Space: Exploration Space: General Space: The Solar System
Published

Curiosity rover finds new evidence of ancient Mars rivers, a key signal for life      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

New analysis of data from the Curiosity rover reveals that much of the craters on Mars today could have once been habitable rivers.

Space: Astronomy Space: Exploration Space: General Space: The Solar System
Published

Researchers capture first images of a radio 'ring of fire' solar eclipse      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have recorded images of a solar eclipse with the 'ring of fire' effect in radio waves.

Offbeat: General Offbeat: Space Space: Astronomy Space: Exploration Space: General Space: The Solar System
Published

Researchers probe how a piece of the moon became a near-Earth asteroid      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Two years after the striking discovery that a near-Earth asteroid could be a chunk of the moon, another UArizona research group has found that a rare pathway could have enabled this to happen.

Offbeat: General Offbeat: Space Space: Exploration Space: General Space: The Solar System
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The Moon is 40 million years older than previously thought      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

By analyzing tiny lunar crystals gathered by Apollo 17 astronauts in 1972, researchers recalculated the age of the Earth's Moon. Although previous assessments estimated the Moon as 4.425 billion years old, the new study discovered it is actually 4.46 billion years old -- 40 million years older than previously thought.

Space: Astronomy Space: Exploration Space: General Space: The Solar System
Published

NASA's Webb discovers new feature in Jupiter's atmosphere      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has discovered a new, never-before-seen feature in Jupiter's atmosphere. The high-speed jet stream, which spans more than 3,000 miles (4,800 kilometers) wide, sits over Jupiter's equator above the main cloud decks. The discovery of this jet is giving insights into how the layers of Jupiter's famously turbulent atmosphere interact with each other, and how Webb is uniquely capable of tracking those features.  

Offbeat: General Offbeat: Space Space: Astronomy Space: Astrophysics Space: Cosmology Space: Exploration Space: General
Published

Astronomers detect most distant fast radio burst to date      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

An international team has spotted a remote blast of cosmic radio waves lasting less than a millisecond. This 'fast radio burst' (FRB) is the most distant ever detected. Its source was pinned down by the European Southern Observatory's (ESO) Very Large Telescope (VLT) in a galaxy so far away that its light took eight billion years to reach us. The FRB is also one of the most energetic ever observed; in a tiny fraction of a second it released the equivalent of our Sun's total emission over 30 years.

Space: Astronomy Space: Astrophysics Space: Cosmology Space: Exploration Space: General Space: Structures and Features
Published

Black holes could come in 'perfect pairs' in an ever expanding Universe      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have shown it's theoretically possible for black holes to exist in perfectly balanced pairs -- held in equilibrium by a cosmological force -- mimicking a single black hole.

Space: Astronomy Space: Exploration Space: General Space: The Solar System
Published

Source of largest ever Mars quake revealed      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Scientists have announced the results of an unprecedented collaboration to search for the source of the largest ever seismic event recorded on Mars. The study rules out a meteorite impact, suggesting instead that the quake was the result of enormous tectonic forces within Mars' crust.

Environmental: General Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry Space: Astronomy Space: Exploration Space: General Space: The Solar System
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Signatures of the Space Age: Spacecraft metals left in the wake of humanity's path to the stars      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Using tools hitched to the nose cone of their research planes and sampling more than 11 miles above the planet's surface, researchers have discovered significant amounts of metals in aerosols in the atmosphere, likely from increasingly frequent launches and returns of spacecraft and satellites. That mass of metal is changing atmospheric chemistry in ways that may impact Earth's atmosphere and ozone layer.

Space: Astronomy Space: Astrophysics Space: Cosmology Space: Exploration Space: General Space: Structures and Features
Published

NASA's Webb captures an ethereal view of NGC 346      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

One of the greatest strengths of NASA's James Webb Space Telescope is its ability to give astronomers detailed views of areas where new stars are being born. The latest example, showcased here in a new image from Webb's Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI), is NGC 346 -- the brightest and largest star-forming region in the Small Magellanic Cloud.

Space: Astronomy Space: Exploration Space: General Space: The Solar System
Published

Removal of magnetic spacecraft contamination within extraterrestrial samples easily carried out, researchers say      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

By demonstrating that spaceflight doesn’t adversely affect the magnetism of moon rocks, researchers underscore the exciting potential of studying the magnetic histories stored in these samples.

Space: Astronomy Space: Exploration Space: General Space: Structures and Features Space: The Solar System
Published

Researchers capture first-ever afterglow of huge planetary collision in outer space      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A chance social media post by an eagle-eyed amateur astronomer sparked the discovery of an explosive collision between two giant planets, which crashed into each other in a distant space system 1,800 light years away from planet Earth.

Offbeat: General Offbeat: Space Space: Astronomy Space: Astrophysics Space: Exploration Space: General Space: The Solar System
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'Starquakes' could explain mystery signals      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Fast radio bursts, or FRBs, are an astronomical mystery, with their exact cause and origins still unconfirmed. These intense bursts of radio energy are invisible to the human eye, but show up brightly on radio telescopes. Previous studies have noted broad similarities between the energy distribution of repeat FRBs, and that of earthquakes and solar flares. However, new research has looked at the time and energy of FRBs and found distinct differences between FRBs and solar flares, but several notable similarities between FRBs and earthquakes. This supports the theory that FRBs are caused by 'starquakes' on the surface of neutron stars. This discovery could help us better understand earthquakes, the behavior of high-density matter and aspects of nuclear physics.

Chemistry: Biochemistry Offbeat: General Physics: Acoustics and Ultrasound
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Pingpong balls score big as sound absorbers      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers describe an acoustic meta-surface that uses pingpong balls, with small holes punctured in each, as Helmholtz resonators to create inexpensive but effective low-frequency sound insulation. The coupling between two resonators led to two resonance frequencies, and more resonant frequencies meant the device was able to absorb more sound. At the success of two coupled resonators, the researchers added more, until their device resembled a square sheet of punctured pingpong balls, multiplying the number of resonant frequencies that could be absorbed.

Space: Astronomy Space: Astrophysics Space: Exploration Space: General Space: Structures and Features
Published

Stellar fountain of youth with turbulent formation history in the center of our galaxy      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

An unexpectedly high number of young stars has been identified in the direct vicinity of a supermassive black hole and water ice has been detected at the center of our galaxy.

Physics: Acoustics and Ultrasound Physics: Optics
Published

Medical imaging fails dark skin: Researchers fixed it      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A team found a way to deliver clear pictures of anyone's internal anatomy, no matter their skin tone.

Space: Astronomy Space: Exploration Space: General Space: The Solar System
Published

Source of electron acceleration and X-ray aurora of Mercury local chorus waves detected      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Observations during two flybys by the Mio spacecraft as part of the BepiColombo International Mercury Exploration Project have revealed that chorus waves occur quite locally in the dawn sector of Mercury. Mercury's magnetic field is about 1% of that of Earth, and it was unclear whether chorus waves would be generated like on Earth. The present study reveals that the chorus waves are the driving source of Mercury's X-ray auroras, whose mechanism was not understood.

Offbeat: General Offbeat: Space Space: Astronomy Space: Exploration Space: General Space: The Solar System
Published

Large mound structures on Kuiper belt object Arrokoth may have common origin      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

A new study posits that the large, approximately 5-kilometer-long mounds that dominate the appearance of the larger lobe of the pristine Kuiper Belt object Arrokoth are similar enough to suggest a common origin. The study suggests that these “building blocks” could guide further work on planetesimal formational models.

Offbeat: General Offbeat: Space Space: Astronomy Space: Astrophysics Space: Exploration Space: General
Published

Study quantifies satellite brightness, challenges ground-based astronomy      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

The ability to have access to the Internet or use a mobile phone anywhere in the world is taken more and more for granted, but the brightness of Internet and telecommunications satellites that enable global communications networks could pose problems for ground-based astronomy. Scientists confirm that recently deployed satellites are as bright as stars seen by the unaided eye.

Offbeat: General Offbeat: Space Space: Astronomy Space: Astrophysics Space: Cosmology Space: Exploration Space: General Space: Structures and Features
Published

Bursts of star formation explain mysterious brightness at cosmic dawn      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

In the James Webb Space Telescope’s (JWST) first images of the universe’s earliest galaxies, the young galaxies appear too bright, too massive and too mature to have formed so soon after the Big Bang. Using new simulations, a team of astrophysicists now has discovered that these galaxies likely are not so massive after all. Although a galaxy’s brightness is typically determined by its mass, the new findings suggest that less massive galaxies can glow just as brightly from irregular, brilliant bursts of star formation.