Universe Today

Universe Today - Space & Astronomy News

Thick Dust Can't Stop Euclid From Doing Its Job
The Euclid Space Telescope found some stars hiding in thick gas and dust in the Orion Molecular Cloud Complex. They're inside a so-called dark cloud named LDN 1641....
Published: November 5, 2025 - 11:20 pm
The VST Captures an Image of a Spooky Bat In Time for Halloween
A spooky bat has been spotted flying over the European Southern Observatory’s (ESO’s) Paranal site in Chile, right in time for Halloween. Thanks to its wide field of view, the VLT Survey Telescope (VST) was able to capture this large cloud of cosmic gas and dust, whose mesmerising appearance resembles the silhouette of a bat....
Published: November 5, 2025 - 9:04 pm
The JWST Puts Io's Volcanic Nature In The Spotlight
Trapped in a gravitational push and pull between Jupiter and other Jovian moons, Io is constantly being stretched and compressed. Heat generated by these contortions has melted pockets of the moon's interior so much that Io is our solar system's most volcanically active body. New research shows how its atmosphere is shaped both by volcanoes and by Jupiter's overpowering magnetosphere....
Published: November 5, 2025 - 7:59 pm
When Neutron Stars Collide, Neutrinos Get Into The Mix
When neutron stars collide, neutrinos can play a significant role in the outcome. Even more so when you take flavor mixing into account....
Published: November 5, 2025 - 6:05 pm
Self-Replicating Probes Could be Operating Right now in the Solar System. Here's How We Could Look for Them
A new study proposes how we could look for signs of self-replicating (Von Neumann) probes that would prove that the Solar System has been explored by an advanced extraterrestrial intelligence (ETI)....
Published: November 5, 2025 - 4:55 am
Repeated Impacts Could Regenerate Exoplanet Atmospheres Around Red Dwarfs
Rocky exoplanets orbiting red dwarfs are in a tough spot. Their stars are known for violent flaring that can destroy their atmospheres. But it's possible that asteroid impacts could later recreate their atmospheres....
Published: November 4, 2025 - 10:41 pm
Are the cosmic voids truly empty?
If we take out all the matter, neutrinos, dark matter, cosmic rays, and radiation from the deepest parts of the voids the only thing left is empty space....
Published: November 4, 2025 - 6:03 pm
The Early Universe Helps Black Holes Grow Big, But Not In The Long Run
Cosmic inflation helps black holes grow quickly, but it can't explain how supermassive black holes grew to billions of solar masses in less than 500 million years....
Published: November 4, 2025 - 4:02 pm
Should We Build An Optical Interferometer On The Moon?
A new report outlines the benefits and obstacles to a lunar telescope. It comes from the Keck Institute for Space Studies, and presents an idea for a lunar optical interferometer. The authors say it could outperform powerful space telescopes....
Published: November 4, 2025 - 3:26 pm
Taking The Moon's Temperature With Beeswax
Sometimes space exploration doesn’t go as planned. But even in failure, engineers can learn, adapt, and try again. One of the best ways to do that is to share the learning, and allow others to reproduce the work that might not have succeeded, allowing them to try again. A group from MIT’s Space Enabled Research Group, part of its Media Lab, recently released a paper in Space Science Reviews that describes the design and testing results of a pair of passive sensors sent to the Moon on the ill-fated Rashid-1 rover....
Published: November 4, 2025 - 10:55 am