Category Astronomy/Space

There is no weather in space – but there is weathering: Celestial bodies are bombarded by high energy particles. On the Mars moon Phobos, the situation is complicated: It is hit by particles from the sun, but it is partly shielded by Mars. New experiments explain what is going on, in 2024 a space mission will reach Phobos and check the results.

Of course, there is no weather in our sense of the word in space — nevertheless, soil can also “weather” in the vacuum of space if it is constantly bombarded by high-energy particles, such as those emitted by the sun...

Using NASA’s SOFIA telescope, researchers have found CQ 4479, a galaxy which never had been closely studied before, to be generating new stars in spite of a luminous AGN at the galaxy’s center. Researchers from the University of Kansas have described a galaxy more than 5.25 billion light years away undergoing a rarely seen stage in its galactic lifecycle. Their findings recently were published in the Astrophysical Journal.

The galaxy, dubbed CQ 4479, shows characteristics that normally don’t coexist: an X-ray luminous active galactic nuclei (AGN) and a cold gas supply fueling high star formation rates.

“Massive galaxies, such as our own Milky Way, host a supermassive black hole at their hearts — these are black holes that grow by accreting interstellar gas onto themselves to bec...

Proxima Centauri is the closest star to the Sun, and its planet, Proxima Cen b (“Proxima b”), lies in its habitable zone (the distance range within which surface water can be liquid), making the planet a prime target for exoplanet characterization. The star is an M-dwarf with a mass of only 0...

Among the new findings, the research team found that chronic oxidative stress during spaceflight contributed to the telomere elongation they observed. They also found that astronauts had shorter telomeres after spaceflight than they did before.

The historic NASA Twins Study investigated identical twin astronauts Scott and Mark Kelly and provided new information on the health effects of spending time in space.

Colorado State University Professor Susan Bailey was one of more than 80 scientists across 12 universities who conducted research on the textbook experiment; M...