Phys.org Astronomy and Space

• 50 years ago, NASA sent two spacecraft to search for life on Mars. The missions' findings are still discussed today

  Finding life beyond Earth would be a major scientific discovery with significant implications for all areas of science and human thought. Yet, only one direct search for extraterrestrial life has ever been conducted.

• Is space worth the cost? Accounting experts say its value can't be found in spreadsheets

  Since the early days of human space exploration, the endeavor has been haunted by a very good question: why spend so much on space when there are so many urgent problems here on Earth?

• Ultra-wideband radio observations unravel polarization mystery of millisecond pulsar

  Within our Milky Way galaxy, in the direction of the constellation Vulpecula, a cosmic "lighthouse" named PSR B1937+21 spins at an astonishing rate of 642 revolutions per second. It emits electromagnetic pulses that rival the precision of atomic clocks.

• The Murchison Widefield Array just doubled in size—what could it find now?

  Radio astronomy took another step forward recently, with the completion of Phase III of the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) in Western Australia. We've reported before on how the MWA has investigated everything from SETI signals to the light from the earliest stars. With this upgrade, the MWA will continue to operate with much needed improvements while radio astronomy awaits the completion of the successor it helped enable—the Square Kilometer Array (SKA).

• Plasma propulsion system could help remove space debris without contact

  Space has a trash problem, with defunct satellites, rockets, and smaller broken bits orbiting Earth at high speeds. The amount of space junk is only increasing, raising the risk of collision with active satellites and spacecraft, according to Kazunori Takahashi, associate professor in the Graduate School of Engineering at Tohoku University in Japan. Takahashi may have a solution, though.

• INTEGRAL observes exceptionally bright X-ray flares from Cygnus X-1

  Using ESA's INTEGRAL spacecraft, astronomers have detected exceptionally bright X-ray flares from the Cygnus X-1 X-ray binary system. This is the first time that such strong flaring activity has been observed in this system although it has been monitored for decades. The new findings were detailed in a paper published August 28 on the pre-print server arXiv.

• TRAPPIST-1e observations narrow down possibilities for atmosphere and surface water on elusive exoplanet

  University of Bristol astrophysicists are helping shed new light on an Earth-sized exoplanet 40 light years away where liquid water in the form of a global ocean or icy expanse might exist on its surface. That would only be possible if an atmosphere is present—a big mystery that the scientists are attempting to unravel and now even closer to solving using the largest telescope in space.

• Earth has an outer space treaty, but is it time for an orbital activity treaty?

  Did you know nearly 17,500 satellites have been launched since 1957? Or what about the fact that more than 10% of those launches weren't registered internationally?

• 'Blood Moon' rises during total lunar eclipse

  Stargazers enjoyed a "Blood Moon" Sunday night during a total lunar eclipse visible across Asia and swaths of Europe and Africa.

• Mars has a solid core, resolving a longstanding planetary mystery, according to new study

  Scientists have discovered that Mars has an interior structure similar to Earth's. Results from NASA's InSight mission suggest that the red planet has a solid inner core surrounded by a liquid outer core, potentially resolving a longstanding mystery.

• Image: Hubble spies galaxy with much to see

  While it may appear as just another spiral galaxy among billions in the universe, this image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope reveals a galaxy with plenty to study. The galaxy, NGC 7456, is located over 51 million light-years away in the constellation Grus (the Crane).

• Asia will get a prime view of this weekend's total lunar eclipse

  The year's second total lunar eclipse is coming up fast, and this time Asia will have the best seats in the cosmos.

• A glimpse of a planet in formation: AB Aurigae b detected in H-alpha light

  Since the first discovery of planets beyond the solar system in 1995, more than 6,000 exoplanets have been identified. Many of these planets have properties that differ significantly from the eight planets in our solar system. How are such diverse exoplanets formed and evolved, and which of them could potentially become Earth-like planets capable of supporting life?

• Kepler space telescope helps uncover true source of KOI-1755 transit signal

  A research team led by Ph.D. candidate Wang Haozhi under the supervision of Prof. Ali Esamdin at the Xinjiang Astronomical Observatory (XAO) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) has revealed the genuine source of the pulsating star KOI-1755 transit signal using the Kepler space telescope. Their findings are published in The Astronomical Journal.

• Clues in a dusty disk point the way to a potential exoplanet

  Large exoplanets are more easily detected than small ones. It's axiomatic. While large planets block out more starlight during transits, small planets block out much less, letting them hide in the overpowering glare from their stars. To help detect sub-Jupiter mass exoplanets, astronomers search for the effect these planets can have on their surroundings.

• Fomalhaut star's warped ring shows evidence of sculpting by ancient planets

  Astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) have made the highest resolution image to date, revealing new insights into the unusual and mysterious architecture of the debris disk encircling Fomalhaut, one of the brightest and most well-studied stars in our cosmic neighborhood.

• Protostellar jet detection in Milky Way's outer region reveals universal star formation

  Astronomers have gained insights into star formation by capturing the first spatially resolved detection of protostellar outflows and jets in the Milky Way's outer region.

• Astronomers and students capture growing tail of interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS during observing program

  Astronomers and students working together through a unique educational initiative have obtained a striking new image of the growing tail of interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS. The observations reveal a prominent tail and glowing coma from this rare celestial visitor, while also providing new scientific measurements of its colors and composition.

• Vintage NASA: See Voyager's 1990 'Solar System Family Portrait' debut

  This week marks 48 years since the Sept. 5, 1977, launch of NASA's Voyager 1 spacecraft from Cape Canaveral, Florida, to study Jupiter and Saturn up close. Nearly a half-century later, Voyager 1 and its twin, Voyager 2 are still exploring. Only now they're in the outer reaches of our solar system.

• Ireland's first satellite EIRSAT-1 completes its mission

  Ireland's first satellite, EIRSAT-1, has completed its mission orbiting Earth. The CubeSat, which was built and launched by students and faculty of University College Dublin (UCD), will de-orbit in a day or two.

• New algorithm hushes unwanted noise in LIGO, may lead to more black hole discoveries

  LIGO, the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory, has been called the most precise ruler in the world for its ability to measure motions more than 10,000 times smaller than the width of a proton. By making these extremely precise measurements, LIGO, which consists of two facilities—one in Washington and one in Louisiana—can detect undulations in space-time called gravitational waves that roll outward from colliding cosmic bodies such as black holes.

• Amazon's Starlink rival lands first major airline deal

  JetBlue Airways will become the first airline to use Amazon's Project Kuiper satellite network to power its in-flight Wi‑Fi service, the companies announced Wednesday, as the online retail giant tries to challenge the dominance of Elon Musk's Starlink.

• Zooming in on Pismis 24, Webb gets glittering glimpse of star birth

  This dramatic scene captured by NASA's James Webb Space Telescope looks like a fantastical tableau from J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. But truth is even stranger than fiction. In reality, what appears to be a craggy, starlit mountaintop kissed by wispy clouds is actually a cosmic dust-scape being sculpted by the scorching radiation and punishing winds of massive newborn stars.

• The cosmic giant challenging our understanding of galaxy formation in the early universe

  Scientists have discovered a giant black hole that they believe may have been formed in the first few microseconds after the Big Bang. The black hole is so huge that it may change our understanding of how these cosmic giants form. If the findings are confirmed, this will be the first evidence of primordial black holes, which were predicted to exist by Stephen Hawking in the 1970s.

• BlueDOGs might evolve from Little Red Dots

  One of the most difficult parts of astronomy is understanding how time affects it. The farther away you look in the universe, the farther back you look in time. One way this complicates things is how objects might change over time. For example, a supermassive black hole at the center of a galaxy in the early universe might appear one way to our modern telescopes, but the same supermassive black hole might appear completely differently a few billion years later.

• Study confirms excellent astronomical potential of Muztagh Observation Station

  A new systematic study of the atmospheric conditions at the Muztagh Station in western China has revealed the site's unique suitability for optical observations. Researchers from the Xinjiang Astronomical Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences reported that the location offers excellent "seeing" conditions, making it ideal for high-precision optical observations. The findings were published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.

• No radio astronomy needed: Ring laser measures Earth's axis wobble with unprecedented precision

  As Earth moves through space, it wobbles slightly. A team of researchers from the Technical University of Munich (TUM) and the University of Bonn has now succeeded in measuring these fluctuations in Earth's axis using a completely new method—until now, possible only through complex radio astronomy. The team used the high-precision ring laser at TUM's geodetic observatory in Wettzell, Bavaria.

• Spaceflight accelerates human stem cell aging, researchers find

  Researchers from the University of California San Diego Sanford Stem Cell Institute have discovered that spaceflight accelerates the aging of human hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs), which are vital for blood and immune system health.

• Second MTG-Imager satellite passes thermal vacuum test

  The second of the Meteosat Third Generation Imagers, MTG-I2, has passed some important milestones in the cleanroom facilities at Thales Alenia Space in Cannes, southern France.

• SpaceX gets FAA approval to jack up Cape Canaveral's Falcon 9 launches from 50 to 120

  The Federal Aviation Administration declared Wednesday that a plan for SpaceX to expand its Falcon 9 launch and landing capacity at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station does not require an Environmental Impact Statement.