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Astronomy & Space news
Exploring the possibility of probing fundamental spacetime symmetries via gravitational wave memory
As predicted by the theory of general relativity, the passage of gravitational waves can leave a measurable change in the relative positions of objects. This physical phenomenon, known as gravitational wave memory, could ...
With its latest moon mission success, China's space program has the US in its sights
June 25 2024 marked a new "first" in the history of spaceflight. China's robotic Chang'e 6 spacecraft delivered samples of rock back to Earth from a huge feature on the moon called the south pole–Aitken basin. After touching ...
Space Exploration
Jul 5, 2024
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Blue Origin logs SpaceX Starship concerns as it preps for 1st New Glenn launch
As Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin prepares for the first launch of its New Glenn rocket from Cape Canaveral this year, the company has taken time to voice concerns over future launches of competitor SpaceX's massive Starship and ...
Space Exploration
Jul 5, 2024
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Webb captures a staggering quasar-galaxy merger in the remote universe
An international research group led by the Italian National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF) and comprising 34 research institutes and universities worldwide utilized the Near-Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec) on board the ...
Astronomy
Jul 5, 2024
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Webb admires bejeweled ring of the lensed quasar RX J1131-1231
This new picture of the month from the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope features the gravitational lensing of the quasar known as RX J1131-1231, located roughly six billion light-years from Earth in the constellation ...
Astronomy
Jul 5, 2024
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Repurposed technology used to probe new regions of Mars' atmosphere
Using the repurposed equipment, a team including Imperial College London researchers have measured parts of the Martian atmosphere that were previously impossible to probe. This includes areas that can block radio signals ...
Planetary Sciences
Jul 5, 2024
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Elusive temporary star described in historical documents recreated using new computer model
A mysterious remnant from a rare type of supernova recorded in 1181 has been explained for the first time. Two white dwarf stars collided, creating a temporary "guest star," now labeled supernova (SN) 1181, which was recorded ...
Astronomy
Jul 5, 2024
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NASA's Parker Solar Probe completes 20th close approach to the sun
NASA's Parker Solar Probe completed its 20th close approach to the sun on June 30, 2024, matching its own distance record by coming about 4.51 million miles (7.26 million kilometers) from the solar surface.
Astronomy
Jul 5, 2024
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EarthCARE offers a sneak peek into Earth's energy balance
Offering a foretaste of what's to come once it is fully commissioned, ESA's EarthCARE satellite has returned the first images from its broadband radiometer instrument. These initial images offer a tantalizing glimpse into ...
Planetary Sciences
Jul 5, 2024
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Eight CubeSats lift off for NASA on Firefly Aerospace rocket
As part of NASA's CubeSat Launch Initiative, Firefly Aerospace launched eight small satellites on July 3 aboard the company's Alpha rocket. Named "Noise of Summer," the rocket successfully lifted off from Space Launch Complex ...
Space Exploration
Jul 5, 2024
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A concentrated beam of particles and photons could push us to Proxima Centauri
Getting to Proxima Centauri b will take a lot of new technologies, but there are increasingly exciting reasons to do so. Both public and private efforts have started seriously looking at ways to make it happen, but so far, ...
Space Exploration
Jul 4, 2024
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Nova eruption of V1716 Sco inspected in X-rays and gamma rays
Astronomers from China and Taiwan have observed the nova eruption of V1716 Sco that took place last year, using various X-ray and gamma-ray space observatories. Results of the observational campaign, presented June 27 on ...
Engineers send 3D printer into space
Imagine a crew of astronauts headed to Mars. About 140 million miles away from Earth, they discover their spacecraft has a cracked O-ring. But instead of relying on a dwindling cache of spare parts, what if they could simply ...
Space Exploration
Jul 4, 2024
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To guard against cyberattacks in space, researchers ask 'what if?'
If space systems such as GPS were hacked and knocked offline, much of the world would instantly be returned to the communications and navigation technologies of the 1950s. Yet space cybersecurity is largely invisible to the ...
Space Exploration
Jul 4, 2024
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A new set of studies offers the most comprehensive look at spaceflight health since NASA's Twins Study
Only about 600 people have ever traveled to space. The vast majority of astronauts over the past six decades have been middle-aged men on short-duration missions of fewer than 20 days.
Space Exploration
Jul 4, 2024
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Researchers synthesize garnet-rich lunar rock to study moon's mantle
Our present-day moon has an interior structure containing a central metallic core, overlain by a mantle comprised of minerals such as olivine and pyroxene (e.g. Ol+Px mantle) underneath a shell of crust. Such a picture of ...
Planetary Sciences
Jul 4, 2024
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New models suggest Milky Way is not as packed with stars as previously thought
A small team of astronomers from Yunnan University, the University of Utah, New Mexico State University, and the University of St Andrews has created a new model of the Milky Way galaxy based on the results of their census ...
Astronomers observe a strong shock front in galaxy cluster SPT-CLJ 2031-4037
Using NASA's Chandra X-ray spacecraft, astronomers from the University of Alabama in Huntsville have observed a merging galaxy cluster known as SPT-CLJ 2031-4037. They detected a rarely seen strong shock front in this galaxy ...
NASA's planetary radar tracks two large asteroid close approaches
The Deep Space Network's Goldstone planetary radar had a busy few days observing asteroids 2024 MK and 2011 UL21 as they safely passed Earth.
Planetary Sciences
Jul 3, 2024
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Could we replace Ingenuity with a swarm of robotic bees?
Humans finally achieved controlled flight on another planet for the first time just a few years ago. Ingenuity, the helicopter NASA sent to Mars, performed that difficult task admirably. It is now taking a well-deserved rest ...
Space Exploration
Jul 3, 2024
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