News
These Two "Super-Puff" Planets Have Densities Lower Than That of Candy Floss
2+ hour, 17+ min ago (452+ words) When one imagines the density of a planet, one likely considers most of them to be fairly dense. After all, even our smallest planet, Mercury, is the second densest in our solar system due to its iron core. However, some…...
NASA Space Telescope Maps Magnetic Fields of "Lighthouse" Pulsar
1+ hour, 24+ min ago (415+ words) In June 2025, IXPE spent nearly 18 days focused on the Lighthouse Nebula. Astronomers studied two narrow X-ray offshoots extending from the pulsar to better understand how electrons at nearly the speed of light interact with this energetic system. The longer offshoot…...
To Ancient Astronomers, Theta Eridani Was Brighter For A Thousand Years. Now We Know Why
1+ hour, 40+ min ago (363+ words) There's a bit of a historical mystery surrounding the star Theta Eridani. Ptolemy in the 2nd century AD and al-Sufi in 964 AD both recorded Theta Eridani as one of the thirteen brightest stars in the sky. Hipparchus may have said the…...
Postdoctoral researcher to develop instrumentation to detect distant protoplanets
3+ hour, 11+ min ago (337+ words) Supported by the new Astronova Fellowship program, Christina Vides will advance her research in a technique that sharpens the images from astronomical telescopes in order to detect faint planets in the glare of their bright host stars Christina Vides is…...
Diverse Organic Molecules Discovered Surrounding A Newly Formed Star
4+ hour, 55+ min ago (283+ words) Astrobiology Web [Kyoto University] For the first time, a stellar cradle containing diverse organic molecules has been discovered at the site where a star exploded. Associate Professor Takashi Shimonishi of the Faculty of Science, Niigata University, Associate Professor Hidetoshi Sano…...
Nautilus Space Observatory: Unveiling the Diversity and Origin of Sub-Neptunes
5+ hour, 17+ min ago (241+ words) Astrobiology Web [astro-ph. IM] Sub-Neptunes are the most common class of planets in the Galaxy, yet they have no Solar System analog and remain poorly understood as a population. JWST observations have revealed atmospheres spanning a wide range of metallicities,…...
Optics & Photonics News - Ultra-Black Coating Reduces Satellite Glare
3+ hour, 34+ min ago (214+ words) From left, Keith Ryden, James Whitfield, Astha Chaturvedi, Keiran Clifford, Noelia No'l and Luca Ferrian with the black coating Vantablack 310. [Image: University of Surrey] This ultra-black material incorporates nanostructured black pigments into a polymer binder, providing a formulation that can…...
Water Ice Inside A Martian Crater
4+ hour, 58+ min ago (247+ words) [ESA] Like a sprinkle of powdered sugar on a rich red velvet cake, this scene from the ESA/Roscosmos Exo Mars Trace Gas Orbiter captures the contrasting colours of bright white water-ice against the rusty red martian soil. This delightful…...
A Search For Narrowband Technosignatures From LTT 3780 With The Allen Telescope Array And The Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array
4+ hour, 27+ min ago (309+ words) Astrobiology Web [astro-ph. IM] The LTT3780 system hosts two known exoplanets-LTT3780b, a rocky super-Earth, and LTT3780c, a temperate sub-Neptune-orbiting a nearby M dwarf on opposite sides of the radius valley. LTT3780c has been proposed as a candidate Hycean world, making the system an…...
Curiosity Sees Martian Sulfur Up Close
4+ hour, 26+ min ago (171+ words) Mirage News This close-up view shows fragments of sulfur crystals - the first ever seen on the Red Planet. The crystals were found after NASA's Curiosity Mars rover happened to drive over a rock and crush it on May 30, 2024. Several days…...