https://phys.org/space-news/ en-us The latest science news on astronomy, astrobiology, and space exploration from Phys.org. Airbus and US space exploration firm Voyager Space announced Wednesday a joint venture to develop Starlab, a commercial alternative to replace the International Space Station (ISS) by the end of the decade. https://phys.org/news/2023-08-airbus-partners-voyager-space-iss.html Space Exploration Wed, 02 Aug 2023 11:19:37 EDT news610193974 A new image of the galaxy cluster known as "El Gordo" is revealing distant and dusty objects never seen before, and providing a bounty of fresh science. The infrared image, taken by NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, displays a variety of unusual, distorted background galaxies that were only hinted at in previous Hubble Space Telescope images. https://phys.org/news/2023-08-webb-spotlights-gravitational-arcs-el.html Astronomy Wed, 02 Aug 2023 11:06:57 EDT news610193082 Aliens are big in the news recently, fueled by congressional hearings about unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAPs), formally known as UFOs. But while the idea of aliens visiting Earth may be exciting, the better bet is still the idea that aliens might exist on distant worlds. We already know potentially habitable planets are common and intelligent life has arisen on at least one world, so why not many? But after 60 years of searching for evidence of extraterrestrials "out there," we've found nothing. So what does that tell us? https://phys.org/news/2023-08-years-silence-extraterrestrials.html Astrobiology Wed, 02 Aug 2023 10:27:34 EDT news610190852 Using NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), European astronomers have discovered an eclipsing binary in the open cluster NGC 2232. The binary, designated TIC 43152097, is the first such system detected in this cluster. The finding is reported in a paper published July 26 on the preprint server arXiv. https://phys.org/news/2023-08-eclipsing-binary-cluster-ngc.html Astronomy Wed, 02 Aug 2023 09:10:02 EDT news610181507 This year the Perseid meteor shower reaches its peak on the night of 12–13 August, giving skywatchers a potentially impressive summer treat. The meteors are best viewed from the northern hemisphere, and in ideal conditions with no clouds observers could see up to 50 an hour. https://phys.org/news/2023-08-perseid-meteor-shower-august-night.html Astronomy Wed, 02 Aug 2023 08:14:59 EDT news610182895 The first of two supermoons in August graced the skies on Tuesday. https://phys.org/news/2023-08-photos-supermoon-august-world.html Space Exploration Wed, 02 Aug 2023 03:55:27 EDT news610167320 Yale researchers may have solved a longstanding puzzle as to why certain metallic meteorites show traces of a magnetic field—a finding that may shed light on the formation of magnetic dynamos at the core of planets. https://phys.org/news/2023-08-collisions-asteroids-formation-metal-generate.html Astronomy Planetary Sciences Tue, 01 Aug 2023 17:29:08 EDT news610129740 After days of silence, NASA has heard from Voyager 2 in interstellar space billions of miles away. https://phys.org/news/2023-08-nasa-voyager-spacecraft-mistakenly-contact.html Space Exploration Tue, 01 Aug 2023 13:16:58 EDT news610114613 By analyzing the long-term, high-cadence continuous photometry from NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), astronomers have investigated UU Columbae and Swift J0939.7-3224—two intermediate polars. Results of the study, presented July 24 on the preprint server arXiv, yield important insights into the properties of these two systems. https://phys.org/news/2023-08-intermediate-polars-astronomers.html Astronomy Tue, 01 Aug 2023 09:26:31 EDT news610100788 The first rocket launch from the surface of another planet will be accomplished using two solid rocket motors. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-nasa-mars-ascent-vehicle-sample.html Space Exploration Planetary Sciences Mon, 31 Jul 2023 17:03:27 EDT news610041799 NASA is listening for any peep from Voyager 2 after losing contact with the spacecraft billions of miles away. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-nasa-voyager-spacecraft-wrong-contact.html Space Exploration Mon, 31 Jul 2023 16:50:41 EDT news610041035 Earth is rapidly warming and scientists are developing a variety of approaches to reduce the effects of climate change. István Szapudi, an astronomer at the University of Hawaiʻi Institute for Astronomy, has proposed a novel approach—a solar shield to reduce the amount of sunlight hitting Earth, combined with a tethered, captured asteroid as a counterweight. Engineering studies using this approach could start now to create a workable design that could mitigate climate change within decades. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-sun-umbrella-tethered-asteroid-mitigate.html Planetary Sciences Mon, 31 Jul 2023 16:01:03 EDT news610038062 Planes, trains, automobiles… and spacecraft. While all four of these transportation innovations rely on fuel for power, another key component is thermal management. Without controlling the distribution and flow of heat inside a system, such as the International Space Station and other commercial spacecraft, temperatures inside the vessels would not be habitable for astronauts given the extreme hot and cold temperatures of outer space. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-optimizing-exchange-microgravity.html Space Exploration Mon, 31 Jul 2023 15:22:42 EDT news610035759 Congressional testimony this week about reverse engineering from crashed UFOs and the recovery of non-human "biologics" sounds like science fiction. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-ufos-non-human-biologics-professor-evidence.html Astrobiology Mon, 31 Jul 2023 15:22:36 EDT news610035752 In capitalist societies, resources are primarily directed at solving problems, and one of the biggest hurdles facing space development is its ability to directly solve the problems of the majority of humanity back on Earth. So far, we've taken some cautious commercial steps, primarily through satellite monitoring and communication technologies. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-aging-wine-major-space-business.html Space Exploration Mon, 31 Jul 2023 15:01:04 EDT news610034462 Euclid's two instruments have captured their first test images. The mesmerizing results indicate that the space telescope will achieve the scientific goals that it has been designed for—and possibly much more. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-euclid-images-riches.html Astronomy Space Exploration Mon, 31 Jul 2023 13:25:14 EDT news610028708 An asteroid discovery algorithm—designed to uncover near-Earth asteroids for the Vera C. Rubin Observatory's upcoming 10-year survey of the night sky—has identified its first "potentially hazardous" asteroid, a term for space rocks in Earth's vicinity that scientists like to keep an eye on. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-algorithm-ensnares-potentially-hazardous-asteroid.html Astronomy Planetary Sciences Mon, 31 Jul 2023 13:19:08 EDT news610028339 At one time, astronomers believed that the planets formed in their current orbits, which remained stable over time. But more recent observations, theory, and calculations have shown that planetary systems are subject to shake-ups and change. Periodically, planets are kicked out of their star systems to become "rogue planets," bodies that are no longer gravitationally bound to any star and are adrift in the interstellar medium (ISM). Some of these planets may be gas giants with tightly bound icy moons orbiting them, which they could bring with them into the ISM. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-rogue-planets-explore.html Astrobiology Planetary Sciences Mon, 31 Jul 2023 12:47:05 EDT news610026421 We have discovered more than 5,400 planets in the universe. These worlds range from hot jovians that closely orbit their star to warm ocean worlds to cold gas giants. While we know they are there, we don't know much about them. Characteristics such as mass and size are fairly straightforward to measure, but other properties such as temperature and atmospheric composition are more difficult. So the next generation of telescopes will try to capture that information, including one proposed telescope from the Chinese National Space Administration. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-chinese-scientists-concept-meter-space.html Astronomy Planetary Sciences Mon, 31 Jul 2023 12:44:03 EDT news610026241 They are mysterious, exciting and inescapable—black holes are some of the most exotic objects in the universe. With gravitational-wave detectors, it is possible to detect the chirp sound that two black holes produce when they merge, approximately 70 such chirps have been found so far. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-black-hole-chirps-universal-frequency.html Astronomy Mon, 31 Jul 2023 10:55:03 EDT news610019701 The tranquil spiral galaxy UGC 12295 basks leisurely in this image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope. This galaxy lies around 192 million light-years away in the constellation Pisces and is almost face-on when viewed from Earth, displaying a bright central bar and tightly wound spiral arms. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-hubble-captures-spiral-galaxy-ugc.html Astronomy Mon, 31 Jul 2023 10:48:02 EDT news610019281 In 2026, the European Space Agency (ESA) will launch its next-generation exoplanet-hunting mission, the PLAnetary Transits and Oscillations of stars (PLATO). https://phys.org/news/2023-07-plato-mission-successful-planet-hunter.html Planetary Sciences Mon, 31 Jul 2023 10:16:04 EDT news610017361 Astronomers from Shanghai Astronomical Observatory (SHAO) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and their collaborators have found five Green Pea (GP) galaxies with double-peaked narrow lines among nearly 1,550 GP galaxies. These objects may originate from dual active galactic nuclei (AGN) mergers, potentially revealing the co-evolutionary characteristics of a special class of high-mass galaxies and supermassive black holes. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-astronomers-green-pea-galaxies-double-peaked.html Astronomy Mon, 31 Jul 2023 09:51:16 EDT news610015867 Using the Caucasian Mountain Observatory (CMO), Russian astronomers have observed a peculiar infrared source designated IRAS 07253-2001. Results of the observational campaign, published July 20 on the preprint server arXiv, reveal insights into the properties of this source, shedding more light on its nature. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-explore-nature-infrared-source-iras.html Astronomy Mon, 31 Jul 2023 09:40:01 EDT news610014867 A mysterious object that washed up on an Australian beach has been identified as debris from an Indian rocket, officials said Monday. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-mystery-australian-beach-indian-rocket.html Space Exploration Mon, 31 Jul 2023 03:55:23 EDT news609994517 A European wind-mapping satellite has returned successfully to Earth following a delicate assisted return designed to minimize damage from flying debris, the European Space Agency said on Saturday. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-european-wind-mapping-satellite-safely-earth.html Space Exploration Sat, 29 Jul 2023 13:29:30 EDT news609856170 The cosmos is offering up a double feature in August: a pair of supermoons culminating in a rare blue moon. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-supermoons-august-stargazing-fun.html Space Exploration Sat, 29 Jul 2023 12:13:57 EDT news609851632 More than 15 years after the discovery of fast radio bursts (FRBs)—millisecond-long, deep-space cosmic explosions of electromagnetic radiation—astronomers worldwide have been combing the universe to uncover clues about how and why they form. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-astronomers-formation-mysterious-fast-radio.html Astronomy Fri, 28 Jul 2023 15:39:23 EDT news609777548 For nearly a century, dark matter has continued to evade direct detection, pushing scientists to come up with even more creative methods of searching. Increasingly sensitive detection experiments are a major undertaking, however, which means scientists want to be sure they analyze data from these experiments in the most thorough and robust way possible. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-analysis-supercdms-tighter-limits-dark.html Astronomy Fri, 28 Jul 2023 14:06:55 EDT news609772012 A joint scientific team led by the Royal Observatory of Belgium (ROB) and the KU Leuven has found that high-frequency magnetic waves could play an essential role in keeping the sun's atmosphere at millions of degrees. This finding sheds a new light on the most intriguing solar mystery: what makes the sun's atmosphere hotter than its surface? https://phys.org/news/2023-07-astronomers-high-frequency-magnetic-play-essential.html Astronomy Fri, 28 Jul 2023 10:12:58 EDT news609757975