From improving our understanding of dark matter to revealing the location of Earth 2.0, the Extremely Large Telescope promises answers to some of the biggest scientific questions of our time.
Artists impression of what WASP-17b could look like, based on.
data gathered by Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) and other ground- and space-based
telescopes, including the Hubble and Spitzer space telescopes.
NASA, ESA, CSA, Ralf Crawford (STScI)
The discovery provides a way to study the birth of an entirely new planet in real time.
NASA’s UAP study team and newly appointed director of UAP research represent growing efforts to study and declassify UFO-related data.
AP Photo/Terry Renn
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.
The exoplanet K2-18b might host a water ocean.
Credits: Illustration: NASA, CSA, ESA, J. Olmsted (STScI), Science: N. Madhusudhan (Cambridge University)
The James Webb Space Telescope has detected key carbon-bearing molecules on the potential ocean world K2-18b, including tantalising hints of a substance produced by tiny plankton on Earth.
Composite: Chuck Carter / Gregg Hallinan (Caltech) and Philippe Donn (Pexels)
Astronomers have detected the coldest star ever found to emit radio waves using the Australian SKA Pathfinder telescope.
A light, cheap space telescope design would make it possible to put many individual units in space at once.
Katie Yung, Daniel Apai /University of Arizona and AllThingsSpace /SketchFab
Space telescopes are limited in size due to the difficulties and cost of getting into orbit. By revamping an old optical technology, researchers are working on a lightweight and thin telescope design.
The planet Halla looks like it should have been devoured by its host star, a red giant called Baekdu – but a secret in the star’s past may hold the answer to the planet’s present.
New research shows that the destructive merging of a star and a planet expels huge amounts of gas, as shown in this artist’s impression.
K. Miller/R. Hurt (Caltech/IPAC)
Stars begin to expand when they run out of fuel and can become thousands of times larger, consuming any planets in the way. For the first time, astronomers have witnessed one such event.
With more than 5,000 known exoplanets, astronomers are shifting their focus from discovering additional distant worlds to identifying which are good candidates for further study.
The new study analysed data gathered at the Green Bank Observatory in West Virginia.
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The technology of an advanced alien civilization is likely to produce many signs that could be detected across the vastness of space. Two astronomers explain the search for technosignatures.
Astronomers think the most likely place to find life in the galaxy is on super-Earths, like Kepler-69c, seen in this artist’s rendering.
NASA Ames/JPL-CalTech
Newly discovered super-Earths add to the list of planets around other stars that offer the best chance of finding life. An astronomer explains what makes these super-Earths such excellent candidates.
There could be a planetary heist going on in the star-forming region NGC 3324 in the Carina Nebula.
NASA/James Webb Telescope
Research on exoplanets over the next couple of decades could help us more accurately estimate how many intelligent alien civilisations there are in our galaxy.