It seems that the so-called ‘great instability’ event that caused chaos among the planets and the gas giants their journey through space until they settled into the orbits we know today took place between 60 and 100 million years after the birth of the solar system. This is the conclusion of careful scientific detective work … Read more
Our sun is known for its occasional outburst of energy called a solar flare, which can cause space weather that can disrupt communications and energy infrastructure here on Earth. But we should really be grateful that we don’t exist around a star that erupts with so-called “superflares” that can be 100 to 10,000 times more … Read more
While examining a nearby supernova with NASA’s Fermi gamma-ray space telescope, an effort to discover how these stellar explosions ignite charged particles called cosmic rays, scientists have uncovered a bigger mystery. The team found that the supernova, named SN 2023ixf, completely lacks the gamma-ray emissions that should be present when cosmic ray particles are accelerated … Read more
Sign up for CNN’s Wonder Theory science newsletter. Explore the universe with news about fascinating discoveries, scientific developments and more. After years of delays and a dizzying series of setbacks during test flights, Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft is finally ready for its first crewed launch. The mission is on track to depart from Florida on May … Read more
Two veteran astronauts flew to the Kennedy Space Center Thursday afternoon to prepare for the first pilot launch of Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft, a highly anticipated flight that has been years in the making behind schedule after two unmanned test flights and extensive work to solve a variety of technical problems. Astronauts Barry “Butch” Wilmore and … Read more
Scientists propose that some dead stars made of the densest material in the known universe, so-called ‘neutron stars’, could act as traps for dark matter particles to collide at high speed and destroy each other. The crew says the destruction process likely heats the dead stars from within. In general, dark matter is a problematic … Read more
About a trillion tiny particles called neutrinos pass through you every second. These ‘relict’ neutrinos were created during the Big Bang and exist throughout the universe, but they can’t hurt you. In fact, it’s likely that just one of them will lightly tap an atom in your body throughout its entire life. Most neutrinos produced … Read more
Three Chinese taikonauts took off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China on Thursday, taking off after the Tiangong Space Station to replace three long-term crew members which conclude a six-month stay in space. With veteran Ye GuangfuAt the age of 43, the Long March 2F rocket roared smoothly to life at 8:59 … Read more
A crucial NASA mission in the search for life beyond Earth, Mars Sample Return, is in trouble. The budget has ballooned from $5 billion to more than $11 billion, and the sample return date could move from the end of this decade to 2040. The mission would be the first to attempt to return rock … Read more
Astronomers think they have found a rare, massive burst erupting from an extremely magnetic dead star, or magnetar, that was bright enough to illuminate an entire galaxy. If true, the discovery would mark the first time gamma rays have been observed from a “recently deceased” neutron star erupting outside the Milky Way. The eruption was … Read more