Chebucto Regional Softball Club

In the next decade, a space mission will scoop up samples from Mars and bring them to Earth. We don't want life to contaminate our planet, so scientists have developed a technique to scan the samples for evidence of microbial life. While conventional instruments couldn't detect life in samples of 100 million-year-old basaltic rock, they shined infrared light on thin slices of rock and detected microbes. Next, they need to push the technique to 2 billion-year-old samples.

https://www.u-tokyo.ac.jp/focus/en/press/z0508_00392.html

Barnard's Star is the closest single star to Earth, located just 6 light-years from Earth. Astronomers announced today that they've found four new mini-Earth planets in orbit around the red dwarf star. The planets were found with the MAROON-X instrument installed on the Gemini North telescope, which uses the radial velocity method to detect subtle shifts in starlight from the gravity of the planets. One planet was found in August 2024, and three more were added today.

Planetary System Found Around Nearest Single Star - Gemini North’s MAROON-X instrument finds evidence for four mini-Earth exoplanets around our famous cosmic neighbor Barnard’s Star

Using in part the Gemini North telescope, one half of the International Gemini Observatory, partly funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation and operated by NSF NOIRLab, astronomers have discovered four sub-Earth exoplanets orbiting Barnard’s Star, the nearest single star system to Earth. One of the planets is the least massive exoplanet ever discovered using the radial velocity technique, indicating a new benchmark for discovering smaller planets around nearby stars.

www.noirlab.edu (noirlab.edu)

Astronomers still don't know what dark matter is, even though it makes up 85% of the matter in the universe. In a new paper, astronomers suggest that huge clouds of positively charged hydrogen at the center of the Milky Way could be a hint toward the nature of dark matter. The traditional theory is that cosmic rays cause this charged hydrogen, but the annihilation of dark matter concentrated together could also be knocking out negatively charged electrons.

Mysterious phenomenon at centre of galaxy could reveal new kind of dark matter

A mysterious phenomenon at the centre of our galaxy could be the result of a different type of dark matter.

King's College London (www.kcl.ac.uk)

Europa has a thick ice shell surrounding an ocean of water, and astrobiologists are hoping there's life down there. Getting through the ice will be a monumental engineering challenge, but the chemicals from life could make their way to the surface of Europa. In a new paper, scientists proposed using an ultraviolet laser which causes amino acids to fluoresce. If those molecules are seen at the surface, they could be a biosignature for life down in the ocean.

Fluorescent Biomolecules Detectable in Near-Surface Ice on Europa

Abstract page for arXiv paper 2503.06971: Fluorescent Biomolecules Detectable in Near-Surface Ice on Europa

arXiv.org (arxiv.org)

ESA's Solar Orbiter spacecraft has been watching the Sun continuously, getting closer and closer. Images taken by its Extreme Ultraviolet Imager (EUI) are sent back to Earth, and citizen scientists have stitched them together into fascinating timelapse videos. In a recent video that covered about 15 minutes of real time, you can watch as an M-class flare was unleashed off the surface of the Sun. These flares can produce brief radio blackouts on Earth.

Solar Orbiter spots a solar flare

(www.esa.int)

Scientists have surveyed rivers on Earth through soil and ice and compared them to lava flows through rock. With rivers, centrifugal forces push the water to go faster at the bends, leading to erosion on the outer edge and sediments along the inner edge. Volcanic and ice channels are created by melting and do not deposit material in the same way. This difference will allow scientists to work out the history of channels on worlds across the Solar System.

Researchers quantify the way rivers bend, opening up the possibility for identifying origins of channels on other planets

Whether it’s rivers cutting through earth, lava melting through rock, or water slicing through ice, channels all twist and bend in a seemingly similar back-and-forth manner. But a new study led by scientists at The University of Texas at Austin has discovered that channels carved by rivers actually have curves distinct to those cut by lava or ice.

EurekAlert! (www.eurekalert.org)

With thousands of confirmed exoplanets found so far, astronomers are starting to see some trends. For example, orbital eccentricity. For smaller Earth-like planets, astronomers have found that they tend to have nearly circular orbits, while giant planets, Neptune-sized and above, are four times more likely to have elliptical orbits. This hints that small and large planets have different formation pathways.

Small and large planets have significantly different upbringings

UCLA astrophysicists have made discoveries about the orbit shapes of exoplanets.

UCLA (newsroom.ucla.edu)

Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost Mission is safely on the Moon, testing a range of experiments in lunar conditions. We've been able to video two of these experiments so far. First, there's its LISTER drill, which should be able to bore into the regolith up to 3 meters, helping scientists measure how quickly the Moon is cooling down. We've also seen its PlanetVac experiment, which is testing regolith sample collection in the vacuum conditions on the Moon.

The U.S. Space Force's X-37B spaceplane landed at Vandenberg Space Force Base this week, after spending 434 days in orbit. Although its mission is classified, Space Force says that it was on a highly elliptical orbit, completing a range of test and experimentation objectives. This was the 7th mission for the X-37B, and it was testing its experiments "across orbital regimes." Whatever that means. It's classified.

X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle concludes seventh successful mission

The Space Force landed the X-37B at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, to exercise its rapid ability to launch and recover its systems across multiple sites. X-37B’s Mission 7 was the first

United States Space Force (www.spaceforce.mil)

Skywatchers are familiar with the Flame Nebula, a region of intense star formation about 1,400 light-years away. It's less than a million years old, and the region is filled with failed stars: brown dwarfs. Now, compare JWST's infrared view to Hubble's images of the Flame Nebula. Seen in infrared, we can peer through the gas and dust that shroud the region, revealing the smaller knots where young stars and brown dwarfs are forming.

Flame Nebula in visible and infrared light

Flame Nebula in visible and infrared light

(www.esa.int)

You might be surprised to learn that greenhouse gas emissions can have an effect on the satellite carrying capacity of low Earth orbit. As more CO2 and other gases are pumped into the atmosphere, they cause the upper atmosphere to shrink, reducing atmospheric drag on existing satellites. Junk and defunct satellites will stay around longer before re-entering the atmosphere and burning up. Researchers estimate that carrying capacity could be reduced by more than 50%.

Study: Climate change will reduce the number of satellites that can safely orbit in space

Greenhouse emissions are changing the environment of near-Earth space in ways that, over time, will reduce the number of satellites that can safely operate there, according to new MIT research.

MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technology (news.mit.edu)

@bob_zim @mike Not to be confused with mini-neptunes or super-earths, or hot-jupiters.

Astronomers have detected an X-ray signal from the very center of the Helix Nebula, at the site of its central white dwarf star. These burned-out stellar remnants don't typically release flashes of X-rays. Now, researchers think that the dead star smashed up one of its surviving planets, and the X-rays are coming from planetary debris that's falling onto its surface. A Neptune-sized planet was already found orbiting the white dwarf, so another could be even closer.

Chandra Press Room :: X-ray Signal Points to Destroyed Planet, Chandra Finds :: 4 March 2025

(chandra.si.edu)

Astronomers don't know what dark matter is, only that it's most of the mass of the Universe and doesn't interact with regular matter and energy, or itself. Unlike neutrinos, it's probably heavy, slow-moving, and cold. And according to new research, it doesn't decay quickly, if ever. Astronomers looked at the light from galaxies and didn't see any additional infrared radiation coming from decaying dark matter, meaning it lasts at least ten octillion seconds.

New limits found for dark matter properties from latest search

Tokyo, Japan – A team led by a member of Tokyo Metropolitan University have made advances in the search for dark matter, observing galaxies using new spectrographic technology and the Magellan Clay Telescope. With a mere 4 hours of observations, precise measurements in the infrared range have set new limits on the lifetime of dark matter. Their findings highlight the crucial utility of their technology and extend the search to less explored parts of the spectrum.

EurekAlert! (www.eurekalert.org)

A rotating black hole contains an enormous amount of energy, which an advanced civilization could hope to harness with up to 29% efficiency. There are two main mechanisms: the Penrose Process, which involves sending pairs of particles into a black hole's ergosphere and extracting one particle that gets spit out, and the Blandford-Znajek Mechanism, which extracts energy from a black hole's magnetic field as it interacts with its environment.

Rotating black holes: The most fantastic source of energy in the universe

Abstract page for arXiv paper 2502.15784: Rotating black holes: The most fantastic source of energy in the universe

arXiv.org (arxiv.org)

Astronomers have used JWST to image a bizarre ultra-hot Neptune exoplanet, revealing a dramatic difference in its hemispheres. The planet orbits so close to its star that it is "tidally locked," always showing the same side to the star. Temperatures reach 2000°C on the dayside but are cooler and darker on the other side. According to their observations, astronomers say the dayside has bright reflective clouds on its cooler western hemisphere but not on its eastern side.

Today's forecast: partially cloudy skies on an "ultra-hot Neptune"

Using the James Webb Space Telescope, astronomers led by doctoral student Louis-Philippe Coulombe investigate the extreme weather patterns and atmospheric properties of LTT 9779 b.

(nouvelles.umontreal.ca)

There are plenty of binary asteroids and Kuiper Belt Objects, but add a third object to the mix and things get unstable. Hubble has potentially found the second triple-Kuiper Belt Object ever seen, designated Altijira. It's located about 44 AU away, with two objects orbiting one another at 7,600 km apart. Hubble observations showed co-orbital motion, indicating that the inner object is actually two objects too close together to be distinguished.

https://www.stsci.edu/contents/news-releases/2025/news-2025-007

Good news! It turns out that safely landing on the Moon isn't impossible. After a string of lunar landers failed, Firefly's Blue Ghost touched down on March 2nd in Mare Crisium on the near side of the Moon, becoming the first privately built lander to complete this feat. Blue Ghost is carrying ten experiments, which will operate over the next two weeks before the lunar night sets in. It will take the first images of a total solar eclipse seen from the Moon.

Touchdown! Carrying NASA Science, Firefly’s Blue Ghost Lands on Moon - NASA

Carrying a suite of NASA science and technology, Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost Mission 1 successfully landed at 3:34 a.m. EST on Sunday near a volcanic

NASA (www.nasa.gov)

The Moon is the perfect spot for a giant interferometer of infrared telescopes. There's no atmosphere, its ground is stable, and it has a perfect view of the cosmos. Researchers have completed a Phase 1 NIAC investigation into the Artemis-enabled Stellar Imager Observatory. This would be a collection of 15 telescopes arranged into a 1-km array on the surface of the Moon. They could be delivered and set up by Artemis astronauts as part of future missions.

NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts Phase I Final Report -- A Lunar Long-Baseline UV/Optical Imaging Interferometer: Artemis-enabled Stellar Imager (AeSI)

Abstract page for arXiv paper 2503.02105: NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts Phase I Final Report -- A Lunar Long-Baseline UV/Optical Imaging Interferometer: Artemis-enabled Stellar Imager (AeSI)

arXiv.org (arxiv.org)

NASA's New Horizons mission flew past Pluto and later the Kuiper Belt Object Arrokoth. It still has enough propellant in the tanks to make more flybys, but it has no viable targets. Fortunately, the mighty Vera Rubin Observatory is online and can soon search the sky for targets. Researchers have proposed to use the observatory with 30 hours of telescope time to carefully examine New Horizons' location in the Kuiper Belt to find more flyby opportunities.

An Extremely Deep Rubin Survey to Explore the Extended Kuiper Belt and Identify Objects Observable by New Horizons

Abstract page for arXiv paper 2503.02765: An Extremely Deep Rubin Survey to Explore the Extended Kuiper Belt and Identify Objects Observable by New Horizons

arXiv.org (arxiv.org)