Category Astronomy/Space

The downpours, which can affect satellites and space travel, are caused by electromagnetic whistler waves, scientists say. UCLA scientists have discovered a new source of super-fast, energetic electrons raining down on Earth, a phenomenon that contributes to the colorful aurora borealis but also poses hazards to satellites, spacecraft and astronauts.

The researchers observed unexpected, rapid “electron precipitation” from low-Earth orbit using the ELFIN mission, a pair of tiny satellites built and operated on the UCLA ca...

Honing the ways Mars’ orbit and orientation impacted climate over time can help scientists find periods of potential habitability. Newly discovered deposits of layered ice in craters scattered around Mars’ southern hemisphere provide insights into how the planet’s orientation controlled the planet’s climate over the past 4 million years, according to a new study...

A team co-led team by the University of Surrey has successfully increased the levels of energy absorbed by wafer-thin photovoltaic panels by 25%. Their solar panels, just one micrometre thick (1μm), convert light into electricity more efficiently than others as thin and pave the way to make it easier to general more clean, green energy.

In a paper published in the American Chemical Society’s Photonics journal, the team detail how they used characteristics of sunlight to design a disordered honeycomb layer which lies on top of a wafer of silicon. Their approach is echoed in nature in the design of butterfly wings and bird eyes...

Astrophysicists studying in unprecedented detail a red giant star named V Hydrae — abbreviated as V Hya — have witnessed the star’s mysterious death throes.

Researchers from UCLA and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory discovered that the carbon-rich star has expelled six slowly expanding molecular rings and an hourglass-shaped structure ejecting matter out into space at high speeds, signaling that the star is undergoing rapid evolution as it ends its life in a blaze of glory before shutting down its energy production.

“This is the f...