Category Astronomy/Space

A team of British and American astronomers used data from several telescopes on the ground and in space – among them the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope – to study the atmosphere of the hot, bloated, Saturn-mass exoplanet WASP-39b, about 700 light-years from Earth. The analysis of the spectrum showed a large amount of water in the exoplanet’s atmosphere – three times more than in Saturn’s atmosphere. Credit: NASA, ESA, and G. Bacon (STScI)

A new study shows four distinct compositional regions within and around the Moon’s largest impact basin. The findings could help guide future exploration of the basin. Credit: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center

Pattern of radio waves on the sky caused by the combination of radiation from the first stars and the effect of dark matter. Blue regions are those where the dark matter cooled down the ordinary matter most strongly. If a similar pattern is detected with new radio telescopes over the next few years, this will confirm that the first stars have revealed the dark matter. Credit: Prof. Rennan Barkana.

A timeline of the universe, updated to show when the first stars emerged. This updated timeline of the universe reflects the recent discovery that the first stars emerged by 180 million years after the Big Bang. The research behind this timeline was conducted by Judd Bowman of Arizona State University and his colleagues, with funding from the National Science Foundation. Credit: N.R.Fuller, National Science Foundation