Rocky exoplanets – planets outside our Solar System – with atmospheres dominated by hydrogen and helium could provide habitable conditions for billions of years, new research has suggested. The study suggests these planets can sustain temperate conditions and liquid water on their surface for long periods of time. As hydrogen and helium gases were readily […]
Stars experience quakes like we have on Earth, scientists have discovered, after data revealed new information on nearly two billion stars in the Milky Way. These “starquakes” – known as non-radial oscillations – are tsunami-like movements on stars’ crusts which cause the shape of the star to change with their force. This was an unexpected […]
The European Space Agency (ESA) has released a trove of data on almost two billion stars in the Milky Way, collected by its Gaia mission in an effort to create the most accurate and complete map of our galaxy. Astronomers hope to use the data to understand better how stars are born and die, and […]
Scientists have explained why, despite having much in common, Uranus and Neptune have very different appearances. The furthest two planets in the Solar System have similar masses, sizes, and atmospheric compositions – yet Neptune looks distinctly bluer than its neighbour. New research, led by Professor Patrick Irwin at the University of Oxford, suggests a layer […]
Earth could be “the only place” in the universe with life forms intelligent enough to form civilisation, Professor Brian Cox has said. While microbial life forms could well be common, the physicist believes that “things like us may be extremely rare”. When asked about US Congressman Andre Carson’s comments earlier this week that UFOs are […]
The world got a look on Thursday at the first wild but fuzzy image of the supermassive black hole at the centre of our own Milky Way galaxy. Astronomers believe nearly all galaxies, including our own, have these giant black holes at their centre, where light and matter cannot escape, making it extremely hard to […]
Scotland will be the launchpad for Europe’s very first microlauncher rocket. Lifting off from Space Hub Sutherland, in the Highlands, the Prime orbital space rocket has been unveiled by Orbex, a spaceflight company. The firm will now press ahead with testing, allowing “dress rehearsals” of rocket launches and the development of launch procedures. Orbex recently […]
Early observations from the James Webb Space Telescope will be released in the summer and are expected to change the face of astronomy forever, experts have said. The telescope lifted off on an Ariane 5 rocket from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana on Christmas Day last year on its mission to unlock the secrets of […]
A helicopter caught a falling rocket – before its crew was forced to let it go again for safety reasons. Rocket Lab partially pulled off the feat as it pushes to make its small Electron rockets reusable. The California-based company regularly launches 59ft rockets from the remote Mahia Peninsula in New Zealand to deliver satellites […]
Shallow liquid water may be present on Jupiter’s moon Europa, data based on the Greenland ice sheet suggests. Europa is a prime candidate for life in the Solar System, and its deep saltwater ocean has captivated scientists for decades. The giant planet’s moon has been visited by the Voyager and Galileo spacecrafts, and data collected […]
