New images confirm that the star was partially concealed by a cloud of dust, solving the mystery of the ‘Great Dimming’ of Betelgeuse. Image credit: ESO/M. Montargès et al. Early last year,…
Category: Space
Ingenuity makes its first controlled flight on Mars
NASA makes history with the first demonstration of controlled flight on another planet. NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter captured this shot as it hovered over the Martian surface. Image: NASA What started as…
Could planets with underground oceans be concealing alien life?
Planets that contain subsurface oceans could be a potential treasure trove of life, expanding the number of habitable planets in the galaxy. The surface of Enceladus, captured by NASA’s Cassini spacecraft; Image…
Seeking life on Mars: What you need to know about the Perseverance mission
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech Tomorrow, NASA’s Perseverance rover will touch down on the Red Planet and the hype around the mission is building. Launched last summer, the endeavor aims to discover signs of…
First hint of radio emissions collected from an exoplanet
Though weak, researchers have detected what could be the first radio emissions collected from a planet outside our solar system. Image credit: Guillaume Le Louarn Unsplash This week, researchers from Cornell University…
Astronomers record last moments of star as it’s devoured by a black hole and turned into “spaghetti”
New observations capture a star experiencing spaghettification as it’s sucked in by a supermassive black hole. A star experiencing spaghettification as it’s sucked in by a supermassive black hole. Image credit: ESO/M….
Black holes take 2020 Nobel prize in physics
Three laureates share this year’s Nobel prize in physics for their discoveries about one of the most exotic phenomena in the universe: the black hole. Image credit: Niklas Elmehed. © Nobel Media…
Could there be life on Venus? Sighting of a rare molecule could be the answer
A possible marker of life has been spotted in the clouds of Venus and has astronomers excited about the possibility of extra-terrestrial “aerial” life on the harsh planet. Artist’s impression of Venus….
Planet-forming disc torn apart by its three central stars
New observations allowed astronomers to see, for the first time, the shadow of GW Orionis’ inner ring, which helped them figure out its 3D orientation. GW Orionis, a triple star system with…
Can bacteria survive in space?
New study provides the best estimate to date that bacteria could survive a trip to Mars. Image credit: JAXA/NASA The origin of life on Earth is a mystery, arising roughly four billion…