Astronomy and space

Latest developments

Conceptual image showing two spheres in a grid warped as if due to gravity

Quantum error correction research yields unexpected quantum gravity insights

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab announces further staff layoffs

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

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

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

Latest news

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

NASA cancels delay-hit $450m VIPER lunar prospector

The mission will now be disassembled with components used for future Moon missions

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Research headlines

Star chart showing Betelgeuse's position in the constellation Orion

‘Buddy star’ could explain Betelgeuse’s varying brightness

Artist's impression of the black hole triplet

Black hole in rare triple system sheds light on natal kicks

Diagram showing a blue neutron star at the centre of magnetic field lines and a yellow-green cloud representing a haze of axions. While some axions escape, and are represented by a red squiggly arrow pointing outwards, others become bound and interact with the magnetic field, producing photons (represented by blue squiggly arrows pointing outwards).

Axion clouds around neutron stars could reveal dark matter origins

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

Objects with embedded spins could test whether quantum measurement affects gravity

Experiment could involve sending tiny diamonds through interferometers

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

Proposed experiment could demonstrate absorption and emission of individual gravitons

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

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

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

Explore more in astronomy and space

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

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

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

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

Tushna Commissariat recounts a fascinating chat with Roger Penrose

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

The proposed nanoparticle warming method for Mars

To make Mars warmer, just add nanorods

Releasing engineered nanoparticles into the Martian atmosphere could warm the planet by over 30 K

BepiColombo takes its best images yet of Mercury’s peppered landscape

The spacecraft had a clear view of Mercury’s south pole for the first time during a recent flyby

Shrinivas Kulkarni: curiosity and new technologies inspire Shaw Prize in Astronomy winner

"No shortage of phenomena to explore," says expert on variable and transient objects

LUX-ZEPLIN ‘digs deeper’ for dark-matter WIMPs

Announcement makes us pine for the Black Hills

The Wow! signal: did a telescope in Ohio receive an extraterrestrial communication in 1977?

This podcast features an astrobiologist who has identified similar radio signals

Half-life measurement of samarium-146 could help reveal secrets of the early solar system

Isotope is extracted from an accelerator target

Atomic clocks on the Moon could create ‘lunar positioning system’

Lunar time standard would avoid pitfalls of time dilation

Liquid water could abound in Martian crust, seismic study suggests

Reservoir could harbour microbial life

Secondary mirror of the Vera C. Rubin Observatory

Vera C Rubin Observatory’s secondary mirror successfully installed

The Vera C Rubin Observatory will conduct a decade-long survey of the southern hemisphere sky when operational in 2025

Icy exoplanet found to be potentially habitable

Researchers discover that a temperate exoplanet may have an atmosphere, could be covered in ice, and may even have an ocean of liquid water

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