Astronomy and space

Latest developments

Artist's impression of the Solar Parker Probe

NASA’s Parker Solar Probe survives its first close-up solar encounter

NASA's Nancy Grace Roman telescope in a clean room

NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope nears completion

The mission is expected to be complete next year with a launch by May 2027

Sun-like stars produce ‘superflares’ about once a century

Highly energetic events happen much more often than previously thought, say astronomers

Latest news

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab announces further staff layoffs

About 325 people, representing 5% of the lab’s employees, will be affected

Timber! Japan launches world’s first wooden satellite into space

LignoSat will test the possibilities of building wooden human habitats in space

European Space Agency launches Hera mission to investigate asteroid ‘crash-scene’

Hera will perform a close-up examination of a 2022 impact on Dimorphos by NASA's DART mission

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Research headlines

The first panel of this artist’s concept depicts how Uranus's magnetosphere – its protective bubble – was behaving before the 1986 flyby of NASA's Voyager 2. The second panel shows the unusual solar weather that was happening during the flyby

Solar wind squashed Uranus’s magnetosphere during Voyager 2 flyby

Pie-slice diagram showing the layers of Uranus and Neptune, starting from an outer laeyr rich in hydrogen and helium (light blue) and descending successively to a water-rich convecting layer where disorganized magnetic fields are generated (dark blue), a lower, non-convecting hydrocarbon-rich layer (red), and finally a solid core (light yellow)

Immiscible ice layers may explain why Uranus and Neptune lack magnetic poles

Extended cosmic-ray electron spectrum has a break but no other features

Delayed Big Bang for dark matter could be detected in gravitational waves

Late arrival of dark matter would leave subtle imprint on space–time

New imaging technique could change how we look at certain objects in space

3D reconstruction technique for polarized radio sources could also reshape views of how radio galaxies form

Quantum error correction research yields unexpected quantum gravity insights

Universal boundary that distinguishes effective approximate error correction codes from ineffective ones turns out to be connected to the fundamental nature of the universe

‘Buddy star’ could explain Betelgeuse’s varying brightness

As-yet-undetected stellar companion would displace light-blocking dust

Black hole in rare triple system sheds light on natal kicks

V404 Cygni includes near and distant companion stars

Axion clouds around neutron stars could reveal dark matter origins

Interactions between these as-yet hypothetical particles and neutron stars' strong magnetic field would produce photons that radio telescopes can detect

Explore more in astronomy and space

Geological map of the lunar surface, showing the Kepler crater

Moonstruck: art and science collide in stunning collection of lunar maps and essays

Ian Randall reviews LUNAR: A History of the Moon in Myths, Maps + Matter

Astronomy and space: highlights of 2024

Michael Banks picks his favourite articles this year from the world of astronomy and astrophysics

Photo of Chris White-Horne giving a conference talk. In the background is a slide displaying a colourful image of satellites, planets and stars

Space agency leaders express fears and hopes for the future

Contrasting talks by UK Space Agency chief exec Paul Bate and his deputy Chris White-Horne frame this year's Appleton Space Conference

artist's impression of a human settlement on Mars

Space travel: the health effects of space radiation and building a lunar GPS

We chat to a radiation oncologist and two atomic-clock experts

Eileen Collins attending a survival training course at Vance Air Force Base, Oklahoma

Trailblazer: astronaut Eileen Collins reflects on space, adventure, and the power of lifelong learning

Astronaut Eileen Collins and filmmaker Hannah Berryman discuss the new documentary SPACEWOMAN and the thrill of pushing human frontiers

Mysterious brown dwarf is two objects, not one

Binary nature of Gliese 229 B explains its lacklustre brightness

Cosmic antimatter could be created by annihilating WIMPs

Detection of antideuterons and antihelium could help hone dark-matter models

First look at prototype telescope for the LISA gravitational-wave mission

The telescopes will be used to send and receive infrared laser beams between the three satellites in space

Objects with embedded spins could test whether quantum measurement affects gravity

Experiment could involve sending tiny diamonds through interferometers

Conceptual image showing a massive column called a gravity bar floating through space against a background of yellow stardust

Century-old photoelectric effect inspires a new search for quantum gravity

Proposed experiment could demonstrate absorption and emission of individual gravitons

Around the world in 16 orbits: a day in the life of the International Space Station

Kate Gardner reviews the novel Orbital by Samantha Harvey

‘Mock asteroids’ deflected by X-rays in study that could help us protect Earth

Lab-based experiment shows how centimetre-sized objects are accelerated

Roger Penrose: the Nobel laureate with a preference for transparencies over slideshows

Tushna Commissariat recounts a fascinating chat with Roger Penrose

Jonathan Tsui and Stefanie Countryman with the heart-on-a-chip

Heart-on-a-chip reveals impact of spaceflight on cardiac health

A heart-on-a-chip platform sent to the International Space Station reveals how 30 days in space alters heart muscle cells

The Endurance rocket ship launches from Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard

Ambipolar electric field helps shape Earth’s ionosphere

Scientists make first ever measurements of a planet-wide field that could be as fundamental as gravity and magnetic fields

Dark-matter decay could have given ancient supermassive black holes a boost

Calculations suggest photons may have warmed gas clouds

What happens when a warp drive collapses?

It emits gravitational waves, say physicists

Annular eclipse photograph bags Royal Observatory Greenwich prize

The image captures the progression of Baily’s beads, which are only visible when the Moon either enters or exits an eclipse

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