Artist’s depiction of the Fluidic Telescope (FLUTE). Credit: Edward Balaban The future of space-based UV/optical/IR astronomy requires ever larger telescopes. The highest priority astrophysics targets, including Earth-like exoplanets, first generation stars, and early galaxies, are all extremely faint, which presents an ongoing challenge for current missions and is the opportunity space for next generation telescopes:…

Artist’s depiction of the Fluidic Telescope (FLUTE)NASA The next generation of space-based astronomy hinges on telescopes with colossal apertures. The most critical astrophysics targets, such as Earth-like exoplanets, first-generation stars, and early galaxies, are all incredibly faint. This faintness presents a continuous challenge for current missions and opens up opportunities for next-generation telescopes. Larger telescopes…

Astronomers have puzzled for 88 years about how a pair of binary stars have continued to erupt over the course of a century, but it seems the mystery has finally been solved. The double star system FU Orionis (FU Ori), located around 1,500 light-years from Earth in the constellation of Orion, first stunned astronomers in…

An award-winning physicist who specialises in the cutting-edge study of space weather, the Northern Lights and solar radiation has become the new president of the Royal Astronomical Society (RAS). Professor Mike Lockwood, of the University of Reading, starts his two-year term in the role after taking over from Cardiff University emeritus professor Mike Edmunds. His…

Ian Randall reviews What’s Hidden Inside Planets? by Sabine Stanley <a href="https://physicsworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/2024-05-Randall-Earth-core-1199314969-iStock_AlexLMX.jpg" data-fancybox data-src="https://physicsworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/2024-05-Randall-Earth-core-1199314969-iStock_AlexLMX.jpg" data-caption="Hidden depths We have sent probes to the furthest reaches of the solar system, but much of what lies beneath our feet remains a mystery. (Courtesy: iStock/AlexLMX)”> Hidden depths We have sent probes to the furthest reaches of the solar system,…

Researchers have detected an unusually large, previously undetected molecule in the Cat’s Paw Nebula, a star-forming region about 5,500 light-years from Earth. At 13 atoms, the compound, called 2-methoxyethanol, is one of the largest molecules ever identified outside our solar system, the scientists reported April 12 in The Astrophysical Journal Letters. We often think of…

The James Webb Space Telescope has captured the sharpest images yet of the Horsehead Nebula — a vast cloud of equine-looking gas rearing over the constellation Orion.  Earning its name from the thick plumes of rolling gas that constitute its fiery mane, the Horsehead Nebula is a stream of gas rising from Orion B, a…

With the help of Google Cloud, scientists churned through hundreds of thousands of images of the night sky to reveal that the solar system is filled with unseen objects. A couple of years ago, a team of researchers dedicated to finding killer asteroids before they kill us came up with a neat trick. Instead of…

HELSINKI — The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) is backing a new suite of diverse, cutting edge missions, advancing its ambitious agenda in space science. The initiatives—spanning lunar farside astronomy, astrophysics, exoplanets and heliophysics—aim to place China at the forefront of astronomical research and space exploration. Wang Chi, director of the National Space Science Center…

Oddly enough, binary stars born from the same parental cloud of collapsing gas and dust aren’t always identical twins. It’s possible they even possess different kinds of orbiting planets. But, why would that be? Well, astronomers may finally have an answer. Despite our familiarity with a single-star system, thanks to the sun’s isolated lifestyle, an…