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Astronomy / Space - Environment - 17.10.2024
Could Life Exist Below Mars Ice? NASA Study Proposes Possibilities
Could Life Exist Below Mars Ice? NASA Study Proposes Possibilities
The white material seen within this Martian gully is believed to be dusty water ice. Scientists believe this kind of ice could be an excellent place to look for microbial life on Mars today. This image, showing part of a region called Dao Vallis, was. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona" These holes, captured on Alaska's Matanuska Glacier in 2012, are formed by cryoconite - dust particles that melt into the ice over time, eventually forming small pockets of water below the glacier's surface.

Astronomy / Space - Earth Sciences - 16.10.2024
Researchers propose age of Moon's oldest impact basin, uncovering its ancient impact history
Researchers propose age of Moon’s oldest impact basin, uncovering its ancient impact history
Scientists believe they could have pinpointed the age of the largest and oldest impact basin on the Moon to over 4.32 billion years ago. The Moon, like the Earth, has been bombarded by asteroids and comets since its formation, leaving behind craters and basins. However, the exact timing and intensity of most of these events, notably the oldest and largest basin on the Moon, have remained unclear to scientists-until now.

Astronomy / Space - Physics - 16.10.2024
It’s Twins! Mystery of Famed Brown Dwarf Solved
Hundreds of papers have been written about the first known brown dwarf, Gliese 229 B, since its discovery by Caltech researchers at the Institute's Palomar Observatory in 1995. But a pressing mystery has persisted about this orb: It is too dim for its mass. Brown dwarfs are lighter than stars and heavier than gas giants like Jupiter.

Astronomy / Space - 11.10.2024
How did the building blocks of life arrive on Earth?
How did the building blocks of life arrive on Earth?
Researchers have used the chemical fingerprints of zinc contained in meteorites to determine the origin of volatile elements on Earth. The results suggest that without 'unmelted' asteroids, there may not have been enough of these compounds on Earth for life to emerge. Volatiles are elements or compounds that change into vapour at relatively low temperatures.

Astronomy / Space - 11.10.2024
'Inside-out' galaxy growth observed in the early universe
’Inside-out’ galaxy growth observed in the early universe
Astronomers have used the NASA/ESA James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) to observe the 'inside-out' growth of a galaxy in the early universe, only 700 million years after the Big Bang. This galaxy is one hundred times smaller than the Milky Way, but is surprisingly mature for so early in the universe. Like a large city, this galaxy has a dense collection of stars at its core but becomes less dense in the galactic 'suburbs'.

Astronomy / Space - Earth Sciences - 10.10.2024
Does Distant Planet Host Volcanic Moon Like Jupiter's Io?
Does Distant Planet Host Volcanic Moon Like Jupiter’s Io?
This artist's concept depicts a potential volcanic moon between the exoplanet WASP-49 b, left, and its parent star. New evidence indicating that a massive sodium cloud observed near WASP-49 b is produced by neither the planet nor the star has prompted. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech" The existence of a moon located outside our solar system has never been confirmed but a new NASA-led study may provide indirect evidence for one.

Environment - Astronomy / Space - 09.10.2024
Improved Glacier Monitoring Using Satellite Radar
International researchers involving Graz University of Technology have used radar data to determine which glaciers in High Mountain Asia are growing or shrinking in which season. For parts of Central Asia and the Himalayas, the findings contradict previous assumptions. Glaciers are dynamic entities: over the course of the year, phases of mass growth, particularly due to snowfall, alternate with periods in which glaciers lose mass.

Astronomy / Space - Physics - 09.10.2024
Dozens of massive stars launched from young star cluster R136
Astronomers have used data from the European Gaia Space Telescope to discover 55 high-speed stars launched from the young star cluster R136 in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way. This increases tenfold the number of known "runaway stars" in this region. The team of astronomers from the University of Amsterdam, Leiden University and Radboud University (Netherlands), among others, is publishing the results this week in Nature.

Astronomy / Space - Environment - 08.10.2024
JWST finds first exotic ’steam world’ shrouded in water vapor 
The finding represents a 'huge step' toward finding habitable planets outside our solar system Study: JWST/NIRISS Reveals the Water-rich 'Steam World' Atmosphere of GJ 9827 d (DOI: 10.3847/2041-8213/ad6f00) Nearly 100 light years away, there's a planet unlike any we've seen before. The planet, known as GJ 9827 d, is roughly twice the size of Earth and has an atmosphere composed almost entirely of water vapor, according to a new study.

Astronomy / Space - Environment - 07.10.2024
NASA: New Insights Into How Mars Became Uninhabitable
NASA: New Insights Into How Mars Became Uninhabitable
Mars today bear signs of once having had abundant water, with features resembling valleys and deltas, and minerals that only form in the presence of liquid water. This artist's concept shows how the Red Planet could have appeared billions of years ago. Credit: NASA/The Lunar and Planetary Institute" Measurements from the agency's Curiosity rover are providing clues as to how the Red Planet's ancient climate transformed.

Astronomy / Space - Physics - 04.10.2024
Winds that make stars and planets grow
Winds that make stars and planets grow
Nested morphology of gas streams confirms a mechanism that helps infant stars to grow by ingesting disk material. Planet-forming disks, maelstroms of gas and dust swirling around young stars, are nurseries that give rise to planetary systems, including our solar system. Astronomers have discovered new details of gas flows that sculpt and shape those disks over time.

Astronomy / Space - Environment - 04.10.2024
Astronomers probe a 'steam world'
Astronomers probe a ’steam world’
Led by a team at UdeM's IREx, scientists explore the exoplanet GJ 9827 d'and find a significant amount of water vapor in its atmosphere. A Canadian-led international study has revealed new insights into the atmosphere of GJ 9827 d - an exoplanet orbiting the star GJ 9827 in the constellation Pisces, about 98 light-years from Earth - using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST).

Astronomy / Space - 01.10.2024
A sub-Earth detected around our neighbouring star Barnard
A sub-Earth detected around our neighbouring star Barnard
A team of scientists including researchers from the University of Bern, the University of Geneva and the NCCR PlanetS used the ESPRESSO Spectrograph to discover a sub-Earth mass exoplanet orbiting Barnard's star, the second-closest star system to the Sun. This discovery helps to understand planetary formation around red dwarfs and provides insights into the diversity of planetary systems in our cosmic neighbourhood.

Physics - Astronomy / Space - 01.10.2024
Honey, I shrunk the quantum sensor
Atom interferometric quantum sensors are huge, but a U-M research group has devised a way to miniaturize them Atom interferometers are quantum sensors that use the wave-like nature of atoms to measure gravity, acceleration and rotation with exceptional precision. Most of the current atom interferometers are large instruments, occupying buildings and requiring towers that can reach tens of meters in height.

Astronomy / Space - Physics - 01.10.2024
NASA Turns Off Science Instrument to Save Voyager 2 Power
NASA Turns Off Science Instrument to Save Voyager 2 Power
Engineers work on NASA's Voyager 2 at JPL in March 1977, ahead of the spacecraft's launch that August. The probe carries 10 science instruments, some of which have been turned off over the years to save power. Credit: NASA" The mission has been working to postpone the shut-off as long as possible. Four other instruments aboard the interstellar spacecraft continue to operate.

Astronomy / Space - Psychology - 01.10.2024
Q&A: UW researchers examine link between light pollution and interest in astronomy
Picture walking outside on a dark, cloudless evening. You look up to admire the stars - maybe even a planet, if you're lucky - and a sense of wonder washes of you. New research from the University of Washington shows this might be more than a memorable experience: It could ultimately spark scientific curiosity and influence life choices.

Astronomy / Space - Earth Sciences - 30.09.2024
New mission to create total solar eclipses in space
New mission to create total solar eclipses in space
A UK team of researchers including UCL's Professor Lucie Green are working on the launch of a spacecraft mission which will allow us to view the Sun's atmosphere in more detail than ever before. The proposed MESOM mission will enable researchers to study the conditions that create solar storms, leading to improvements in forecasts of space weather on Earth.

Agronomy / Food Science - Astronomy / Space - 26.09.2024
Crop forecasting from space
Crop forecasting from space
ETH spin-off Terensis is able to forecast the harvest yield and climate risks such as droughts and frost with the help of satellites.

Astronomy / Space - Physics - 25.09.2024
The SAGA saga: Putting the Milky Way's 'peculiarities' into context
The SAGA saga: Putting the Milky Way’s ’peculiarities’ into context
A trio of new studies suggests the Milky Way has a unique configuration of satellite galaxies surrounding it. A long-term survey of small, "satellite" galaxies that orbit larger galaxies across the universe offers new insights into our own galaxy, the Milky Way. Since 2012, the Satellites Around Galactic Analogs (SAGA) Survey has studied the regions around 101 galaxies that are similar to the Milky Way - finding hundreds of smaller, low-mass satellite galaxies orbiting around them.

Astronomy / Space - 24.09.2024
Earth is getting a tiny mini-moon. It won’t be the last (and isn’t the first)
Astrophysicist Dr Laura Driessen from the School of Physics talks us through where mini-moons come from and lets us know if we will discover more little friends for the Moon anytime soon. Earth is going to have its very own mini-moon from  September 29 until November 25 . The regular Moon's new, temporary friend is 2024 PT5, an asteroid captured from the Arjuna asteroid group (called the "Arjunas").