Pasadena CA (JPL) Nov 16, 2023
Some exoplanets seem to be losing their atmospheres and shrinking. In a new study using NASA's retired Kepler Space Telescope, astronomers find evidence of a possible cause: The cores of these planets are pushing away their atmospheres from the inside out. Exoplanets (planets outside our solar system) come in a variety of sizes, from small, rocky planets to colossal gas giants. In the midd

Baltimore MD (SPX) Nov 16, 2023
Scientists are following neon signs in a search for clues to one planetary system's future and the past of another - our own solar system. Following up on a peculiar reading by NASA's previous infrared flagship observatory, the now-retired Spitzer Space Telescope, the agency's James Webb Space Telescope detected distinct traces of the element neon in the dusty disk surrounding the young Sun-like

Leuven, Belgium (SPX) Nov 16, 2023
A team of European astronomers, co-led by researchers from the Institute of Astronomy, KU Leuven, used recent observations made with the James Webb Space Telescope to study the atmosphere of the nearby exoplanet WASP-107b. Peering deep into the fluffy atmosphere of WASP-107b they discovered not only water vapour and sulfur dioxide, but even silicate sand clouds. These particles reside within a d

Lancaster UK (SPX) Nov 16, 2023
A Lancaster University PhD student has measured the optical depth of Saturn's rings using a new method based on how much sunlight reached the Cassini spacecraft while it was in the shadow of the rings. The optical depth is connected to the transparency of an object, and it shows how far light can travel through that object before it gets absorbed or scattered. The research, led by La

Manoa HI (SPX) Nov 16, 2023
On the surface of many of the icy moons in our solar system, scientists have documented strike-slip faults, those that occur when fault walls in the ground's crust move past one another sideways, as is the case at the San Andreas fault in California. Two recently published studies led by University of Hawai'i at Manoa earth and space scientists document and reveal the mechanisms behind these geo

Pasadena CA (JPL) Nov 16, 2023
The remotely operated facility aboard the International Space Station has created another tool that researchers can use to probe the fundamental nature of the world around us. For the first time in space, scientists have produced a quantum gas containing two types of atoms. Accomplished with NASA's Cold Atom Laboratory aboard the International Space Station, the achievement marks another step to

Sydney, Australia (SPX) Nov 16, 2023
In a groundbreaking move for space agriculture, Israeli agro-tech firm GreenOnyx has successfully launched its innovative Wanna Greens product into orbit. The launch, executed on November 9, 2023, aboard a SpaceX rocket bound for the International Space Station (ISS), marks the first instance of duckweed (Wolffia) being sent to space, heralding a new chapter in sustainable space food sources.

Washington DC (SPX) Nov 16, 2023
NASA's IXPE (Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer) telescope has captured the first polarized X-ray imagery of the supernova remnant SN 1006. The new results expand scientists' understanding of the relationship between magnetic fields and the flow of high-energy particles from exploding stars. "Magnetic fields are extremely difficult to measure, but IXPE provides an efficient way for us to p

Paris, France (SPX) Nov 16, 2023
The first data from the InSight mission made it possible to determine the internal structure of Mars in a series of papers from the scientific team published in the summer of 2021. However, since then, the analysis of new data generated by a powerful meteorite impact that occurred on September 18 2021, questioned the first estimates of the internal structure of

Chicago IL (SPX) Oct 31, 2023
More than 4 billion years ago, when the Solar System was still young and the Earth was still growing, a giant object the size of Mars crashed into the Earth. The biggest piece that broke off of the early Earth formed our Moon. But precisely when this happened has remained a mystery. In a new study in the journal Geochemical Perspectives Letters, researchers used crystals brought back from the Mo