Using radio waves to discover and study exoplanets

A new study from researchers in the Netherlands shows how scientists can detect exoplanets orbiting red dwarf stars, and learn about their environments, from the radio waves generated by auroras on those worlds.

Why does Arrokoth look like a snowman?

Meet Arrokoth - the most distant object yet visited by earthlings - seen by the New Horizons spacecraft in early 2019. It's very old, one of the first generation of objects in our solar system. Here's why it looks like a snowman.

Why did this galaxy blaze with stars, then become inactive?

Astronomers report on the very distant galaxy XMM-2599. It existed when the universe was very young, yet contains some 300 billion stars. It must have formed stars at a very rapid rate and then stopped. Why?

Moon found orbiting near-Earth asteroid

Isn't this cool? Scientists at the famous Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico made this rare find just days after resuming post-earthquake operations. It's a moon orbiting the near-Earth asteroid 2020 BX12.

Water in the shadows of boulders on Mars?

A new study from the Planetary Research Institute suggests that briny water could temporarily form on Mars' surface in the shadows of boulders for just a few days each Martian year.

VLT sees surface of dim Betelgeuse

The European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope is in northern Chile. Astronomers used it to capture the unprecedented dimming of Betelgeuse, a red supergiant star in the constellation of Orion. The new images show how the apparent shape of this star is changing.

Mysterious fast radio burst repeats in 16-day rhythm

For the first time, a fast radio burst has been found to be repeating, in a regular 16-day cycle. The baffling detection from the CHIME radio telescope deepens the mystery of these bizarre intergalactic objects.

New clues in the search for the universe’s oldest galaxies

An astronomer reports on a very old galaxy cluster - labeled XLSSC 122 - whose light has taken 10.4 billion years to travel across the universe to us.

Liftoff! Solar Orbiter launches successfully

ESA's sun-exploring Solar Orbiter will be the first spacecraft ever to fly over the sun's poles. It'll study the origin of the solar wind, which has the potential to affect earthly technologies.

Pluto’s icy heart makes winds blow

A “beating heart” of frozen nitrogen controls Pluto’s winds and may give rise to features on its surface, according to a new study.

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