Space: The Solar System
Published

Evidence of superionic ice provides new insights into unusual magnetic fields of Uranus and Neptune      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Not all ice is the same. The solid form of water comes in more than a dozen different - sometimes more, sometimes less crystalline - structures, depending on the conditions of pressure and temperature in the environment. Superionic ice is a special crystalline form, half solid, half liquid - and electrically conductive. Its existence has been predicted on the basis of various models and has already been observed on several occasions under - very extreme - laboratory conditions. New results provide another piece of the puzzle in the spectrum of the manifestations of water. And they may also help to explain the unusual magnetic fields of the planets Uranus and Neptune, which contain a lot of water.

Space: Exploration Space: The Solar System
Published

Did Venus ever have oceans?      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Astrophysicists have investigated the past of Venus to find out whether Earth's sister planet once had oceans.

Space: The Solar System
Published

To watch a comet form, a spacecraft could tag along for a journey toward the sun      (via sciencedaily.com) 

A new article proposes that space probes could hitch a ride with 'centaurs' as they become comets. Along the way, the spacecraft would gather data that would otherwise be impossible to record -- including how comets, Earth-like planets, and even the solar system formed.

Space: The Solar System
Published

A 5-sigma standard model anomaly is possible      (via sciencedaily.com) 

One of the best chances for proving beyond-the-standard-model physics relies on something called the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa (CKM) matrix. The standard model insists that the CKM matrix, which describes the mixing of quarks, should be unitary. But growing evidence suggests that during certain forms of radioactive decay, the unitarity of the CKM matrix might break.

Space: The Solar System
Published

Radio signals from distant stars suggest hidden planets      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Using the world's most powerful radio antenna, scientists have discovered stars unexpectedly blasting out radio waves, possibly indicating the existence of hidden planets.

Space: The Solar System
Published

Chang'e-5 samples reveal key age of moon rocks      (via sciencedaily.com) 

A lunar probe launched by the Chinese space agency recently brought back the first fresh samples of rock and debris from the moon in more than 40 years. Now an international team of scientists has determined the age of these moon rocks at close to 1.97 billion years old.

Space: The Solar System
Published

Scientists confirm decrease in Pluto’s atmospheric density      (via sciencedaily.com) 

When Pluto passed in front of a star on the night of August 15, 2018, astronomers deployed telescopes at numerous sites in the U.S. and Mexico to observe Pluto's atmosphere as it was briefly backlit by the well-placed star. Scientists used this occultation event to measure the overall abundance of Pluto's tenuous atmosphere and found compelling evidence that it is beginning to disappear, refreezing back onto its surface as it moves farther away from the Sun.

Space: The Solar System
Published

‘Planet confusion’ could slow Earth-like exoplanet exploration      (via sciencedaily.com) 

A new study finds that next-generation telescopes used to see exoplanets could confuse Earth-like planets with other types of planets in the same solar system.

Space: The Solar System
Published

Earth and Venus grew up as rambunctious planets      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Using machine learning and simulations of giant impacts, researchers found that the planets residing in the inner solar system were likely born from repeated hit-and-run collisions, challenging conventional models of planet formation.

Space: The Solar System
Published

This is what it looks like when a black hole snacks on a star      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Analyzing observations of an X-ray flare and fitting the data with theoretical models, astronomers documented a fatal encounter between an unlucky star and a black hole.

Space: The Solar System
Published

Peering into the Moon's shadows with AI      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Permanently shadowed lunar craters contain water ice, but are difficult to image. A machine learning algorithm now provides sharper images.

Space: Structures and Features
Published

Part of the Universe’s missing matter found      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Galaxies can receive and exchange matter with their external environment thanks to the galactic winds created by stellar explosions. An international research team has now mapped a galactic wind for the first time. This unique observation helped to reveal where some of the Universe's missing matter is located and to observe the formation of a nebula around a galaxy.

Space: Structures and Features
Published

Have we detected dark energy? Scientists say it's a possibility      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Dark energy, the mysterious force that causes the universe to accelerate, may have been responsible for unexpected results from the XENON1T experiment, deep below Italy's Apennine Mountains.

Space: Structures and Features
Published

Astronomers solve 900-year-old cosmic mystery surrounding Chinese supernova of 1181AD      (via sciencedaily.com) 

A 900-year-old cosmic mystery surrounding the origins of a famous supernova first spotted over China in 1181AD has finally been solved, according to an international team of astronomers. New research says that a faint, fast expanding cloud (or nebula), called Pa30, surrounding one of the hottest stars in the Milky Way, known as Parker's Star, fits the profile, location and age of the historic supernova.

Space: The Solar System
Published

Shining a light on Moon’s oldest geologic imprints      (via sciencedaily.com) 

New research has found the Moon may have been subjected to much greater impacts from asteroids and other bodies than previously thought, building on our understanding of the Moon's earliest geologic evolution.

Space: Structures and Features
Published

Astronomers spot the same supernova three times -- and predict a fourth sighting in 16 years      (via sciencedaily.com) 

An enormous amount of gravity from a cluster of distant galaxies causes space to curve so much that light from them is bent and emanated our way from numerous directions. This 'gravitational lensing' effect has allowed astronomers to observe the same exploding star in three different places in the heavens. They predict that a fourth image of the same explosion will appear in the sky by 2037. The study provides a unique opportunity to explore not just the supernova itself, but the expansion of our universe.

Space: Structures and Features
Published

Largest virtual universe free for anyone to explore      (via sciencedaily.com) 

An international team of researchers developed the largest and most detailed simulation of the Universe to date and has made it freely available on the cloud to everyone. This simulation, named Uchuu, will help astronomers to interpret results from Big Data galaxy surveys.

Space: The Solar System
Published

Researchers enlist robot swarms to mine lunar resources      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Building a base on the moon was once something out of science fiction, but now scientists are starting to consider it more seriously. Researchers are investigating methods for mining lunar resources to build such a base, using swarms of autonomous robots.

Space: Structures and Features
Published

Astronomers explain origin of elusive ultradiffuse galaxies      (via sciencedaily.com) 

As their name suggests, ultradiffuse galaxies, or UDGs, are dwarf galaxies whose stars are spread out over a vast region, resulting in extremely low surface brightness, making them very difficult to detect. An international team of astronomers reports it has used sophisticated simulations to detect a few 'quenched' UDGs in low-density environments in the universe. A quenched galaxy is one that does not form stars.

Space: Structures and Features
Published

Anatomy of the impact of a protostellar jet in the Orion Nebula      (via sciencedaily.com) 

Researchers have uncovered the physical and chemical effects of the impact of a protostellar jet in the interior of the Orion Nebula. The observations show evidence of compression and heating produced by the shock front, and the destruction of dust grains, which cause a dramatic increase in the gas phase abundance of the atoms of iron, nickel, and other heavy elements in the Orion Nebula.