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Astronomy News

Astronomy News -- ScienceDaily
Astronomy News -- ScienceDaily

Astronomy news. New! Earth-like extrasolar planet found; double helix nebula; supermassive black holes, astronomy articles, astronomy pictures. Updated daily.

May 26th, 2026 02:11:55 EDT -0400 NASA’s Psyche spacecraft uses Mars as a giant slingshot toward a mysterious metal world
NASA’s Psyche spacecraft just used Mars as a giant gravitational slingshot to continue its journey toward a strange metal rich asteroid. The close flyby boosted the spacecraft’s speed by about 1,000 mph while also producing rare crescent images of Mars glowing through its dusty atmosphere.
May 26th, 2026 01:32:52 EDT -0400 Massive supercomputer simulations unlock cosmic magnetic mystery
Scientists used some of the most advanced plasma simulations ever created to uncover how the universe builds enormous magnetic fields out of turbulence. The discovery could reshape our understanding of stars, black holes, neutron star collisions, and dangerous solar eruptions.
May 26th, 2026 01:48:02 EDT -0400 Scientists discover a giant “planet factory” beyond Jupiter
Scientists believe a dust-filled ring just outside Jupiter acted like a cosmic “planetesimal factory,” producing multiple generations of early space rocks with very different compositions. The discovery may finally explain the origins of several mysterious meteorite types that have survived since the birth of the Solar System.
May 24th, 2026 06:56:54 EDT -0400 Scientists may have found the source of the most powerful neutrino ever detected
A mysterious particle from deep space has scientists buzzing after the most energetic neutrino ever detected slammed through the Mediterranean Sea. Now, researchers think they may have identified the cosmic “culprits” behind it: blazars — supermassive black holes blasting jets of matter straight toward Earth.
May 22nd, 2026 09:09:27 EDT -0400 Einstein’s “wormhole” may actually reveal a hidden mirror of time
What if wormholes were never cosmic tunnels at all? New research suggests Einstein and Rosen’s famous “bridge” may actually reveal something even stranger: time itself could flow in two directions at once. Instead of connecting distant places in space, these bridges may connect mirror versions of time deep inside quantum physics, potentially solving the long-standing black hole information paradox and hinting that our universe existed before the Big Bang.
May 23rd, 2026 08:18:29 EDT -0400 NASA’s Psyche spacecraft captures stunning Mars images during high-speed flyby
NASA’s Psyche spacecraft skimmed past Mars in a precision flyby that helped catapult it deeper into space toward its ultimate target: the bizarre metal-rich asteroid Psyche. During the encounter, it snapped detailed images of heavily cratered Martian terrain, including the striking double-ring Huygens crater. The flyby gave the spacecraft a critical gravity boost without using extra fuel.
May 23rd, 2026 08:06:50 EDT -0400 NASA stunned as strange solar radio burst lasts 19 days
NASA scientists were stunned when a strange radio signal from the Sun refused to fade away. Instead of lasting a few hours or days like normal solar radio bursts, this one persisted for an astonishing 19 days — shattering the previous record. Using a fleet of spacecraft spread across the solar system, researchers tracked the mysterious signal to a massive magnetic structure on the Sun called a helmet streamer.
May 21st, 2026 23:02:27 EDT -0400 Scientists discover towering red auroras reaching deep into space above Japan
Mysterious red auroras spotted over Japan were found reaching astonishingly high altitudes, even during space storms considered relatively mild. The discovery suggests hidden solar activity may be stronger than scientists realized — with potential consequences for satellites orbiting Earth.
May 22nd, 2026 02:47:03 EDT -0400 Ancient asteroid craters may have sparked Earth’s oxygen-producing life
A hidden crater in South Korea may hold clues to one of the biggest turning points in Earth’s history: the rise of oxygen. Scientists discovered fossil-like stromatolites — layered structures built by ancient microbes — inside the Hapcheon impact crater, suggesting that asteroid strikes may have created warm, mineral-rich lakes where early oxygen-producing life could flourish.
May 21st, 2026 22:41:53 EDT -0400 James Webb discovers a rare giant planet with surprisingly Earth-like temperatures
Astronomers using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope have uncovered a rare world unlike anything in our solar system — a giant planet about the size of Saturn with surprisingly Earth-like temperatures and an atmosphere packed with methane. The planet, TOI-199b, sits more than 330 light-years away and is one of the first known “temperate” gas giants ever studied in detail.
May 21st, 2026 02:46:03 EDT -0400 Jupiter’s lightning may be 100x more powerful than Earth’s
Jupiter’s storms aren’t just gigantic — they may unleash lightning far more powerful than anything on Earth. Using NASA’s Juno spacecraft, scientists discovered that some lightning bolts on the gas giant could pack up to 100 times the punch of Earth’s lightning, and possibly much more. The findings reveal that Jupiter’s atmosphere works very differently from our own, with massive storms building enormous amounts of energy before erupting in violent flashes across cloud tops towering more than 100 kilometers high.
May 21st, 2026 02:09:31 EDT -0400 Scientists discover a strange “inside-out” planetary system that shouldn’t exist
Scientists have discovered a bizarre planetary system where a rocky world orbits farther out than giant gas planets, defying long-standing theories of planet formation. The finding hints that some planets may form much later than expected — and that our Solar System might not be as typical as we thought.
Data Courtesy of Science Daily

Jan 2013 - Two comets to get excited about. One is Comet PANSTARRS, which will be brightest in March 2013. The other is Comet ISON, which might become a daylight comet in late 2013. Although a comets movement in our sky can be predicted, its brightness cannot be. Its too early to know whether Comet PANSTARRS or Comet ISON the two exciting comets of 2013 will dazzle or fizzle.

Comet PANSTARRS
By October 2012, its surrounding coma was seen to be large and fine at an estimated 75,000 miles (120,000 kilometers) wide. In March 2013, by some estimates, this comet should get as bright as Venus,

Comet ISON
Last year, Russian astronomers Vitaly Nevsky and Artyom Novichonok discovered a new gigantic comet that is currently approaching Earth. The ISON comet, which is expected to become brighter than the full moon, will be visible to the naked eye by late 2013.

Comet ISON has only been visible through powerful telescopes. In November 2013, heat from the sun will vaporize ices in the comet's body, creating what could be a spectacular tail that will be visible in Earth's night sky without telescopes or even binoculars from about October 2013 through January 2014.

Comet ISON will come within 800,000 miles (1.2 million km) of our suns surface on November 28. Thats over 100 times closer to the sun than Earth. This close pass to the sun might cause Comet ISON to break to pieces. January 2014 may see a meteor shower produced by streams of debris from the ISON comet.