Space Archives

Aliens, or Something Else? Astronomers Thought Life Might Exist on This Exoplanet—New James Webb Telescope Data Says Otherwise

Micah Hanks·July 25, 2025

Claims that extraterrestrial life may exist on the exoplanet K2-18b face new challenges from James Webb Space Telescope data.

James Webb Space Telescope Sees ‘Zombie’ Black Holes Spring to Life, Feasting on Stars in Dramatic Tidal Disruption Events

Micah Hanks·July 25, 2025

Astronomers have made a series of first-of-their-kind observations that uncover the dusty remains of stars ripped apart by supermassive black holes.

NASA’s “Hail Mary” Moment: Incredible Deep Space Surgery Saves JunoCam from Jupiter’s Fierce Radiation Fields

Ryan Whalen·July 25, 2025

NASA successfully completed a rescue mission to save the JunoCam camera on the Juno spacecraft, only recently revealed.

Lunar Landings Leave a Mark—Engineers Solve a Decades-Old Mystery, Enabling Safer Touchdowns on the Moon

Ryan Whalen·July 24, 2025

Researchers have identified the phenomenon behind dust streaks from lunar landings, offering insights crucial for safely operating future Moon bases.

Vera Rubin Observatory Unveils First High-Res Images of 3I/ATLAS—Captured Days Before Astronomers Knew It Existed

Micah Hanks·July 23, 2025

A mysterious new interstellar object, 3I/ATLAS, was discovered in July. It turns out that wasn't the first time our telescopes spotted it.

James Webb Space Telescope Made a ‘Puzzling’ Discovery on Jupiter’s Moon Europa—These Scientists May Have an Answer

Christopher Plain·July 23, 2025

SWRI experiments could explain puzzling levels of equatorial hydrogen peroxide on Saturn's moon Europa detected by the JWST.

Enter Ammonite: Discovery of Distant Space Object Shakes Up the Hunt for Planet Nine

Chrissy Newton·July 22, 2025

Astronomers have discovered "Ammonite," a mysterious object on the solar system’s edge whose unusual orbit challenges current theories about a hypothetical ninth planet.

ESO’s Very Large Telescope Spots Newfound Protoplanet Sculpting Patterns in a Distant Star’s Disc

Christopher Plain·July 22, 2025

Scientist studying a star over 440 light-years away have spotted a planet creating intricate patterns in the star's protoplanetary disc.

Astronomers Reveal Betelgeuse Has an Elusive Stellar Companion Linked to Star’s Curious Brightness Cycle

Ryan Whalen·July 21, 2025

Betelgeuse, the red supergiant star closest to Earth, has finally been proven to have a companion star in observations from NASA scientists.

Astronomers Spot Object Locked in an Unusual “Dance” with Neptune That Challenges Past Ideas on the Outer Solar System

Tim McMillan·July 21, 2025

In the dark, icy outskirts of our solar system—far beyond Neptune’s orbit—astronomers have discovered a cosmic oddball that appears to be locked in an unusual gravitational dance with the eighth planet. The object, dubbed 2020 VN40, is the first ever...

Satellite Images Reveal Strange Circles, Smiley Faces, and Other Seasonal Curiosities on the Greenland Ice Sheet

Micah Hanks·July 20, 2025

With the arrival of summer, the Greenland Ice Sheet has adopted its ‘summer look,’ revealing a few odd shapes and other curiosities.

Look: NASA’s Parker Solar Probe Just Had Its Closest-Ever Encounter with the Sun, and Has Historic Pictures to Prove It

Ryan Whalen·July 19, 2025

NASA’s Parker Solar Probe has proven to be an essential tool in understanding space weather, a major potential hazard to life on Earth.

“Everything is Unusual About This Galaxy”: James Webb Space Telescope Uncovers Strangely Shaped ‘Infinity Galaxy’

Ryan Whalen·July 18, 2025

The Infinity Galaxy is a recent discovery from the James Webb Space Telescope’s COSMOS-Web survey, found in archival data.

James Webb and ALMA Telescopes Spy First-Ever “Dawn” of Planets Forming Around a Sun

Christopher Plain·July 17, 2025

Astronomers using ALMA and the James Webb Space Telescope witnessed the dawn of a solar system, including the first stages of planets forming

“It Could Tell Us the Story of Many Other Solar Systems”: Doomed Exoplanet May Change Our Understanding of Planetary Evolution

Ryan Whalen·July 16, 2025

On a collision course with its star, the Jupiter-like exoplanet TOI-2109b has astronomers keenly observing its unusual orbital decay.

Chang’e-6 Returns First Samples from Far Side of the Moon, Revealing Deep Lunar Secrets

Ryan Whalen·July 16, 2025

Earth’s Moon always presents us on the surface with the same face, yet its mysterious far side features many significant differences.

aliens probably look like Europa extremophiles

“The Secret Might Be Here on Our Own Planet”: This NASA Scientist Is on a Mission to Find Out What Aliens Look Like

Christopher Plain·July 15, 2025

NASA has tasked a University of Massachusetts Amherst microbiologist who studies extremophiles with figuring out what aliens probably look like.

exoplanets extraterrestrial life interstellar contamination

‘Interstellar Contamination’ Could Change Which Exoplanets Scientists Search for Extraterrestrial Life

Christopher Plain·July 15, 2025

A new analysis of exoplanets has shown interstellar contamination from nearby stars could change where to search for extraterrestrial life.

Astronomers Detect a Mysterious Giant and “Hidden Substructures” Lurking in the Haze Around a Young Star

Ryan Whalen·July 14, 2025

Shrouded by a swirl of gas and dust, a gas giant, roughly three to ten times the size of Jupiter, was found in a new exoplanet discovery.

A Forgotten Martian Landscape May Hold the Key to Ancient Water on the Red Planet

Ryan Whalen·July 12, 2025

New evidence for past water on Mars was revealed in research identifying over 15,000 kilometers of dry riverbeds on the Martian surface.

“What Else is Out There?” New Study Reveals Everything We Currently Know About Mysterious Interstellar Object 3I/ATLAS

Micah Hanks·July 11, 2025

New research has revealed everything astronomers currently know about the mysterious interstellar object 3I/ATLAS.

Have Astronomers Found Signs of Life in Venus’s Atmosphere? UK-led VERVE Mission Aims to Investigate

Ryan Whalen·July 11, 2025

The VERVE mission seeks to investigate the presence of bacterial life floating in the heavy cloud cover on Venus up close.

Scientists Are Engineering “Moon Rice” for Space Missions That Could Also Feed Earth’s Harshest Habitats

Ryan Whalen·July 11, 2025

Moon habitation and missions to Mars face resupply challenges, which the Italian Moon-Rice project aims to solve with a bioengineered crop.

NASA’s Parker Solar Probe Just Solved a Key Mystery Behind the Sun’s Superheated Corona

Ryan Whalen·July 10, 2025

NASA’s Parker Solar Probe has collected data that evidences the theoretical “helicity barrier,” where turbulent dissipation behaves strangely.

‘CosmoCube’ Spacecraft Plans to Listen for Whispers from the Cosmic Dark Ages on the Far Side of the Moon

Ryan Whalen·July 10, 2025

A proposed satellite mission aims to orbit the far side of the Moon to detect faint radio signals from the universe’s cosmic Dark Ages.

“Something Unknown Is at Work” Behind NASA’s DART Planetary Defense Mission—and Astronomers Are Worried

Ryan Whalen·July 10, 2025

Planetary defense scientists say NASA’s DART asteroid redirection mission sent space rocks hurtling on unexpected trajectories.

“E-MERLIN is Showing What’s Possible”: UK Telescope Array Captures a Rare Look at Protoplanetary “Pebbles”

Ryan Whalen·July 9, 2025

New observations from England’s e-MERLIN interferometer telescope array display cosmic pebbles that will one day grow into entire exoplanets.

Discovery of Meteorite From Lost Protoplanet Upends Timeline of the Solar System’s Formation

Tim McMillan·July 9, 2025

Ancient meteorite reveals a protoplanet formed in the outer Solar System earlier than thought, reshaping planet formation theories.

Cosmic Mystery Solved? Earth May Reside Within a Huge ‘Void’ in Space

Christopher Plain·July 9, 2025

Scientists have proposed Earth is in the middle of a huge void in space, potentially resolving the cosmic mystery known as the Hubble Tension.

Vera C. Rubin Observatory Cosmic Treasure Chest

Look: Stunning First Images from Vera C. Rubin Observatory Reveal the Cosmos Like Nothing You’ve Ever Seen

Micah Hanks·July 8, 2025

The widely anticipated first images collected by the Vera C. Rubin Observatory have been released, offering nothing short of an awe-inspiring view of the cosmos.

Did a Mystery Object Just Hit Saturn? Astronomers Investigating Strange Flash Issue Urgent Call for Images

Micah Hanks·July 8, 2025

Astronomers are calling for images of Saturn captured over the weekend that may help document a rare impact event with a mystery object.

‘Space Ice’ Experiments Pour Cold Water on Panspermia Origin of Life Theories

Christopher Plain·July 8, 2025

Scientists studying space ice say the amorphous, low-density material's structure decreases the odds of a panspermia origin of life theories.

Theoretical “Dark Dwarfs” Lurking Near the Galactic Center Could Help Reveal Dark Matter’s Secrets

Ryan Whalen·July 7, 2025

Dark dwarfs, stars composed of dark matter, may be the optimal objects in which to finally discover physical dark matter in the real world.

NASA Reveals New Images of Oddly Shaped Asteroid ‘Donaldjohanson’ Captured by Lucy Spacecraft

Micah Hanks·July 4, 2025

NASA has released new detailed images revealing a full-frame view of the peculiarly shaped asteroid Donaldjohanson.

NASA’s SPHEREx Space Telescope Begins Its Groundbreaking Mission to Share All-Sky Mapping Data with the Public

Ryan Whalen·July 4, 2025

NASA’s SPHEREx space telescope has settled into low-Earth orbit, providing a wellspring of publicly available space data.

Look: NASA Satellite Images Reveal Mysterious Blast Site of 1908 Tunguska Event that Scorched Remote Siberia

Micah Hanks·June 30, 2025

The mysterious blast site of the Tunguska Event of 1908 is revealed in satellite images obtained by NASA’s Operational Land Imager (OLI) on Landsat 8.

James Webb Space Telescope Trains Its Sights on the ‘Bullet Cluster,’ Revealing a Stunning View of Galaxies in Collision

Micah Hanks·June 30, 2025

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has captured high-resolution images of the Bullet Cluster, revealing its complex dynamics.

NASA’s Mars Orbiter Debuts Rolling Maneuvers, Proving You Can Teach an Old Spacecraft New Tricks

Ryan Whalen·June 30, 2025

NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is still doing fresh things, even after close to two decades of service, shown by a new roll maneuver.

Honda Enters the Space Race as New Challenger to SpaceX With Its Successful Reusable Rocket Test

Ryan Whalen·June 30, 2025

Japan’s Honda is giving American SpaceX new competition in the reusable rocket field with its recent successful test on June 17 in Hokkaido.

A Mysterious Radio Signal from Space Was Traced to an Unexpected Source—and It’s Something Within Our Own Galaxy

Micah Hanks·June 27, 2025

An object astronomers initially thought to be a high-speed burst of radio waves from deep space last year has been revealed to be something else entirely.

“You Need H2O and Not Just for Drinking”: Research Suggests an Icy Location for First Crewed Mars Landing

Ryan Whalen·June 26, 2025

With crewed missions to the Red Planet becoming a realistic possibility for the 2030s, researchers have begun the search for an ideal Mars landing site.

Construction on Mars: NASA Suggests a Synthetic Lichen to Autonomously Convert Regolith into Building Material

Ryan Whalen·June 26, 2025

On a future crewed Mars mission, explorers may grow their own building materials directly on the Red Planet.

James Webb Space Telescope Captures First Direct Image of Mysterious Alien Exoplanet Lurking in Dusty Debris Disk

Micah Hanks·June 25, 2025

In a groundbreaking first, the James Webb Space Telescope has captured its first direct image of a distant exoplanet unrecognized from past astronomical surveys.

NASA and ESA Are Tracking an Asteroid That Might Collide With the Moon in 2031

Chrissy Newton·June 24, 2025

NASA and ESA scientists are monitoring asteroid 2024 YR4, which is now projected to have a small chance of impacting the Moon.

How The Giant Magellan Telescope Could Confirm Potential Signs of Life Spotted by the James Webb Space Telescope

Christopher Plain·June 24, 2025

The Giant Magellan Telescope team explains how the observatory will help solve the mysteries of the cosmos including the search for life.

ESA Launches Plans for Triple-Spacecraft Mission Using Laser Antenna to “Surf Gravitational Waves”

Ryan Whalen·June 22, 2025

The European Space Agency’s Laser Interferometer Antenna will be the first space-based observatory designed to study gravitational waves.

X-Ray Telescopes Reveal 23-Million-Light-Year Filament That May Help Solve “Missing Matter” Mystery

Ryan Whalen·June 20, 2025

A potential solution to the decades-long “missing matter” problem has been uncovered in astronomers' recent analysis of X-ray data.

The Sculptor Galaxy is Detailed in Unprecedented Imagery Combining Over 100 Telescope Observations

Ryan Whalen·June 19, 2025

The entire Sculptor Galaxy is displayed in thousands of colors observed by the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope.

Scientists Are Tracking Mysterious ‘Transient Luminous Events’ from Space Using This Innovative Tech

Micah Hanks·June 18, 2025

Scientists are using instruments on the International Space Station to shed light on the mysterious appearances of transient luminous events.

Bacteria Found on China’s Tiangong Space Station Shows Unique Adaptations for Space Survival, Study Shows

Chrissy Newton·June 16, 2025

A strain of bacteria found aboard the Tiangong space station in 2023 appears to be a variety never previously identified on Earth.