{"@attributes":{"version":"2.0"},"channel":{"title":"Space News - Space, Astronomy, Space Exploration","link":"https:\/\/phys.org\/space-news\/","language":"en-us","description":"The latest science news on astronomy, astrobiology,  and space exploration from Phys.org.","item":[{"title":"MUSE maps spiral galaxy W2246f, uncovering old core and ongoing star formation across disk","description":"Astronomers have employed the Multi-Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) on the Very Large Telescope (VLT) to perform deep spectroscopic observations of a peculiar spiral galaxy known as W2246f. Results of the observational campaign, published May 27 on the pre-print server arXiv, offer new insights into how this galaxy evolved and shed more light on its nature.","link":"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2026-06-muse-spiral-galaxy-w2246f-uncovering.html","category":"Astronomy","pubDate":"Sat, 06 Jun 2026 12:00:01 EDT","guid":"news699872311"},{"title":"Did this star eat its planets? A new study offers clues on 'chemical paradox' of a binary system","description":"Astronomers have investigated a puzzling binary star system in which two stars that may have formed together now show dramatically different chemical compositions. The new study, uploaded to the arXiv preprint server on May 29, hints at the possibility that one of the stars may have swallowed its own planets.","link":"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2026-06-star-planets-clues-chemical-paradox.html","category":"Astronomy","pubDate":"Fri, 05 Jun 2026 16:40:01 EDT","guid":"news699871330"},{"title":"Magnetic field helps binary star systems form, new simulations indicate","description":"New simulations show that interactions with a magnetic field can work to decrease the distance between still forming binary protostars. These results can help explain the characteristics of the binary star systems observed in the Milky Way. The results can also be extrapolated to binary black holes, giving insights into how supermassive black holes evolve.","link":"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2026-06-magnetic-field-binary-star-simulations.html","category":"Astronomy","pubDate":"Fri, 05 Jun 2026 11:40:07 EDT","guid":"news699875938"},{"title":"Record ultraviolet quasar wind reaches 30% light speed near supermassive black hole","description":"A team led by York University researchers has discovered the fastest wind near a supermassive black hole ever found at ultraviolet wavelengths, driven by the disk of matter (quasar) surrounding the black hole.","link":"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2026-06-ultraviolet-quasar-supermassive-black-hole.html","category":"Astronomy","pubDate":"Thu, 04 Jun 2026 17:20:01 EDT","guid":"news699803941"},{"title":"Atmosphere survival model refines search for habitable planets","description":"Researchers have developed the Smaller Than Earth Habitability Model (STEHM) to assess which planets can maintain life-supporting atmospheres, focusing on size and atmospheric dynamics.","link":"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2026-06-atmosphere-survival-refines-habitable-planets.html","category":"Astrobiology","pubDate":"Thu, 04 Jun 2026 15:40:04 EDT","guid":"news699795001"},{"title":"JWST 'weighs' dormant black hole 10 billion light-years away","description":"The most distant, nearly invisible dormant black hole has been detected and \"weighed\" by an international team of astronomers that includes researchers from UCL. The study, published in Science, identified a dormant black hole at the heart of a galaxy known as MRG-M0138 located over 10 billion light years away. It is the most distant dormant black hole yet detected, 15 times farther away than the previous record.","link":"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2026-06-jwst-dormant-black-hole-billion.html","category":"Astronomy","pubDate":"Thu, 04 Jun 2026 14:00:11 EDT","guid":"news699784502"},{"title":"Jupiter bow shock reveals electrons accelerating to relativistic speeds","description":"Electrons around Jupiter have been caught in the process of being accelerated, revealing a potentially unified mechanism for particle acceleration. The findings, published in Nature, may help constrain how energetic particles are produced throughout the universe.","link":"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2026-06-jupiter-reveals-electrons-relativistic.html","category":"Astronomy","pubDate":"Thu, 04 Jun 2026 12:00:07 EDT","guid":"news699786541"},{"title":"Laser 'origami' could help astronauts build structures on the moon","description":"University of Florida researchers are exploring how lasers could help astronauts build structures on the moon using materials already available there, including lunar soil transformed into glass. The work, led by Victoria M. Miller, Ph.D., an associate professor in the Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering and researcher with the UF Astraeus Space Institute, recently completed a research phase focused on laser forming, a manufacturing process that bends materials without physical contact.","link":"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2026-06-laser-origami-astronauts-moon.html","category":"Space Exploration","pubDate":"Thu, 04 Jun 2026 09:40:07 EDT","guid":"news699780961"},{"title":"ExoMars rover targets vast bed of clay in search for life","description":"In the region where the ExoMars Rosalind Franklin rover will search for signs of life, clay deposits extend beyond previous estimates, a new study finds. One hypothesis even suggests a vast ocean once covered the landing site.","link":"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2026-06-exomars-rover-vast-bed-clay.html","category":"Astrobiology","pubDate":"Thu, 04 Jun 2026 09:40:05 EDT","guid":"news699783180"},{"title":"How Jupiter may have redirected life's ingredients toward Earth 4.5 billion years ago","description":"NASA-supported scientists have provided new information about how the early Earth may have acquired some elements necessary for the planet to become habitable. They also suggest a new role for Jupiter in the distribution of these elements throughout the young solar system. The study, published in Science Advances, examines this history by looking at the ratio of phosphorus to nitrogen in iron meteorites and in younger objects known as chondrites.","link":"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2026-06-jupiter-redirected-life-ingredients-earth.html","category":"Astrobiology","pubDate":"Wed, 03 Jun 2026 18:50:01 EDT","guid":"news699726061"},{"title":"Interstellar object 3I\/ATLAS reveals no technosignatures in seven-hour radio scan","description":"Scientists at the SETI Institute recently searched for technological signals from 3I\/ATLAS, the third interstellar object observed in our solar system. Using the Allen Telescope Array (ATA) at the Hat Creek Radio Observatory in Northern California, the team scanned a wide range of radio frequencies for signs of extraterrestrial technology and found none, as expected based on other astronomical observations showing that the object exhibits natural comet-like composition and behavior. The paper is published in The Astronomical Journal.","link":"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2026-06-interstellar-3iatlas-reveals-technosignatures-hour.html","category":"Astrobiology","pubDate":"Wed, 03 Jun 2026 18:30:01 EDT","guid":"news699724681"},{"title":"We can predict space weather\u2014what if we could also stop it?","description":"The weather on Earth can get pretty messy sometimes. But in space, it can be wild, and the effects can be far-reaching. Solar flares, giant explosions on the sun, can send out streams of energy that block radio communications and fry satellite electronics. Geomagnetic storms, caused by variations in solar wind, can mess with GPS signals and spark current surges on Earth that overload power grids.","link":"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2026-06-space-weather.html","category":"Planetary Sciences","pubDate":"Wed, 03 Jun 2026 17:00:01 EDT","guid":"news699718021"},{"title":"Brightness 'gap' in ancient star cluster reveals missing red dwarfs","description":"Scientists from the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore, Maryland, sought to study one stellar subject and ended up finding something even more exciting. The team's results published today in Astronomy & Astrophysics.","link":"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2026-06-brightness-gap-ancient-star-cluster.html","category":"Astronomy","pubDate":"Wed, 03 Jun 2026 16:40:04 EDT","guid":"news699720313"},{"title":"HETDEX opens massive Cosmic Noon dataset to scientists, novices and AI","description":"The Hobby-Eberly Telescope Dark Energy Experiment (HETDEX)\u2014which recently completed the largest survey ever taken of the early universe\u2014has released all of its immense, information-rich database to the public. Built from more than half a petabyte of raw and processed data, it will allow astronomers to study how the first galaxies formed and evolved, measure how gas and stars were distributed within these galaxies, map the large-scale structure of the cosmos, and investigate rare and unexpected objects not easily found in traditional surveys.","link":"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2026-06-hetdex-massive-cosmic-noon-dataset.html","category":"Astronomy","pubDate":"Wed, 03 Jun 2026 12:33:25 EDT","guid":"news699708781"},{"title":"'BBQ sauce' phase may link little red dots to quasars","description":"Everyone knows that finding the right sauce recipe can make or break a barbecue, but now astronomers are using BBQSORS (pronounced \"barbecue sauce\") as part of the recipe to explain quasars, some of the brightest objects in the universe. These results were made possible by data from a new instrument on the Subaru Telescope.","link":"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2026-06-bbq-sauce-phase-link-red.html","category":"Astronomy","pubDate":"Wed, 03 Jun 2026 12:20:05 EDT","guid":"news699703202"},{"title":"Solar sails edge closer to reality, but interstellar travel is another story","description":"From planetary rovers and asteroid sample return missions to the recent Artemis II flight above the far side of the moon, we are seemingly good at doing space. But our achievements still do not match many of our space dreams, science fiction or otherwise.","link":"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2026-06-solar-edge-closer-reality-interstellar.html","category":"Space Exploration","pubDate":"Wed, 03 Jun 2026 10:20:02 EDT","guid":"news699698513"},{"title":"Distant blazar OP 313 emits very high-energy gamma rays above 100 GeV","description":"An international team of astronomers have employed one of the Large-Sized Telescopes (LSTs) at the Cherenkov Telescope Array Observatory (CTAO) to observe a distant blazar known as OP 313. Results of the observational campaign, published May 26 on the arXiv preprint server, shed more light on the behavior and nature of this object.","link":"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2026-06-distant-blazar-op-emits-high.html","category":"Astronomy","pubDate":"Wed, 03 Jun 2026 09:20:04 EDT","guid":"news699634088"},{"title":"Small Magellanic Cloud is being pulled apart, reshaping how astronomers read its past","description":"Using more than a decade of observations from the VISTA Survey of the Magellanic Clouds (VMC), researchers measured the motions of millions of stars across the Small Magellanic Cloud with unprecedented precision. The new study, published in Astronomy & Astrophysics, provides direct evidence of a galaxy-wide tidal disruption of the Small Magellanic Cloud from its interaction with the Large Magellanic Cloud.","link":"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2026-06-small-magellanic-cloud-reshaping-astronomers.html","category":"Astronomy","pubDate":"Tue, 02 Jun 2026 18:00:04 EDT","guid":"news699624660"},{"title":"Rare meteorite provides evidence of giant early planet","description":"Four-and-a-half billion years ago, a massive world\u2014possibly as big as the moon or even Mars\u2014orbited our sun before crashing into another celestial body and shattering into rubble. Now, in a paper published in the journal Earth and Planetary Science Letters, scientists report the first definitive evidence that this lost planetary embryo (protoplanet) existed. Its unique geological makeup challenges long-held assumptions about how planets evolve.","link":"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2026-06-rare-meteorite-evidence-giant-early.html","category":"Planetary Sciences","pubDate":"Tue, 02 Jun 2026 16:10:01 EDT","guid":"news699632881"},{"title":"Kamo'oalewa asteroid's lunar origin challenged ahead of Tianwen-2 arrival","description":"China's Tianwen-2 sample-return mission is well on its way to its target, an asteroid called Kamo'oalewa. The spacecraft left Earth in May 2025 and should return in late 2027 with samples of a space rock that scientists had assumed originated from the moon. However, a new study published in Nature Communications suggests that we may be mistaken about the asteroid's origin.","link":"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2026-06-kamooalewa-asteroid-lunar-tianwen.html","category":"Planetary Sciences","pubDate":"Tue, 02 Jun 2026 15:20:03 EDT","guid":"news699537801"},{"title":"'Mini-Neptune' exoplanets may have smoggy atmospheres similar to diesel exhaust","description":"The astronauts circling Earth on the Artemis mission sent back beautiful clear photos of the continents, clouds, and oceans. But we might be the exception. Many planets in the universe may be hazed in clouds of soot, according to a new study by University of Chicago scientists. Their analysis explains a curious trend seen by astronomers training telescopes on distant planets beyond our own solar system. Many of these worlds had atmospheres that returned strangely featureless readings.","link":"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2026-06-mini-neptune-exoplanets-smoggy-atmospheres.html","category":"Planetary Sciences","pubDate":"Tue, 02 Jun 2026 12:20:04 EDT","guid":"news699615422"},{"title":"For satellites as small as a briefcase, getting around in space just got a whole lot easier","description":"MIT engineers are testing a new propulsion system that combines the power and speed of conventional chemical thrusters with the precision and fuel-efficiency of electrical thrusters. The system could enable the design of nimbler, more flexible small satellites, which could perform both fast, powerful maneuvers and slower, precise adjustments, depending on the mission and moment at hand.","link":"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2026-06-satellites-small-briefcase-space-lot.html","category":"Space Exploration","pubDate":"Tue, 02 Jun 2026 10:00:01 EDT","guid":"news699610981"},{"title":"Dormant black hole revives in under three years, brightening 10-fold in nearby galaxy","description":"Astronomers monitoring a nearby active galaxy for six years have watched its supermassive black hole dramatically wake up, brightening by a factor of 10 across ultraviolet and X-ray wavelengths. The paper outlining the study was posted to the preprint server arXiv on May 18.","link":"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2026-06-dormant-black-hole-revives-years.html","category":"Astronomy","pubDate":"Tue, 02 Jun 2026 09:00:01 EDT","guid":"news699524122"},{"title":"Icy moons' ability to host life could be revealed through an ecology-based method","description":"New observatories and spacecraft missions are probing environments in our solar system that could potentially host life but have long remained hidden. Icy moons like Saturn's Enceladus and Jupiter's Europa likely contain oceans beneath frozen outer shells. But a layer of ice prohibits space probes from sampling them directly.","link":"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2026-06-icy-moons-ability-host-life.html","category":"Astrobiology","pubDate":"Tue, 02 Jun 2026 05:40:01 EDT","guid":"news699542933"},{"title":"Meteor as heavy as an elephant causes widespread speculation across New England","description":"When the double boom rang out in New England over the weekend, shaking homes and sending pets fleeing, questions started flooding social media.","link":"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2026-06-meteor-heavy-elephant-widespread-speculation.html","category":"Space Exploration","pubDate":"Tue, 02 Jun 2026 04:15:31 EDT","guid":"news699592490"},{"title":"First direct view tracks planet-forming disk spinning around AB Aurigae","description":"The rotation of a protoplanetary disk (a disk where planets are being formed) has been observed directly for the very first time by mapping the emissions from the dust grains within it. The disk in question surrounds the young star AB Aurigae. Although it appears to generally rotate in accordance with the laws of physics, certain regions close to the star show an unexpected departure from this behavior. A body of evidence suggests that this anomaly is caused by the presence of giant planets in the process of formation.","link":"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2026-06-view-tracks-planet-disk-ab.html","category":"Astronomy","pubDate":"Mon, 01 Jun 2026 13:20:05 EDT","guid":"news699535021"},{"title":"One of our planets may be missing, and it could explain why the solar system looks the way it does","description":"Our solar system has two ice giants, Uranus and Neptune, but there may have been a third. According to a new study published in the journal Icarus, this extra world might have triggered a violent planetary shuffling billions of years ago that could have disrupted some of Jupiter's and Uranus's moons and possibly led to the formation of others.","link":"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2026-06-planets-solar.html","category":"Astronomy","pubDate":"Mon, 01 Jun 2026 10:00:05 EDT","guid":"news699524109"},{"title":"A giant star may have destroyed itself in one of the universe's rarest explosions","description":"Astronomers may have discovered one of the clearest examples yet of a rare \"pair-instability\" supernova. It is a catastrophic explosion thought to completely destroy some of the most massive stars in the universe, leaving behind no remnant. The paper outlining the properties of this rare explosion was posted to the arXiv preprint server  on May 15.","link":"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2026-05-giant-star-destroyed-universe-rarest.html","category":"Astronomy","pubDate":"Mon, 01 Jun 2026 06:30:01 EDT","guid":"news699267698"},{"title":"Student astronomer discovers 'Rosetta Stone' for mysterious cosmic signals","description":"An international team led by astronomers at the University of Sydney has uncovered the clearest evidence yet for the origin of an unusual class of cosmic signals. In doing so, they have identified a rare stellar system that is providing scientists with a natural laboratory to study extreme physics.","link":"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2026-05-student-astronomer-rosetta-stone-mysterious.html","category":"Astronomy","pubDate":"Mon, 01 Jun 2026 05:00:04 EDT","guid":"news699265141"},{"title":"Supermassive black holes could be the universe's biggest planet nurseries","description":"Supermassive black holes are the largest known black holes in the universe, sitting at the center of most large galaxies. They are sometimes described as cosmic monsters because they feed on surrounding gas and dust when they are active, as well as destroy anything that gets too close. But their reputation could be due for a rethink, as a new paper published on the arXiv preprint server suggests they may also be the birthplace of millions of planets.","link":"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2026-05-supermassive-black-holes-universe-biggest.html","category":"Astronomy","pubDate":"Sun, 31 May 2026 14:00:03 EDT","guid":"news699280688"}]}}