Category Astronomy/Space

Japan’s Aerospace Exploration Agency sent the Hayabusa2 spacecraft to 162173 Ryugu in 2019, an asteroid in orbit near Earth that is comprised of rocky fragments originating from a larger parent body. Multiple rovers brought samples from the asteroid’s surface back down to Earth for scientists to study.

The samples are indicative of chemically primitive meteorites, similar to Ivuna-type chondrites, and contain particular chemical compounds that suggest the presence of water. In particular, alterations of the asteroid’s surface by water on the parent body, at estimated temperatures up to 150°C, produced secondary minerals (including phyllosilicates, carbonates, sulfides and oxides) and the researchers aimed to understand the timescale and conditions over which these changes occurred...

The idea of space-based solar power (SBSP)—using satellites to collect energy from the sun and “beam” it to collection points on Earth—has been around since at least the late 1960s. Despite its huge potential, the concept has not gained sufficient traction due to cost and technological hurdles.

Can some of these problems now be solved? If so, SBSP could become a vital part of the world’s transition away from fossil fuels to green energy.

We already harvest energy from the sun. It’s collected directly through what we generally call solar power. This comprises different technologies such as photovoltaics (PV) and solar-thermal energy...

Thanks to the James Webb Space Telescope, astronomers racing to find some of the earliest galaxies ever glimpsed have now confirmed that a galaxy first detected last summer is in fact among the earliest ever found. The findings are published in the journal Nature.

Follow-up observations since first detection of Maisie’s galaxy have revealed that it is from 390 million years after the Big Bang...

The search for exoplanets—planets that orbit stars located beyond the borders of our solar system—is a hot topic in astrophysics. Of the various types of exoplanets, one is hot in the literal sense: hot Jupiters, a class of exoplanets that are physically similar to the gas giant planet Jupiter from our own neighborhood.

Unlike “our” Jupiter, hot Jupiters orbit very close to their stars, complete a full orbit in just a few days or even hours, and—as their name suggests—have extremely high surface temperatures. They hold great fascination for the astrophysics community...