science-space186.395 min read
Nereid: Neptune’s lone survivor of an ancient moon-wide chaos
6 days ago•Source: CNN
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12.925 min•8 days ago
Moon's gradual drift will erase future total solar eclipses
The Moon is receding from Earth at about 3.8 cm per year due to tidal interactions, a rate precisely measured by lunar laser ranging using Apollo and Lunokhod reflectors. As the Moon moves farther away, its apparent size will eventually be too small to fully cover the Sun, ending total solar eclipses within roughly 500–800 million years. Until then, upcoming total eclipses seen from Earth occur within this narrow, finite window, making the current era temporarily unique in cosmic terms.
185.045 min•1 month ago
Curiosity detects diverse organics on Mars, hinting at ancient habitability
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DART Achieves First Solar-Orbit Change After Asteroid Impact
DOGO News•1 month ago
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Japan builds ultra-precise X-ray telescope that spots a 3.5 mm dot from 1 km
The Daily Galaxy•1 month ago
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Milky Way Core Revealed: ALMA Maps Our Galaxy’s Star-Birth Gas in Detail
Astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) have produced the most complete, high‑resolution map of the Milky Way’s center, revealing the cold gas and its 3D motions in the Central Molecular Zone and offering new insights into where and how stars and planetary systems form near Sagittarius A*.
March's Worm Moon Sparks Global Blood Moon Eclipse
March’s full Moon, the Worm Moon, peaks at 11:38am on March 3 and will appear full around that time. For parts of North and South America, East Asia and Australia, the Moon will pass through Earth’s shadow in a total lunar eclipse, turning a blood-red color (the Blood Moon). The UK won’t see the eclipse as the Moon will be below the horizon during the eclipse. The piece also notes that many cultures assign names to full Moons (e.g., Worm Moon, Crust Moon) to reflect seasonal events.
Snow Moon Shines High: 6 Reasons to Watch February’s Winter Full Moon
February’s Snow Moon—the last winter full Moon—will rise in the east and climb high, offering one of the year’s best lunar views. It sits near bright stars and Jupiter, with a potential occultation by Regulus visible from North America; the guide also explains the Moon illusion, highlights its beginner-friendly nature for families, notes lunar rays near Tycho and Copernicus, and invites readers to send in photos.
Moon–Earth telescope network eyed to image dozens of black hole shadows
Researchers propose a Moon–Earth radio telescope network that could reach sub‑microarcsecond resolution, enabling direct shadows of dozens of supermassive black holes. Six strong targets are identified (including M104 and NGC 1052); a 100‑meter lunar dish paired with Earth baselines could detect all 31 candidates, with far‑side sites offering radio‑quiet observations. The approach relies on visibility data rather than traditional images and remains a decades‑long pursuit, but could greatly advance tests of general relativity and black hole imaging beyond current capabilities.
Wake of a Hidden Stellar Partner Reveals Betelgeuse's Secret Neighbor
Astronomers using the Hubble Space Telescope and ground-based observatories have found direct evidence of a hidden companion star to Betelgeuse, Siwarha, whose orbital wake through the red supergiant’s atmosphere explains Betelgeuse’s six-year brightness cycle and other variability, with the wake matching predictions from an orbiter that completes a six-year orbit and potentially merging with Betelgeuse in the distant future; findings are published in the Astrophysical Journal.
Proba-3’s Eye on the Sun Reveals Inner Corona and Eruptions
ESA’s Proba-3 uses two formation-flying spacecraft and the ASPIICS coronagraph to image the Sun’s inner corona, showing the hot, faint yellow halo and three helium-emission prominence eruptions observed during a five-hour window on Sept. 21, 2025. The animation combines ASPIICS data with NASA’s SDO/AIA imagery to illustrate how artificial eclipses let scientists study the corona’s dynamics, including prominences (cooler plasma) erupting into space and the corona’s light from scattered sunlight and helium emission.