Monday, October 26, 2026

A Merger Solves a Puzzling Paradox in Orion

Protoplanetary disks in Orion seem to be younger than their stars. And Orion's expanding gas shell also seems to be younger. What's behind this? Image Credit: ESA/Hubble

Some of the Hubble Space Telescope's earliest observations were of the Orion Nebula. Those images showed proplyds, and subsequent observations uncovered a paradox centered on them. Given their rate of mass loss, those disks should have been destroyed long ago. Why weren't they?



Sunday, October 25, 2026

Rare Lunar Meteorites Could Fill Gaps In Moon’s Evolution

Researchers on an Antarctic icefield looking for meteorites.  Credit:  NASA

Almost all meteorites come from asteroids, not the Moon or Mars. But after decades of analysis of the Apollo samples, researchers still rely on lunar meteorites to better understand our anomalously large Moon.



Friday, October 23, 2026

White Dwarfs Are Actually…Yellow, Green, Pink, and Purple?

Artist’s illustration of a white dwarf appearing greenish from the sodium-rich planetary debris that enriches its atmosphere. (Credit: Mark A Garlick/University of Warwick)

The universe hosts a myriad of star types, including supergiants, giants, main sequence, red dwarfs, brown dwarfs, white dwarfs, and neutron stars. What makes these stars stand out are just their sizes, but their colors, as each one hosts a distinct color based on their surface temperature, specifically orange, red, blue, and white based on cooler to hotter temperatures. While the correlation between star colors and surface temperatures has long been known throughout astronomy, what if star colors could change based on specific criteria, including their atmosphere?



27 Exoplanet Targets for the World's First Private Space Telescope

An artist's illustration of 55 Cancri d, an exoplanet notable for being a Jupiter analog. It's one of the planets on a list of 27 targets for the Lazuli Space Telescope. It'll be the world's first private space telescope, and will use a coronagraph to image exoplanets. It's scheduled for a 2029 launch. Image Credit: NASA

Get ready for the age of private space telescopes. The Lazuli Space Telescope will launch in a few years and part of its mission is to observe exoplanets. New research presents a list of 27 exoplanet targets, some of which are very well-known and will certainly benefit from deeper observations.



The Largest Canyon in the Solar System is Still Tectonically Active

Artist's impression of the Valles Marineris canyon system on Mars. Credit: Mark Garlick/Science Photo Library

Scientists at Imperial College London and Columbia University have found that the largest canyon system in the solar system is still active and shaping Mars today, billions of years after it first formed.



Saudi Arabia Joins the Search for Alien Civilizations

Saudi Arabia has installed a pair of LaserSETI detectors in a region in a region named AlUla Manara, a site being established as the kingdom's first major astronomical observatory. They're part of a network of optical detectors will scan the heavens for laser signals from alien technological civilizations. Image Credit: LaserSETI.

Saudi Arabia is joining the search for alien signals coming from the cosmos. They're collaborating with SETI in the endeavour. SETI has announced that two LaserSETI instruments will be positioned in Saudi Arabia, adding to a growing network of optical sensors designed to detect laser pulses that could come from alien technological civilizations.



Thursday, October 22, 2026

Advancing Astronomy at MIT with X-ray Reverberation Mapping

Artist's concept of a supermassive black hole with an accretion disk and a relativistic jet. Credit: NASA

Professor Erin Kara of MIT's Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research is helping advance our understanding of the most extreme objects in the Universe by analyzing X-ray reverberations and other astrophysical data.