Less than 2,000 light-years away from Earth, scientists have discovered a “sleeping giant”—the Milky Way’s largest stellar black hole, with a mass 33 times greater than that of our sun. Though the black hole, named Gaia BH3, is the second-closest known to our home planet, it is “dormant” and had therefore gone undetected. “It’s a …
Astronomers have long believed that the ice giants Uranus and Neptune are rich in frozen water. However, a new study suggests they may also have tons of methane ice. The findings could help solve a puzzle about how these icy worlds formed. Much about Uranus and Neptune remains unknown. These ice giant worlds have had …
Uranus and Neptune Aren’t Made Of What We Thought, New Study Hints. Read More »
A fresh analysis of a remarkably massive yet compact galaxy from the early universe suggests that dark matter interacts with itself. The galaxy, JWST-ER1, which formed just 3.4 billion years after the Big Bang, was first spotted last October in images snapped by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). At over 17 billion light-years from …
Exotic ‘Einstein Ring’ Suggests That Mysterious Dark Matter Interacts With Itself. Read More »
Boeing’s first Starliner spacecraft for astronauts made a short road trip today (April 16) ahead of its expected launch in early May. Starliner rolled out on a trailer towards its United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket around 5 a.m. EDT (0900 GMT) in preparation for its International Space Station (ISS) mission no earlier than …
Boeing Starliner Spacecraft Rolls Out To Atlas V Rocket Ahead Of 1st Astronaut Launch. Read More »
Astronomers have imaged a feeding black hole-powered quasar at the very edge of the universe, so far away that it was seen as it appeared less than 1 billion years after the Big Bang. The quasar, designated SDSS J114816.64+525150.3, is powered by a supermassive black hole over 3 billion times the mass of the sun …
Monster Black Hole Seen Feeding On Nearby Matter Just 1 Billion Years After Big Bang. Read More »
Add Switzerland to the list! Swiss Federal Councillor Guy Parmelin joined NASA administrator Bill Nelson Monday (April 15), at the space agency’s headquarters in Washington, D.C., to become the latest country to sign on to the agency’s Artemis Accords for moon exploration. “Today, we marked a giant leap forward in the partnership between the United …
Switzerland Signs Artemis Accords To Join NASA In Moon Exploration. Read More »
To see the word’s premier astronomical observatory in its full-size glory, you need to go to Lagrange Point 2, a location in deep space on the opposite side of Earth from the sun that is farther away than any human has ever traveled. Or, soon, you can visit Colorado. Northrop Grumman, NASA’s lead contractor for …
James Webb Space Telescope Full-Size Model To Be Displayed By Space Foundation. Read More »
An abundance of gases, including carbon and oxygen, are being stripped away from Venus’ atmosphere, according to flyby data from Europe’s BepiColombo space probe. This data was obtained as the Mercury-bound spacecraft flew past Venus, and could shed new light on the leaky atmosphere of our planetary neighbor. Down the line, the findings could help …
Venus Is Leaking Carbon And Oxygen, A Fleeting Visit By BepiColombo Reveals. Read More »
NASA astronaut Loral O’Hara was prepared for her first spacewalk — but not for the view. O’Hara, along with SpaceX Crew-7 NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli, conducted the fourth all-woman spacewalk at the International Space Station (ISS) on Nov. 1, 2023. They spent 6 hours and 42 minutes performing station maintenance, such as replacing a bearing …
Venus Aerospace has completed the inaugural test flight of a drone fitted with its “rotating detonation rocket engine” (RDRE) — accelerating it to just under the speed of sound. The company wants to one day build superfast commercial jets using this new type of engine. In the test flight, conducted Feb. 24, the company flew …
