Twente Consortium Develops Vibration-free Cooling for Measuring Gravitational Waves

Observations of gravitational waves by existing observatories and the new Einstein Telescope are made with laser beams. These are sent into ten-kilometre-long tunnels in two directions and reflected by mirrors…

Do We Have Cosmic Dust to Thank for Life on Earth?

It might be that what set prebiotic chemistry in motion and kept it going in the early days of the Earth was dust from outer space accumulating in holes melted…

Earth as a test object

Physicists at ETH Zurich and the University of Zurich wanted to know whether the planned LIFE space mission could really detect traces of life on other planets. Yes, it can.…

Black Hole Fashions Stellar Beads on a String

An international team of astronomers has discovered one of the most powerful eruptions from a black hole ever recorded. A black hole – artistic impression. Image credit: Alius Noreika /…

New Search Finds 85 Exoplanet Candidates – as Cool as Planets in Our Own Solar System

Astronomers have discovered 85 possible planets outside of our solar system, with temperatures closer to those of our own Solar System planets, potentially cool enough to sustain life. Exoplanet –…

ERS-2 spotted by other satellites during descent

ESA’s European Remote Sensing 2 satellite (ERS-2) was recently spotted tumbling as it descends through the atmosphere. These images were captured by cameras on board other satellites by Australian company HEO on…

NASA Experiment Sheds Light on Highly Charged Moon Dust

Researchers are studying data from a recent suborbital flight test to understand lunar regolith, or Moon dust better, and its potentially damaging effects as NASA prepares to send astronauts back…

Cornell Astronomers on Newly Approved UVEX NASA Mission

NASA has approved a new mission to survey ultraviolet light across the entire sky, which will enable scientists to probe ever more deeply into how galaxies and stars evolve. A…

‘Beyond what’s possible’: new JWST observations unearth mysterious ancient galaxies

Our understanding of how galaxies form and the nature of dark matter could be completely upended after new observations of a stellar population bigger than the Milky Way from more…

Bright Galaxies Put Dark Matter to the Test

For the past year and a half, the James Webb Space Telescope has delivered astonishing images of distant galaxies formed not long after the Big Bang, giving scientists their first…