construction stages. This development follows the successful completion of the mission's Preliminary Design Review and subsequent budget adjustments to align with the current financial landscape. "Dragonfly represents a major science

Berlin, Germany (SPX) Apr 16, 2024
A team of astronomers has pinpointed the largest stellar black hole discovered in the Milky Way, utilizing data from the European Space Agency's Gaia mission. This newly identified black hole, exerting a unique 'wobbling' effect on its companion star, was initially detected through this anomalous motion. Verification efforts included observations from the European Southern Observatory's Very Lar

London, UK (SPX) Apr 17, 2024
New research pinpoints the timeline of the Solar System's giant planets moving into their current orbits, showing these changes occurred between 60-100 million years after the Solar System formed. This shift is crucial for understanding events like the formation of the Moon. A team from the University of Leicester, utilizing a combination of simulation, observation, and meteorite analysis,

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Apr 17, 2024
The final transmission at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory marked the end of active operations for the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter but the beginning of its new role as a stationary data collector. On April 16, engineers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory bid farewell to active missions of NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter, a pioneering aircraft on Mars. Although the formal mission concluded on

Paris, France (SPX) Apr 17, 2024
The team managing the European Space Agency's Hera mission, designed for asteroid deflection, recently gathered in the ESTEC Test Centre cleanroom in the Netherlands, showcasing the mission's spacecraft. Present in the photograph are members from Tyvak International in Italy and GomSpace in Luxembourg, producers of the Milani and Juventas CubeSats, set to accompany Hera into the cosmos. Ch

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Apr 17, 2024
Ceres, the largest asteroid in our Solar System, features recently formed ice deposits in permanently shadowed craters near its poles, similar to those found on our Moon and Mercury. This similarity was first noted when the Dawn spacecraft surveyed Ceres in 2016, revealing bright ice deposits in these dark craters. "The initial observation in 2016 opened up a mystery, with many of Ceres's

Baltimore MD (SPX) Apr 17, 2024
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, will build a moonquake detector for astronauts to deploy on the Moon in 2026 during the Artemis III mission, which will return astronauts to the lunar surface for the first time in more than 50 years. NASA selected the instrument, the Lunar Environment Monitoring Station (LEMS) as one of the first three potential payloads for Artem