Orbiting

Astronomers have detected new moons around two of our solar system’s most unique and intriguing planets. The hidden moons were discovered orbiting Uranus and Neptune, and the discovery brings the moon counts for these planets to 28 and 16, respectively.The discovery of these hidden moons is both exciting and unsurprising. In fact, it’s believed that many of the planets within our solar system have more moons than we know of. And, as we discover more of them, we’ll hopefully be able to learn more about how those…

Jupiter and Saturn need to step aside with their moon-hogging ways. The outer planets of the Solar System have also been harboring secret satellites.Using ground-based telescopes, astronomers have discovered three previously unknown moons in the space around Uranus and Neptune; one orbiting Uranus, and two around Neptune. That brings Uranus' official moon count to 28, and Neptune's to 16.The moons have yet to be officially named, but in keeping with moon-naming conventions for both planets, the new Uranian moon will be…

In the distant future—about six billion or seven billion years hence—the sun will start to die, swelling up into a bloated red giant. In a span of several hundred million years it will blow away its outer layers, lose about half its mass and leave behind its überhot, überdense, super small core: a white dwarf.The inner planets will be toast when this happens. Mercury, Venus and most likely even our precious Earth will be literally consumed by the sun and vaporized as their once benevolent host star literally overruns and…

Astronomers have discovered a neutron star orbiting a mysterious object that, by all accounts, shouldn’t be able to exist. Seemingly invisible in light, and too small to be a black hole, the object defies explanation.Using the MeerKAT radio telescope in South Africa, the mystery began when astronomers spotted a pulsar in a globular cluster called NGC 1851, in the constellation of Columba. Pulsars are a type of neutron star that have strong magnetic fields, which creates cones of radio waves that sweep around like…

SpaceX sent and received its first text messages sent via T-Mobile using its D2D (direct-to-device) Starlink satellites launched just over a week ago, the company announced. First revealed in August 2022, the project aims to provide satellite internet connectivity to regular cell phones so that T-Mobile customers can stay online even when they're in a terrestrial dead zone.T-Mobile said that it aims to publicly launch text services with T-Mobile in 2024, with voice, data and IoT (internet of things) plans coming in 2025.…

Distances in space are hard to measure. Unless you know how intrinsically bright something is, working out how far away it is becomes a little complicated.Yet knowing a distance can make a huge difference to how we interpret data. It's not unheard of for astronomers to have to revise their findings based on a new distance measurement of an object.What is unusual is when that happens with something humanity has been staring at for millennia. Astronomers have just now discovered something shocking about one of the most…

NASA and UAE's Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre are going to work together to create and launch the world's first lunar space station, named Gateway. One of the most significant aspects of the space station, a futuristic air lock module, will be supplied by MBRSC…

At 30 years old, Michelle Kunimoto already has more than 3,000 planet candidates under her belt.Inspired by science fiction and curiosity, the University of British Columbia astronomy graduate is passionate about searching for exoplanets — bodies orbiting stars outside our own solar system.She's currently leading a team at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) hunting for them. In 2024, Kunimoto will return to her alma mater as an assistant professor in UBC's department of physics and astronomy."She is an…

Scientists have come up with some crazy ideas over the years, all of which they hope will help reduce the rising temperatures seen around the globe to combat climate change. One idea that has been discussed for years is the idea of an orbiting sunshade between the sun and our planet. Now, though, these scientists are pushing even harder for it.The Planetary Sunshade Foundation is exactly what you’d expect it to be, a group of scientists who continue to pursue the idea of building a sunshade in space between the…

We have been treated to some amazing aurora displays over recent months. The enigmatic lights are caused by charged particles from the Sun rushing across space and on arrival, causing the gas in the atmosphere to glow.Now researchers believe that even on exoplanets around pulsars we may just find aurora, and they may even be detectable.Pulsars are the remains of super massive stars that have reached the end of their life. During most of a stars life, they synthesise heavier and heavier elements in their core, the outward…