Saturn's rings coat tiny moons

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New findings have emerged about five tiny moons nestled in and near Saturn's rings. The closest-ever flybys by NASA's Cassini spacecraft reveal that the surfaces of these unusual moons are covered with material from the planet's rings -- and from icy particles blasting out of Saturn's larger moon Enceladus. The work paints a picture of the competing processes shaping these mini-moons.
via Science Daily
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Deep groundwater may generate surface streams on Mars

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New research suggests that deep groundwater could still be active on Mars and could originate surface streams in some near-equatorial areas on Mars.
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Hubble watches spun-up asteroid coming apart

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A small asteroid has been caught in the process of spinning so fast it's throwing off material, according to new data.
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Data flows from NASA's TESS Mission, leads to discovery of Saturn-sized planet

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Astronomers who study stars have contributed to the analysis of a planet discovered by NASA's new TESS Mission. It's the first planet identified by TESS for which the oscillations -- 'starquakes' -- of the planet's host star could be measured.
via Science Daily
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Rivers raged on Mars late into its history

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Scientists have catalogued these rivers to conclude that significant river runoff persisted on Mars later into its history than previously thought. According to the study, the runoff was intense -- rivers on Mars were wider than those on Earth today -- and occurred at hundreds of locations on the red planet.
via Science Daily
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Traveling-wave tubes: The unsung heroes of space exploration

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What do televisions and space exploration have in common? No, we're not talking about a cheesy physics joke; rather, this is the story of an often-overlooked piece of equipment that deserves a place in the annals of telecommunication history. Now, researchers have reviewed the history of TWTs.
via Science Daily
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GRAVITY instrument breaks new ground in exoplanet imaging

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The GRAVITY instrument on ESO's Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI) has made the first direct observation of an exoplanet using optical interferometry. This method revealed a complex exoplanetary atmosphere with clouds of iron and silicates swirling in a planet-wide storm. The technique presents unique possibilities for characterizing many of the exoplanets known today.
via Science Daily
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In hunt for life, astronomers identify most promising stars

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NASA's new Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) is designed to ferret out habitable exoplanets, but with hundreds of thousands of sunlike and smaller stars in its camera views, which of those stars could host planets like our own? A team of astronomers has identified the most promising targets for this search.
via Science Daily
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Ultra-sharp images make old stars look absolutely marvelous!

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Using high-resolution adaptive optics imaging from the Gemini Observatory, astronomers have uncovered one of the oldest star clusters in the Milky Way Galaxy. The remarkably sharp image looks back into the early history of our Universe and sheds new insights on how our Galaxy formed.
via Science Daily
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Hubble captures birth of giant storm on Neptune

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Images taken by the Hubble Space Telescope document the formation of a Great Dark Spot on Neptune for the first time, report researchers in a new study.
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Jupiter's unknown journey revealed

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The giant planet Jupiter was formed four times further from the sun than its current orbit, and migrated inwards in the solar system over a period of 700,000 years. Researchers found proof of this incredible journey thanks to a group of asteroids close to Jupiter.
via Science Daily
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Giant X-ray 'chimneys' are exhaust vents for vast energies produced at Milky Way's center

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At the center of our galaxy, where an enormous black hole blasts out energy as it chows down on interstellar detritus while neighboring stars burst to life and explode. astronomers have discovered two exhaust channels -- dubbed the 'galactic center chimneys' -- that appear to funnel matter and energy away from the cosmic fireworks.
via Science Daily
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Measuring impact of drought on groundwater resources from space

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A team of scientists has been using the latest space technology, combined with ground measurements, to assess the health of one of the nation's most important sources of underground water, a large aquifer system located in California's San Joaquin Valley.
via Science Daily
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The rise and fall of Ziggy star formation and the rich dust from ancient stars

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Researchers have detected a radio signal from abundant interstellar dust in MACS0416_Y1, a galaxy 13.2 billion light-years away in the constellation Eridanus. Standard models can't explain this much dust in a galaxy this young, forcing us to rethink the history of star formation. Researchers now think MACS0416_Y1 experienced staggered star formation with two intense starburst periods 300 million and 600 million years after the Big Bang with a quiet phase in between.
via Science Daily
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NASA's Fermi Satellite clocks 'cannonball' pulsar speeding through space

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Astronomers have found a runaway pulsar hurtling through space at nearly 2.5 million miles an hour -- so fast it could travel the distance between Earth and the Moon in just 6 minutes.
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Weird, wild gravity of asteroid Bennu

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New research is revealing the Alice in Wonderland-like physics that govern gravity near the surface of the asteroid Bennu.
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Water-bearing minerals on asteroid Bennu

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Astronomers have discovered evidence of abundant water-bearing minerals on the surface of the near-Earth asteroid (101955) Bennu. Using early spectral data from NASA's OSIRIS-REx spacecraft orbiting the asteroid, the team identified infrared properties similar to those in a type of meteorite called carbonaceous chondrites.
via Science Daily
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Hayabusa2 probes asteroid Ryugu for secrets

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The first data received from the Hayabusa2 spacecraft in orbit of asteroid Ryugu helps space scientists explore conditions in the early solar system. The space probe gathered vast amounts of images and other data which gives researchers clues about Ryugu's history, such as how it may have formed from a larger parent body. These details in turn allow researchers to better estimate quantities and types of materials essential for life that were present as Earth formed.
via Science Daily
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Carbon monoxide detectors could warn of extraterrestrial life

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Scientists have used computer models of chemistry in the biosphere and atmosphere to identify two intriguing scenarios in which carbon monoxide readily accumulates in the atmospheres of living planets. The models show that relatively high amounts of carbon monoxide are compatible with life and should not automatically rule out the possibility of life on some planets.
via Science Daily
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Superbugs have colonized the International Space Station -- but there's a silver lining

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Researchers have taken another small step towards deep space exploration, by testing a new silver- and ruthenium-based antimicrobial coating aboard the International Space Station (ISS). Their study shows that the AGXX® dramatically reduced the number of bacteria on contamination-prone surfaces -- and could help protect future astronauts beyond the moon and Mars.
via Science Daily
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Trembling aspen leaves could save future Mars rovers

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Researchers have been inspired by the unique movement of trembling aspen leaves, to devise an energy harvesting mechanism that could power weather sensors in hostile environments and could even be a back-up energy supply that could save and extend the life of future Mars rovers.
via Science Daily
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Dormant viruses activate during spaceflight

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Herpes viruses reactivate in more than half of crew aboard Space Shuttle and International Space Station missions. While only a small proportion develop symptoms, virus reactivation rates increase with spaceflight duration and could present a significant health risk on missions to Mars and beyond.
via Science Daily
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Research set to shake up space missions

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A new study has found a number of 2D materials can not only withstand being sent into space, but potentially thrive in the harsh conditions.
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Bernese Mars camera CaSSIS returns spectacular images

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Three years ago, on March 14 2016, the Bernese Mars camera CaSSIS started its journey to Mars with the 'ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter' spacecraft. The camera system has been observing Mars from its primary science orbit since April 2018 and provides high-resolution, color images of the surface. On 2 March 2019, CaSSIS also delivered its first image of InSight, NASA's lander on Mars.
via Science Daily
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A cosmic bat in flight

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Hidden in one of the darkest corners of the Orion constellation, this Cosmic Bat is spreading its hazy wings through interstellar space 2,000 light-years away. It is illuminated by the young stars nestled in its core -- despite being shrouded by opaque clouds of dust, their bright rays still illuminate the nebula. Too dim to be discerned by the naked eye, NGC 1788 reveals its soft colors to ESO's Very Large Telescope in this image -- the most detailed to date.
via Science Daily
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Testing the symmetry of space-time by means of atomic clocks

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According to Einstein the speed of light is always the same. But according to theoretical models of quantum gravitation, this uniformity of space-time does not apply to particles. Physicists have now tried to detect a change in the uniformity of space-time using two optical Ytterbium clocks.
via Science Daily
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Neural networks predict planet mass

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To find out how planets form astrophysicists run complicated and time consuming computer calculations. Scientists have now developed a totally novel approach to speed up this process dramatically. They use deep learning based on artificial neural networks, a method that is well known in image recognition.
via Science Daily
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Astronomers discover 83 supermassive black holes in the early universe

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Astronomers have discovered 83 quasars powered by supermassive black holes that were formed when the universe was only 5 percent of its current age.
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What scientists found after sifting through dust in the solar system

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Two recent studies report discoveries of dust rings in the inner solar system: a dust ring at Mercury's orbit, and a group of never-before-detected asteroids co-orbiting with Venus, supplying the dust in Venus' orbit.
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Kepler Space Telescope's first exoplanet candidate confirmed

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An international team of astronomers announced the confirmation of the first exoplanet candidate identified by NASA's Kepler Mission.
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Massive twin star discovered snuggling close to its stellar sibling

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Astronomers have discovered a binary star system with the closest high-mass young stellar objects ever measured, providing a valuable 'laboratory' to test theories on high mass binary star formation.
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Hubble's dazzling display of 2 colliding galaxies

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Located in the constellation of Hercules, about 230 million light-years away, NGC 6052 is a pair of colliding galaxies first discovered in 1784. A long time ago gravity drew the two galaxies together into the chaotic state we now observe.
via Science Daily
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LAMP instrument sheds light on lunar water movement

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Using the Lyman Alpha Mapping Project (LAMP) aboard NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), scientists have observed water molecules moving around the dayside of the Moon. A paper describes how LAMP measurements of the atom-thick layer of sparse molecules helped characterize lunar hydration changes over the course of a day.
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Scientists tackle major challenges to sending astronauts to search for life on Mars

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An international team of researchers is tackling one of the biggest problems of space travel to Mars: what happens when we get there?
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'Goldilocks' stars may be 'just right' for finding habitable worlds

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A new study finds a particular class of stars called K stars, which are dimmer than the Sun but brighter than the faintest stars, may be particularly promising targets for searching for signs of life.
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Houston, we're here to help the farmers

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Farmers irrigating their crops may soon be getting some help from space. In 2018, scientists launched ECOSTRESS, a new instrument now attached to the International Space Station. Its mission: to gather data on how plants use water across the world.
via Science Daily
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What does the Milky Way weigh? Hubble and Gaia investigate

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We can't put the whole Milky Way on a scale, but astronomers have been able to come up with one of the most accurate measurements yet of our galaxy's mass, using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope and the European Space Agency's Gaia satellite.
via Science Daily
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New surprises from Jupiter and Saturn

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The latest data from the giant planets has sent researchers back to the drawing board. Cassini orbited Saturn for 13 years before its dramatic final dive into the planet's interior, while Juno has been orbiting Jupiter for two and a half years; the data collected has been 'invaluable but also confounding,' said one of the researchers.
via Science Daily
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Goals for collecting and studying samples from Mars

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A new article defines specific scientific objectives for a Mars Sample Return campaign, to describe the critical measurements that would need to be done on returned samples to address the objectives, and to identify the kinds of samples that would be most likely to carry the key information.
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Scientists levitate particles with sound to find out how they cluster together

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Scientists have used sound waves to levitate particles, revealing new insights about how materials cluster together in the absence of gravity -- principles which underlie everything from how molecules assemble to the very early stages of planet formation from space dust.
via Science Daily
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Asteroids are stronger, harder to destroy than previously thought

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A popular theme in the movies is that of an incoming asteroid that could extinguish life on the planet, and our heroes are launched into space to blow it up. But incoming asteroids may be harder to break than scientists previously thought, finds a study that used a new understanding of rock fracture and a new computer modeling method to simulate asteroid collisions.
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The case of the over-tilting exoplanets

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For almost a decade, astronomers have tried to explain why so many pairs of planets outside our solar system have an odd configuration -- their orbits seem to have been pushed apart by a powerful unknown mechanism. Researchers say they've found a possible answer, and it implies that the planets' poles are majorly tilted.
via Science Daily
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Research laying groundwork for off-world colonies

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Before civilization can move off world it must make sure its structures work on the extraterrestrial foundations upon which they will be built. Researchers are already laying the groundwork for the off-world jump by creating standards for extraterrestrial surfaces.
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Using stardust grains, scientists build new model for nova eruptions

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Researchers have uncovered the connection and pinpointed the kind of stellar outburst that produced the stardust grains.
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