Space

Nov 20th, 2024 - Sign up for CNN's Wonder Theory science newsletter. Explore the universe with news on fascinating discoveries, scientific advancements and more . New images of the sun captured by the Solar Orbiter mission showcase the highest-resolution views of our star's visible surface ever seen, revealing sunspots and continuously moving charged gas called plasma. The images could provide heliophysicists with new clues to help unlock the secrets of the sun like never before. The images, taken on March 22, ... [Read More]

Nov 20th, 2024 - Astronomers at the University of Toronto (U of T) have identified, for the first time, pairs of white dwarf and main sequence stars within young star clusters.  This significant finding, published in The Astrophysical Journal , opens a new window into an extreme phase of stellar evolution , offering a critical link in understanding the lifecycle of binary star systems. These insights may also shed light on cosmic events such as supernova explosions and gravitational waves. Binary systems ... [Read More]

Nov 20th, 2024 - The first analysis of lava samples from the moon's far side reveals that volcanoes were erupting there 2.8 billion years ago. The moon is tidally locked with Earth, meaning the same side always faces our planet . The far side is less explored than the near side. Only two landers, both from China , have made it to the moon's far side. In a study published Nov. 15 in the journal Science , researchers analyzed rock samples returned to Earth by the Chang'e 6 lander . The 2024 mission brought back a ... [Read More]

Nov 20th, 2024 - Not so far from Earth, an infant planet is just getting its start at life. And by peeking beneath the thick cocoon of material surrounding it, astronomers could be getting a rare chance to watch a world for which our solar system has no equivalent settle into its early life. The planet closely orbits the star IRAS 04125+2902, which is about 520 light-years away. The star is very young, about 3 million years old, and only some 70 percent of the mass of the Sun. Its young age means its ... [Read More]

Nov 20th, 2024 - The yearly Geminid meteor shower began Tuesday night and will send shooting stars searing through the night sky until Christmas Eve. Described by NASA as " one of the best and most reliable annual meteor showers," the Geminids are expected to run between November 19 and December 24 this year, according to the American Meteor Society. The shower is expected to hit its peak activity on the night of December 13, with up to 120 meteors per hour being visible in ideal conditions. When Can You See ... [Read More]

Nov 19th, 2024 - Astronomers have analyzed the largest map of the universe — and found that Einstein was right yet again about gravity , according to a series of new studies. The analysis, which looked at nearly 6 million galaxies and quasars spanning 11 billion years of cosmic time, found that even at colossal scales the force of gravity behaves as predicted by Albert Einstein's theory of general relativity . The result validates cosmologists' leading theory of the universe and appears to limit ... [Read More]

Nov 19th, 2024 - A long-standing enigma surrounding the Crab Pulsar, a neutron star at the center of the Crab Nebula, may have been unraveled by a theoretical astrophysicist from the University of Kansas.  The study, led by Professor Mikhail Medvedev and recently published in the journal Physical Review Letters , explains the origins of the pulsar's unique "zebra" pattern, a peculiar banding in high-frequency radio waves. Powerful emission from the Crab Nebula At the heart of the Crab Nebula, 6,000 light ... [Read More]

Nov 19th, 2024 - A new JWST study has revealed the true origins of a luminous quasar that has been duplicated six times as its light "zig-zags" through space-time via a phenomenon first predicted by Albert Einstein. The unusual light show could help tackle one of cosmology's biggest problems, experts claim. For the first time, researchers have used data from the James Webb Space Telescope ( JWST ) to uncover an example of a previously hypothetical phenomenon known as an "Einstein zig-zag" — where light ... [Read More]

Nov 19th, 2024 - A frame from the Illustris Simulation shows a massive galaxy cluster at center. Red, orange, and white colors show hot gas, while the blue and purple filaments depict a cosmic framework of dark matter. Credit: Illustris Collaboration The game is afoot! Astronomers may have found some of the universe's missing matter, thanks to one team's cosmic detective work. The case has been open for more than 20 years. In the 1990s and early 2000s, scientists sleuthed out the universe's contents using ... [Read More]

Nov 18th, 2024 - The active galaxy Centaurus A, with jets emanating from the central black hole. ESO/WFI (Optical); MPIfR/ESO/APEX/A.Weiss et al. (Submillimetre); NASA/CXC/CfA/R.Kraft et al. (X-ray), CC BY Black holes don't have many identifying features. They come in one color (black) and one shape (spherical). The main difference between black holes is mass: some weigh about as much as a star like our Sun, while others weigh around a million times more. Stellar-mass black holes can be found anywhere in a ... [Read More]

Nov 18th, 2024 - Like the Sun, black holes also have a corona. When astronomers look deep into space, black holes often appear as inscrutable giants, swallowing everything that crosses their path. But a new study has finally revealed details about an elusive feature of these cosmic entities: their superheated corona. Using data from NASA's IXPE (Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer) mission, researchers have, for the first time, mapped the shape of this plasma region, helping to clarify how black holes consume ... [Read More]

Nov 18th, 2024 - Uranus has long captivated scientists with its mysteries, particularly those that remain hidden within our solar system. Decades-old data from Voyager 2, a NASA spacecraft, has now breathed new life into our understanding of this distant, enigmatic planet, settling age-old questions that have puzzled researchers for years. Voyager 2: Journey to Uranus In 1986, Voyager 2 embarked on a momentous journey that brought it into close proximity with Uranus, providing the first – and so far, only ... [Read More]

Nov 18th, 2024 - Sign up for CNN's Wonder Theory science newsletter. Explore the universe with news on fascinating discoveries, scientific advancements and more . Famously known for its extensive ring system, Saturn is one of four planets in our solar system that have the distinctive feature. And now, scientists hypothesize that Earth may have sported its own ring some 466 million years ago. During the Ordovician Period , a time of significant changes for Earth's life-forms, plate tectonics and climate, the ... [Read More]

Nov 17th, 2024 - While space is often thought of as a quiet, eerie place of stillness, a dramatic saga is unfolding on the outskirts of our Milky Way galaxy. NASA's Hubble Space Telescope is serving as an eyewitness to this interstellar drama. The protagonist of this tale? None other than the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), one of our closest galactic neighbors. A brush with the Milky Way Even though it is classified as a dwarf galaxy , the LMC steals the show on the canvas of the southern night sky, where it ... [Read More]

Nov 17th, 2024 - Researchers have had their first-ever look at samples brought back from the Moon's far side — and they detail a history of volcanic activity that spans billions of years. The results are the first scientific analyses of samples retrieved by the Chinese mission Chang'e-6, which scooped up nearly two kilograms of lunar soil and returned it to Earth in a capsule in June . Independent research teams in China published separate papers in Science 1 and Nature 2 on 15 November. "We can tell the ... [Read More]

Nov 17th, 2024 - What it is: The spiral galaxies IC 2163 (left) and NGC 2207 (right) Where it is: 80 million light-years away, in the constellation Canis Major When it was shared: Oct. 31, 2024 Why it's so special: This eerie scene, a composite of images captured by both the James Webb Space Telescope ( JWST ) and the Hubble Space Telescope , features a pair of spiral galaxies with bright cores that resemble a spooky set of "blood-soaked" eyes. These galaxies grazed each other millions of years ago and are ... [Read More]