How did supermassive black holes get so big, so early? They might have had a head start (Image Credit: Phys.org) An artist’s illustration of a supermassive black hole (SMBH.) The JWST has revealed SMBHs in the early universe that are much more massive than our scientific models can explain. Could primordial black […]
Philae’s extraordinary comet landing relived (Image Credit: Phys.org) Rosetta’s lander Philae safely on the surface of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Credit: European Space Agency On 12 November 2014, after a 10-year journey through the solar system and over 500 million kilometers from home, Rosetta’s lander Philae made space exploration history by touching down on […]
Team proposes new solar composition ratios that could reconcile longstanding questions (Image Credit: Phys.org) An SwRI-led team proposes new solar elemental abundances that potentially reconcile longstanding questions for the first time. A broad set of interdisciplinary data indicates higher levels of carbon, nitrogen and oxygen in the sun than previously thought, yielding […]
It Sounds Like NASA’s Moon Rocket Might Be Getting Canceled (Image Credit: futurism-com) NASA’s plagued Space Launch System rocket, which is being developed to deliver the first astronauts to the Moon in over half a century, is on thin ice. According to Ars Technica senior space reporter Eric Berger’s insider sources, there’s […]
Galaxies get tangled up in ‘the queen’s hair’ in new Hubble Telescope image (Image Credit: Space.com) The Hubble Space Telescope has captured two tangled galaxies, whose interactions have caused knots to form in the “queen’s hair.” The galactic duo, formally known as MCG+05-31-045, is located 390 million light-years away in the constellation […]
‘Snowball Earth:’ Entire planet was likely covered in ice more than 600 million years ago (Image Credit: Space.com) Anyone living on Earth between 720 million and 635 million years ago probably would’ve needed a jacket. Geologists have long suspected that Earth’s temperature dropped dramatically during this time, resulting in a frigid “Snowball […]
Surprised Russian school kids discover Arctic island has vanished after comparing satellite images (Image Credit: Space.com) A group of school kids and college students discovered that a Russian island in the Arctic has recently vanished after comparing satellite images of the area for an educational project. Mesyatsev Island was a slab of […]
The final supermoon of 2024 rises Nov. 15 as November’s Full Beaver Moon (Image Credit: Space.com) The last of four consecutive supermoons in 2024 rises this week. November’s Full Beaver Moon will rise on Friday (Nov. 15), just in time for those willing to stay up late for some weekend skywatching. The […]
The sun’s poles may have powerful magnetic tornadoes (Image Credit: Space.com) The sun may have swirling polar vortices similar to those on Earth, but powered by a very different source, according to a new study. Current observations of the sun are limited to a face-on view, obscuring what can be seen transpiring […]
SpaceX rolls Starship spacecraft to pad ahead of Nov. 18 launch (photos) (Image Credit: Space.com) SpaceX is gearing up for the sixth test flight of its Starship megarocket, which is now less than a week away. Elon Musk‘s company has rolled the sixth Starship vehicle’s 165-foot-tall (50-meter-tall) upper stage out to the […]
