National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), independent U.S. governmental agency established in 1958 for the research and development of vehicles and activities for the exploration of space within and outside Earth’s atmosphere. The organization is composed of four mission directorates: Aeronautics Research, for the development of advanced aviation technologies; Science, dealing with programs for understanding…

Black holes aren’t alive, but it turns out that they can have a heartbeat — if they’re consuming enormous amounts of gas. And new research has discovered just how that heartbeat works. When black holes exist in a binary system — sharing an orbit with another star — they can pull in gas from a…

NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) has so far spotted over 7,000 planets around other stars, but only a fraction of them have been confirmed to be real detections — the rest could be intriguing planets awaiting discovery or simply noise. Unfortunately, however, neither TESS nor other professional telescopes have the luxury of time to…

When astronomers combed through an ancient Hindu text known as the Rig Veda, they discovered that it referenced a total solar eclipse that occurred roughly 6,000 years ago — making it the oldest known mention of an eclipse. The Rig Veda, a collection of sayings and hymns from various religious and philosophical schools, was compiled…

WEST GLACIER, Mont. – Glacier National Park will host its first ever Astronomy Week starting Tuesday with events throughout the park featuring activities like solar viewing, night sky programs, and astrophotography workshops. NASA scientists from the James Webb Telescope and NASA Goddard Space Flight Center will be at events during the week. They will share…

What it is: Spiral galaxy NGC 6744 Where it is: 30 million light-years away in the constellation Pavo When it was shared: Aug. 21, 2024 Why it’s so special: Because we’re embedded within the Milky Way and there’s no way of sending spacecraft much further than the solar system’s edge, astronomers have no way of…

<a href="https://physicsworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/31-8-24-Sanford-vista.jpg" data-fancybox data-src="https://physicsworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/31-8-24-Sanford-vista.jpg" data-caption="Lovely location Members of the LUX–ZEPLIN team gathered at the Sanford Underground Research Facility last summer. (Courtesy: Stephen Kenny/Sanford Underground Research Facility)”> Lovely location Members of the LUX–ZEPLIN team gathered at the Sanford Underground Research Facility last summer. (Courtesy: Stephen Kenny/Sanford Underground Research Facility) This article has been updated to correct…

Don’t miss any of the astronomical events in September 2024! We’ve compiled a detailed list covering everything visible this month — from a lunar eclipse to zodiacal light. To easily explore the night sky, use the free Sky Tonight astronomy app. Read on to discover more! Contents Astronomical events in September 2024 We provide event…

Boeing’s Starliner crew capsule will return from its test flight without a crew. Credit: NASA When NASA announced Aug. 24 that Boeing Starliner astronauts Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Suni Williams will remain in space another six months, miss Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year holidays with their families, and land in a different spacecraft, it stirred…

NASA has detected a planet-wide electric field surrounding Earth for the first time ever. The field, known as the ambipolar electric field, was discovered by NASA’s suborbital Endurance rocket more than 60 years after it was first hypothesized, and is thought to be as fundamental to our planet as its better known magnetic and gravitational…