Astronomers scan 800 pulsars to see if any of them have planets
Astronomers discovered the first exoplanets in 1992. They found a pair of them orbiting the pulsar PSR B1257+12 about 2,300 light-years from the Sun. Two years later they discovered the third planet in the system......»»
Opinion: If we want to settle on other planets, we"ll have to use genome editing to alter human DNA
When considering human settlements on the moon, Mars and further afield, much attention is given to the travel times, food and radiation risk. We'll undoubtedly face a harsh environment in deep space and some thinkers have been pointing to genome edi.....»»
Effects of stellar magnetism could expand criteria for exoplanet habitability
Interest in Earth-like planets orbiting within the habitable zone of their host stars has surged, driven by the quest to discover life beyond our solar system. But the habitability of such planets, known as exoplanets, is influenced by more than just.....»»
Apple “clearly underreporting” child sex abuse, watchdogs say
Report: Apple vastly undercounts child sex abuse materials on iCloud and iMessage. Enlarge (credit: Bloomberg / Contributor | Bloomberg) After years of controversies over plans to scan iCloud to find more child sexual ab.....»»
Astronomers discover technique to spot AI fakes using galaxy-measurement tools
Researchers use technique to quantify eyeball reflections that often reveal deepfake images. Enlarge / Researchers write, "In this image, the person on the left (Scarlett Johansson) is real, while the person on the right is AI-ge.....»»
Saturday Citations: Scientists study monkey faces and cat bellies; another intermediate black hole in the Milky Way
This is not a rerun of last week's roundup; another group of astronomers found a second intermediate-mass black hole in the Milky Way and I can't avoid highlighting it. They're cool! They may have formed in the primordial universe, they comprise the.....»»
Introducing Ramses, ESA"s 2029 mission to asteroid Apophis
Thirty years ago, on 16 July 1994, astronomers watched in awe as the first of many pieces of the Shoemaker-Levy 9 comet slammed into Jupiter with incredible force. The event sparked intense interest in the field of planetary defense as people asked:.....»»
Observations detect a nearby hypervelocity stellar/substellar object
Using the Keck II telescope, astronomers have detected an object that may be a brown dwarf or a low-mass star, exhibiting a very high radial velocity. The object, designated CWISE J124909.08+362116.0 is located some 400 light years away. The finding.....»»
Exoplanet-hunting telescope to begin search for another Earth in 2026
Europe's next big space mission—a telescope that will hunt for Earth-like rocky planets outside of our solar system—is on course to launch at the end of 2026......»»
Discovery alert: With six new exoplanets, 5,500 discovery milestone passed
On Aug. 24, 2023, more than three decades after the first confirmation of planets beyond our own solar system, scientists announced the discovery of six new exoplanets, stretching that number to 5,502. From zero exoplanet confirmations to more than 5.....»»
Astronomers spot a "highly eccentric" planet on its way to becoming a hot Jupiter
Hot Jupiters are some of the most extreme planets in the galaxy. These scorching worlds are as massive as Jupiter, and they swing wildly close to their star, whirling around in a few days compared to our own gas giant's leisurely 4,000-day orbit arou.....»»
Exoplanet caught in "hairpin turn" signals how high-mass gas giants form
Astronomers have discovered a planet that has the most oblong orbit ever found among transiting planets. The exoplanet's extreme circuit—which looks closer to a cucumber than a circle—follows one of the most drastically stretched-out orbits of al.....»»
Astronomers detect dozens of new pulsating white dwarfs
Using NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), astronomers have detected 32 new bright pulsating DA white dwarfs of the ZZ Ceti subclass. The finding was reported in a research paper published July 9 on the pre-print server arXiv......»»
Grain boundaries weaken in planetary interiors, research suggests
Mantle convection and associated plate tectonics of planets like the Earth are governed by the deformation of mantle rocks. This deformation occurs through the motion of defects in the crystal lattices of minerals. Thus, the physical properties of th.....»»
Astronomers discover what may be 21 neutron stars orbiting sun-like stars
Most stars in our universe come in pairs. While our own sun is a loner, many stars like our sun orbit similar stars, while a host of other exotic pairings between stars and cosmic orbs pepper the universe. Black holes, for example, are often found or.....»»
Here"s how AI Is changing NASA"s Mars rover science
Some scientists dream of exploring planets with "smart" spacecraft that know exactly what data to look for, where to find it, and how to analyze it. Although making that dream a reality will take time, advances made with NASA's Perseverance Mars rove.....»»
Not just space rocks: Six things we"ve learned about Earth from meteorites and comets
Apart from the sun, its planets and their moons, our solar system has vast amounts of space rocks—fragments left over from the formation of the inner planets......»»
Telescope tag-team discovers 10 strange and exotic pulsars
Towards the center of our Milky Way galaxy, in the constellation Sagittarius, astronomers have discovered 10 monstrous neutron stars. These particular stars, called pulsars, reside together in globular cluster Terzan 5, a crowded home for hundreds of.....»»
Meteorites from Mars help scientists understand the red planet"s interior
Of the more than 74,000 known meteorites—rocks that fall to Earth from asteroids or planets colliding together—only 385 or so stones came from the planet Mars......»»
Scorching storms on distant worlds revealed in new detail
Astronomers have created the most detailed weather report so far for two distant worlds beyond our own solar system. The international study—the first of its kind—reveals the extreme atmospheric conditions on the celestial objects, which are swat.....»»
New low-mass galaxy discovered
Astronomers report the discovery of a new galaxy in the constellation Corvus. The newfound galaxy, which received designation Corvus A, has a relatively low mass, is gas-rich and isolated. The discovery was presented in a research paper published Jul.....»»