Newswise Focus Channel: Space Channel Featured Story TOP

Astronomers Discover Jupiter-sized Objects Drawn into Each Other's Orbit

National Radio Astronomy Observatory — Tue, 13 Feb 2024 10:05:35 EST

In our most basic understanding of our Solar System, planets are drawn into the orbit of our massive star, the Sun. But what happens to planet-sized objects that don't have a star? A team of astronomers studying Jupiter-mass binary objects (JuMBOs) in the Orion Nebula are gaining a new understanding of these unusual systems.

A Long, Long Time Ago in a Galaxy Not So Far Away...

Rutgers University-New Brunswick — Tue, 06 Feb 2024 14:05:22 EST

Employing massive data sets collected through NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, a research team led by a Rutgers University-New Brunswick astronomer is unearthing clues to conditions existing in the early universe. The team has catalogued the ages of stars in the Wolf-Lundmark-Melotte (WLM) galaxy, constructing the most detailed picture of it yet, according to the researchers.

NASA's Hubble Finds Water Vapor in Small Exoplanet's Atmosphere

Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) — Thu, 25 Jan 2024 10:00:02 EST

Astronomers using Hubble observed the smallest exoplanet where water vapor has been detected in the atmosphere.

NASA's Webb Discovers Dusty 'Cat's Tail' in Beta Pictoris System

Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) — Wed, 10 Jan 2024 14:20:31 EST

Since the 1980s, the planetary system around the star Beta Pictoris has continued to fascinate scientists. Even after decades of study, it still holds surprises.

The Crab Nebula Seen in New Light by NASA's Webb

Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) — Mon, 30 Oct 2023 16:05:56 EST

Although the Crab Nebula is one of the most well-studied supernova remnants, questions about its progenitor and the nature of the explosion that created it still remain unanswered. NASA's James Webb Space Telescope is on the case as it sleuths for any clues that remain within the supernova remnant. Webb's infrared sensitivity and spatial resolution are offering astronomers a more comprehensive understanding of the still-expanding scene.

NASA's Webb Captures an Ethereal View of NGC 346

Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) — Tue, 10 Oct 2023 10:05:57 EST

Within a neighboring dwarf galaxy known as the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) lies a dramatic region of star birth - NGC 346, shown here. As the brightest and largest star-forming region in the SMC, it has been studied intensely by a variety of telescopes. NASA's Hubble Space Telescope showed a visible-light view filled with thousands of stars. More recently, NASA's James Webb Space Telescope offered a near-infrared vista highlighting both cool and warm dust. Now, Webb has turned its mid-infrared gaze to NGC 346, revealing streamers of gas and dust studded with bright patches filled with young protostars.

Webb Discovers Methane, Carbon Dioxide in Atmosphere of K2-18 b

Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) — Mon, 11 Sep 2023 10:15:25 EST

Carbon-bearing molecules have been discovered in the atmosphere of the habitable zone exoplanet K2-18 b by an international team of astronomers using data from the NASA's James Webb Space Telescope. These results are consistent with an exoplanet that may contain ocean-covered surface underneath a hydrogen-rich atmosphere. This discovery provides a fascinating glimpse into a planet unlike anything else in our Solar System, and raises interesting prospects about potentially habitable worlds elsewhere in the Universe.

A Large Earth-like Granitic System Exists on the Moon

Stony Brook University — Wed, 05 Jul 2023 12:40:38 EST

A new research finding shows that a likely large Earth-like granite system is present on the Moon. The finding, details of which are published in a Nature paper, may help expand knowledge of geothermal lunar processes.

Phosphate, a key building block of life, found on Saturn's moon Enceladus

University of Washington — Wed, 14 Jun 2023 16:35:54 EST

An international team has found that the water on one of Saturn's moons harbors high concentrations of phosphates, a key building block of life. The team detected evidence of phosphates in particles ejected from the ice-covered global ocean of Saturn's moon Enceladus.

Webb Maps Surprisingly Large Plume Jetting From Saturn's Moon Enceladus

Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) — Tue, 30 May 2023 11:10:38 EST

Enceladus--a tiny, icy moon of Saturn--is one of the most intriguing objects in the search for signs of life beyond our own planet.

Hubble Monitors Changing Weather and Seasons at Jupiter and Uranus

Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) — Thu, 23 Mar 2023 10:00:37 EST

New pictures of Jupiter and Uranus from Hubble reveal complex weather activities on these remote gas giant planets. The forecast for Jupiter is blustery winds, while the outlook for Uranus is smoggy as northern summer approaches.

Space dust as Earth's sun shield

University of Utah — Wed, 08 Feb 2023 14:00:00 EST

Dust launched from the moon's surface or from a space station positioned between Earth and the sun could reduce enough solar radiation to mitigate the impacts of climate change.

The canyons on Pluto's moon, Charon, may have formed from the freezing of an internal ocean

Southwest Research Institute — Tue, 07 Feb 2023 17:00:28 EST

"A combination of geological interpretations and thermal-orbital evolution models implies that Charon had a subsurface liquid ocean that eventually froze," said SwRI's Dr. Alyssa Rhoden, a specialist in the geophysics of icy satellites, particularly those containing oceans, and the evolution of giant planet satellite systems.

Webb Detects Extremely Small Main Belt Asteroid

Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) — Mon, 06 Feb 2023 10:05:18 EST

An asteroid roughly the size of Rome's Colosseum -- between 300 to 650 feet (100 to 200 meters) in length -- has been detected by an international team of European astronomers using NASA's James Webb Space Telescope. The object, shown in this artist's conception, is likely the smallest observed to date by Webb. The detection was serendipitous -- the asteroid was found in calibration images of a different asteroid. The lucky finding suggests Webb can detect many such objects.

MSU expert helps NASA discover new planet that could support life

Michigan State University — Tue, 10 Jan 2023 13:55:55 EST

Working with data from NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, or TESS, Michigan State University has helped discover an Earth-sized exoplanet -- a planet outside of our solar system.

ALMA and JWST Reveal Galactic Shock is Shaping Stephan's Quintet in Mysterious Ways

National Radio Astronomy Observatory — Mon, 09 Jan 2023 13:15:00 EST

Shockwaves resulting from the violent collision between an intruder galaxy and Stephan's Quintet are helping astronomers to understand how turbulence influences gas in the intergalactic medium. New observations with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) and the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) have revealed that a sonic boom several times the size of the Milky Way has kickstarted a recycling plant for warm and cold molecular hydrogen gas. What's more, scientists uncovered the break-up of a giant cloud into a fog of warm gas, the possible collision of two clouds forming a splash of warm gas around them, and the formation of a new galaxy. The observations were presented today in a press conference at the 241st meeting of the American Astronomical Society (AAS) in Seattle, Washington.

Alien Planet Found Spiraling to its Doom around an Aging Star

Center for Astrophysics | Harvard and Smithsonian — Mon, 19 Dec 2022 09:00:00 EST

The condemned planet could help answer questions about the fate of other worlds as their solar systems evolve.

Largest Potentially Hazardous Asteroid Detected in Eight Years

Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA) — Mon, 31 Oct 2022 12:00:00 EST

Twilight observations with the US Department of Energy-fabricated Dark Energy Camera at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile, a Program of NSF's NOIRLab, have enabled astronomers to spot three near-Earth asteroids (NEA) hiding in the glare of the Sun. These NEAs are part of an elusive population that lurks inside the orbits of Earth and Venus. One of the asteroids is the largest object that is potentially hazardous to Earth to be discovered in the last eight years.

15 spectacular photos from the Dark Energy Camera

Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab) — Tue, 04 Oct 2022 17:10:39 EST

From high atop a mountain in the Chilean Andes, the Dark Energy Camera has snapped more than one million exposures of the southern sky. The images have captured around 2.5 billion astronomical objects, including galaxies and galaxy clusters, stars, comets, asteroids, dwarf planets and supernovae.

Stars Shed Light on Why Stellar Populations Are So Similar in Milky Way

Oden Institute for Computational Engineering and Sciences — Mon, 08 Aug 2022 11:00:00 EST

Using highly detailed simulations, a collaborative team led by researchers from the University of Texas at Austin has made a breakthrough discovery that star formation is a self-regulatory process, knowledge that may allow researchers to understand star formation within our own and far away galaxies.