NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has made the first direct measurements of both the chemical composition and physical conditions of a possible moon-forming disk surrounding a massive exoplanet. The carbon-rich disk encircles the planet known as CT Cha b, located about 625 light-years from Earth. While no moons were detectedContinue Reading
Scientists from Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden and NASA have made a surprising discovery that challenges one of chemistry’s fundamental principles, while also offering new insight into Saturn’s mysterious moon Titan. In Titan’s intensely cold environment, substances that normally cannot mix are able to combine. This finding expands ourContinue Reading
Scientists digging through data collected by the Cassini spacecraft have found new complex organic molecules spewing from Saturn’s moon Enceladus. This is a clear sign that complex chemical reactions are taking place within its underground ocean. Some of these reactions could be part of chains that lead to even moreContinue Reading
An international research collaboration has used advanced computer simulations to investigate how faint radio signals from the early Universe, soon to be observed from missions on the far side of the Moon, could shed light on the fundamental properties of dark matter, reports a new study published in Nature AstronomyContinue Reading
A greedy white dwarf star not far from Earth is devouring its closest celestial companion at a rate never seen before, space scientists have discovered. Their study found the double star, named V Sagittae, is burning unusually bright as the super-dense white dwarf is gorging on its larger twin inContinue Reading
Southwest Research Institute led a James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) survey, discovering a previously unknown tiny moon orbiting Uranus. A team led by SwRI’s Dr. Maryame El Moutamid discovered the small object in a series of images taken on Feb. 2, 2025, bringing Uranus’ total moon count to 29. “AsContinue Reading
The small satellite was to map lunar water, but operators lost contact with the spacecraft the day after launch and were unable to recover the mission. NASA’s Lunar Trailblazer ended its mission to the Moon on July 31. Despite extensive efforts, mission operators were unable to establish two-way communications afterContinue Reading
When a multimillion-dollar extraterrestrial vehicle gets stuck in soft sand or gravel — as did the Mars rover Spirit in 2009 — Earth-based engineers take over like a virtual tow truck, issuing a series of commands that move its wheels or reverse its course in a delicate, time-consuming effort toContinue 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
Astrophysicists have gained precious new insights into how distant “exoplanets” form and what their atmospheres can look like, after using the James Webb Telescope to image two young exoplanets in extraordinary detail. Among the headline findings were the presence of silicate clouds in one of the planet’s atmospheres, and aContinue Reading
