Mike

@centyone

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Astronomers have taken unprecedented images of baby planets in a distant star system. The planets are still surrounded by rings of gas and dust from which moons appear to be taking shape. The two imaged infant planets, or "protoplanets," orbit the star PDS 70, located 370 light-years away in the constellation of Centaurus. PDS 70 is little more than a toddler in stellar terms, at just around 5 million years old. If this seems ancient, consider that our "middle-aged" solar system is around 4.6 billion years old. The scientists behind this research believe that, billions of years ago, the solar system would have resembled a mini-version of the PDS 70 system.

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Scientists are confident Mars was once abundant with water, as seen in massive flood-carved channels, ancient river valleys, and minerals that form only in liquid water. But how the Red Planet lost its water, leaving behind the arid world we see today, is still up for debate. Now, a new challenge to a recent theory surrounding vast amounts of water stored beneath the Martian surface suggests the Red Planet may not be hiding liquid water beneath its crust after all.

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New results from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) suggest that the unknown force accelerating the expansion of the universe isn't what we believed it to be. This hints that our best theory of the universe's evolution, the standard model of cosmology, could be wrong. The newly released DESI data comes from its first three years of observations collected as the instrument, mounted on the Nicholas U. Mayall 4-meter Telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory, continues to build the largest 3D map of the universe ever created. By the time DESI completes its five-year mission next year, the instrument will have measured the light from an estimated 50 million galaxies and black hole-powered quasars, in addition to the starlight of over 10 million stars.

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A green energy plant expected to be built in Chile's Atacama Desert could increase night-time sky brightness at one of the world's most valuable astronomical locations by up to 35%, a new study has revealed. Such an increase would seriously affect the scientific observations conducted by some of the world's largest and most expensive telescopes, hampering scientific progress in our understanding of the most intriguing phenomena in the universe.

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Recent findings from samples collected by China's Chang'e 6 mission have provided valuable insights into the history of the moon, particularly its far side. The Chang'e 6 mission launched in early May 2024, landed in the vast South Pole-Aitken (SPA), and returned to Earth with 4 pounds and 4.29 ounces (1,935.3 grams) of the first-ever samples from the moon's far side in late June. New research from scientists with the Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences and published in the journal Science found that sample analysis backs up an established model of the moon as a global liquid magma ocean in the early days after its formation and likely lasted for tens to hundreds of millions of years.

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Persuasive new evidence supporting the possibility of liquid water deep underground on Mars has come to light in a new analysis of seismic data from NASA's InSight lander. In 2024, researchers proposed that the deep subsurface of the Red Planet, particularly between 7.1 and 12.4 miles (11.5 and 20 kilometers) down, is soaked in liquid water, a conclusion they base on the velocities of seismic waves detected during marsquakes. Now, researchers Ikuo Katayama of Hiroshima University and Yuya Akamatsu of the Research Institute for Marine Geodynamics in Japan have found supporting evidence for this claim of liquid water deep inside Mars. "Many studies suggest the presence of water on ancient Mars billions of years ago," said Katayama in a statement. "But our model indicates the presence of liquid water on present-day Mars."

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NASA's most ambitious Arctic voyage to date has revealed surprisingly high concentrations of ice particles in clouds over Greenland, a clue that may help explain why Arctic ice is melting even faster than predicted. "The Arctic is changing faster than anywhere else on the planet, so the question we're trying to ask here is: Is the Arctic going to change fast — or really fast?" Patrick Taylor, the deputy science lead for the mission known as ARCSIX, for Arctic Radiation Cloud Aerosol Surface Interaction Experiment, told Space.com.

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Scientists have confirmed the existence of four small, rocky planets orbiting Barnard's Star — the second closest star system to Earth — using a specialized instrument on the mighty Gemini North telescope in Hawaii. Just six light-years away from us, all the worlds are too hot to support life as we know it. This find is particularly exciting, explained Ritvik Basant, who is a Ph.D. student at the University of Chicago and an author on a paper about the new discovery. This is because, he said, Barnard's Star is essentially our cosmic neighbor, yet we don't know very much about it. There have been many claims of exoplanets orbiting Barnard's Star over the years, dating all the way back to the 1960s. Barnard's Star is a red dwarf, also known as an M-dwarf, and is noticeable for having the fastest proper motion, in reference to its motion visible in the night sky, of any star so far discovered.

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Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost lunar lander continues to beam home incredible imagery from the surface of the moon. Blue Ghost just sent back amazing photos of last night's "Blood Moon" total lunar eclipse from its perch in Mare Crisium, or "Sea of Crises," a vast basin on the northeastern region of the moon's near side. Blue Ghost landed there on March 2 and has been sending us stunning photos and videos of its moon excursion ever since. In these most recent photos, Blue Ghost captured Earth blocking the sun during the eclipse at around 4:30 a.m. EDT (0830 GMT) on March 14. As the sun began to peek around Earth, it formed a bright ring of light in the dark lunar skies. "Blue Ghost got her first diamond ring!" Firefly Aerospace announced in an update accompanying the photo.

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While sitting in his office, Naman Bajaj stared at the precious data that led to the final installment of his trio of published papers, each of which incrementally answers a very loaded question: Why do some planet-forming disks creep onto their own stars? The three studies were robust, interesting — and most importantly, finished. But before closing the door on these last few data points, delivered by the famous James Webb Space Telescope, Bajaj decided to wring them for all they were worth. He certainly didn't expect, however, to open yet another door.

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Astronomers have discovered a collection of tiny galaxies located roughly 3 million light-years away that includes the smallest and faintest galaxy ever seen. This galaxy, designated Andromeda XXXV, and its compatriots orbiting our neighbor galaxy, Andromeda, could change how we think about cosmic evolution. That's because dwarf galaxies this small should have been destroyed in the hotter and denser conditions of the early universe. Yet somehow, this tiny galaxy survived without being fried.

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In 2023, debate erupted in the astronomy community about whether life could exist on an exoplanet called K2-18b. It started when a group of scientists published a paper suggesting a specific chemical, dimethyl sulfide, or DMS, may exist in the planet's atmosphere. A consensus wasn't reached at the time, and conversation has certainly continued into the present. Many astronomers wonder if the DMS signature from K2-18b can really be trusted, and even question whether DMS is a reliable proxy for the presence of life to begin with.

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Strange events seen at the very heart of the Milky Way could be smoking gun evidence of a new dark matter suspect. If that is the case, scientists may have been missing the subtle impact of dark matter, the universe's most mysterious "stuff," on cosmic chemistry. This newly proposed dark matter candidate would not only be lighter than existing hypothetical suspects, but it would also be self-annihilating. This means that when two particles of dark matter meet, they destroy each other and create a negatively charged electron and its positively charged equivalent, a positron.

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It's a haunting photo, but at least it has answers: For the second time in as many years, a private Intuitive Machines lunar lander has tipped over on the moon. After a day of uncertainty following a harrowing moon landing attempt, the company Intuitive Machines sealed the fate of its latest lunar probe Athena. The spacecraft, which attempted a historic landing in rugged terrain near the south pole of the moon on Thursday (March 6), had toppled on its side inside a frigid crater.

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Two NASA missions called "SPHEREx" and "PUNCH" will not be sharing a ride to space this weekend. The agency had planned to launch both missions at the same time on Saturday (March 8) aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket; SpaceX is continuing to complete vehicle checkouts, delaying the liftoff. A new launch date will be announced once confirmed, according to an update posted to SpaceX's website.

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Geologists have discovered the world's oldest known impact crater; it sits in the heart of Western Australia's ancient Pilbara region. An analysis of rock layers in the region suggests a crater at least 62 miles (100 kilometers) wide was carved after a large space rock struck Earth roughly 3.47 billion years ago, when our planet was almost completely covered in water. The discovery pushes back the record for the oldest impact crater on Earth by more than 1 billion years — the previous record holder, the Yarrabubba impact structure, also is in Western Australia.

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Starship's 171-foot-tall (52-meter-tall) upper stage — called Starship, or just "Ship" — kept flying, heading southeast toward the Atlantic Ocean. The Flight 8 plan called for Ship to deploy four payloads — dummy versions of SpaceX's Starlink internet satellites — on its suborbital trajectory about 17.5 minutes after liftoff before coming in for a controlled splashdown in the Indian Ocean off of Western Australia roughly 50 minutes later.

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The wait is nearly over! In just one week, skywatchers across North America will witness a spectacular total lunar eclipse, also known as a Blood Moon. This will be the first total lunar eclipse since November 2022 and the first of three set to occur between 2025 and 2026. During a total lunar eclipse, Earth moves directly between the sun and the moon, blocking sunlight and casting a shadow over the lunar surface. As this happens, the moon takes on a reddish hue, earning it the name "Blood Moon." This effect occurs because Earth's atmosphere scatters shorter wavelengths of sunlight while allowing longer wavelengths — red and orange light — to bend into Earth's shadow and illuminate the moon. It's the same phenomenon that gives sunrises and sunsets their rich colors.

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Blue Ghost had its eyes wide open during its epic moon landing last weekend. On Sunday (March 2), Blue Ghost — built and operated by the Texas-based company Firefly Aerospace — became just the second private spacecraft ever to soft-land on the moon, coming to rest in the near side's Mare Crisium ("Sea of Crises") region. We can now relive Blue Ghost's historic descent, thanks to stunning footage captured by the lander.

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Heads up aurora chasers! We could be in for a treat tonight. A coronal mass ejection (CME) from a powerful solar blast on March 1 is racing toward Earth, with the potential to spark a geomagnetic storm and subsequent impressive northern lights overnight and into tomorrow. According to NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC), the CME is expected to graze Earth's magnetic field on March 4 or 5, potentially triggering a G1-class geomagnetic storm. But there's more — space weather physicist Tamitha Skov notes that stronger G2 storm conditions are also possible. That means a better chance for dazzling auroras, so keep an eye on the skies and get your camera gear ready!

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