The biggest clash in cosmology might be inching closer to resolution, thanks to the James Webb Space Telescope. Scientists disagree over the universe’s expansion rate, known as the Hubble constant. There are two main methods for measuring it — one based on exploding stars called supernovas and the other on the universe’s oldest light, the … Read more
Satellites hampering radio astronomy — Science News, October 5, 1974 In the past, the satellites and probes launched by NASA and others successfully avoided conflict with the radio frequency bands reserved for radio astronomy. But now there is trouble. The trespassers are two major U.S. satellites launched in May…. When either of the satellites is … Read more
A red dwarf star known as Barnard’s star, which lies a mere six light-years from our solar system, has at least one — and possibly a handful — of small rocky planets orbiting it, a new study suggests. Barnard’s star, which is about one-sixth the mass of our sun, is the closest individual star to … Read more
As the youthful universe congealed under the pull of gravity, matter knotted itself into galaxies, galaxy clusters and filaments, weaving a dazzlingly intricate cosmic web. This web’s structure is thanks, in part, to the handiwork of neutrinos — lightweight, subatomic particles that surge through the cosmos in unimaginable numbers. Because they streak about at high … Read more
Opposing fountains of plasma and particles spanning 23 million light-years are the longest pair of black hole jets ever seen. That’s far enough to influence the evolution of the universe on cosmic scales, astronomers report September 18 in Nature. “Traditionally, astronomers believed all jets remain within, or at least very close to, their host galaxy,” … Read more
For the first time, astronomers have watched gas boil and bubble on the surface of a distant star. Scientists observed the red giant star R Doradus with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array, or ALMA, in Chile over the course of four weeks in July and August 2023. The series of images shows large cells of … Read more
To leave a lasting trail, meteors must aim downward. A new study of shooting stars shows that meteors that blaze 90 kilometers up in the sky leave a continuous glow, unlike those that burn up at higher altitudes. Meteors are normally bright events and you will miss them. A particle of space dust leaves a … Read more
As more and more species come close to extinction, scientists have been collecting samples of animals, plants and other creatures and storing them in biorepositories around the globe.SN: 5/8/19). But climate change, environmental disasters and wars threaten these modern Noah’s Arks (SN: 28/2/22). Now, a team of researchers is thinking of an out-of-this-world solution: building … Read more
Imagine going on a week-long business trip and not coming home until next year. That may be the case for American astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore, whose eight-day mission to the International Space Station has already stretched to more than two months and is likely to last even longer. The pair launched to the … Read more
A distant stellar nursery holds a cluster of newborn worlds the size of Jupiter, the smallest of which is surrounded by a disk of dust that may one day form moons. The detailed discovery, made thanks to the unprecedented sensitivity of the James Webb Space Telescope, could provide new insights into the formation of stars … Read more