In an incredible world first, astrophysicists have detected multiple planets in another galaxy, ranging from masses as small as the Moon to ones as great as Jupiter. Given how difficult it is to find exoplanets even within our Milky Way galaxy, this is no mean feat. Researchers at the University of Oklahoma achieved this thanks

In an incredible world first, astrophysicists have detected multiple planets in another galaxy, ranging from masses as small as the Moon to ones as great as Jupiter. Given how difficult it is to find exoplanets even within our Milky Way galaxy, this is no mean feat. Researchers at the University of Oklahoma achieved this thanks

On February 2, a spacewalk by Russian cosmonauts on the ISS was supposed to be a regular six-and-a-half hour mission to replace an electronics box for a communications antenna. But not everything went as planned – which required extra time, and ultimately a new spacewalk record.   At around the seven hour mark, the expedition commander

On February 2, a spacewalk by Russian cosmonauts on the ISS was supposed to be a regular six-and-a-half hour mission to replace an electronics box for a communications antenna. But not everything went as planned – which required extra time, and ultimately a new spacewalk record.   At around the seven hour mark, the expedition commander

After 1,856 Martian days among blue sunsets, sand dunes and small, lumpy moons, the Mars rover Curiosity sat on the ridge of an ancient lake bed and looked back on its five-year-long journey so far.   NASA released a composite photo of what Curiosity saw in October this week, and if the rover could breathe,

After 1,856 Martian days among blue sunsets, sand dunes and small, lumpy moons, the Mars rover Curiosity sat on the ridge of an ancient lake bed and looked back on its five-year-long journey so far.   NASA released a composite photo of what Curiosity saw in October this week, and if the rover could breathe,

Since the Universe is big and old, and life on Earth didn’t take relatively long to evolve, then life should be everywhere in the Universe. And yet, no matter how hard we look, we don’t see any evidence of it out there, not on Mars, not sending us radio messages, and not taking over entire

Since the Universe is big and old, and life on Earth didn’t take relatively long to evolve, then life should be everywhere in the Universe. And yet, no matter how hard we look, we don’t see any evidence of it out there, not on Mars, not sending us radio messages, and not taking over entire

A galaxy called Centaurus A has been harbouring a strange secret. Researchers have found a plane of dwarf galaxies orbiting it on a plane – much like planets do around stars, and even stars around galactic cores.   This is not only really cool – it also challenges a long-held theory that dwarf galaxies hang

Saying our Universe is a big place is a bit of an understatement. And with recent advances in our understanding of the effects of dark matter and black holes on the formation of galaxies, it’s surprisingly dynamic.   Keeping track of all of that material requires some impressive computing grunt and clever coding, which is

20 July 1969 was an unforgettable date in human history – the day Apollo 11 astronauts landed on the surface of the Moon, taking one small step for humans, and one giant leap for humankind.   Between that fateful day and December 1972, NASA went back to the Moon five more times, conducting experiments and

20 July 1969 was an unforgettable date in human history – the day Apollo 11 astronauts landed on the surface of the Moon, taking one small step for humans, and one giant leap for humankind.   Between that fateful day and December 1972, NASA went back to the Moon five more times, conducting experiments and

The world is about to witness a “super blue blood moon” on Wednesday morning, the first since September 2015. During this astronomical event, the full Moon will appear to turn red (a “blood moon”) as it travels through the ruddy shadow of Earth.   The total lunar eclipse will look slightly larger than normal (a

Taking food up to space is costly, and growing food in orbit is difficult and time-consuming, which is why scientists are looking at the possibility of converting astronaut poop back into something edible.   The thought may make you want to reach for the sick bag, but such a scheme could mean the difference between

Earlier this month, the New Zealand-based private spaceflight company Rocket Lab successfully delivered its first orbital payload. Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket released, along with three commercial satellites, an art installation-as-satellite called the Humanity Star.   The satellite, a highly reflective 65-faced ball crafted of carbon fiber, will orbit Earth for nine months. Around October, its

During the early hours of January 31, there will be a full Moon, a total lunar eclipse, a blue moon and a supermoon – all at the same time. None of these things is really all that unusual by itself. What is rare is that they’re happening all together on one day.   What makes

This year gets off to a relatively slow start when it comes to seeing the annual major meteor showers. The Quadrantids, one of the big three annual showers, are lost to the vagaries of the full Moon in early January.   But the year’s other two most active annual showers – the Perseids (in August)

Through a project called Exoplanet Explorers, a band of citizen scientists has discovered K2-138, a far-off planetary system that houses least five exoplanets. This is the first time that a multi-planet system has been discovered entirely through crowdsourcing.   UC Santa Cruz astronomer Ian Crossfield and Caltech staff scientist Jessie Christiansen launched the Exoplanet Explorers

As our stargazing abilities grow ever more advanced, astronomers have been finding more and more extrasolar planets. But there’s a lot of stuff swirling out in the Universe that falls somewhere in between, and one astrophysicist is calling for a formal definition on what being a planet really means.   We know what makes a

Even NASA had disasters with its moon missions, so was it really fair to expect Mike Hughes to build a rocket, fly to space, and prove once and for all that the Earth is flat without a few hitches along the way?   Hughes – a 61-year-old daredevil-turned-rocket-maker-turned-round-Earth-skeptic – intends to launch himself 52 miles

The surface of Mars is dry and arid now, but scientists suspect that wasn’t always the case – which raises the question of where all that water went. A new study suggests huge dust storms played a role in whipping all the moisture out of the Martian atmosphere.   Based on an analysis of a

Shortly after NASA was established in 1958, the nation’s top scientists compiled a list of missions they thought the brand-new space agency should pursue. The proposals were heady, considering at that point only three satellites had ever been launched.   Researchers suggested an Earth-orbiting telescope that could detect the universe’s most distant stars, probes that

Astronomers have been fascinated with globular clusters ever since they were first observed in 17th century. These spherical collections of stars are among the oldest known stellar systems in the Universe, dating back to the early Universe when galaxies were just beginning to grow and evolve. Such clusters orbit the centres of most galaxies, with

An asteroid larger than any skyscraper yet built is hurtling toward Earth, the Daily Mail informs. If it hits on February 4, the paper continues, scientists predict a decade of cold and darkness, skies choked with soot, and misery across the planet.   Between these paragraphs, the Mail inserts occasional reminders that asteroid 2002 AJ129

Once we’ve figured out the logistics of getting people to Mars, there’s the small matter of providing power for the first travellers to arrive. NASA is already testing a compact nuclear power plant that could keep the lights on through the cold Martian nights.   With storage space at a premium and weight an issue

In the early years of the 20th century a Russian scientist – now known as the father of astronautics and rocketry – wrote a fable exploring what life in space might be like in the future.   Konstantin Tsiolkovsky (1857-1935) suggested that, by 2017, war and conflict would be eliminated by a world government. He

When something explodes, you expect there to be a bright flash that subsides. This is what astrophysicists thought would happen when they observed the collision between two neutron stars last August – but contrary to expectations, it’s still continuing to brighten months after the event, leaving scientists stunned.   According to data from NASA’s Chandra

If you were awestruck by the New Year’s Day super moon, hold onto your pants. On January 31, around midnight, the full moon will not only be super, it will be a blue moon and a blood moon.   The blue moon comes as it will be the second full moon in a month. That

It’s been more than a decade since the Cassini mission gave us our first close-up look at Saturn’s largest satellite, Titan. Astronomers have spent years sifting through the pool of data to reveal a world that’s both strangely alien and remarkably Earth-like.   Now, for the first time, we have a topological map of the

A fireball ripped through the sky over southeast Michigan at around 8:10pm Tuesday evening, a display that set social media ablaze with videos and speculation. Detroit’s National Weather Service (NWS) reported via Twitter that the rumble of the exploding space rock was powerful enough to cause a 2.0 earthquake. It was a statement they were

Pollution isn’t just a problem here on Earth. It’s also an issue in space where a growing collection of space debris is orbiting our planet. From used rockets to fragments of obsolete satellites, millions of pieces of this space junk are not only cluttering up space, but also threatening our off-world operations.   Space junk

Isn’t it beautiful? This is an illustrated logarithmic scale conception of the observable Universe with the Solar System at the centre. Encircling the Solar System are the inner and outer planets, Kuiper belt, Oort cloud, Alpha Centauri star, Perseus Arm, Milky Way galaxy, Andromeda galaxy, other nearby galaxies, the cosmic web, cosmic microwave radiation, and invisible

Isn’t it beautiful? This is an illustrated logarithmic scale conception of the observable Universe with the Solar System at the centre. Encircling the Solar System are the inner and outer planets, Kuiper belt, Oort cloud, Alpha Centauri star, Perseus Arm, Milky Way galaxy, Andromeda galaxy, other nearby galaxies, the cosmic web, cosmic microwave radiation, and invisible

Gamma ray bursts, intense explosions of light, are the brightest events ever observed in the Universe – lasting no longer than seconds or minutes. Some are so luminous that they can be observed with the naked eye, such as the burst “GRB 080319B” discovered by NASA’s Swift GRB Explorer mission on March 19, 2008.  

Black holes don’t just sit there munching away constantly on the space around them. Eventually they run out of nearby matter and go quiet, laying in wait until a stray bit of gas passes by.   Then a black hole devours again, belching out a giant jet of particles. And now scientists have captured one

The Tiangong-1 space station has been the subject of a lot of interest lately. Though its mission was meant to end in 2013, the China National Space Agency extended its service until 2016.   In September of 2017, after much speculation from the international community, the Agency acknowledged that the station’s orbit was degrading and

Small pits in a large crater on the Moon’s North Pole could be “skylights” leading down to an underground network of lava tubes – tubes holding hidden water on Earth’s nearest neighbour, according to new research.   There’s no lava in them now of course, though that’s originally how the tubes formed in the Moon’s

We’re not going to fly through a nebula, not in the lifetimes of anyone alive today. Possibly not ever in anyone’s lifetime. But based on data from the Hubble and Spitzer telescopes, we now have a feel for what it may be like to fly through one of the most famous ones – the Orion

How cold is the coldest place in the Universe, that we know of? What’s the lowest man-made temperature ever achieved? And just how many zeroes are needed to express ‘absolute hot’, after which the fundamentals of conventional physics start to break down in all kinds of strange ways?   All is revealed in this awesome

NASA has invented a new type of autonomous space navigation that could see human-made spacecraft heading into the far reaches of the Solar System, and even farther – by using pulsars as guide stars.   It’s called Station Explorer for X-ray Timing and Navigation Technology, or SEXTANT (named after an 18th century nautical navigation instrument),

The slope rises as high as London’s Big Ben tower. Beneath its ruddy layer of dirt is a sheet of ice 300 feet (90 metres) thick that gives the landscape a blue-black hue. If such a scene sounds otherworldly, it is. To visit it, you’ll have to travel to Mars.   Planetary scientists located eight

Back in 1998, two meteorites with a fascinating mix of chemicals crashed down to Earth. Based on a new analysis, scientists have shown they contain all the ingredients needed to spark life wherever they land, and may have travelled from an ancient ocean world.   In a scene straight out of a Steven Spielberg movie,

Our Solar System may be home, but researchers are now discovering that it’s not really much like the other kids. According to a survey of 909 planets orbiting 355 stars, our home planetary system is a little on the dishevelled side – and others are a lot more orderly.   A study led by astrophysicist

Within the next 12 months, astrophysicists believe they’ll be able to do something that’s never been done before, and it could have far-reaching implications for our understanding of the universe.   A black hole is a point in space with a gravitational pull so strong that not even light can escape from it. Albert Einstein

Japanese astronaut Norishige Kanai told a tall tale. He said Monday on Twitter that he grew 3½ inches (9 centimetres) since arriving at the International Space Station on December 19.   Weightlessness has that effect: Without gravitational force compressing the spine, fluid between the discs fluctuates as they temporarily expand, like a coiled spring unspooled

Fast radio bursts (FRBs) are one of our Universe’s most confounding mysteries – but astronomers may have just figured out the incredible environment where one of the most famous and well-studied FRBs is coming from.   The repeating radio signals from FRB 121102 are likely produced somewhere extreme, like the area around a massive black

A small pebble found in Egypt is decidedly Not From Around Here. The Hypatia stone, as it is known, is not only extraterrestrial in origin. It contains micro-mineral compounds not known to occur anywhere on Earth, not found in any other meteorites, and not known to occur anywhere in the Solar System.   It’s a

Conflicting reports are surfacing after SpaceX’s seemingly successful launch of a Falcon 9 rocket with a secret government payload, code-named Zuma. While it appeared that the launch went off without a hitch, the full launch and separation of the nose cone, which surrounded the secret satellite, was not streamed as it normally is, due to