Cosmic Dispatch
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NASA · Astronomy Picture of the Day
NGC 300: A Cosmic Gemstone with Stars and Gas Clouds
This sparkling, colorful gemstone is a spiral galaxy, NGC 300. It is one of the closest spiral galaxies to Earth, only about 6 million light-years away. But does it really look like this? Here is a more standard portrait of it. This unusual image combines the light from the stars and dust within the galaxy with the light from ionized clouds of interstellar gas shown in red (Sulphur), green (Hydrogen) and blue (Oxygen). Combining red and green light in different proportions makes yellow or orange light, most visible in the image. Light from other ionized gases is also at work in neon signs, fluorescent tubes and street lights. These massive clouds of ionized gas are typically created by young, massive stars that produce high-energy ultraviolet radiation capable of ionizing the gas. Massive stars are short-lived, compared with lighter stars like our sun, and explode as supernovas at the end of their lives. Some of the colorful clouds in the image could be hiding supernova remnants.
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NASA Study of Pristine Meteorite Adds to Story of Ancient Asteroids
A meteorite recovered immediately upon its fall to Earth on July 16, 2024, is helping NASA scientists uncover new clues about ancient water, the chemical evolution of primitive asteroids, and the i…
Astronomers find nearby planets to be small, strange, and utterly uninhabitable
Scientists have painted the most detailed portrait yet of the planetary system orbiting Barnard's Star—the sun's closest neighbor after Alpha Centauri, just under six light-years from Earth.
Asteroid breakup may explain inner solar system bombardment 800 million years ago
A Southwest Research Institute-led study has proposed a connection between a specific collision in the main asteroid belt and an inner-solar-system-wide bombardment episode that may have had measur…
What if disabled astronauts are just better suited to space?
The UK Space Agency and space startup Vast just signed an agreement to send Paralympic sprinter and below-knee amputee John McFall into orbit as early as 2027. Most coverage framed it as a victory …
The 10 best British sci-fi shows of all time
Makes you proud to be British!
How NASA’s Artemis III Lander Test Will Pave Way for Moon Landings
Before Artemis astronauts land on the Moon’s surface in 2028, NASA will conduct the Artemis III demonstration mission in 2027, allowing teams on Earth and in orbit to practice rendezvous and dockin…
Anil Menon Launches to Space Station
NASA astronaut candidate Anna Menon and her children watch as a Soyuz rocket launches to the International Space Station with NASA astronaut Anil Menon and Roscosmos cosmonauts Pyotr Dubrov and Ann…
Curiosity Finds Evidence of an Ancient Sandstorm
Description Billions of years ago, an hours-long Martian sandstorm blew so intensely that sand ripples began to climb upon one another as they moved across the surface. These layers of sediment eve…
Meteorite that crashed through New Jersey house could hold the clues to life's origins
"Thanks to the homeowner’s quick reaction, these are the most pristine CM1/2 meteorites we know of."
Alien world chemistry found inside meteorite that struck New Jersey home
On July 16, 2024, a daytime meteor shook New York City with a sonic boom as it passed just south of the Statue of Liberty. Now, an international team of researchers reports in the journal Science A…
NASA’s Perseverance Rover Provides Sweeping View of Broom Point
Description This view looking back up at the outside lip of the 490-foot-tall (150-meter-tall) rim of Jezero Crater was taken by the Mastcam-Z instrument aboard NASA’s Perseverance on May 15, 2025,…
Perseverance’s Trip to ‘Broom Point’
Description This orbital map shows the path NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover took to get to a location the science team has dubbed the “Broom Point member,” a sequence of layered bedrock likely more …
NASA's Perseverance rover reads record of ancient Mars impacts
NASA's Perseverance Mars rover has uncovered evidence that a 245-foot-thick (75-meter-thick) stack of ancient rock on the rim of Jezero Crater was built by repeated asteroid impacts. Referred to as…
NASA's Perseverance rover reads record of ancient Mars impacts - Phys.org
NASA's Perseverance rover reads record of ancient Mars impacts Phys.org Honeycomb structures spotted on Mars photo of the day for July 14, 2026 Space Curiosity discovers strange honeycomb structure…
Astronomers find sugar floating in space
Also found in raspberries, the discovery of Erythrulose in interstellar space may also provide clues to the origins of life.
A Missing Black Hole Was Found Hiding in a Giant Star Cluster. Astronomers Think There Could Be Thousands More - Gizmodo
A Missing Black Hole Was Found Hiding in a Giant Star Cluster. Astronomers Think There Could Be Thousands More Gizmodo Mystery of Omega Centauri finally revealed Universe Space Tech NASA Telescopes…
A Yale researcher found that people with a positive view of ageing lived roughly 7.5 years longer than those who didn’t, a figure Yale itself framed as beating exercise and not smoking
In 2002, a team led by Becca Levy at the Yale School of Public Health reported a result that has been quoted in wellness writing ever since. People who held more positive views of their own ageing …
New planet found orbiting Beta Pictoris
The planet is probably similar to a much younger Jupiter, said the University of California San Diego’s Aidan Gibbs.
Electrolyte confinement shifts sodium storage from battery-like to capacitor-like
Co-designing electrolyte solvation and nanoscale layer spacing enables a continuous shift from battery-like sodium insertion toward faster, capacitor-like storage through solvent co-intercalation.
Raspberry sugar spotted in interstellar space, a sweet discovery that could reveal clues about life's origins
"Our work shows that sugars can form naturally in space."
Raspberry sugar spotted in interstellar space, a sweet discovery that could reveal clues about life's origins
"Our work shows that sugars can form naturally in space."
Raspberry sugar spotted in interstellar space, a sweet discovery that could reveal clues about life's origins - Space
Raspberry sugar spotted in interstellar space, a sweet discovery that could reveal clues about life's origins Space A sugar key to the origins of life has been discovered in interstellar space CNN …
‘Alien chemistry’ found on meteorite that dropped on New Jersey home - The Independent
‘Alien chemistry’ found on meteorite that dropped on New Jersey home The Independent In 2024, A Meteorite Smashed Into A New Yorker's Bedroom. It Turned Out To Be Exceptionally Rare IFLScience Mete…
The 10 best places in the UK to see the partial solar eclipse on Aug. 12
August 12 will see the deepest partial solar eclipse in the U.K. for many decades, hours before the peak of the annual Perseid meteor shower. Here's where to go.
NASA’s Perseverance Rover Reads Record of Ancient Mars Impacts
NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover has uncovered evidence that a 245-foot-thick (75-meter-thick) stack of ancient rock on the rim of Jezero Crater was built by repeated asteroid impacts. Referred to as…
Asteroid with unexplained orbital shift turns out to be a 'dark comet'
Typically, astronomers identify comets by their distinct atmospheres, or comae, and their tails, which are created as the sun vaporizes a comet's ice. These features emit a glow when sunlight bounc…
Risks of solar storms may be underestimated, warn researchers
The effects of extreme space weather may be larger than previously thought, research in the journal Nature reveals. The paper, titled "Regression to the mean can explain saturation of geomagnetic s…
Metallic waves on ancient Mars
The European Space Agency's Mars Express has spotted a swath of metallic-looking waves filling Mars's large Kaiser Crater—an ancient and otherworldly dune field sculpted by wind.
GRS 0917+75 is a giant radio galaxy, observations find
European astronomers have conducted optical and radio observations of an enigmatic radio source designated GRS 0917+75. As a result, they found that GRS 0917+75 is a giant radio galaxy and determin…
Glaciers spotted flowing across the Himalayas from space | Space photo of the day for July 15, 2026
Glacial ice carves its way downhill.
'Found you!' Astronomers spot faintest exoplanet ever seen from Earth after a decade of hide-and-seek
It has taken over ten years, but astronomers have finally won a prolonged game of cosmic hide-and-seek with a planet hiding around the star Beta Pictoris.
Replay of the online media briefing on the total solar eclipse
Video: 00:57:42 ESA experts explain the science of eclipses, including visibility and key opportunities for scientific observation.
Volunteer Measures Record Louisiana Rainfall
Join a national community of precipitation reporters providing critical data to improve scientific understanding and forecasts.
Faintest planet ever imaged from Earth found after more than 10 years of hide-and-seek
A team of astronomers has discovered a third planet orbiting the star Beta Pictoris. The new planet, Beta Pictoris d, is 100 times fainter than Beta Pictoris b—the first planet discovered in the sa…
Every SpaceX Starlink satellite has to dodge a collision almost weekly, and experts fear the worst
SpaceX's Starlink satellites made over 355,000 collision avoidance maneuvers over the past year with each satellite now dodging other objects almost weekly.
A new stellar census strengthens the case for a 13.8-billion-year-old universe
Astronomers have used the ages of more than 155,000 stars in the Milky Way to independently estimate the age of the universe, and their findings may be good news for the standard cosmological model…
What time is SpaceX's Starship Flight 13 launch on July 16? (Full mission timeline)
SpaceX will launch its next Starship, carrying the first V3 Starlink satellites, on the Flight 13 test mission on Thursday, July 16. Here's what time it flies.
Metallic waves on ancient Mars
The European Space Agency’s Mars Express has spotted a swathe of metallic-looking waves filling Mars’s large Kaiser Crater – an ancient and otherworldly dune field sculpted by wind.
Are we missing the universe's 'noosignatures?'
Astrobiology has long been split into two camps: a search for "biosignatures" and a search for "intelligence." These look for very different things, but they also leave a huge gap in between. It to…
Astronomers uncover the earliest known signs of galaxy-building in action
Astronomers at Durham University have made a major advance in understanding how galaxies formed and evolved in the early universe. Using powerful new observations, the team discovered the most dist…
SpaceX launches flight-proven rocket for 600th time, sending Starlink satellites to orbit (video)
SpaceX launched Starlink satellites on a pair of Falcon 9 rockets eight hours apart from opposite coasts on July 13-14, 2026. The second launch was the 600th use of a flight-proven booster.
Photo: Hubble sees crimson cloud and stars
Blue and white stars shine brilliantly against a crimson background of glowing gas in this July 3, 2026, image of stellar nursery LH 95 from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope.
With an eye toward exploration, researchers map moon's regolith thickness
New research by lunar scientists from Brown University provides critical new insights into the thickness of the moon's regolith, the layer of loose dust and rock that drapes the entire lunar surface.
Scientists spot 4 superdense stellar corpses hiding behind their red dwarf companions
"Nearby isolated white dwarfs are usually easy to find, but we couldn't see these four stars directly."
VLA sky survey sets new standard for high-resolution, wide-area radio astronomy
The U.S. National Science Foundation National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NSF NRAO) has completed observations for the Very Large Array Sky Survey (VLASS), the most detailed radio survey of the sk…
The 1st of 10,000 'missing' black holes in the Omega Centauri star cluster has been found by the Hubble and James Webb space telescopes
The first of 10,000 missing black holes in the Omega Centauri globular cluster has been found thanks to teamwork by the Hubble and James Webb space telescopes.
Roman telescope will spot distant black holes that shred stars
How do black holes at the centers of galaxies form and grow over time? To answer this question, scientists need to detect and study supermassive black holes at great distances that existed much ear…
'Once Upon a Time in Space': How to watch PBS's out-of-this-world astronaut documentary
'It's like you’re going to Oz. It's glimmering, it's beautiful'
1st-ever X-rays in space offer hope for possible patients headed to the moon
A portable X-ray device has been used successfully in orbit for the first time, promising X-ray diagnosis of everything from broken bones to ripped spacesuits and damaged satellites.
US-Russian crew arrives at the International Space Station for 8-month mission
A U.S.-Russian space crew arrived Tuesday at the International Space Station after launching from the Russia-leased Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
The spin of Pluto's moon, Charon, may be slowing down
Evidence of the slowing of Charon's spin period (despinning) is recorded in tectonic features on the surface of Pluto's icy moon, according to a modeling study published in Nature Communications. T…
Magnetic fingerprint of a cosmic explosion detected for the first time
Astronomers have made a series of landmark observations of one of the universe's most violent events. Using the U.S. National Science Foundation Very Large Array (NSF VLA) radio telescope, which is…
How the SKA will use fast radio bursts to decode the universe
There are parts of the universe that are extremely hard to see, even for our most advanced telescopes. Gas and dust don't emit light and are visible only by the light they block from stars and gala…