Thursday, August 27, 2026

Some Comets are Naked, and One Just Got Caught Photo-Bombing

Researchers found this image of comet 28P/Neujmin in the archives of Japan's Subaru Telescope and its Subaru Prime Focus Camera (Suprime-Cam). It turned out to be from almost the perfect angle to study the comet from. It's a naked comet without a coma, and these lucky observations gave astronomers a great look at its surface. Image Credit: NAOJ

Japanese researchers got lucky when a comet they wanted to study was found photo-bombing archival images from Japan's Subaru Telescope. The Subaru, with its 8.2 meter mirror, happened to image comet 28P/Neujmin from just the right angle to accurately characterize its surface. Their work is part of the ongoing effort to understand comets and asteroids, why some of them share properties, and what that means for their formation and evolution as Solar System objects.



Why Astronauts' Lower Eyelids "Let Go" in Space

NASA astronaut Karen Nyberg images her eye with a fundoscope aboard the International Space Station during the Expedition 37 mission in 2013. Credit: NASA

A new study identifies possible mechanisms behind changes in astronauts' lower eyelids, a symptom associated with long periods in space that can affect their eyesight.



Theory-Defying Exoplanet Atmospheres Force a Rethink of Theories

This artist's illustration shows the exoplanet 55 Cancri e. It's a super-Earth that is so close to its star that its a lava world, or magma ocean. But recent JWST observations show it has a thick atmosphere. That's challenging our theories of how atmospheres escape and forcing a rethink of the 'cosmic shoreline.' Image Credit: ESA/Hubble, M. Kornmesser

The discovery of lava worlds with atmospheres is challenging our theories of how atmospheres escape, and calling into question the idea of the cosmic shoreline. Stanford researchers have developed a model that explains how lava-covered worlds close to their stars can retain their atmospheres. The new theory could inform the search for life beyond our Solar System.



Wednesday, August 26, 2026

NASA’s Webb Telescope Rules Out Two New Dyson Sphere Candidates

*A hypothetical Dyson Sphere Swarm.  Credit: Wikipedia*

Recent searches for the technosignatures of hypothetical Dyson Spheres again turn up empty.



AI Spots Hidden Solar Storm Signs 9 Hours Early

An AI tool created by New Jersey Institute of Technology researchers can spot the hidden warning signs of solar storms almost nine hours before they become visible on the Sun. (Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/SDO)

When we think of weather forecasts, we instinctively think of weather on Earth like rain or shine. However, we rarely consider weather forecasts from outside of the Earth, also called space weather. While space weather often results in the awe-inspiring aurora located at the northern and southern latitudes, we often forget the negative impacts of space weather on our everyday lives. This includes potential disruption of communication satellites or ground stations. The primary conundrum that has eluded researchers is being able to forecast incoming space weather so we can better prepare for its impact.



Scientists Melted A Diamond and Cracked a Secret of Ice Giants

Artist's concept of the diamond target melting. Credit - James Wickboldt/LLNL

Some of the strangest weather in the solar system doesn’t happen on Earth, or even Jupiter’s Great Red Spot - it happens in the interior of the Ice Giants like Neptune and Uranus. Specifically, scientists have long believed that, at certain pressure and temperatures, it literally rains diamonds inside of these planets. And for the first time, scientists have mimicked the process they believe creates that. A new paper by physicists at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), published in Nature Physics, resolves a 20 year old scientific mystery, and shows how the same physics that makes it rain diamonds inside Neptune could also help us triple our fusion energy output.



A Greenland Glacier Loses Another Chunk of Ice

This satellite image shows a 76 sq. km., 150 meter thick piece of glacier that broke off of the Petermann Glacier in Greenland. It's the largest loss of floating ice since 2012, and the most significant Arctic calving since 2020. It shows how quickly the Arctic is changing in the face of climate change, and will lead to even more ice loss. Image Credit: contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data (2026), processed by ESA. Licence: CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO or ESA Standard Licence

The ESA's Sentinel satellites captured a 76 sq. km. chunk of ice breaking off from Greenland's Petermann Glacier. They watched the cracks and deformations happen in real time leading up to the calving. While calving is normal, it's happening more often, and this is another clear sign that the Arctic is rapidly changing due to the warming climate.