We are extremely interested in the possibility of water on Mars, because where there’s water, there’s the potential for life. But a new study throws a bit of a wet blanket (pun intended) on that tantalizing possibility. Unfortunately, it looks like even the saltiest of brines can only exist on the Martian surface for up to a few hours at a time.
Continue reading “Brines Could be Present on the Surface of Mars for up to 12 Hours, Never for a Full day”China’s Planning to Launch a Space-Based Gravitational Wave Observatory in the 2030s: TianQin. Here’s how it’ll Stack up Against LISA
The successful detection of gravitational waves has been a game-changer for astronomy. And now the new frontier is in space, with satellite-based detection systems currently in development that will uncover some of the universe’s biggest mysteries. And while the team behind LISA is now developing that observatory in space, it just may be outclassed by a rival, TianQin, developed by the Chinese.
Continue reading “China’s Planning to Launch a Space-Based Gravitational Wave Observatory in the 2030s: TianQin. Here’s how it’ll Stack up Against LISA”This galaxy took only 500 million years to form
Galaxies are supposed to build up a very slowly, taking billions of years to acquire their vast bulk. But a newfound galaxy, appearing in the universe when it was only 1.8 billion years old, tells a different tale. It formed stars at a rate hundreds of times greater than the Milky Way, and was able to build itself up to host 200 billion stars in less than 500 million years – perhaps the universe’s greatest speed run.
Continue reading “This galaxy took only 500 million years to form”A second set of even larger bubbles has been found blasting out of the Milky Way’s center
The first-ever all-sky X-ray map of our galaxy, provided by the ESA’s eROSITA spacecraft, reveals two massive bubbles. These bubbles extend for up to 50,000 lightyears above and below the Milky Way, and are believed to be remnants of a massive outburst that occurred millions of years ago.
Continue reading “A second set of even larger bubbles has been found blasting out of the Milky Way’s center”Gravitational interactions can drive comets and asteroids from Jupiter out to Neptune in just 10 years
Distances in the solar system are vast, and it typically takes millions of years for small bodies to migrate from one orbit to another. But researchers recently discovered a “super highway”, where interactions among the planets are capable of sending comets and asteroids from Jupiter to Neptune in as little as a decade.
Continue reading “Gravitational interactions can drive comets and asteroids from Jupiter out to Neptune in just 10 years”20 Years of Hubble Photos Show how the Stingray Nebula is Fading
The Stingray Nebula is the youngest known planetary nebula. For half a century astronomers have witnessed its formation, and now they’ve noticed something strange: it’s fading away.
Continue reading “20 Years of Hubble Photos Show how the Stingray Nebula is Fading”If There’s Subsurface Water Across Mars, Where is it Safe to Land to Avoid Contamination?
If Mars is a potential home for alien life, can we land safely anywhere on the surface without introducing contamination of Earth-born bacteria? A new study has some good news and some bad news. The good news is that Mars is likely completely inhospitable to life. The bad news is that Mars is…likely completely inhospitable to life.
Continue reading “If There’s Subsurface Water Across Mars, Where is it Safe to Land to Avoid Contamination?”New jets seen blasting out of the center of a galaxy
Giant black holes can launch jets that extend for tens of thousand of light-years, blasting clean out of their host galaxies. These jets can last for tens of millions of years. Recently astronomers have spotted the first-ever jet in the process of forming, creating a cavity in the span of only twenty years.
Continue reading “New jets seen blasting out of the center of a galaxy”Astronomers find a galaxy that had its dark matter siphoned away
The galaxy NGC 1052-DF4 surprised scientists by having almost no dark matter to complement its stellar population. Recently a team of astronomers has provided an explanation: a nearby galaxy has stripped NGC 1052-DF4 of its dark matter, and is currently in the process of destroying the rest of it too.
Continue reading “Astronomers find a galaxy that had its dark matter siphoned away”A third of the stars in the Milky Way came from a single merger 10 billion years ago
Ten billion years ago the young Milky Way survived a titanic merger with a neighboring galaxy, eventually consuming the whole thing. Now, remnants of that fossil galaxy still swim in our galaxy’s core – and astronomers have discovered that almost a third of the Milky Way’s current population came from that dismantled rival.
Continue reading “A third of the stars in the Milky Way came from a single merger 10 billion years ago”