Astronomers discover complex carbon molecules in space
A team led by researchers at MIT in the United States has discovered large molecules containing carbon in a distant interstellar cloud of gas and dust. This is exciting for those of us…
Astronomers detect ancient lonely quasars with murky origins
Jennifer Chu | MIT News A quasar is the extremely bright core of a galaxy that hosts an active supermassive black hole at its center. As the black hole draws in surrounding gas and dust,…
The mystery of the too-bright brown dwarf solved
In 1995, researchers from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) at the Palomar Observatory made the initial observation of what appeared to be a brown dwarf orbiting the red dwarf star Gliese 229,…
NASA’s Hubble Sees a Stellar Volcano
NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has captured a striking and vivid close-up image of one of the most dynamic stars in our galaxy, revealing an intricate spiral structure formed among nearby stars. Approximately 700…
Snippet of Euclid Mission’s Cosmic Atlas Released by ESA
The European Space Agency (ESA) has unveiled a new 208-gigapixel mosaic, comprised of images captured by the Euclid mission. This mission, which includes contributions from NASA, was launched in 2023 to investigate the…
Sound of Earth’s magnetic flip 41 000 years ago
Approximately 41,000 years ago, Earth experienced a brief geomagnetic reversal known as the Laschamp event. During this period, the planet’s magnetic field significantly weakened, dropping to as low as 5% of its current…
Images reveal a giant hole in the Curiosity rover’s wheel
Recent images have unveiled several large perforations in one of the wheels of the Curiosity rover, underscoring the significant wear and tear endured by the robotic explorer after 12 years of navigating the…
“Face” photographed on Mars by NASA’s Perseverance rover?
NASA’s robotic missions on Mars occasionally encounter unusual rock formations or features, which aligns with their objective of exploring the Martian surface. These discoveries range from intriguing, such as a donut-shaped rock potentially…
Things on Mars that look like they shouldn’t be there
As one of the planet Earth’s most proximate celestial neighbors, Mars has long held a fascination for humans, offering the tantalizing possibility of extraterrestrial life situated merely a brief rocket journey away. Thus…
New insights into how Mars became uninhabitable
NASA’s Curiosity rover, currently operating in the Gale crater on Mars, is revealing new aspects of the planet’s climatic transition, which has gone from conditions possibly conducive to life – with evidence of…