Scientists have been searching Earth’s surface for superheavy elements too difficult to make in the lab, but now, many are looking to the skies instead.
Some space rocks you can get for free – if you know how to identify them. Rarer materials cost more, and the asteroid sample NASA just brought back has a high price tag.
Controlled experiments are impossible in astronomy, as are direct measurements of physical properties of objects outside our solar system. So how do astronomers know so much about them?
Measuring the ages of planets and stars is tricky. An observational astrophysicist describes the subtle clues that provide good estimates for how old different space objects are.
NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission has delivered pieces of asteroid Bennu, which scientists hope will offer a window into the early era of the Solar System billions of years ago.
Einstein’s theory of general relativity suggests that our universe originated in a Big Bang. But black holes, and their gravitational forces, challenge the limits of Einstein’s work.
India’s Chandrayaan-3 rover has found sulfur on the Moon’s surface at higher concentrations than previously seen. Sulfur, a useful resource, could pave the way for future Moon bases.
Canada’s partnership in the world’s largest radio telescope, located in South Africa and Australia, creates new opportunities for research, but the benefits go beyond astronomy.
Months after a military officer made sensational claims about unexplained objects in the skies, NASA released a report loosely outlining a scientific approach for analyzing UAP reports.
You can’t bring your AC to space, unfortunately, but innovative flow boiling and condensation research might lead to lighter, more efficient heating and cooling on spacecraft.