The night sky has been brightening faster than researchers realized, thanks to the use of artificial lights at night. A study of more than 50,000 observations of stars by citizen…
Category: Space
Enceladus is blanketed in a thick layer of snow
Saturn’s moon Enceladus is shrouded in a thick layer of snow. In some places, the downy stuff is 700 meters deep, new research suggests. “It’s like Buffalo, but worse,” says…
The James Webb telescope found ‘Green Pea’ galaxies in the early universe
Galaxies that helped transform the early universe may have been small, round and green. Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope have spotted “Green Pea” galaxies dating to 13.1 billion…
Methylated gases could be an unambiguous indicator of alien life
SEATTLE — Attention alien hunters: If you want to find life on distant planets, try looking for signs of toxic chemical cleanup. Gases that organisms produce as they tidy up…
Methylated gases could be an unambiguous indicator of alien life
SEATTLE — Attention alien hunters: If you want to find life on distant planets, try looking for signs of toxic chemical cleanup. Gases that organisms produce as they tidy up…
Io may have an underworld magma ocean or a hot metal heart
CHICAGO — An entire ocean of liquid magma, or maybe a hot heart of solid metal, may lurk in Io’s underworld. The surface of Jupiter’s innermost moon is covered in…
The James Webb Space Telescope wasn’t the only big space news in 2022
While the stunning images from the James Webb Space Telescope captured space fans’ attention this year, other telescopes and spacecraft were busy on Earth and around the solar system (SN…
The James Webb telescope is getting glimpses of small, far-off planets
BALTIMORE — When the James Webb Space Telescope was first dreamed up, exoplanets hadn’t even been discovered yet. Now the observatory is showing astronomers what it can learn about planets…
The first planet found by the Kepler space telescope is doomed
The first planet ever spotted by the Kepler space telescope is falling into its star. Kepler launched in 2009 on a mission to find exoplanets by watching them cross in…
The last vital ingredient for life has been discovered on Enceladus
CHICAGO — The last key ingredient for life has been discovered on Saturn’s icy moon Enceladus. Phosphorus is a vital building block of life, used to construct DNA and RNA.…
