Space
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Life
A 3-D printed, plastic beaker could help algae grow on Mars
Algae grown under Mars-like conditions could make bioplastic building materials for structures to harbor life in space.
- Astronomy
A rare chance to see two exploding stars is happening in the southern sky
Exploding stars V462 Lupi and V572 Velorum are best seen from the Southern Hemisphere. One has been spotted from the United States.
- Life
A barrage of radiation couldn’t kill this hardy life-form
A type of lichen was able to survive extreme UV radiation in the lab, suggesting that ozone protection might not be required for life on exoplanets.
- Astronomy
Mysterious ‘little red dot’ galaxies have a possible origin story
Compact ruddy galaxies seen by the James Webb telescope confound astronomers. Having very little spin at birth may explain the galaxies’ small sizes.
- Planetary Science
In a first, the Webb telescope found a planet by actually ‘seeing’ it
Finding a Saturn-sized world around the young star TWA 7 could pave the way for the Webb space telescope’s direct observation of other exoplanets.
- Astronomy
Two spacecraft created their first images of an artificial solar eclipse
The Proba-3 spacecraft succeed at creating solar eclipses, kicking off a two-year mission to study the sun’s mysterious outer atmosphere, the corona.
- Space
Distant nebulae star in one of the first images from the Rubin Observatory
These are the first public images collected by the Chile-based observatory, which will begin a decade-long survey of the southern sky later this year.
- Astronomy
Black hole–shredded megastars power a new class of cosmic explosions
These explosions, called extreme nuclear transients, shine for longer than typical supernovas and get 30 to 1,000 times as bright.
- Space
Here’s how a collision of star remnants launches a gleaming jet
A computer simulation shows how two neutron stars of unequal mass merge, form a black hole and spit out a jet of high energy matter.
- Planetary Science
A possible new dwarf planet skirts the solar system’s edge
For the dwarf planet candidate, one trip around the sun takes over 24,000 years. Its orbit challenges a proposed path for a hypothetical Planet Nine.
- Space
A private Japanese spacecraft failed on its way to the moon’s surface
The spacecraft’s owner, ispace, is attempting to land these crafts to commercialize lunar resources.
- Astronomy
A dwarf galaxy just might upend the Milky Way’s predicted demise
The Milky Way may merge with the Large Magellanic Cloud in 2 billion years, not Andromeda, contrary to previous findings.
