For this ESA/Hubble Picture of the Week, we gaze upon the field of stars that is NGC 1786. This object is a globular cluster in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), a small satellite galaxy of the Milky Way Galaxy that is approximately 160,000 light-years away from Earth. NGC 1786 itselfContinue Reading
Caltech scientists have found a fast and efficient way to add up large numbers of Feynman diagrams, the simple drawings physicists use to represent particle interactions. The new method has already enabled the researchers to solve a longstanding problem in the materials science and physics worlds known as the polaronContinue Reading
Astronomers have detected a giant exoplanet – between three and ten times the size of Jupiter – hiding in the swirling disc of gas and dust surrounding a young star. Earlier observations of this star, called MP Mus, suggested that it was all alone without any planets in orbit aroundContinue Reading
The Milky Way could have many more satellite galaxies than scientists have previously been able to predict or observe, according to new research. Cosmologists at Durham University, UK, used a new technique combining the highest-resolution supercomputer simulations that exist, alongside novel mathematical modelling, predicting the existence of missing “orphan” galaxies.Continue Reading
A 2.35-billion-year-old meteorite with a unique chemical signature, found in Africa in 2023, plugs a major gap in our understanding of the Moon’s volcanic history. Findings from analyses of the Northwest Africa 16286 meteorite, presented at the Goldschmidt Conference in Prague, offer fresh insights into how the Moon’s interior evolved, highlighting theContinue Reading
A new kind of cosmic object could help solve one of the universe’s greatest mysteries: dark matter. Particle Astrophysicists have proposed the existence of a strange new type of star-like object, called a ‘dark dwarf’, which may be quietly glowing in the center of our galaxy. Far from being darkContinue Reading
The Moon’s near and far sides exhibit striking asymmetry — from topography and crustal thickness to volcanic activity — yet the origins of these differences long puzzled scientists. China’s Chang’e-6 mission, launched on May 3, 2024, changed this by returning 1,935.3 grams of material from the lunar farside’s South Pole-AitkenContinue Reading
The future of sustained space habitation depends on our ability to grow fresh food away from Earth. The revolutionary new collaborative Moon-Rice project is using cutting-edge experimental biology to create an ideal future food crop that can be grown in future deep-space outposts, as well as in extreme environments backContinue Reading
NASA has selected three instruments to travel to the Moon, with two planned for integration onto an LTV (Lunar Terrain Vehicle) and one for a future orbital opportunity. The LTV is part of NASA’s efforts to explore the lunar surface as part of the Artemis campaign and is the firstContinue Reading
Twisted materials — known as moiré structures — have revolutionized modern physics, emerging as today’s “alchemy” by creating entirely new phases of matter through simple geometric manipulation. The term “moiré” may sound familiar — it describes the strange rippling patterns you sometimes see when photographing striped shirts or screens; inContinue Reading
