Prospecting for interstellar oil
We have developed a new method to look for carbon compounds in space, akin to prospecting for oil on Earth. Our method is published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society......»»
NASA Releases New Photos of Jupiter - and a Recording of Its Moon that Sounds Like R2-D2
"As it seeks answers about the cosmos and what they mean for Earth's origins, NASA on Friday announced a slew of discoveries about Jupiter," reports the Washington Post "And scientists brought home an interstellar tune from the road." The Juno sp.....»»
Researchers propose a simpler design for quantum computers
Today's quantum computers are complicated to build, difficult to scale up, and require temperatures colder than interstellar space to operate. These challenges have led researchers to explore the possibility of building quantum computers that work us.....»»
New Mission To Scour Our Interstellar Neighbourhood for Planets that Could Sustain Life
A new space mission to hunt for potentially habitable planets around Earth's closest neighbouring star system is under way. From a report: In a project with echoes of the 2009 film Avatar, an international collaboration of scientists in Australia and.....»»
A radical shift to link soot formation and interstellar evolution
Unusual reaction pathways to hydrocarbon clusters could bring a paradigm shift to the understanding of soot and interstellar chemistry......»»
Vera Rubin Observatory should find five interstellar objects a year, many of which we could chase down with spacecraft
In a year (perhaps two), the Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile will become operational and commence its 10-year Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST). Using its 8.4-meter (27 foot) mirror and 3.2 gigapixel camera, this observatory is expected to co.....»»
Study: Planets gone rogue could sustain life
A rogue planet is an interstellar object of planetary mass without a host planetary system. As they freely roam around space, could they be fertile nurseries for life?.....»»
Cosmic rays erode away all but the largest interstellar objects
So far, we know of only two interstellar objects (ISO) to visit our solar system. They are 'Oumuamua and 2I/Borisov. There's a third possible ISO named CNEOS 2014-01-08, and research suggests there should be many more......»»
Starlight Could Really Be a Vast Alien Quantum Internet, Physicist Proposes
Terry Rudolph, a professor of quantum physics at Imperial College London, suggests that interstellar light could actually be harnessed by space faring aliens to form an encrypted quantum internet. Motherboard reports: This may sound like the stuff of.....»»
A 23rd-century tourist guide to the galaxy - CNET
By 2200, Mars and Pluto could be on your bucket list. As NASA and Elon Musk make plans to visit the red planet, we've created a list of interplanetary and even interstellar travel adventures......»»
Scientists discover how high-energy electrons strengthen magnetic fields
More than 99% of the visible universe exists in a superheated state known as plasma—an ionized gas of electrons and ions. The motion of these charged particles produces magnetic fields that form an interstellar magnetic web. These magnetic fields a.....»»
Capturing electrons in space
Interstellar clouds are the birthplaces of new stars, but they also play an important role in the origins of life in the Universe through regions of dust and gas in which chemical compounds form. The research group, molecular systems, led by ERC priz.....»»
Cosmic rays help supernovae explosions pack a bigger punch
The final stage of cataclysmic explosions of dying massive stars, called supernovae, could pack an up to six times bigger punch on the surrounding interstellar gas with the help of cosmic rays, according to a new study led by researchers at the Unive.....»»
NASA Lucy mission"s message to the future
In the 1970s four spacecraft began their one-way trips out of our Solar System. As the first human-built objects to ever venture into interstellar space, NASA chose to place plaques on Pioneer 10 and 11 and golden records on Voyager 1 and 2 spacecraf.....»»
Astronomers map interstellar dust grains in Milky Way
Between the stars in our Milky Way, vast amounts of tiny dust grains are floating aimlessly around. They form the building blocks of new stars and planets. But we still don't know what elements exactly are available to form planets like Earth. A rese.....»»
A small satellite with a solar sail could catch up with an interstellar object
When 'Oumuamua, the first interstellar object ever observed passing through the solar system, was discovered in 2017, it exhibited some unexpected properties that left astronomers scratching their heads. Its elongated shape, lack of a coma, and the f.....»»
Aliens Wouldn"t Need Warp Drives to Take Over an Entire Galaxy, Simulation Suggests
A new computer simulation shows that a technologically advanced civilization, even when using slow ships, can still colonize an entire galaxy in a modest amount of time. The finding presents a possible model for interstellar migration and a sharpened.....»»
Turbulence in interstellar gas clouds reveals multi-fractal structures
In interstellar dust clouds, turbulence must first dissipate before a star can form through gravity. A German-French research team has now discovered that the kinetic energy of the turbulence comes to rest in a space that is very small on cosmic scal.....»»
Study reveals diverse magnetic fields in solar-type star forming cores
Magnetic fields are ubiquitous throughout the Milky Way galaxy and play a crucial role in all dynamics of interstellar medium. However, questions like how solar-type stars form out of magnetized molecular clouds, whether the role of magnetic fields c.....»»
Unexpected Gaseous Nickel Spewing From Second Known Interstellar Object
New submitter StellarThoughts writes: Scientists analyzed the second ever known interstellar object, a comet known as 2I/Borisov, and found some very unlikely results. Molecules of nickel and iron were being vaporized and drifting from the surface. T.....»»
Improvements Finally Made in How We Name Asteroids
RockDoctor (Slashdot reader #15,477) writes: For a number of years the administrative process for giving asteroids names has had a worsening logjam. Important or "interesting" bodies (such as `Oumuamua, the first definitely interstellar object ident.....»»