Category Astronomy/Space

A new Durham University study has found that a giant impact may not be responsible for the formation of Jupiter’s remarkable “dilute” core, challenging a theory about the planet’s history.

Jupiter, the largest planet in our solar system, has a mystery at its heart. Unlike what scientists once expected, its core doesn’t have a sharp boundary but instead gradually blends into the surrounding layers of mostly hydrogen (a structure known as a dilute core).

How this dilute core formed has been a key question among scientists and astronomers ever since NASA’s Juno spacecraft first revealed its existence.

A previous study suggested that a colossal collision with an early planet containing half of Jupiter’s core material could have thoroughly ...

In 2009, NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory released a captivating image: a pulsar and its surrounding nebula that is shaped like a hand. Since then, astronomers have used Chandra and other telescopes to continue to observe this object. Now, new radio data from the Australia Telescope Compact Array (ATCA) has been combined with Chandra’s X-ray data to provide a fresh view of this exploded star and its environment, to help understand its peculiar properties and shape.

At the center of this new image lies the pulsar B1509-58, a rapidly spinning neutron star that is only about 12 miles in diameter...

Learning how to study the leopard-like spots found on both terrestrial and Martian rocks can prepare scientists for when the real samples arrive from space. A curious red Martian rock nicknamed Sapphire Canyon has scientists excited, as its spotted appearance hints at possible organic origins. On Earth, researchers tested a powerful laser technique, O-PTIR, on a similar rock found by chance in Arizona, proving it can rapidly and precisely reveal a material’s chemical makeup...

In the not-too-distant future, the search for signs of life on Mars and the moon could see the next generation of robots exploring a new frontier: subsurface lava tubes. These missions could also help us determine the best locations for establishing human bases.

To see whether this could be feasible, scientists tested three autonomous robots in a lava cave on the Spanish island of Lanzarote.

Lava tubes are deep underground caves formed by volcanic activity and are found in various parts of the world, as well as on Mars and the moon...