Space news stories

When a comet hits a tidally locked exo-Earth
2nd May 2025 phys.org | Earth, Humans, Space

Three scientists in the United Kingdom have modeled the impacts of an icy cometary collision with an Earth-like, tidally locked terrestrial planet…They found even relatively small cometary impacts can significantly disrupt the climate of a terrestrial (Earth-like) tidally locked planet, as well as deliver oxygen to the atmosphere and be a source of an exoplanet’s oceans. Their first of two papers on the topic was published in The Astrophysical Journal.

New theory about spinning universe could be the answer to “Hubble tension”
25th April 2025 cosmosmagazine.com | Ancient, Space

The universe has been growing since the Big Bang 13.8 billion years ago. But cosmologists can’t agree on how fast it is expanding. A new study published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society suggests a radical new idea that might resolve this astronomical problem – perhaps the universe is spinning very slowly.

‘It blew us away’: how an asteroid may have delivered the vital ingredients for life on Earth
21st April 2025 | theguardian.com | Ancient, Earth, Space

Extraterrestrial rocks, recently delivered by a space probe, could answer the big questions about alien lifeforms and human existence

Curiosity Finds First In Situ Evidence of Carbon Cycle on Ancient Mars
18th April 2025 | sciencealert.com | Ancient, Space, Weird

A surprise discovery in Gale Crater is the component that was missing in the puzzle of Mars’s climate history. The findings have been published in Science Advances.

‘City-Killer’ Asteroid Impact Still a Possibility (Just Not With Earth)
2nd April 2025 | sciencealert.com | Humans, Space

According to a report led by planetary astronomer Andrew Rivkin of Johns Hopkins University, 2024 YR4 has a small chance of smacking into the Moon when the asteroid next flies close to Earth in December 2032.

Largest Carbon Molecules Found on Mars Build The Case For Ancient Life
25th March 2025 | sciencealert.com | Ancient, Space

Chains of up to a dozen carbon atoms have been detected in what appears to have been an ancient lakebed on Mars, contributing to a growing library of compounds that could be a vital clue about the history of life on the red planet. This research was published in PNAS.

Oldest known galaxy in universe has oxygen
24th March 2025 cosmosmagazine.com | Ancient, Space

Papers published in Astronomy & Astrophysics and the Astrophysical Journal suggest astrophysicists need to update their theories on how galaxies evolve.

Dark energy survey opens access to largest 3D map of universe
20th March 2025 cosmosmagazine.com | Space, Tech, Weird

A team using the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) and a supercomputer to try to better understand the mysterious phenomenon known as dark energy, created the largest 3D map of the universe as part of this endeavour. And it has just made this map publicly available.

Dwarf galaxies swarming Andromeda act ‘weird’
4th March 2025 cosmosmagazine.com | Ancient, Space, Weird

The Andromeda Galaxy…is surrounded by a swarm of nearly 3 dozen dwarf galaxies, which circle it like bees around a hive. These “satellite galaxies” have been studied in unprecedented detail in a new paper published in the Astrophysical Journal.

Water might be older than we first thought, forming a key constituent of the first galaxies
4th March 2025 phys.org | Ancient, Earth, Space

Water may have first formed 100–200 million years after the Big Bang, according to a modeling paper published in Nature Astronomy. The authors suggest that the formation of water may have occurred in the universe earlier than previously thought and may have been a key constituent of the first galaxies.

We May Have Been Wrong About Why Mars Is Red
26th February 2025 | sciencealert.com | Humans, Space

Its ruddy complexion is the defining characteristic of Mars, the idiosyncrasy that marks it out from all the other planets of the Solar System. But a new study suggests we may have misunderstood the mechanism whereby its rouge was obtained. The research has been published in Nature Communications.

A Rare Alignment of 7 Planets Is Taking Place in The Sky This Week
24th February 2025 | sciencealert.com | Earth, Humans, Space

A very rare treat is about to grace Earth’s night skies. On the evening of 28 February 2025, all seven of the other planets in the Solar System will appear in the night sky at the same time, with Saturn, Mercury, Neptune, Venus, Uranus, Jupiter, and Mars all lining up in a neat row – a magnificent sky feast for the eyes known as a great planetary alignment.

AI to revolutionise fundamental physics and ‘could show how universe will end’
4th February 2025 | theguardian.com | Earth, Humans, Space, Tech

Advanced artificial intelligence is to revolutionise fundamental physics and could open a window on to the fate of the universe, according to Cern’s next director general.

Interstellar lightsails are a step closer
31st January 2025 cosmosmagazine.com | Humans, Space, Tech

The idea of lightsails is something out of science fiction. As early as the 1950s and ‘60s, science fiction writers John Campbell, Arthur C. Clarke and others were toying with the idea of “solar sails” for spacecraft propulsion…Project researchers report in a paper published in Nature Photonics that they have developed a platform to test the materials that could one day form lightsails.

Asteroid Bennu contains the ‘seeds of life,’ OSIRIS-REx samples reveal
30th January 2025 | livescience.com | Ancient, Earth, Space

Scientists have found all five nucelobases alongisde minerals essential for life as we know it on the potentially hazardous asteroid Bennu. The two teams of researchers who made the discoveries published their findings Jan. 29 in two papers in the journal Nature Astronomy.

Moon is not as ‘geologically dead’ as previously thought, new study reveal
29th January 2025 phys.org | Ancient, Space

A new study reveals that what lies beneath the lunar surface may be more dynamic than previously believed.

News stories covering Space, from the macro to the micro, including Space exploration, quantum physics and quantum weirdness.