Category: Science

Blue Origin has unveiled NEO Hunter, a mission designed to detect and deflect dangerous asteroids. Using CubeSats, ion beams, and kinetic impact, it aims to protect Earth and highlights the growing role of private companies in planetary defense.

Russia plans to launch the Venera-D mission to Venus in 2036. The mission will include an orbiter, balloon probe and lander to study Venus’s atmosphere, clouds and surface, while searching for possible microbial life and continuing the legacy of Soviet Venus exploration.

NASA has begun construction of the Dragonfly mission, which will utilise a nuclear-powered rotorcraft lander to investigate Saturn’s largest moon, Titan. The car-sized drone is scheduled to launch in 2028 and will conduct a comprehensive surface survey using its Multi-Mission Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator (MMRTG). The spacecraft will complete a six-year cruise…

Astronomers have reported evidence of two planets colliding around a distant Sun-like star, Gaia20ehk, located about 11,000 light-years away. The star’s light output remained steady until 2016, when it exhibited three minor dimming events; by 2021, the light curve reportedly “went completely bonkers.” Follow-up infrared observations revealed a burst of heat coinciding…

Astronomers combined observations from the Hubble and Euclid space telescopes to produce a detailed image of the Cat’s Eye Nebula. The composite view reveals intricate shells, jets, and a faint outer ring formed from earlier eruptions of the dying star.

Jupiter produces the strongest auroras in the solar system. These features glow brightly around its poles as energetic particles crash into the giant planet’s atmosphere. New observations have now revealed that Jupiter’s moons can disturb this glowing display in unexpected ways. Scientists using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) have identified unusual “cold footp…

Jupiter’s retrograde motion ends around March 10, 2026, when the giant planet appears to reverse direction in the sky. The effect is caused by Earth overtaking Jupiter in its orbit. The bright planet will shine in Gemini near Castor and Pollux throughout March.

Infrared observations from the James Webb Space Telescope refined the orbit of asteroid 2024 YR4, confirming it will safely pass about 21,200 km above the Moon in December 2032. The new data eliminates earlier estimates that suggested a small chance of a lunar impact.

Astronomers studying the young star cluster Pismis 24 in the Lobster Nebula found many stars exist in binary systems

Astronomers found the Milky Way lies within a massive flat sheet of dark matter about 32 million light-years across. Simulations show this structure and nearby cosmic voids balance gravitational forces, explaining why most nearby galaxies move away instead of falling toward the Local Group.

Astronomers created the largest 3D map of hydrogen emission from the early universe using data from the Hobby-Eberly Telescope Dark Energy Experiment. The map reveals large cosmic structures during the universe’s peak star-forming era about 9–11 billion years ago.

New Webb observations refined asteroid 2024 YR4’s orbit, showing it will safely pass about 21,200 km from the Moon in December 2032. The earlier 4.3% impact probability has now been eliminated.

The Expedition 74 crew aboard the International Space Station is preparing to release Japan’s HTV-X1 cargo spacecraft after four months docked. Using Canadarm2, the vehicle will detach, conduct additional experiments in orbit, and later deorbit, while astronauts continue biology and AI research onboard.

Astronomers are testing a new way to measure the universe’s expansion rate using the gravitational-wave background detected by NANOGrav. By treating the cosmic hum from merging supermassive black holes as a statistical “stochastic siren,” researchers hope to calculate the Hubble constant and help resolve the long-standing Hubble tension between supernova and cos…

NASA’s Carruthers Observatory has begun its two-year science mission to study Earth’s hydrogen-rich exosphere from a halo orbit at Sun–Earth L1. Equipped with ultraviolet cameras, the small satellite will continuously image the faint geocorona, tracking how solar storms and fast solar wind streams cause the upper atmosphere to expand, contract, and gradually los…

A rare total lunar eclipse will occur on March 3–4, 2026, turning the full Moon a striking copper-red colour. Visible across Asia, Australia, and the Americas, this “blood moon” will be the last total lunar eclipse until 2028, making it a must-watch event for skywatchers worldwide.

NASA has tested a solar-powered prototype that extracts oxygen from simulated lunar soil using concentrated sunlight and carbon. The Carbothermal Reduction Demonstration heats moon dust to produce carbon monoxide, later converted into oxygen and fuel, potentially enabling astronauts to generate air and propellant directly on the Moon.

NASA’s ESCAPADE mission will send two identical orbiters to Mars to study how solar wind and space weather strip away the planet’s atmosphere. Launching in 2025 and arriving in 2027, the twin spacecraft will measure solar wind conditions and Mars’s atmospheric response simultaneously, helping scientists understand how the Red Planet lost its thick atmosphere and…

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has captured remarkably detailed infrared images of PMR 1, known as the “Exposed Cranium,” a planetary nebula roughly 5,000 light-years away in the constellation Vela. The observations reveal a glowing inner “brain” region surrounded by a hydrogen gas shell, divided by a dark lane of ejected material, providing fresh insight…

The James Webb Space Telescope has produced the first 3D map of Uranus’s upper atmosphere, tracking temperatures and ion densities up to 5,000 kilometers above its clouds. The observations reveal bright auroras shaped by the planet’s tilted magnetic field and confirm that Uranus is still slowly cooling over long timescales.

NASA astronomers using the Chandra X-ray Observatory have discovered a vast, million-degree gas bubble surrounding HD 61005, a 100-million-year-old Sun-like star about 120 light-years away. Its stellar wind is far stronger than today’s solar wind, forming a 200 astronomical unit-wide astrosphere that offers rare insight into how the young Sun once shaped the early s…

NASA has rolled back the Artemis II SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft after engineers detected a helium flow issue in the upper stage during fueling tests. The problem affects fuel tank pressurization and engine performance, delaying the planned March launch as teams inspect and repair the rocket.

Scientists drilled deeper than ever beneath the West Antarctic Ice Sheet and found sediment and marine remains showing the area was once open ocean. The 23-million-year record offers key clues about past melting, helping researchers better predict how quickly the ice sheet could retreat and affect future global sea levels.

Scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory simulated one million potential satellite orbits between Earth and the Moon to assess long-term stability. Fewer than 10% remained stable over six years, highlighting the challenges of operating in cislunar space. Yet the results identified roughly 97,000 viable orbits, offering valuable options for future missions….

Astronomers have identified CDG-2, a faint galaxy in the Perseus cluster that appears to be composed almost entirely of dark matter. Located 300 million light-years from Earth, it was discovered by tracking globular star clusters using data from Hubble, Euclid, and Subaru telescopes. Scientists estimate that about 99% of its total mass is dark matter.

Boeing’s Starliner test flight has been reclassified by NASA as a Type A mishap after propulsion anomalies extended the mission from days to 93 days. Helium leaks and thruster failures during docking raised safety concerns and exposed technical and leadership shortcomings. An investigation issued 61 recommendations, and NASA says no additional crews will fly aboard […]

Microsoft’s Project Silica demonstrates that digital data can be stored in ordinary borosilicate glass for over 10,000 years. Using femtosecond lasers, researchers encode information as microscopic 3D voxels, achieving densities of 4.8 terabytes on a 2mm sheet. Unlike magnetic tapes or hard drives that degrade within decades, glass resists heat, moisture, and dust. …

A new global map of small mare ridges suggests the Moon’s tectonic activity is younger and more widespread than previously believed. Researchers identified more than 1,100 previously unknown ridges, showing the lunar crust is still shrinking. These features, formed by thrust faults similar to lobate scarps, indicate moonquakes could occur across much broader regions…

New research suggests Saturn’s largest moon Titan and its iconic rings may share a violent origin. Simulations indicate Titan formed after a massive collision between two moons about 100 to 200 million years ago, resurfacing Titan and altering its orbit. The resulting instability likely shattered smaller moons, sending icy debris inward to create Saturn’s surprisi…

ESA’s CHEOPS mission has uncovered a surprising rocky planet at the outer edge of the LHS 1903 system. Located 116 light-years away, the discovery defies expectations that outer planets are gas giants. Scientists say the finding offers rare evidence that planets can form in gas-depleted environments, challenging current planetary formation models.