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Categories: Mathematics: Puzzles, Space: General
Published Surprise gamma-ray feature beyond our galaxy



Astronomers analyzing 13 years of data from NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope have found an unexpected and as yet unexplained feature outside of our galaxy.
Published Astronomers make rare exoplanet discovery, and a giant leap in detecting Earth-like bodies



Astronomers have made the rare discovery of a small, cold exoplanet and its massive outer companion -- shedding light on the formation of planets like Earth.
Published Potential solvents identified for building on moon and Mars



Researchers have taken the first steps toward finding liquid solvents that may someday help extract critical building materials from lunar and Martian-rock dust, an important piece in making long-term space travel possible. Using machine learning and computational modeling, researchers have found about half a dozen good candidates for solvents that can extract materials on the moon and Mars usable in 3D printing. The powerful solvents, called ionic liquids, are salts that are in a liquid state.
Published NASA's Webb discovers dusty 'cat's tail' in Beta Pictoris System



Beta Pictoris, a young planetary system located just 63 light-years away, continues to intrigue scientists even after decades of in-depth study. It possesses the first dust disk imaged around another star -- a disk of debris produced by collisions between asteroids, comets, and planetesimals. Observations from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope revealed a second debris disk in this system, inclined with respect to the outer disk, which was seen first. Now, a team of astronomers using NASA's James Webb Space Telescope to image the Beta Pictoris system (Beta Pic) has discovered a new, previously unseen structure.
Published NASA's Webb finds signs of possible aurorae on isolated brown dwarf



Astronomers have found a brown dwarf (an object more massive than Jupiter but smaller than a star) with infrared emission from methane, likely due to energy in its upper atmosphere. This is an unexpected discovery because the brown dwarf, W1935, is cold and lacks a host star; therefore, there is no obvious source for the upper atmosphere energy. The team speculates that the methane emission may be due to processes generating aurorae.
Published Unlocking the secrets of a 'Hot Saturn' and its spotted star



A team of astronomers has unraveled the enigmatic atmosphere of the exoplanet HAT-P-18 b, shedding light on its intriguing blend of gases, clouds, and even the effects of its star's activity.
Published 'Blob-like' home of farthest-known fast radio burst is collection of seven galaxies



In summer 2022, astronomers detected the most powerful and most distant fast radio burst (FRB) ever observed. Now, astronomers have pinpointed the extraordinary object's birthplace -- and it's rather curious, indeed. Using images from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, the researchers traced the FRB back to not one galaxy but a group of at least seven galaxies.
Published Meteorite analysis shows Earth's building blocks contained water



Analysis of iron meteorites from the earliest years of the solar system indicate that the planetary 'seeds' that ultimately formed Earth contained water.
Published Final supernova results from Dark Energy Survey offer unique insights into the expansion of the universe



In the culmination of a decade's worth of effort, scientists analyzed an unprecedented sample of more than 1,500 supernovae classified using machine learning. They placed the strongest constraints on the expansion of the universe ever obtained with the DES supernova survey. While consistent with the current standard cosmological model, the results do not rule out a more complex theory that the density of dark energy in the universe could have varied over time.
Published Three iron rings in a planet-forming disk



Astronomers have detected a three-ringed structure in the nursery of planets in the inner planet-forming disk of a young star. This configuration suggests two Jupiter-mass planets are forming in the gaps between the rings. The detailed analysis is consistent with abundant solid iron grains complementing the dust composition. As a result, the disk likely harbors metals and minerals akin to those in the Solar System's terrestrial planets. It offers a glimpse into conditions resembling the early Solar System over four billion years ago during the formation of rocky planets such as Mercury, Venus, and Earth.
Published Space oddity: Uncovering the origin of the universe's rare radio circles



Astronomers believe they may have found the origin of the universe's giant odd radio circles: they are shells formed by outflowing galactic winds, possibly from massive exploding stars known as supernovae.
Published Mysterious missing component in the clouds of Venus revealed



Researchers may have identified the missing component in the chemistry of the Venusian clouds that would explain their color and splotchiness in the UV range, solving a long-standing mystery.
Published New images reveal what Neptune and Uranus really look like



Neptune is fondly known for being a rich blue and Uranus green -- but a new study has revealed that the two ice giants are actually far closer in color than typically thought. The correct shades of the planets have now been confirmed.
Published Magnetic fields in the cosmos: Dark matter could help us discover their origin



We don't know how magnetic fields in the cosmos formed. Now a new theoretical research tells how the invisible part of our universe could help us find out, suggesting a primordial genesis, even within a second of the Big Bang.
Published Is oxygen the cosmic key to alien technology?



Astrophysicists outline the links between atmospheric oxygen and the potential rise of advanced technology on distant planets.
Published Designing the 'perfect' meal to feed long-term space travelers



Imagine blasting off on a multiyear voyage to Mars, fueled by a diet of bland, prepackaged meals. As space agencies plan for longer missions, they're grappling with the challenge of how to best feed people. Now, researchers have designed the optimal 'space meal': a tasty vegetarian salad. They chose fresh ingredients that meet male astronauts' specialized nutritional needs and can be grown in space.
Published Sodium's high-pressure transformation can tell us about the interiors of stars, planets



A new study has revealed the chemical bonding behind sodium's high-pressure transformation from shiny metal to transparent insulator.
Published A carbon-lite atmosphere could be a sign of water and life on other terrestrial planets



Best chance of finding liquid water, and even life on other planets, is to look for the absence of carbon dioxide in their atmospheres.
Published Further evidence for quark-matter cores in massive neutron stars



New theoretical analysis places the likelihood of massive neutron stars hiding cores of deconfined quark matter between 80 and 90 percent. The result was reached through massive supercomputer runs utilizing Bayesian statistical inference.
Published Hubble sights a galaxy with 'forbidden' light



A whirling image features a bright spiral galaxy known as MCG-01-24-014, which is located about 275 million light-years from Earth. In addition to being a well-defined spiral galaxy, MCG-01-24-014 has an extremely energetic core known as an active galactic nucleus (AGN) and is categorized as a Type-2 Seyfert galaxy. Seyfert galaxies, along with quasars, host one of the most common subclasses of AGN. While the precise categorization of AGNs is nuanced, Seyfert galaxies tend to be relatively nearby and their central AGN does not outshine its host, while quasars are very distant AGNs with incredible luminosities that outshine their host galaxies.