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Space and Astronomy News from Universe Today

  • A Brief-ish History of METI. Part II: From Interplanetary to Interstellar

    The legacy of Arecibo's nearly 60 years of radio astronomy is strong even after its loss in a tragic 2020 collapse. Among its major accomplishments was hosting the first attempt at Messaging Extraterrestrial Intelligence (METI). Credit: University of Central Florida

    The latter half of the 20th century saw a major expansion of the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI), accompanied by corresponding advances in Messaging Extraterrestrial Intelligence (METI). A key development was the first interstellar SETI and METI experiments: Project Ozma and the Arecibo Message.

  • No Comets Required? How the Growing Earth May Have Created Its Own Water

    This illustration shows a rain of molten pebbles falling onto a molten Earth. New research and lab experiments show how iron oxide in these pebbles could've been reduced in Earth's ancient atmosphere, forming water vapour. Image Credit: University of New Mexico/Garai et al. 2026. NatGeo

    Earth may not have needed comets and asteroids to deliver its water after it formed and cooled. Instead, water creation could have been part of the planet's formation process. New research explains how, and even shows that water creation could be a part of every rocky planet's formation.

  • Colliding Dwarf Planets Created a 'Cat's Tail' 1,000 Astronomical Units Long

    This artist's illustration shows the Beta Pictoris debris disk, seen edge-on as it appears from Earth. The swirling gas and dust are depicted in orange, and a secondary disk, discovered previously, appears as a whitish feature below the plane of the main disk. On the right, the "Cat's Tail" feature, detected with the JWST in 2024, is visible, reaching far into space. Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Ralf Crawford (STScI)

    The Beta Pictoris system is only about 63 light years away. At only about 23 million years old, it's a sort of analogue for our Solar System when it was much younger. Observations show an elongated dust feature named the 'Cat's Tail' that has puzzled researchers. New research says it's the result of two colliding dwarf planets, something that was sure to have happened in our Solar System when it was young.

  • Astronomers Solve the Mystery of the Sun’s Spinning Plasma Jets

    Image of a limb flare from Hinode. Credit - Hinode JAXA/NASA

    The torrent of corona related discoveries keeps coming. Lately we’ve covered a variety of potential solutions to the “coronal heating problem” - why the Sun’s corona is so much hotter than its surface. Now, a paper led by a team of researchers from the University of Newcastle, Indian Institute for Astrophysics, and University of Sheffield, offers another answer - that we’ve been viewing the “spicules” that form in the lower solar atmosphere all wrong.

  • Moon Habitats May Use Layered Mylar to Block Extreme Heat

    Researchers at Penn Engineering demonstrate the flexibility and durability of stacked Mylar insulating layers, shown held between gloved fingers for scale. (Credit: Bargatin Lab)

    Living on the Moon, with either trained astronauts or regular civilians, could become a regular occurrence in the near future. However, it’s easier said than done, as scientists and engineers continue developing new and advanced ways for protecting humans in the harsh lunar environment, which contrasts the mild and habitable temperatures of the Earth. The most important aspect is focusing on keeping humans alive, and this includes temperature regulation within the habitats. However, how can you maintain temperature regulation while being flexible enough to withstand physical changes like moving, handling, and compression and expansion?

  • Virgin Galactic Flies Next-Gen Space Plane to New Home With New Name

    Virgin Galactic's first Delta-class suborbital space plane is flown to its home base at Spaceport America in New Mexico, tucked beneath VMS Eve, its twin-fuselage mothership. (Credit: Virgin Galactic)

    Virgin Galactic is back in the spaceflight spotlight with the unveiling of a shiny new object: an updated Delta-class suborbital space plane with an exotic name.

  • NASA's New UV Space Telescope Will Launch in 2031

    This artist's illustration shows NASA's UVEX (UltraViolet EXplorer) space telescope. Scheduled to launch in 2031, UVEX will perform a sky survey in Ultraviolet, complementing other sky surveys like the Nancy Grace Roman's surveys, and the ESA's Euclid surveys. Image Credit: SDL/NASA/JPL-Caltech

    NASA has committed to launching a new, more powerful UV space telescope. Named UVEX, the UltraViolet EXplorer, it will launch in 2031. It's about 100 times more powerful than its predecessor, GALEX, whose mission ended in 2013. UVEX will perform a survey in UV that will complement infrared surveys by other telescopes.

  • Betelgeuse Is Disturbed By Its Companion Star

    This artist's illustration shows the smaller, hotter companion star Siwarha creating a wake-like disruption in Betelgeuse's outer atmosphere. Credit: NSF/AUI/NSF NRAO/M. Weiss

    Betelgeuse has a close-orbiting companion that disturbs the red supergiant into an egg-like shape. New observations show how the two stars interact and how this could help explain the varying brightness of Betelgeuse.

  • Ancient Comets Carried Organic Compounds, But They Didn't Survive Crashing Into Earth

    This artist's illustration shows an ancient comet smashing into the ancient Earth. Scientists have wondered if comets could have delivered life's essential building blocks to our young planet, since we now know that comets carry organic molecules important for prebiotic chemistry. But new research says this picture is unlikely. Image Credit: Scarlett White

    Perhaps the biggest mystery we face is life on Earth started. One hypothesis says that comets, which are known to carry important chemicals in abiogenesis, delivered these compounds to Earth, leading to the appearance of life. But new research concludes that that is highly unlikely.

  • The Rubin Observatory Finds Its First Dwarf Planet Candidate

    This image shows the dwarf planet candidate 2026 ED138 (ED138) following its path through the outer Solar System, beyond Pluto's orbit. ED138 hasn't been confirmed yet, but if it is, it'll be one of the largest dwarf planets ever found in this part of our Solar System. Image Credit: [NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory/NOIRLab/SLAC/AURAAcknowledgement: Image Processing: M. Jurić (UW), D. de Martin & M. Zamani (NSF NOIRLab)]

    The Vera Rubin Observatory found a distant Solar System object before its decade-long Legacy Survey of Space and Time even got started. The object is a dwarf planet candidate named 2026 ED138, and if confirmed, it will be one of the largest dwarf planets beyond Neptune. It may be up to 1500 km in diameter.