ASTRONOMY

Ancient interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS may be billions of years older than our solar system

The 'water ice-rich' interstellar object is only the third known object from beyond the solar system ever reported in our cosmic neighbourhood.
Jul 14, 2025

Nearby supernova explosions could be behind two of Earth's mass extinctions, says new study

Researchers point to supernovae as the probable cause for the late Devonian (372 million years away) and older Ordovician (445 million years away) extinction events.
Jul 14, 2025

Chang'e-6 samples reveal ancient volcanoes rocked the Moon’s far side for a billion years, surprising scientists

On May 3, 2024, the Chang'e-6 probe launched and successfully gathered 1,935.3 grams of samples from the Moon's South Pole-Aitken (SPA) Basin.
Jul 13, 2025

Tiny 50-gram meteorite from Morocco could reshape our understanding of when the solar system formed

New research on the meteorite's tiny fragments directly contests the long-held scientific view that inner solar system planets formed earlier than outer ones.
Jul 12, 2025

Astronomers believe the Milky Way is inside a giant cosmic hole—why it's important for 'Hubble tension'

The 'Hubble tension' arises from the conflicting early universe expansion predictions versus faster local observations.
Jul 12, 2025

NASA astronaut shares mind-boggling time-exposure image of lightning from the ISS

A captivating 25-minute time exposure reveals Earth's sequential lightning flashes brightly illuminating the planet.
Jul 12, 2025

NASA’s Parker Solar Probe unveils the closest-ever images to the Sun, taken just 3.8 million miles away

These incredible images are giving scientists vital new information about space weather events that could affect Earth.
Jul 11, 2025

'Dinosaur footprints' on Mars? NASA's Curiosity rover investigates strange rock formation on the planet

The rock will undergo thorough analysis using the Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer (APXS), Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI), and Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam) instruments.
Jul 10, 2025

NASA's Curiosity rover discovers a critical clue explaining why Mars is uninhabitable

Central to the research is NASA's Curiosity rover's discovery of carbonate-rich rocks that, like limestone, absorb and sequester carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
Jul 9, 2025

NASA's Mars Sample Return mission could be saved by new Lockheed Martin proposal

To retrieve the valuable Martian samples from the Perseverance rover, Lockheed Martin has introduced a significantly more cost-effective mission design.
Jul 9, 2025

Climate scientists raise concerns as the U.S. announces plans to stop sharing vital satellite data on sea ice

Losing access to this ongoing data severely limits scientists' capacity to monitor climate change and assess the escalating threat of sea-level increases.
Jul 7, 2025

Earth is predicted to spin faster than usual on three specific dates in July and August

Scientists are predicting Earth will continue its trend of record-setting rapid rotations in 2025, with notably shorter days expected around July 9, July 22, and August 5.
Jul 5, 2025

Citizen astronomers discover more than 10,000 eclipsing binary star systems with NASA's help

Out of the 10,000-plus systems, a majority of them had never been discovered by astrophysicists in the past.
Jul 5, 2025

Astronomers uncover 'cosmic fossil' galaxy offering glimpse into early universe's seven-billion-year history

Like Earth's dinosaur fossils that unlock secrets of prehistoric life, the galaxy KiDS J0842+0059 provides an extraordinary look at the universe's initial stages.
Jul 4, 2025

NASA and SpaceX prepare for a late July to early August liftoff of Crew-11 mission from Kennedy Space Center

This flight is the eleventh crew rotation to the International Space Station under NASA's Commercial Crew Program.
Jul 3, 2025

AI assistant may help astronauts solve emergencies in space

Daphne-AT is a virtual assistant that uses a blend of logic and real-time spacecraft data to pinpoint issues, determine their cause, and offer astronauts solutions for informed decision-making.
Jul 1, 2025

If we spent one second per galaxy, it would take 634 years to see all the galaxies Vera Rubin will capture in 10 years

The observatory is expected to document 20 billion galaxies over its ten-year lifespan, accounting for about one-tenth of the visible universe's estimated galactic population.
Jun 29, 2025

Astronomers finally uncover how 'double hot Jupiters' form in distant star systems

'Double hot Jupiters' are extremely rare instances where two massive, scorching gas planets, similar to or larger than Jupiter, each orbit a star within a binary system.
Jun 28, 2025

Mercury, Moon and Gemini twins aligned for rare viewing opportunity in June

On July 4, Mercury will reach its greatest elongation from the Sun, allowing it to ascend to its highest point above the west-northwest horizon.
Jun 27, 2025

Post SpaceX's Falcon 9 launch, a glowing spiral stunned skywatchers — here's what caused it

Stargazers in Europe photographed the unexpected celestial display on the night of June 23.
Jun 26, 2025