Space news stories

The Milky Way may be spawning many more stars than astronomers had thought
24th February 2023 | sciencenews.org | Humans, Space

The Milky Way is churning out far more stars than previously thought, according to a new estimate of its star formation rate.

‘Potentially hazardous’ asteroid that recently zipped past Earth is an elongated weirdo with an odd rotation
22nd February 2023 | livescience.com | Space, Weird

Astronomers recently got an up-close look at a “potentially hazardous” asteroid as it whizzed safely past Earth, and what they saw caught them by surprise: The space rock is unusually elongated for an asteroid and is spinning much more slowly than expected.

James Webb telescope finds Milky Way’s long-lost twin 9 billion years in the past
13th February 2023 | livescience.com | Ancient, Space, Tech

A sparkling cannibal galaxy discovered by the James Webb Space Telescope appears to be a “very early” mirror image of the Milky Way, and it could help astronomers understand how our galaxy took shape, a new study has revealed.

You have one last chance to view the green comet this week, thanks to a close flyby with Mars
10th February 2023 | livescience.com | Ancient, Space

A rare green comet zipping by Earth for the first time since the Stone Age is about to pass right next to Mars this week, and the once-in-a-lifetime cosmic pairing could be visible through a simple pair of binoculars.

The moon has a hidden tide that pulls on Earth’s magnetosphere, new study reveal
5th February 2023 | livescience.com | Earth, Humans, Space

The moon exerts a previously unknown tidal force on the “plasma ocean” surrounding Earth’s upper atmosphere, creating fluctuations that are similar to the tides in the oceans, a new study suggests.

Did the Seeds of Life Ride to Earth Inside an Asteroid?
2nd February 2023 | wired.com | Ancient, Earth, Space, Tech

Biological amino acids could have celestial or terrestrial roots. An experiment simulated their formation in deep space—but the mystery isn’t solved yet.

Image from: ESO (Wikki Commons)

No, the Big Bang theory is not ‘broken.’ Here’s how we know.
1st February 2023 | Ancient, Space, Tech

Now, there’s more research to back up the Big Bang. Recently, researchers took a more careful look at the data and determined that the distant galaxies discovered by the James Webb Space Telescope are, indeed, perfectly compatible with our modern understanding of cosmology.

Newly discovered green comet comes close to Earth Published
1st February 2023 | bbc.co.uk | Ancient, Humans, Space

A newly discovered comet will make its closest approach to our planet on Wednesday.Astronomers say the object’s journey toward us took around 50,000 years.

 

The Mysterious Asymmetry of Jupiter’s Asteroids May Finally Be Explained
31st January 2023 | sciencealert.com | Humans, Space

Jupiter isn’t alone along its orbital path around the Sun. Two giant swarms of asteroids have been snared in the gravitational interaction between the gas giant and our star, leading and trailing Jupiter as it treads its cosmic measure.

The James Webb Telescope detected the coldest ice in the known universe – and it contains the building blocks of life
25th January 2023 | livescience.com | Ancient, Animal Life, Earth, Space

The James Webb Space Telescope’s latest observations of icy molecules will help scientists understand how habitable planets form.

This Asteroid Has Survived For 4 Billion Years. That Could Be a Huge Problem
25th January 2023 | sciencealert.com | Ancient, Space

A new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences discovered that rubble pile asteroids are an extremely resistant type of asteroid and hard to destroy by collision.

Milky Way found to be more unique than previously thought
24th January 2023 ras.ac.uk | Ancient, Humans, Space

A new study shows that the Milky Way is too big for its “cosmological wall”, something yet to be seen in other galaxies. The new research is published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.

The Latest Milky Way Survey Shows Off an Incredible 3.32 Billion Celestial Objects
23rd January 2023 | sciencealert.com | Ancient, Space, Tech

We have the Dark Energy Camera (DECam) to thank for this beautiful shot of space, part of the Víctor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO), some 2,200 meters (7,218 feet) above sea level in Chile.

Mars meteorite that crashed to Earth contains ‘huge diversity’ of organic compounds
20th January 2023 | livescience.com | Ancient, Humans, Space

A new study into the Tissint meteorite, which crash-landed in Morocco in 2011, revealed a wide array of organic compounds hidden in the rare space rock.

James Webb telescope traces arcs of dusty star formation
12th January 2023 | bbc.co.uk | Ancient, Space, Tech

It’s another stupendous image from the new superspace telescope James Webb.The picture shows NGC 346, a region about 200,000 light years from Earth where a lot of stars are being created.

 

Our Mental Picture of Space Seems to Expand Like The Universe
10th January 2023 | sciencealert.com | Humans, Space

Inside your brain there is a map of every bedroom you’ve slept in. Every kitchen you’ve cooked in. Every city you’ve worked in, every country you’ve holidayed in. There’s even a threadbare map of every Universe you’ve dreamt in

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