Last year, using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), astronomers made the startling discovery of some free-floating, planetary-mass objects in the Orion nebula that threw their ideas of planet and star formation into doubt. And now, new research has further deepened the mystery around these so-called Jupiter-mass binary objects, or JuMBOs. JuMBOs aren’t stars, but aren’t really planets either. Mark McCaughrean, senior science advisor at the European Space Agency (ESA), and colleagues originally located the objects in the Orion nebula. This nebula is a star birthing region, also known as Messier…
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Our solar system
Bus-sized European satellite crashes to Earth over Pacific Ocean
A dead European satellite fell back to Earth today, bringing an end to its nearly 30-year life in space. The European Space Agency’s (ESA) European Remote Sensing 2 (ERS-2) satellite reentered Earth’s atmosphere at 12:15 EST (1715 GMT) over the Pacific Ocean. The fall ended a nearly 13-year deorbiting campaign that began with 66 engine burns in July 2011, depleting the spacecraft of remaining fuel. “We have confirmation of the atmospheric reentry of ERS-2 at 17:17 UTC (18:17 CET) +/- 1 minute over the North Pacific Ocean between Alaska and…
Read MoreScientists create 5 new isotopes to learn how neutron star collisions forge gold
Researchers have synthesized five new isotopes that could help bring the stars down to Earth — and coax scientists a step closer to understanding how collisions between ultra-dense, dead stars could create heavy elements like gold and silver. The isotopes are Thulium-182, thulium-183, ytterbium-186, ytterbium-187 and lutetium-190; this is the first time they’ve been ever been synthesized on Earth. Their creation took place at the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB) at Michigan State University (MSU) and represents a step towards building atoms on Earth that are typically only created…
Read MoreIntuitive Machines’ Odysseus lander is aiming for a crater near the moon’s south pole. Here’s why
Intuitive Machines’ Odysseus mission is targeting touch down near the moon’s south pole this week for a historic lunar landing. The Nova-C lunar lander, named Odysseus, was built by the Houston-based company Intuitive Machines and launched to the moon atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on Feb. 15 from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The mission, known as IM-1, is scheduled to touchdown on the moon on Thursday (Feb. 22), at 5:49 p.m. EST (2249 GMT) in a region near the lunar south pole. If all goes according to…
Read MoreEverything we know about ‘3 Body Problem’
2024 looks like a great year for science fiction. Adding to the geeky thrills this year is “3 Body Problem,” an 8-episode, prestige-level adaptation for the debut book of the “Remembrance of Earth’s Past” novel series, a New York Times bestselling sci-fi trilogy from Chinese author Cixin Liu and arriving on Netflix beginning Mar. 21, 2024. This acclaimed series is an epic examination of Earth’s inhabitants as they incite, anticipate, prepare for, and endure an extraterrestrial invasion. Netflix’s big-budget sci-fi project from the creators of HBO’s medieval fantasy sensation “Game…
Read MoreFormer Disney TV star Bridgit Mendler co-founds satellite ‘data highway’ startup
On Tuesday (Feb. 20), after a relatively long hiatus from the public eye, Bridgit Mendler announced the launch of her new satellite data startup, Northwood. Beyond introducing quite an interesting company — one that aims to make satellite technology more accessible by mass-producing data-retrieving ground stations on Earth — there’s another major reason the launch has been making headlines. Once upon a time, Mendler was a Disney Channel actress. The 31-year-old space CEO is probably best known for her role as Teddy Duncan, the delightful older sister of Charlie Duncan…
Read MoreIntuitive Machines’ private Odysseus moon lander on track for Feb. 22 lunar landing
The voyaging Odysseus remains on course for a moon landing this week. The Odysseus moon lander, built by Houston company Intuitive Machines, completed two engine burns in deep space on Feb. 16 and Feb. 18 and is sailing on the right course through space, the company said on X. The mission lifted off on a a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket early Feb. 15 from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, and all systems and science are healthy as it makes its way towards the moon. But the lander will soon…
Read MoreAustralia seeks public help to design its 1st moon rover, Roo-ver
Australia’s first lunar rover has a name — now, it needs a design. The Australian Space Agency is building a semi-autonomous rover, called “Roo-ver,” that will launch to the moon as early as 2026 in partnership with NASAs Artemis lunar program. The rover will collect samples of lunar “soil,” specifically known as regolith, from which NASA will attempt to extract oxygen — a key step toward establishing a sustainable human presence on the moon and producing rocket fuel to support future missions to Mars. Recently, Australia hosted a naming competition…
Read MoreSouth Pole Telescope has a ‘treasure map’ to the secrets of dark matter
Ancient cosmic light that has uniformly filled the universe since around 400,000 years after the Big Bang could act like a treasure map that guides scientists to the secrets of dark matter. The Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) refers to the first light to freely travel across the universe. Its journey began after space had expanded and cooled enough to allow electrons and protons to form the first atoms, meaning electrons were no longer endlessly scattering photons, and the universe instantly went from being opaque to being transparent. The CMB, or…
Read MoreMajor X-ray sky survey could relieve crisis surrounding the universe’s ‘lumpiness’
A new analysis of how galaxy clusters evolved over the 13.8-billion-year history of the cosmos could help solve a long-standing tension surrounding the ‘lumpiness’ of our universe’s matter content. Down the line, it may also help scientists solve a host of other cosmic mysteries. The first data from the eROSITA all-sky survey of cosmic X-ray sources, which completed 4.5 full sky surveys in February of 2022, contained precision measurements of both the amount of total matter in the universe and the matter’s level of smoothness, or “homogeneity.” These findings could…
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