4th September 2023

Low-oxygen planets may impede advanced civilisations

Astrobiologists theorise that low-oxygen planets would be unlikely to produce advanced civilisations, as the discovery of fire requires easy access to open air combustion, which is only possible when oxygen partial pressure is above 18%.

Read more...

29th July 2023

Nuclear thermal rocket engine to be tested in orbit

A collaboration involving NASA, DARPA, Lockheed Martin, and BWX Technologies will attempt the first in-orbit demonstration of a nuclear thermal rocket engine in 2027.

Read more...

12th July 2023

Brightest known exoplanet is like 'giant mirror in space'

The highest albedo ever observed for an exoplanet has been confirmed using the CHEOPS space telescope. It reflects 80% of incoming light from its star, due to the high metal content of its clouds.

Read more...

6th July 2023

Space junk monitoring satellite begins operations

UK company ODIN Space has demonstrated a space junk sensor, which could map and analyse debris with sub-centimetre precision.

Read more...

13th June 2023

First ever beaming of orbital solar power

The California Institute of Technology reports the first successful beaming of solar energy from space down to a receiver on the ground.

Read more...

3rd June 2023

The most dangerous asteroids of the next 1,000 years

Astronomers have mapped the paths of potentially hazardous asteroids between now and the year 3000 AD. At least 28 are found to have non-zero probabilities of a 'deep encounter' with Earth.

Read more...

29th May 2023

63 new moons of Saturn discovered

The discovery of 63 new moons of Saturn is reported by the Minor Planet Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts, bringing the gas giant's total confirmed number to 146 and overtaking Jupiter.

Read more...

16th May 2023

Star consuming exoplanet offers preview of Earth's fate

Astronomers report the first direct evidence of an exoplanet being swallowed by an ancient Sun-like star, a fate that likely awaits the Earth in around five billion years.

Read more...

9th May 2023

Asteroid belts imaged by James Webb Space Telescope

The first infrared image of asteroids outside our Solar System has been captured by the JWST. Three distinct rings of debris are shown to exist around Fomalhaut, a young star 25 light years away.

Read more...

6th May 2023

Star "superflare" is one of largest ever seen

A giant flare in the binary star system V1355 Orionis is one of the largest ever observed in the history of astronomy.

Read more...

« Previous

Next »