Astronauts might one day dine on salad grown in asteroid soil. Romaine lettuce, chili pepper and pink radish plants all grew in mixtures of peat moss and faux asteroid soil,…
Category: Space
Amateur astronomers’ images of a rare double aurora may unlock its secrets
What happens when two different kinds of auroras get together? One spills the other’s secrets. Amateur astronomers have captured a strange combination of red and green auroras on camera, and…
The heaviest neutron star on record is 2.35 times the mass of the sun
A fast-spinning neutron star south of the constellation Leo is the most massive of its kind seen so far, according to new observations. The record-setting collapsed star, named PSR J0952-0607,…
An AI-assisted analysis of three-dimensional galaxy distribution in our universe
Flow chart of how the emulator developed by the research team works. Credit: Kavli IPMU, NAOJ By applying a machine-learning technique, a neural network method, to gigantic amounts of simulation…
How James Webb Space Telescope data have already revealed surprises
Massimo Pascale wasn’t planning to study the galaxy cluster SMACS 0723. But as soon as he saw the cluster glittering in the first image from the James Webb Space Telescope,…
Clouds in the Milky Way’s plasma bubbles came from the starry disk — and far beyond
Huge bubbles of plasma billowing out from the Milky Way’s center might contain scraps from all over the galaxy — and beyond. A new look at gas clouds in the…
A fast radio burst’s rapid, steady beat offers a clue to its cosmic origin
An unusual blast of radio waves from deep space had a sense of rhythm. Over the few seconds in December 2019 when the burst was detected, it kept a steady…
The most distant rotating galaxy hails from 13.3 billion years ago
There is a galaxy spinning like a record in the early universe — far earlier than any others have been seen twirling around. Astronomers have spotted signs of rotation…
Here is the James Webb Space Telescope’s stunning first picture
We’ve now seen farther, deeper and more clearly into space than ever before. The first image from the James Webb Space Telescope, released in a White House briefing on July…
Sand clouds are common in atmospheres of brown dwarfs
Clouds of sand can condense, grow and disappear in some extraterrestrial atmospheres. A new look at old data shows that clouds made of hot silicate minerals are common in celestial…
