The purpose of this blog is the creation of an open, international, independent and free forum, where every UFO-researcher can publish the results of his/her research. The languagues, used for this blog, are Dutch, English and French.You can find the articles of a collegue by selecting his category. Each author stays resposable for the continue of his articles. As blogmaster I have the right to refuse an addition or an article, when it attacks other collegues or UFO-groupes.
Druk op onderstaande knop om te reageren in mijn forum
Zoeken in blog
Deze blog is opgedragen aan mijn overleden echtgenote Lucienne.
In 2012 verloor ze haar moedige strijd tegen kanker!
In 2011 startte ik deze blog, omdat ik niet mocht stoppen met mijn UFO-onderzoek.
BEDANKT!!!
Een interessant adres?
UFO'S of UAP'S, ASTRONOMIE, RUIMTEVAART, ARCHEOLOGIE, OUDHEIDKUNDE, SF-SNUFJES EN ANDERE ESOTERISCHE WETENSCHAPPEN - DE ALLERLAATSTE NIEUWTJES
UFO's of UAP'S in België en de rest van de wereld Ontdek de Fascinerende Wereld van UFO's en UAP's: Jouw Bron voor Onthullende Informatie!
Ben jij ook gefascineerd door het onbekende? Wil je meer weten over UFO's en UAP's, niet alleen in België, maar over de hele wereld? Dan ben je op de juiste plek!
België: Het Kloppend Hart van UFO-onderzoek
In België is BUFON (Belgisch UFO-Netwerk) dé autoriteit op het gebied van UFO-onderzoek. Voor betrouwbare en objectieve informatie over deze intrigerende fenomenen, bezoek je zeker onze Facebook-pagina en deze blog. Maar dat is nog niet alles! Ontdek ook het Belgisch UFO-meldpunt en Caelestia, twee organisaties die diepgaand onderzoek verrichten, al zijn ze soms kritisch of sceptisch.
Nederland: Een Schat aan Informatie
Voor onze Nederlandse buren is er de schitterende website www.ufowijzer.nl, beheerd door Paul Harmans. Deze site biedt een schat aan informatie en artikelen die je niet wilt missen!
Internationaal: MUFON - De Wereldwijde Autoriteit
Neem ook een kijkje bij MUFON (Mutual UFO Network Inc.), een gerenommeerde Amerikaanse UFO-vereniging met afdelingen in de VS en wereldwijd. MUFON is toegewijd aan de wetenschappelijke en analytische studie van het UFO-fenomeen, en hun maandelijkse tijdschrift, The MUFON UFO-Journal, is een must-read voor elke UFO-enthousiasteling. Bezoek hun website op www.mufon.com voor meer informatie.
Samenwerking en Toekomstvisie
Sinds 1 februari 2020 is Pieter niet alleen ex-president van BUFON, maar ook de voormalige nationale directeur van MUFON in Vlaanderen en Nederland. Dit creëert een sterke samenwerking met de Franse MUFON Reseau MUFON/EUROP, wat ons in staat stelt om nog meer waardevolle inzichten te delen.
Let op: Nepprofielen en Nieuwe Groeperingen
Pas op voor een nieuwe groepering die zich ook BUFON noemt, maar geen enkele connectie heeft met onze gevestigde organisatie. Hoewel zij de naam geregistreerd hebben, kunnen ze het rijke verleden en de expertise van onze groep niet evenaren. We wensen hen veel succes, maar we blijven de autoriteit in UFO-onderzoek!
Blijf Op De Hoogte!
Wil jij de laatste nieuwtjes over UFO's, ruimtevaart, archeologie, en meer? Volg ons dan en duik samen met ons in de fascinerende wereld van het onbekende! Sluit je aan bij de gemeenschap van nieuwsgierige geesten die net als jij verlangen naar antwoorden en avonturen in de sterren!
Heb je vragen of wil je meer weten? Aarzel dan niet om contact met ons op te nemen! Samen ontrafelen we het mysterie van de lucht en daarbuiten.
17-07-2025
Supernova Cinematography: How NASA’s Roman Space Telescope Will Create a Movie of Exploding Stars
Type 1a supernovae occur in binary systems where one of the stars is a white dwarf. The white dwarf draws material away from its companion star, and that material accumulates on the white dwarf's surface. Eventually, it explodes as a supernova. Image Credit: NASA
Exploding stars come in different types, and these different types of supernovae show astronomers different things about the cosmos. There's a scientific appetite to find more of them and boost our knowledge about these exotic events. The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope should be able to feed that appetite.
The Roman is due to launch in about two years, and will make its way to its station at the Sun-Earth L2 orbit. After commissioning, it'll begin operations. One of its three primary surveys is the High-Latitude Time-Domain Survey. In that survey, the powerful space telescope will image the same section of sky beyond the Milky Way every five days for two years. The team behind the Roman will stitch these scenes together into one comprehensive movie, a sort of cosmic cinema.
These movies will reveal the presence of Type 1a supernovae. These occur in binary star systems where one star is a white dwarf. White dwarfs have immense gravitational force because they're extremely dense objects. They draw material away from their companion stars, which could be anything from another white dwarf to a giant star. That material builds up on the white dwarf's surface, and when it reaches a critical mass, it triggers a runaway reaction and a supernova explosion.
Type 1a are different from what we can call standard supernovae. Those are core-collapse supernovae, where a massive star collapses into a neutron star or a black hole, or is completely destroyed and leaves behind only a diffuse nebula.
Since Type 1a supernovae explode at a fixed mass, their peak luminosity is known. For that reason, they serve as standard candles, tools astronomers use to accurately gauge the distance to their home galaxies. These accurate distances allow cosmologists to trace the expansion of the Universe.
The Roman's High-Latitude Time-Domain Survey is a critical part of its mission and is aimed at finding Type 1a supernovae and other transients. According to new research and simulations, it should find about 27,000 of them, a shocking number that's about ten times greater than the current number of known Type 1a SN. This comprehensive data set should help cosmologists in their quest to map the expansion of the Universe, a critical part of understanding dark energy.
“Evidence is mounting that dark energy has changed over time, and Roman will help us understand that change by exploring cosmic history in ways other telescopes can’t.” - Dr. Ben Rose - Dept. of Physics and Astronomy, Baylor University
The Roman will find these explosions by observing light from distant galaxies and looking back in time. The Roman will push that time boundary and allow astronomers to see Type 1a SN further back than ever. Most of the T1a SN observed so far exploded in the last 8 billion years. The Roman's High-Latitude Time-Domain Survey (HLTDS) will uncover thousands that exploded longer than 10 billion years ago, and dozens that exploded even earlier than that. These standard candles will fill a missing gap and are critical evidence of the Universe's expansion in its early age.
This graphic outlines the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope's High-Latitude Time Domain Survey. The survey’s main component will cover over 18 square degrees — a region of sky as large as 90 full moons — and will detect supernovae that occurred up to about 8 billion years ago. Smaller areas within the survey can look even further back in time, potentially back to when the universe was around a billion years old. The survey will be split between the northern and southern hemispheres, located in regions of the sky that will be continuously visible to Roman. The bulk of the survey will consist of 30-hour observations every five days for two years in the middle of Roman’s five-year primary mission.
Image Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center
“Filling these data gaps could also fill in gaps in our understanding of dark energy,” lead author Rose said in a press release. “Evidence is mounting that dark energy has changed over time, and Roman will help us understand that change by exploring cosmic history in ways other telescopes can’t.”
This figure compares the Roman's expected haul of Type 1a SN with the Dark Energy Survey's cosmological sample of the same. "DES has over 1500 SNe in its cosmological sample with very few at z > 1. However, we expect Roman to have nearly 19,000 SN Ia, with the majority above z > 1," the authors write.
Image Credit: Rose et al. 2025. TApJ
Every supernova is essentially a flash in the cosmos, and dissecting the light from the flash reveals what type of event released it. Core collapse SN and T1a SN aren't easy to distinguish at such great distances, but the light changes over time, and can be split apart with spectroscopy to learn more about it. The Roman carries two instruments, and one of them, the Wide-Field Instrument (WFI), allows the telescope to do large-scale spectroscopic surveys.
“By seeing the way an object’s light changes over time and splitting it into spectra — individual colors with patterns that reveal information about the object that emitted the light—we can distinguish between all the different types of flashes Roman will see,” said Rebekah Hounsell, study co-author and assistant research scientist at the University of Maryland-Baltimore County working at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.
The Hourglass Simulation "uses the most up-to-date spectral energy distribution models and rate measurements for 10 extragalactic time-domain sources," the authors explain in their research. "We simulate these models through the design reference Roman Space Telescope survey."
"In total, Hourglass has over 64,000 transient objects, 11,000,000 photometric observations, and 500,000 spectra," the authors write. Hourglass showed that the Roman can expect to find "approximately 21,000 Type Ia supernovae, 40,000 core-collapse supernovae, around 70 superluminous supernovae, ∼35 tidal disruption events, three kilonovae, and possibly pair-instability supernovae."
This impressive data set will drive the study and understanding not only of dark energy, but of many other transient events too. As of 2024, for example, astronomers knew of only about 260 superluminous supernovae (SLSNe). These explosions can be 10p times as luminous as other SN. Only massive stars greater than 40 solar masses are expected to explode as SLSNe, yet astrophysicists aren't certain what causes them. Finding an additional 70 could provide answers to some outstanding questions.
This artist's illustration shows the explosion of SN 2006gy, a superluminous supernova about 238 million light-years away.
The Hourglass Simulation is designed to prepare the science community for the Roman's deluge of data. With its tens of thousands of transients, millions of photometric observations, and hundreds of thousands of spectra, Hourglass will serve as a training tool. "Additionally, Hourglass is a useful data set to train machine learning classification algorithms."
"With the dataset we’ve created, scientists can train machine-learning algorithms to distinguish between different types of objects and sift through Roman’s downpour of data to find them,” Hounsell added in the press release. “While searching for type Ia supernovae, Roman is going to collect a lot of cosmic ‘bycatch’—other phenomena that aren’t useful to some scientists, but will be invaluable to others.”
Among those other phenomena are Tidal Disruption Events (TDE), which occur when a black hole consumes a star. Astronomers know of about 100 of them, and they can reveal the presence of black holes that are otherwise dormant and undetectable. If the Roman can find an additional 35, that will undoubtedly help them answer some of their questions. Not only are their outstanding questions about black holes' masses and spina, but there are also questions about how stars behave in the dense regions near galactic centers.
Kilonovae are another type of cosmic explosion and occur when two neutron stars or a neutron star and a black hole collide. Though they're fainter than SN, Kilonovae release gravitational waves and also produce substantial amounts of heavy elements like gold, platinum, and uranium. There's only one confirmed kilonova explosion, and there are many outstanding questions about them. Astrophysicists want to understand the composition of these elements in their ejecta, and how often they occur and if there are multiple types. If the Roman can find three more, that's a massive increase in the dataset scientists have to work with.
This artist's illustration shows two neutron stars merging, releasing gravitational waves and exploding as a kilonova. There's only one confirmed kilonova, so if the Roman can find three more, that's a massive jump in data.
Image Credit: By University of Warwick/Mark Garlick, CC BY 4.0
Pair-instability supernovae are another exotic type of stellar explosion that scientists want to know more about. Only extremely massive stars between about 130 to 250 solar masses can explode as pair-instability supernovae (PISNe), and they don't leave neutron stars or black holes behind. The progenitor stars is completely destroyed, and only an expanding nebula of gas and dust, including heavy elements synthesized in the explosion, is left behind. Astrophysicists want to know the exact stellar mass of their progenitors and what role metallicity plays.
As it stands now, astrophysicists have only a small handful of candidate PISNe, and if the Roman can find ten of them like the simulation suggests, researchers will have a lot more data to work with.
“I think Roman will make the first confirmed detection of a pair-instability supernova,” Rose said. “They’re incredibly far away and very rare, so you need a telescope that can survey a lot of the sky at a deep exposure level in near-infrared light, and that’s Roman.”
As NASA's next flagship astrophysics mission, the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will make an enormous contribution to our understanding of different types of cosmic explosions. By stitching together its observations into movies that show how different cosmic explosions take place, it will advance our scientific knowledge considerably.
“Whether you want to explore dark energy, dying stars, galactic powerhouses, or probably even entirely new things we’ve never seen before, this survey will be a gold mine,” said Rose.
Each time a new telescope mission is launched, it's after years or even decades of preliminary work, including figuring out what questions need to be asked and what instruments are needed to find the answers. Simulations like the Hourglass simulation are becoming more common, as the astronomy community anticipates and prepares for new data from upcoming missions.
But each mission also produces surprises, and though they're unpredictable, scientists often mention how excited they are to find surprising new things.
“Roman’s going to find a whole bunch of weird and wonderful things out in space, including some we haven’t even thought of yet,” Hounsell said. “We’re definitely expecting the unexpected.”
An illustration the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, set to launch in 2027, if it can survive budget cuts.
Image Credit: NASA/GSFC/SVS
Sadly, the current US administration has taken aim at NASA's budget and announced that the Roman's funding will be cut. Since the current administration has gained a reputation for confusing announcements that are sometimes later rescinded, the mission's future is unclear.
If it is approved and launched, its precious dataset will be a feast for astrophysicists around the world and will help drive a deeper understanding of Nature and some of its most extreme objects and events.
The orbit of 2023 KQ14 (in red) compared to the orbits of the other three sednoids. Credit: NAOJ
Despite the powerful telescopes that modern astronomers have to work with, the distant reaches of the Solar System are still mysterious. Not much sunlight pierces these regions, and there are strong hints that undiscovered objects lurk there. The objects that astronomers have discovered in these dim reaches are primordial, and their orbits suggest the presence of more undiscovered objects. Piecing it all together is a challenge.
While some objects announce themselves with fiery explosions or streaks of light across the sky, distant Solar System objects don't attract much attention. They reveal themselves in tiny hints; a nearly imperceptible tug on another object, a nearly-invisible and short-lived glimmer of light. Yet these objects have something important to tell us about how our Solar System formed and evolved.
Astronomers have detected hints of a ninth planet in the Solar System's distant reaches. This hypothetical and elusive Planet Nine is held up to explain the puzzling orbital groupings of a family of distant objects called Trans-Neptunian Objects (TNO).
Astronomers working with Japan's Subaru Telescope in Hawaii found evidence of a new distant object in the Solar System. It's a Trans-Neptunian Object, meaning it orbits the Sun at a greater average distance than Neptune, the outermost planet. But it's also a member of an important and puzzling sub-class of objects: Sednoids. It's name is 2023 KQ14, but its nickname is Ammonite, after the fossilized cephalopod.
Sednoids follow more extreme orbits than TNOs. Their orbits are extremely elongated, with high eccentricity, distant perihelia, and large semi-major axes. They're named after the dwarf planet Sedna, and the new discovery is only the fourth Sednoid ever detected.
"Understanding the orbital evolution and physical properties of these unique, distant objects is crucial for comprehending the full history of the Solar System." - Dr. Fumi Yoshida, co-author.
Ammonite was first detected with the Subaru Telescope during observation efforts in March, May, and August 2023. Those observations alone weren't sufficient to confirm the dim object's existence, and follow-up observations in July 2024 with the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope, as well as a search through archived data from other observatories, provided confirmation. Overall, the researchers tracked Ammonite's orbit for 19 years.
Ammonite was found as part of the FOSSIL (Formation of the Outer Solar System: An Icy Legacy) observing program. It uses the Subaru Telescope's powerful HyperSuprimeCam to measure the populations and sub-populations of the objects that populate the outer Solar System. The FOSSIL team used computer numerical simulations to determine that Ammonite has followed a stable orbit for at least 4.5 billion years, dating all the way back to the Solar System's earliest times. Ammonite's orbit is currently different from the other Sednoids, but the simulations show that there orbits were all similar about 4.2 billion years ago.
There's an odd gap in distant Solar System objects when it comes to their perihelion distances and Ammonite sits in that gap. "The orbit of Ammonite does not align with those of the other Sedna-like objects and fills the previously unexplained ‘q-gap’ in the observed distribution of distant Solar System objects," the authors explain in their paper.
This figure is divided into two panels divided by a vertical black line, and shows the orbital data for outer Solar System objects. The left side shows the semi-major axis versus perihelion distribution, with the red vertical dashed line representing the approximate region where galactic tides and passing stars can perturb the orbits of TNOs. The horizontal black lines show the upper boundary of chaotic diffusion and gravitational scattering by Neptune. The named objects all have large perihelia, and it clearly shows hos Ammonite is different from the others. It's in the region that currently lacks any other detections. The right side shows how Ammonite falls outside the proposed clustering of objects with large perihelia.
Image Credit: Chen et al. 2025. NatAstr. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-025-02595-7
Dr. Yukun Huang of the NAOJ is a co-author of the paper who conducted simulations of Ammonite's orbit. "The fact that 2023 KQ14’s current orbit does not align with those of the other three sednoids lowers the likelihood of the Planet Nine hypothesis," Huang said in a press release. "It is possible that a planet once existed in the Solar System but was later ejected, causing the unusual orbits we see today."
Neptune is the only known massive object near the outer Solar System that could have shaped the orbits of the TNOs and Sednoids. But according to study co-author Dr. Fumi Yoshida, Ammonite is beyond its reach.
“2023 KQ14 was found in a region far away where Neptune’s gravity has little influence. The presence of objects with elongated orbits and large perihelion distances in this area implies that something extraordinary occurred during the ancient era when 2023 KQ14 formed," Yoshida said. "Understanding the orbital evolution and physical properties of these unique, distant objects is crucial for comprehending the full history of the Solar System. At present, the Subaru Telescope is among the few telescopes on Earth capable of making such discoveries. I would be happy if the FOSSIL team could make many more discoveries like this one and help draw a complete picture of the history of the Solar System.”
Ammonite's orbit is now different from the other Sednoids, and that fact needs an explanation. It's evidence that there's more complexity and diversity among distant Solar System objects. Astronomers have long wondered if our Solar System hosts a 'Planet Nine' that has shepherded the orbits of these distant objects. If there is, then Ammonite's discovery places more constraints on its orbit, and where it may be hiding. It effectively reduces the number of hiding spots for this hypothetical planet.
An artist's illustration of the mysterious, elusive, hypothesized Planet Nine.
Image Credit: NASA
"Sedna-like objects with large semi-major axes (a > 200 au) and large perihelia (q > 60 au) appear to evolve in stable orbits that have remained largely unchanged and not altered by the gravity of Neptune since the formation of the Solar System," the researchers explain in their paper. "No viable transfer mechanisms to raise their perihelia exist with the current configuration of planets. Their stability suggests that an external gravitational influence beyond those of the currently known Solar System planets is required to form their orbits."
This figure shows the orbits of the four Sednoids, with Neptune's orbit around the Sun shown for comparison. "Ammonite’s longitude of perihelion is in the opposite direction of the other Sedna-like objects," the authors explain. "Its high perihelion suggests the potential for long-term orbital stability," and it's valuable for testing the hypothesized clustering of Sednoids and the hypothetical Planet Nine.
Image Credit: Chen et al. 2025. NatAstr. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-025-02595-7
Astronomers have proposed many sources for this external gravitational influence, including interactions with a rogue planet or star, ancient stellar interactions from when the Sun was still in its natal cluster, and the capture of objects from other lower-mass stars in the Solar System's early times. But the explanation that gets the most attention is interactions with a hypothetical planet, Planet Nine.
While this study neither confirms nor disputes the existence of Planet Nine, it does place further constraints on its orbit. In fact, each time another Sednoid is discovered, it constrains Planet Nine. Astronomers now know of four of them, but they don't know how many may still be hiding out there, potentially shepherded by the elusive, hypothetical, Planet Nine.
If Planet Nine exists, it has a huge area to hide in. Some astronomers who have studied its potential existence think it could be the fifth largest planet in the Solar System. It would be so far away that it would be extremely dim. However, we may be on the cusp of detecting it, if it exists.
The Vera Rubin Observatory recently saw first light and will begin its decade-long Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST). The LSST will find transient events and objects in the Solar System like no other telescope before it. It's purpose-built to find hard to detect objects, and not even an elusive object like Planet Nine may be able to hide from it.
Gemini North Telescope Captures New Images of Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS
Gemini North Telescope Captures New Images of Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS
Astronomers using the Gemini North telescope at NSF’s International Gemini Observatory have captured 3I/ATLAS as it makes its temporary passage through our cosmic neighborhood.
This image from the Multi-Object Spectrograph (GMOS-N) at the Gemini North telescope shows the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS.
Image credit: International Gemini Observatory / NOIRLab / NSF / AURA / K. Meech, IfA & U. Hawaii / Jen Miller & Mahdi Zamani, NOIRLab.
Interstellar objects are objects that originate outside of, and are observed passing through, our Solar System.
Ranging from tens of meters to a few kilometers in size, these objects are pieces of cosmic debris leftover from the formation of their host star’s planetary systems.
As these remnants orbit their star, the gravity of nearby larger planets and passing nearby stars can launch them out of their home systems and into interstellar space, where they can cross paths with other solar systems.
Interstellar visitors are valuable objects to study since they offer a tangible connection to other star systems.
They carry information about the chemical elements that were present when and where they formed, which gives scientists insight into how planetary systems form at distant stars throughout our Milky Way Galaxy’s history — including stars that have since died out.
3I/ATLAS is only the third interstellar object ever discovered after 1I/ʻOumuamua in 2017 and 2I/Borisov in 2019.
While astronomers think many interstellar objects exist, and likely pass through our Solar System on a regular basis, they are exceptionally difficult to capture since they are only visible when they’re close enough to see and when our telescopes are pointing in the right place at the right time.
Multiple teams around the globe are using a wide variety of telescopes to observe 3I/ATLAS during its temporary visit to our Solar System, allowing them to collectively determine some of the comet’s key characteristics.
Although much remains unknown, it is already clear that 3I/ATLAS is unique compared to 1I/ʻOumuamua and 2I/Borisov.
Observations so far suggest that 3I/ATLAS has an approximate diameter of at most 20 km (12 miles), compared to ‘Oumuamua’s diameter of 200 m and Borisov’s of less than one km.
The new comet also has an exceptionally eccentric orbit, where eccentricity describes how much an object’s orbital pathway is ‘stretched out.’
An eccentricity of 0 is a perfectly circular orbit, while an eccentricity of 0.999 is a very stretched-out ellipse.
An object with an eccentricity above 1 is on a path that does not loop back around the Sun, implying it comes from — and will return to — interstellar space.
3I/ATLAS has an eccentricity of 6.2, which is highly hyperbolic and ensures its classification as an interstellar object.
In comparison, ‘Oumuamua had an eccentricity of about 1.2, and Borisov about 3.6.
Right now, 3I/ATLAS is within Jupiter’s orbit at a distance of about 465 million km (290 million miles) from Earth and 600 million km (370 million miles) from the Sun.
The closest the comet will come to Earth is approximately 270 million km (170 million miles) on December 19, 2025, though it will pose no threat to the planet.
It will reach its closest approach to the Sun around October 30, 2025, at a distance of 210 million km (130 million miles) — just inside the orbit of Mars.
During this close approach, it will be traveling almost 25,000 km (15,500 miles) per hour.
The new image of 3I/ATLAS was captured by the Multi-Object Spectrograph (GMOS-N) at the Gemini North telescope.
“The sensitivity and scheduling agility of the International Gemini Observatory has provided critical early characterization of this interstellar wanderer,” said Martin Still, NSF program director for the International Gemini Observatory.
“We look forward to a bounty of new data and insights as this object warms itself on sunlight before continuing its cold, dark journey between the stars.”
Mars was Warm and Wet 3.7 Billion Years Ago, New Study Suggests
Mars was Warm and Wet 3.7 Billion Years Ago, New Study Suggests
Planetary scientists have discovered more than 15,000 km of ancient riverbeds in Noachis Terra, a region in Mars’ southern highlands. This discovery suggests that Mars may once have been much wetter than previously thought.
This HiRISE image shows a flat top, heavily eroded fluvial sinuous ridge on Mars; sand dunes can be seen migrating over the top of the fluvial sinuous ridge.
Image credit: NASA / JPL / University of Arizona.
The nature of the Martian climate during the Noachian-Hesperian transition, a period of geologic and climatic changes around 3.7 billion years ago, and how surface features such as valley networks and lakes associated with liquid water formed, is debated.
There are two theories: the first is that warm and wet conditions persisted on early Mars long enough that liquid water was stable on the surface for extended periods; the second is that Mars was generally cold and dry, and that geological features indicative of flowing water were formed only very sporadically by meltwater from ice sheets during short climate excursions.
Noachis Terra is a region where ‘warm, wet’ climate models predict high rates of precipitation.
In new research, Open University Ph.D. student Adam Losekoot and his colleagues looked at fluvial sinuous ridges, also known as inverted channels, across this region.
“These are believed to have formed when sediment deposited by rivers hardened and was later exposed as the surrounding material eroded,” the authors said.
“Similar ridges have been found across a range of terrains on Mars.”
“Their presence suggests that flowing water was once widespread in this region, with precipitation being the most likely source of this water.”
They found fluvial sinuous ridges to be common across Noachis Terra, with a cumulative length of more than 15,000 km.
These are often isolated segments, but some systems are hundreds of km in length.
“Studying Mars, particularly an underexplored region like Noachis Terra, is really exciting because it’s an environment which has been largely unchanged for billions of years,” Losekoot said.
“It’s a time capsule that records fundamental geological processes in a way that just isn’t possible here on Earth.”
For the study, the researchers used data from three orbital instruments: the Context Camera (CTX), the Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA) and the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE).
These datasets allowed them to map the locations, lengths and morphologies of ridge systems across a wide area.
“Our work is a new piece of evidence that suggests that Mars was once a much more complex and active planet than it is now, which is such an exciting thing to be involved in,” Losekoot said.
“The fact that the ridges form extensive interconnected systems suggests that the watery conditions must have been relatively long-lived, meaning Noachis Terra experienced warm and wet conditions for a geologically relevant period.”
“These findings challenge existing theories that Mars was generally cold and dry, with a few valleys formed by ice-sheet meltwater in sporadic, short periods of warming.”
Astrophotographers have snapped stunning shots of a giant shapeshifting solar prominence, dubbed "The Beast," which appeared over the sun's northeastern limb on July 12 and rained impossibly fast fire over our home star.
"The Beast" appeared over the sun's northeastern limb on Saturday (July 12). It raged for more than three hours before eventually disappearing.
A giant plasma plume dubbed "The Beast" was recently spotted dancing abovethe sun as it showered our home star with blobs of impossibly fast fire. The shapeshifting projection, which stretched more than 13 times wider than Earth, was the first of several sizable solar structures to emerge in recent days.
The animalistic mass appeared Saturday (July 12) over the northwestern limb of the sun, allowing photographers from around the world to snap some stunning shots, including Michael Jäger, who captured the plume from Martinsburg in Austria (see above); and Simon Metcalfe, who saw it from near his home in Gloucestershire, England (see below).
Astrophotographer Daid Wilson also captured an amazing movie of the entire event from Inverness in Scotland, revealing that the morphing plume stretched more than 100,000 miles (165,000 km) across.
Stunning photos show the Sun like never before | BBC News
The plume was at its peak size for around three hours and constantly changed shape during this time. "It looks to me like some huge 4-legged beast shuffling along," Wilson told Spaceweather.com.
This quote was picked up on several social media outlets, including Reddit and X, leading people to refer to the plume as "The Beast."
"The Beast" stretched more than 100,000 miles across, making it more than 13 times wider than Earth. (Image credit: Simon Metcalfe)
The Beast is a solar prominence — a "bright feature extending outward from the sun's surface," made from ionized gas, or plasma, that is held in place by invisible magnetic field lines anchored to the solar surface, according to NASA.
In the new images, smaller blobs of plasma can also be seen falling from The Beast toward the sun's surface. This is known as "coronal rain" and occurs when plasma cools and condenses, causing it to fall back to the sun's surface at extreme speeds as it travels along the invisible magnetic field lines.
Prominences, which commonly form in a looped horseshoe shape, can also unleash solar storms, such as coronal mass ejections (CMEs), when the magnetic fields that hold them up snap like an overstretched elastic band, flinging the plasma off into space. If these solar storms collide with Earth's magnetic field, they can trigger geomagnetic disturbances, which can cause radio blackouts, satellite disruption and vibrant aurora displays. But in this case, no CME was released, meaning The Beast poses no threat to our planet.
Two more large prominences have also appeared on the sun in recent days: First, on Monday (July 14), and then again on Tuesday (July 15). Both of these structures were larger than The Beast, with a much more traditional shape, and unleashed CMEs. However, due to the angle from which they were released from the sun, neither of the solar storms will hit Earth, according to EarthSky.org.
Two other large prominences have appeared on the sun since "The Beast," and both released CMEs into space. The second one (pictured) occurred on on Tuesday (July 15). (Image credit: NOAA/GOES)
Large flat surfaces carved by ancient rivers deep beneath the East Antarctica are influencing how ice flows across the continent today, according to a new study.
The rivers likely formed when the supercontinent Gondwana broke up, separating Antarctica from Australia.
(Image credit: Guy Paxman)
Scientists have discovered a long-lost landscape that's been preserved beneath the Antarctic Ice Sheet for 30 million years.
Erosion by ancient rivers appears to have carved large, flat surfaces beneath the ice in East Antarctica between 80 million and 34 million years ago. Understanding how these features formed, and how they continue to affect the landscape, could help refine predictions of future ice loss, researchers reported July 11 in the journalNature Geoscience.
"We've long been intrigued and puzzled about fragments of evidence for 'flat' landscapes beneath the Antarctic ice sheets," study co-authorNeil Ross, a geophysicist at Newcastle University in the U.K., said in astatement. "This study brings the jigsaw pieces of data together, to reveal the big picture: how these ancient surfaces formed, their role in determining the present-day flow of the ice, and their possible influence on how the East Antarctic Ice Sheet will evolve in a warming world."
What Is Antarctic Sea Ice Extent? - The Marine Life Explorer
Antarctic Sea Ice Hits 2nd-Lowest Minimum Ever Recorded (March 2025)
If the East Antarctic Ice Sheet were to melt entirely, it could raise global sea levelsby more than 160 feet (50 meters). But accurately predicting how much the ice sheet might melt in the coming years requires scientists to know its past behavior and the conditions at its base.
The ancient rivers appear to have carved huge flat surfaces through erosion. (Image credit: Open-access s-ink.org repository)
In the new study, the researchers used radar data from four previous surveys to map the shape of the bedrock beneath the ice.
"When we were examining the radar images of the sub-ice topography in this region, these remarkably flat surfaces started to pop out almost everywhere we looked," study co-authorGuy Paxman, a polar geophysicist at Durham University in the U.K., said in the statement. "The flat surfaces we have found have managed to survive relatively intact for over 30 million years, indicating that parts of the ice sheet have preserved rather than eroded the landscape."
The flat expanses, which were interspersed with deep troughs, covered a 2,175-mile (3,500 kilometers) section of the East Antarctic coastline. They likely formed before the East Antarctic Ice Sheet existed but after the supercontinent Gondwana (which contained modern-day Antarctica, Australia, Africa, and India) broke apart.
This helped the researchers to date the flat sections to between 80 million and 34 million years ago.
Atop these flat surfaces, the Antarctic ice moves fairly slowly. But in the troughs between them, the ice flows much faster. Meltwater may have carved these troughs by flowing through natural dips as the East Antarctic Ice Sheet expanded millions of years ago.
The slow flow of ice above the flat surfaces could be regulating ice loss from the continent, the researchers wrote in the study. Further research, such as obtaining and analyzing rock samples from under the ice, could refine projections of future ice loss and sea level rise.
"Information such as the shape and geology of the newly mapped surfaces will help improve our understanding of how ice flows at the edge of East Antarctica," Paxman said. "This in turn will help make it easier to predict how the East Antarctic Ice Sheet could affect sea levels under different levels of climate warming in the future."
Illustrative guide to the four key topics of future human outposts on the Moon and on Mars that can be addressed by synthetic biology.
As humanity sets its sights on long duration missions to the Moon, Mars, and beyond, keeping astronauts healthy will be as critical as building rockets or habitats. In the harsh environment of space, the human body faces challenges that Earth never prepared us for including isolation, microgravity, and radiation that disrupt the immune system, increasing the risk of infection, chronic inflammation, and disease. Interestingly, new research on HIV is revealing lessons that could help future explorers live sustainably, regenerate resources in closed-loop systems, and even produce custom medicine far from Earth.
Long duration space missions to the Moon and Mars will require some special planning for astronaut health and resource production.
(Credit : NASA)
At the heart of this research is the inflammasome, a tiny but powerful protein inside our immune cells. Acting like a security alarm, the inflammasome senses trouble, such as viral particles, stress, or cell damage, and triggers inflammation by releasing molecules like interleukin-1β and interleukin-18. This rapid response is vital for fighting infections, but it comes with a risk: if the inflammasome remains switched on too long, it drives constant inflammation that weakens the body instead of protecting it.
In HIV infection, scientists have discovered that inflammasomes play a double role. Early on, they help contain the virus by boosting immune defences. But over time, especially if left unchecked, they contribute to harmful chronic inflammation that damages healthy cells, accelerates aging, and causes other diseases, even in patients who take effective antiviral treatments. This insight is important for space travel, where the same risk of unchecked inflammation could quietly undermine an astronaut’s health during long missions.
Learning how to balance inflammasome activity could help crews stay healthier in space, with far-reaching benefits. If inflammation can be regulated properly, astronauts may recover faster from injuries and resist infection more effectively, reducing their dependence on supplies from Earth. This supports the vision of closed-loop habitats where food, water, and medical resources are regenerated on board. Keeping inflammation under control also matters for protecting tissues from cosmic radiation, which damages DNA and stresses cells, pushing inflammasomes into overdrive. If we can dampen this reaction safely, we can help the body repair itself more efficiently.
JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Satoshi Furukawa pedals on the upgraded CEVIS system to maintain health and fitness during space missions.
(Credit : NASA)
Perhaps most promising is the idea that lessons from HIV research could enable astronauts to produce custom medicine as needed. By understanding how to switch inflammasome pathways on or off at the right time, future missions might use onboard bioreactors or 3D bioprinters to make personalised treatments, rather than carrying an entire pharmacy into space. This very concept has been explored in a paper just published by a team of researchers led by Silvano Onofri.
In the decades ahead, managing the body’s internal fire may prove just as vital as any life-support system. By unlocking what HIV teaches us about inflammation, we may give future explorers the tools they need to live, adapt, and thrive far beyond Earth.
Sunspots on the Sun have become the focus of a new study (Credit : NASA)
Since Galileo first observed them through his telescope in the early 1600s, sunspots have fascinated scientists. These dark patches on the Sun's surface can persist for days or even months, but until now, researchers couldn't fully explain why they remained stable for such extended periods.
A study published in Astronomy & Astrophysics has finally solved this centuries-old puzzle. An international team of scientists, led by researchers from Germany's Institute of Solar Physics, developed a revolutionary new method for analyzing sunspot stability that reveals the delicate balance keeping these solar features intact.
A group of sunspots, labeled as Active Region 1520 rotated into view over the left side of the sun on July 7, 2012.
(Credit : NASA/Goddard Space Flight Centre)
Sunspots are regions where the Sun's magnetic field is strong, comparable to the magnetic field in a hospital MRI machine, but covering an area larger than Earth itself. These magnetic field concentrations appear as dark spots because they're cooler than the surrounding solar surface but in reality, a sunspot at the distance of the Sun but isolated from the rest of the disc would shine brighter than the full Moon!
The number of sunspots follows an 11 year cycle, reaching peak activity when solar storms are most likely to occur. During these periods, unstable magnetic configurations near sunspots can trigger explosive events called coronal mass ejections and solar flares. These space weather events can disrupt satellite communications and, in extreme cases, cause power grid failures on Earth.
When observed in white-light coronagraph imagery, CMEs sometimes resemble a light bulb, possessing a bright bulb-like outer shell surrounding a dark void and compact inner structure.
(Credit : NASA)
It’s long been suspected that sunspots remain stable because of an equilibrium between gas pressure and magnetic forces. However, proving this balance has been challenging due to atmospheric disturbances that interfere with ground based observations of the Sun's magnetic field.
The research team made a crucial breakthrough by improving a technique originally developed at Germany's Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research. Their enhanced method removes the blurring effects of Earth's atmosphere from observations made with the German GREGOR solar telescope.
Using this refined technique, the researchers analysed polarised light emitted by the Sun to measure magnetic forces within sunspots with unprecedented precision. Their measurements now achieve satellite quality results from ground based telescopes at a fraction of the cost.
The analysis revealed that magnetic forces inside sunspots are perfectly balanced by pressure forces, maintaining strict equilibrium. This delicate balance explains why sunspots can survive for such extended periods on the Sun's turbulent surface.
This discovery has significant practical applications. By understanding the precise mechanisms that keep sunspots stable, scientists may be able to predict when these solar features become unstable and more likely to produce dangerous space weather events.
Better prediction of solar storms could help protect satellites, power grids, and astronauts from harmful radiation. As our society becomes increasingly dependent on satellite technology and electronic infrastructure, this research provides crucial insights for safeguarding modern life against solar threats. It also represents a major step forward in solar physics, combining advanced ground based observations with sophisticated analysis techniques to solve one of astronomy's oldest mysteries.
About 71% of Earth's surface is covered in water, and that's a defining feature of our planet and its habitability. The source of that water is still being debated and determined. Image Credit: EUMETSAT/ESA
Alone among known planets, Earth has vast oceans on its surface and its landmasses are marked with lakes and extensive river drainage systems. Water is the biosphere's lifeblood, and without it, Earth would be just another dead world. If Earth life is a reliable indicator, then water is necessary for life, full stop.
That's why scientists are so interested in how Earth got its water.
For a long time, researchers examined the idea that Earth's water came from elsewhere in the Solar System. The protoplanetary disk the planets formed in was massive, and it was dissected by a snowline. This is a line in the disk, defined by its distance from the Sun, beyond which volatiles like water vapour can condense.
This artist's illustration shows how the astrophysical snow line works. The inner Solar System is water depleted due to the star's warmth, while outside of it, water can sublimate onto dust particles.
Image Credit: A. Angelich (NRAO/AUI/NSF)
The idea is that water can condense, freeze, then be delivered to Earth by asteroids, meteorites, or comets. Astronomers know that comets are icy bodies, and there's growing evidence that asteroids hold water, either in frozen form or locked in minerals. This is the 'late veneer hypothesis', which states that water was delivered to Earth after its core had already formed.
But a growing body of evidence and simulations shows that this picture may be incorrect. New research in The Astrophysical Journal Letters challenges the later veneer hypothesis by showing that the snow line may not accurately reflect reality. Rather than a single line which separates water sublimation as an on/off process, where it all sublimates on one side of the snow line and none sublimates on the other side, the reality is more nuanced.
"There is consensus on the fact that molecular water was mostly formed on micrometer-sized dust grains at the very beginning of the solar system formation, in the molecular cloud and prestellar phase, where it remained frozen on the icy mantle enveloping the grains," the researchers explain. Over time these grains formed rocks, asteroids, comets, and even the rocky planets. But as the Sun commenced shining, conditions changed. The material in the proto-solar nebula disk warmed up, and water sublimated from the surface of the dust grains inwards to the snow line, which is basically the condensation front of water.
As a result, conditions on the inside of the line changed. Any water that wasn't trapped inside larger bodies was dissipated, and the inner disk became depleted of water. This is where the rocky planets formed. Earth accreted out of this dry material, implying that water had to be delivered from beyond the snow line, and that's the late veneer hypothesis.
But in this new understanding, the line is more nebulous. The research is based on developments in quantum chemistry showing that there's no specific single temperature at which water binds itself to dust grains. Instead of a binary dividing line, the binding energies are subject to a Gaussian distribution of values.
This figure from the research shows how water binding energies are distributed.
Image Credit: L. Tinacci et al. 2023
"While the classically used snowline relies on a single condensation temperature, recent work in quantum chemistry shows that the binding energy (BE) of water on icy grains has a Gaussian distribution, which implies a gradual sublimation of water rather than a sharp transition," the authors write. The researchers computed the distribution of binding energies to understand how water ice on dust grains was spread across the proto-solar nebula (PSN) protoplanetary disk.
This figure show how different the frost lines are when calculated with a single binding energy (blue) compared to ten different binding energies (black).
Image Credit: Boitard-Crépeau et al. 2025. TApJL
Using the distribution of different water binding energies, the researchers established a frost line that is actually several astronomical units wide. "The adoption of a water BE distribution does not generate a single snowline, inside which water ices are fully desorbed and remain “completely dry,” as often assumed, but rather a water transition zone extending several astronomical units," the researchers write.
This all happened a long time ago, and aside from Earth itself, the only place we can look for evidence is in asteroids and meteorites. For the researchers work to be accurate, it would need to duplicate the Earth's water abundance and isotope ratio and the hydration patterns seen in meteorites. Chondrites can remain unchanged since the Solar System's early days and are an important evidentiary link with the deep past.
The research shows that while the bulk of water ice is desorbed farther out than about one astronomical unit, small percentages remain attached to dust grains inside that limit due to different binding energies. "This small fraction, between ∼ 0.04 and 2.5 wt%, can fully account for the Earth’s water content," the authors write. "In turn, terrestrial water could be mostly inherited from the dust grains that were in the Earth’s orbit, with no necessity of migration of outer ones."
So Earth's water abundance lines up with the researchers' results. But what about chondrites?
"Our model also successfully reproduces the observed water-equivalent content trend across chondrite groups," the authors write. Even though the parent bodies of these chondrites accreted at different times, their water-equivalent contents "likely represent lower limits of primitive water originally incorporated into silicate dust grains, the building blocks of chondrite matrices," they explain.
"In summary, at the light of the above discussion, it is possible that the terrestrial water was inherited from the icy grains in the orbit of Earth. i.e., locally," the authors write. Their results also agree with the idea that Enstatite Chondrites (EC), a rare form of meteorite, are the Earth's building blocks. ECs have a comparable isotopic ratio as Earth's water, and researchers think that they formed near Earth's orbit.
The timing of the late veneer hypothesis has always been tricky. How could the right quantity of water be delivered to Earth at the right time without disrupting the planetary accretion process? If Earth was gradually hydrated as it formed, that whole question can be side-stepped.
There are still some problems with the researchers' conclusions, and they point them out in their paper. For example, the Earth's currently measured ratio of heavy water (deuterium) with regular water is equivalent with an elemental ratio. But the currently measured ratio may not represent the actual elemental ratio because of "various processes that cycle water between the surface and the Earth’s interior," the authors explain. Those processes could've altered the ratio.
The researchers have shown that water ice doesn't necessarily sublimate along a sharply defined line. Instead, a range of binding energies means that even inside the generally agreed upon snowline, some water can survive on the inside of rocks and larger grains. They've also shown that enough water can survive to account for Earth's water.
"In summary, these results suggest that a significant share of Earth’s water could have originated locally, without requiring delivery from beyond the classical snowline," the authors conclude.
This won't be the end of the late veneer hypothesis, but if further work supports this research, the idea that Earth's water came from elsewhere and was delivered by comets and asteroids will grow weaker.
When the first astronauts walked on the Moon as part of the Apollo Program, the concept of lunar habitats ceased being the stuff of science fiction and became a matter of scientific study. With several space agencies planning on sending crewed missions to the Moon in the coming decade, these plans have become the subject of scientific interest again. Structures that will enable a "sustained program of lunar science and development" is the long-term aim of NASA's Artemis Program. China and the ESA have similar plans with the International Lunar Research Station (ILRS) and the Moon Village.
To limit the amount of materials that need to be launched for the Moon and reduce reliance on Earth, these plans will incorporate local resources for building materials and resources - in-situ resource utilization (ISRU). In a recent study, researchers from Poland and the UK proposed a developmental pathway for a lunar habitat that begins with a dome built using a regolith-based geopolymer. This dome would enclose a 17-meter (~56 ft) diameter crater in the Mare Tranquillitatis region that would house all the necessary buildings for a lunar base.
The research was led by Magdalena Mrozek, a Research Assistant with the Faculty of Civil Engineering at the Silesian University of Technology in Gliwice, Poland. She was joined by Dawid Mrozek and Mateusz Smolana, also researchers from the Silesian University of Technology, and Lorna Anguilano, a Senior Research Fellow with the Brunel University London, and the Assistant Director of the Wolfson Centre for Sustainable materials development and Processing. The paper that describes their findings recently appeared in Scientific Reports.
Apollo-12 astronaut Alan L. Bean operating on the lunar lander.
Credit: NASA
The concept outlined in their paper represents a simplified concept for a lunar base that would leverage ISRU and the production of geopolymers on-site. The site location also offers several advantages, not the least of which is protection from meteoroid impacts and the ejecta these produce. They also selected a mare region, which are lower in elevation than highland terrains and have a higher crater density. In addition, the Mare Tranquillitatis region near the Apollo 11 landing site (0.67 North by 23.47 East) was selected because of the sample data provided by moonrocks brought back by the Apollo-12 astronauts. As Mrozek told Universe Today via email:
The concept of utilizing a crater for construction holds considerable economic significance, as it diminishes the volume of structural materials needed by concentrating solely on the implementation of a cover. In the phase of our research presented in this paper, the specific location of the crater was not a primary focus. We selected a crater with dimensions appropriate for our design, situated in a region where the temperature range would facilitate the production of geopolymers without the need for supplementary energy.
The authors analysed the concept of a covering lid for their hypothetical lunar crater, which measures 17 meters (~56 ft) in diameter and 6 meters (~20 ft) in depth. This is consistent with craters in the Mare Tranquillitatis region, which average about 20 meters by 8 meters (65.5 by 26.25 ft). The next step was to conduct a numerical analysis to identify the appropriate dimensions and shapes for a lunar structure that could handle the load transfers and maintain an Earth-like atmospheric pressure (1,013.25 millibars or 1 bar) within. The next step was to select building materials that could handle the internal stress distributions and be produced on-site using local resources.
Ultimately, they selected lunar regolith-based geopolymers (GP), which consist of synthetic, inorganic monomers primarily composed of aluminium and silicon and have distinctive mechanical properties analogous to cement concrete. This is advantageous given that lunar regolith contains an average of 45% silicon oxide (SiO) by weight. The geopolymer they created consisted of a sodium hydroxide (NaOH) solution, sodium silicate water glass (NaO x nSiO x nHO), and the lunar highlands regolith simulant LHS-1 produced by Exolith Lab.
Location of the site for the analysed structure—a hypothetical crater near a 0.67 latitude North and a 23.47 longitude East within the selenographic coordinate system.
Credit: NASA
"The creation of building materials from original lunar regolith is not a viable option; therefore, one of the available lunar regolith simulants on the market must be used," said Mrozek. "We selected LHS, produced by Space Resource Technologies. Utilizing this material, we developed a geopolymer, which was subsequently tested to obtain the strength parameters that were input into the numerical model. The forces acting on a lunar structure differ significantly from those experienced on Earth; consequently, we needed to abandon certain methodologies applicable on Earth and re-examine the problem from a novel perspective.
The curing conditions for the samples were subjected to were selected to simulate lunar conditions in the Mare Tranquillitatis region. While temperatures range from 120 °C during lunar day and -180 °C during lunar night (248 to -292 °F), they do not drop below 60 °C (140 °F) for seven terrestrial days, which is conducive to the geopolymerisation process. With these considerations in mind, the team cured their samples in a thermal vacuum chamber at 60 °C and a pressure of 50 hPa (50 millibars), consistent with the near-vacuum conditions on the Moon.
After a total curing period of 28 days, the materials were subjected to bending and compression tests and analyzed using electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). These tests revealed that their regolith-based geopolymer had strength and elasticity comparable to masonry cement-sand calcium-silicate. The geopolymer and the design they selected could very well enable the construction of lunar bases in cratered mare regions, thus realizing a key goal of NASA's Artemis Program. Said Mrozek:
We are civil engineers, which is why our paper concentrates on this specific area of inquiry. However, we are currently collaborating with a diverse range of specialists from various countries in disciplines such as architecture, physics, geology, and chemistry. We are currently engaged in preparations for the initiation of a project of a lunar base, which will be significantly more complex and detailed.
The dark matter distribution of a Milky Way mass halo in a Lambda-cold dark matter (LCDM) cosmological simulation. This is the highest resolution simulation of a MW-mass dark matter halo ever performed, called Aquarius-A-L1. The MW halo (in the centre) is surrounded by myriad substructures, a key prediction of the "cold dark matter” model. Some of these subhalos host a satellite galaxy within them that could be observable. Credit The Aquarius simulation, the Virgo Consortium/Dr Mark Lovell
Whatever dark matter is, cosmologists are busy trying to understand the role it plays in the structure of the Universe. Our standard cosmological model, also called Lambda Cold Dark Matter(LCDM), makes a number of predictions about how galaxies form and evolve, largely focused on dark matter haloes. DM haloes are fundamental building blocks for the cosmological structure. Scientists often describe them as the scaffolding on which the Universe is built.
One of LCDM's predictions concerns satellite galaxies. Theory says that every galaxy forms and grows within a dark matter halo, including dwarf and satellite galaxies. LCDM theory predicts more small dark matter haloes than there are observed satellite galaxies around the Milky Way. New research presented at the Royal Astronomical Society's National Astronomy Meeting might have the answer.
The presentation is "The contribution of "orphan" galaxies to the ultrafaint population of MW satellites," and the lead researcher is Dr. Isabel Santos-Santos, from the Institute for Computational Cosmology in Department of Physics at Durham University, UK.
"The last decade has seen a rise in the number of known Milky Way (MW) satellites, primarily thanks to the discovery of ultrafaint systems at close distances," Santos-Santos writes. "These findings suggest a higher abundance of satellites within ~ 30kpc than predicted by cosmological simulations of MW-like halos in the CDM framework."
Astronomers have found about 60 satellite galaxies around the Milky Way. The Large and Small Magellanic Clouds are the most well-known satellite galaxies, and there are others like the Sagittarius Dwarf Spheroidal Galaxy and the Sculptor Dwarf. Santos-Santos says there should be dozens more of them.
Some of the known satellite galaxies of the Milky Way, including the well-known Large and Small Magellanic Clouds. There could be many more of them according to simulations, and if scientists can find them, it supports the Lambda Cold Dark Matter model.
Image Credit: ESA/Gaia/DPAC. CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO
"We know the Milky Way has some 60 confirmed companion satellite galaxies, but we think there should be dozens more of these faint galaxies orbiting around the Milky Way at close distances," she said in a press release.
The problem is that these small galaxies can be extremely difficult to detect. Scientists think that these galaxies might have had their dark matter stripped away through interactions with the much more massive Milky Way. Without their dark matter, which acts as a gravitational anchor, gas, dust and even stars are more easily stripped away. That means there's little active star formation, and only a dimmer population of older stars. This is why satellite galaxies can be so challenging to detect.
"If our predictions are right, it adds more weight to the Lambda Cold Dark Matter theory of the formation and evolution of structure in the universe. Observational astronomers are using our predictions as a benchmark with which to compare the new data they are obtaining," Santos-Santos said. "One day soon we may be able to see these 'missing' galaxies, which would be hugely exciting and could tell us more about how the universe came to be as we see it today."
The work is based on the Aquarius simulation produced by the Virgo Consortium. Aquarius simulates the evolution of the MW's dark matter halo in the highest resolution ever. It was created to investigate the fine-scale structure around the MW.
The researchers used Aquarius and other analytic galaxy formation models to watch as dwarf galaxies formed and evolved and to "estimate the true abundance and radial distribution of MW satellites" that LCDM predicts. They determined that small dark matter haloes that could host satellite galaxies have been orbiting the Milky Way for billions of years, but since they've been stripped, they're dim and hard to see. These are sometimes called 'orphaned' galaxies. The simulation showed that there could be up to 100 more MW satellites.
"Strikingly, orphans make up half of all satellites in our highest-resolution run, primarily occupying the central regions of the MW halo," the researchers write.
This illustration shows galaxies forming as part of the large-scale structure of the Universe.
Image Credit: Ralf Kaehler/SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory
The other piece of the puzzle concerns the approximately 30 satellite galaxies discovered recently, all small and dim. If these are stripped or orphaned galaxies, then their discovery is additional evidence in support of LCDM. They could be a subset of the dim satellite population the simulation predicts. However, they could also be globular clusters (GC).
Professor Carlos Frenk of the Institute for Computational Cosmology in the Department of Physics at Durham University is one of the co-researchers. Frenk said, "If the population of very faint satellites that we are predicting is discovered with new data, it would be a remarkable success of the LCDM theory of galaxy formation."
"It would also provide a clear illustration of the power of physics and mathematics," Frenk added. "Using the laws of physics, solved using a large supercomputer, and mathematical modelling we can make precise predictions that astronomers, equipped with new, powerful telescopes, can test. It doesn't get much better than this."
The Vera Rubin Observatory and its 10-year Legacy Survey of Space and Time might uncover the presence of these dim, orphaned satellites. "We predict that dozens of satellites should be observable within ~30 kpc of the MW, awaiting discovery through deep-imaging surveys like LSST," the researchers explain.
Scientists have been puzzling over the connections between the Milky Way, dark matter haloes, and satellite galaxies for a long time. Some research suggests that not only does the MW have more satellites that we haven't detected yet, but that those satellites may have had their own satellites that they dragged towards the MW with them. If that turns out to be true, then the MW may have another 150 dim satellites waiting to be found by observatories like the Rubin.
Scientists think that there are different sizes of DM haloes, some with only a few Earth masses, while some are enormously massive. They also think that they could've formed hierarchically, with smaller haloes merging with larger haloes, slowly building up the cosmic web that largely defines the modern Universe. If that's true, then the MW's orphaned galaxies might be strong evidence supporting their hierarchical nature.
Now that the Vera Rubin Observatory has achieved its long-awaited first light, we could get confirmation soon.
Maybe that will help us figure out what dark matter actually is one day .
Nieuwe ontdekking op mysterieuze Marsberg verborg zich in het volle zicht
Nieuwe ontdekking op mysterieuze Marsberg verborg zich in het volle zicht
Een verrassende ontdekking op Mars kan ons mogelijk antwoorden geven op de vraag of de planeet ooit leven heeft geherbergd – en dat misschien nog steeds doet.
Een illustratie van de Jezero-krater zoals die er miljarden jaren geleden uit kan hebben gezien op Mars, toen hij nog een meer was. Een berg op de bodem van het meer verbergt mogelijk een geheim.
Op 18 februari 2021 landde de NASA-rover Perseverance in de 45 kilometer brede Jezero-krater op Mars, waar 3,7 miljard jaar geleden een meer zou hebben gelegen.
Een van de belangrijkste taken van de rover is het vinden van tekenen van leven op de rode planeet en daarom is de krater een van de meest onderzochte gebieden op Mars tot nu toe.
Astronomen zien sinds 2007 een kleine berg naast de krater Jezero Mons, en speculeren sindsdien dat deze vulkanisch kan zijn geweest – of nog steeds is.
Dat kan nu worden opgehelderd.
Een onderzoeksteam onder leiding van het Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) in de VS heeft grote hoeveelheden gegevens verzameld die erop wijzen dat Jezero Mons vulkanisch is.
Kort nadat de Perseverance op Mars landde, toonden de eerste gesteentemonsters aan dat de krater niet alleen de sedimentaire meerafzettingen bevatte die wetenschappers verwachtten – ze waren ook vulkanisch.
Nieuwe vondsten maken krater op Mars extra interessant
Om de berg verder te onderzoeken, gebruikten de onderzoekers gegevens van oudere sondes zoals de Mars Odyssey Orbiter, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter en ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter.
Ze gebruikten ook gegevens van de Perseverance en vergeleken de eindresultaten met gegevens van bestaande vulkanen op zowel Mars als de aarde.
De conclusie was duidelijk: Jezero Mons is vulkanisch en heeft zelfs een vulkaankrater.
Hij is nu niet actief en het zal waarschijnlijk nog lang duren voordat hij weer actief wordt, aldus de onderzoekers.
Maar de ontdekking opent de mogelijkheid dat de rode planeet meer vulkanen herbergt dan we dachten.
‘De Jezero-krater is een van de best bestudeerde plekken op Mars. Als we hier nu pas een vulkaan identificeren, stel je dan eens voor hoeveel meer er op Mars zouden kunnen zijn,’ zegt een van de onderzoekers, James Wray, in een persbericht.
Een topografische afbeelding van de 21 kilometer brede vulkanische berg Jerezo Mons.
De nieuwe ontdekking maakt de Jezero-krater nog interessanter.
Zoals gezegd denken de onderzoekers dat de krater ooit een meer was.
En als dat naast een actieve vulkaan lag, waren de omstandigheden misschien ideaal om leven in het meer in stand te houden.
Mars is miljarden jaren geleden opgedroogd – dat dachten we tenminste. Nieuwe vondsten op onze rode buurman onthullen nu een opmerkelijke comeback voor het water. Lees er hier over:
De Perseverance keert naar verwachting terug naar de aarde met gesteentemonsters uit de krater die meer aanwijzingen kunnen geven over de vraag of er miljarden jaren geleden leven was in het meer – en of er misschien nog steeds leven te vinden is.
De ontdekking en de monsters kunnen ook bijdragen aan een beter begrip van de geologische geschiedenis van Mars.
The Martian meteorite Northwest Africa (NWA) 16254 is a 406-g gabbroic shergottite found two years ago in Algeria.
Image of the entire NWA 16254 sample studied by Chen et al.: (a) a backscattered electron (BSE) image obtained by the TESCAN Integrated Mineral Analyzer (TIMA); (b) mineralogical mapping via TIMA; (c) distribution map of the iron content obtained via TIMA; (d) distribution map of the calcium content obtained via TIMA.
Image credit: Chen et al., doi: 10.15302/planet.2025.25002.
“Martian meteorites represent the only direct samples available in laboratory for studying the composition and evolution of the Martian mantle, as most are igneous in origin and retain geochemical fingerprints of mantle processes,” said lead author Dr. Jun-Feng Chen and colleagues at the Chengdu University of Technology.
“Among these available samples, shergottites, comprising approximately 90% of the Martian meteorite collection, are particularly critical for deciphering mantle dynamics, crust-mantle interactions, and magmatic differentiation on Mars.”
“Shergottites are classified into four petrological subtypes depending on their distinct textural and mineralogical characteristics: including basaltic, olivine-phyric, poikilitic, and gabbroic.”
“These variations reflect distinct formation environments, ranging from shallow subsurface crystallization to potential surface eruptions, with gabbroic shergottites notably preserving coarse-grained textures indicative of slow cooling in crustal magma chambers.”
In the new study, the authors combined advanced mineralogical mapping and geochemical analyses to decode the history of NWA 16254.
They revealed decoupled geochemical behaviors in pyroxene cores and rims, a phenomenon critical for reconstructing magma chamber dynamics.
“Our study reveals that NWA 16254 formed initially under high-pressure conditions (4.3-9.3 kbar) at the Martian mantle-crust boundary, where magnesium-rich pyroxene cores crystallized,” the researchers said.
“Later, the magma ascended to shallow crustal depths (<4 kbar), where iron-enriched pyroxene rims and plagioclase developed.”
“This prolonged cooling process, preserved in the meteorite’s coarse-grained texture, suggests episodic melt extraction from a long-lived, depleted mantle reservoir — a critical clue for reconstructing Mars’ magmatic evolution.”
“The meteorite’s geochemical depletion, marked by light rare earth element depleted and low oxygen fugacity, aligns it with a meteorite called QUE 94201, hinting at a shared magma source.”
“Its gabbroic texture, indicative of slow cooling in crustal chambers, distinguishes it as a unique archive of subsurface magmatism.”
“These findings challenge existing models of Martian volcanic evolution, as NWA 16254’s consistently low oxygen fugacity, corroborated by Ti3+-bearing ilmenite assemblages, implies sustained reducing conditions during crystallization.”
“This underscores the heterogeneity of Mars’ mantle and raises questions about the planet’s redox evolution over billions of years.”
“Future geochronological studies could resolve whether this meteorite represents ancient mantle melting (2.4 billion years ago) or younger magmatic activity, offering clues to Mars’ thermal history.”
The team’s paper was published May 13, 2025 in the journal Planet.
Jun-Feng Chen et al. Petrography and geochemistry of a newly discovered Martian gabbroic shergottite NWA 16254. Planet, published online May 13, 2025; doi: 10.15302/planet.2025.25002
The surface of Mars, destination for China's Tianwen-3 (Credit : NASA)
China is preparing to make history with its upcoming Mars Sample Return mission, Tianwen-3, scheduled to launch in 2028. This ambitious project aims to collect Martian soil and rock samples and bring them back to Earth for detailed analysis, potentially answering one of humanity's most profound questions; has life ever existed on Mars?
Mars, the red planet.
(Credit : NASA)
The mission represents leap forward in planetary exploration. While several countries have successfully landed rovers on Mars, returning samples to Earth requires an entirely different level of technological complexity and international coordination. If successful, China would become the first nation to bring potentially biologically active material from another planet back to Earth.
Mars wasn't always the cold, dry desert we see today. Studies suggest that Mars once had a dense atmosphere and a warm, moist climate early in its history, making it suitable for the emergence and development of microbial life. Like Earth, Mars sits within our Solar System's habitable zone, the region where liquid water can exist on a planet's surface and therefore potentially support life!
Scientists believe that if life ever emerged on Mars, it would likely have been microbial, similar to the extremophiles found in Earth's harshest environments. These hardy organisms thrive in conditions that would kill most life forms, surviving in environments with extreme temperatures, radiation, or chemical compositions.
Preliminary landing sites for the Tianwen-3 mission
(Credit : By Zengqian Hou, Jizhong Liu, Yigang Xu, Fuchuan Pang, Yuming Wang, Liping Qin, Yang Liu, Yu-Yan Sara Zhao, Guangfei Wei, Mengjiao Xu, Kun Jiang, Chuanpeng Hao, Shichao Ji, Renzhi Zhu, Bingkun Yu, Jia Liu, Zhenfeng Sheng, Juntao Wang, Chaolin Zhang, Yiliang Li)
The Tianwen-3 mission involves a complex two part operation. There will be two separate components; a lander which will land on the Martian surface to collect samples and an orbiter, which will wait in orbit around Mars to receive the samples and bring them back to Earth. The lander will drill two meters underground, a crucial depth because Mars' surface is constantly bombarded with radiation and corrosive chemicals that destroy organic materials. Below this hostile surface layer, valuable signs of past or present life might still be preserved after billions of years.
The mission's success depends on careful site selection so the team are searching for regions where liquid water likely existed in Mars' early history, areas rich in essential nutrients, and locations where traces of microbial activity could have been preserved. This preparatory research is ongoing and represents one of the mission's most critical phases.
Surprisingly, the greatest obstacle isn't the technical complexity of getting to Mars and back, it’s what happens when the samples arrive on Earth. The greatest challenge is in the quarantining and monitoring required once these extraterrestrial materials arrive, a process known as planetary protection. To address the risk, they plan to construct a specialised facility near Hefei Institute of Physical Sciences where Martian samples will undergo comprehensive testing under strict isolation from Earth's environment. The samples will remain quarantined until scientists can conclusively determine they contain no active biological agents that could threaten Earth's biosphere.
The Hefei Institutes of Physical Science
(Credit : Yen Tzu)
This cautious approach reflects the profound implications of the mission. While the risk of dangerous Martian microbes may be small, the potential consequences are too significant to ignore. Only after extensive safety testing will the samples be released to laboratories worldwide for detailed scientific analysis.
The Tianwen-3 mission builds on China's previous Mars success. In 2021, China became only the second country after the United States to successfully land and operate a rover on Mars with its Zhurong rover. This achievement demonstrated China's growing capabilities in interplanetary exploration. This mission represents more than just a technological achievement, it could fundamentally change our understanding of life in the universe. If the samples contain evidence of past or present Martian life, it would prove that life can emerge independently on different worlds, suggesting that life might be common throughout the universe.
Als mensen ooit echt op Mars willen wonen, dan moeten we eerst een oplossing vinden voor een gigantisch probleem: hoe bouw je een leefbare omgeving zonder duizenden en duizenden kilo’s aan bouwmateriaal vanaf de Aarde te verschepen? Dit is peperduur en logistiek bijna onmogelijk. Maar de redding komt misschien wel uit onverwachte hoek…
Onderzoekers van de Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) denken een oplossing te hebben gevonden in de levende natuur en schrijven erover in de nieuwste uitgave van het vakblad Science Advances. Hoofdonderzoeker Robin Wordsworth laat zien dat het mogelijk is om groene algen te laten groeien in bunkers gemaakt van bioplastic, onder omstandigheden die lijken op wat het oppervlak van Mars te bieden heeft. Het is een veelbelovende stap richting het bouwen van duurzame buitenaardse huizen die zichzelf kunnen onderhouden en nog kunnen groeien ook.
Bizarre omstandigheden In het lab bootste het onderzoeksteam de ijle atmosfeer van Mars na: een druk van 600 Pascal (dat is meer dan honderd keer lager dan op Aarde) en een omgeving rijk aan koolstofdioxide in plaats van alle stikstof en zuurstof waar onze atmosfeer vol mee zit. Onder die bizarre omstandigheden slaagden ze erin om de algensoort Dunaliella tertiolecta te laten groeien in een speciaal ontworpen, 3D-geprinte kamer gemaakt van het bioplastic polymelkzuur (in het Engels bekend als polylactic acid (PLA)). Deze stof is een biologisch afbreekbaar en composteerbaar plastic gemaakt van maïszetmeel, suikerriet of tapioca. Het wordt vaak gebruikt als een duurzaam alternatief voor traditionele plastics, vooral bij 3D-printen, voedselverpakkingen en medische implantaten.
De bioplastickamer heeft meerdere functies: hij laat genoeg licht door om de algen te laten fotosynthetiseren, houdt schadelijke UV-straling buiten en zorgt voor een drukverschil waardoor water – ondanks de lage luchtdruk – vloeibaar blijft. “Als je een habitat hebt gemaakt van bioplastic en je laat daar algen in groeien, dan kunnen die algen weer nieuw bioplastic produceren”, legt Wordsworth uit. “Zo krijg je een soort zelfvoorzienend systeem dat nog lang door kan blijven groeien, ook als het bouwwerk al lang en breed staat.”
Bioplastic met algengroei. Foto: Wordsworth Group / Harvard SEAS
Een leefbare bubbel op een dode planeet Tot nu toe waren plannen voor leven op Mars vooral gericht op industriële technieken, oftewel dure materialen produceren en met veel moeite recyclen. Het idee van Wordsworth is veel natuurlijker; het is een systeem dat werkt zoals de ecosystemen op Aarde. Het team werkte eerder ook al aan lokale ’terraforming’ van Mars: met behulp van aerogel – een superlicht en isolerend materiaal – creëerden ze een soort kaseffect dat de bodem opwarmde, zodat er planten konden groeien. Combineer je die technologie met deze nieuwe bioplastic-algenkamers, dan krijg je een leefbare omgeving waarin druk en temperatuur onder controle blijven.
Levende, groeiende gebouwen Wordsworth en zijn collega’s zijn al druk bezig met de volgende stap. Ze gaan de nieuwste versie van hun habitats testen onder vacuümomstandigheden, zoals het er op de maan of in de ruimte aan toegaat. Ook zijn er plannen om een volledig werkend ‘closed loop-systeem’ te bouwen: een leefruimte die zichzelf in stand houdt en zelfs nieuwe onderdelen kan produceren. “Het idee van habitats die opgebouwd zijn uit biologische materialen is niet alleen fascinerend, het is ook haalbaar”, zegt Wordsworth. “En als het lukt om deze technologie verder te ontwikkelen, dan kunnen we die misschien ook op Aarde gebruiken voor een duurzamer manier van bouwen.”
Gletsjers houden meer tegen dan we tot nu toe dachten.
Het smelten van gletsjers in de Chileense Andes leidt mogelijk tot meer frequente vulkaanuitbarstingen. Dat blijkt uit nieuw onderzoek van de Universiteit van Wisconsin-Madison. Daarbovenop zouden deze ook nog eens intenser kunnen worden. Het effect zou niet beperkt blijven tot de Andes. Het verdwijnen van gletsjers zou een wereldwijd effect kunnen hebben, menen de onderzoekers in een persbericht. Naarmate klimaatverandering het ijs sneller doet verdwijnen, zouden honderden vulkanen rond de wereld actiever kunnen worden. De studie is nog niet gepubliceerd, maar werd wel al gepresenteerd op de Goldschmidt Conferentie in Praag, een grote internationale bijeenkomst op het gebied van geochemie.
Laatste ijstijd De wetenschappers analyseerden om tot deze conclusie te komen zes vulkanen in het zuiden van Chili, waaronder de momenteel sluimerende Mocho-Choshuenco. Met behulp van argondatering (een techniek waarbij wordt gekeken naar de hoeveelheid argon in gesteente om te bepalen hoe oud het is) bepaalden ze exact wanneer eerdere uitbarstingen plaatsvonden. De analyse van kristallen in vulkanisch gesteente leerde de onderzoekers dan weer meer over de omstandigheden waarin magma gevormd wordt en opstijgt.
De studie keek specifiek naar de periode van de laatste ijstijd, tussen 26.000 en 18.000 jaar geleden. Toen bedekte een gigantische ijsmassa, de zogenoemde Patagonische IJskap, het gebied. Door deze technieken te combineren, konden ze zien hoe de aanwezigheid en het verdwijnen van al dat ijs de vulkanische activiteit beïnvloedde.
IJs houdt magma tegen De resultaten laten zien dat dikke gletsjers tijdens de ijstijd de aardkorst zwaar belastten, waardoor magma minder makkelijk naar boven kwam. Dit zorgde ervoor dat zich diep onder de grond, op 10 tot 15 kilometer, een grote voorraad magma opbouwde. Toen het ijs aan het einde van de ijstijd snel smolt, nam de druk op de korst af. De gassen in het magma konden uitzetten, wat leidde tot krachtige uitbarstingen. Dit proces verklaart waarom vulkanen actiever werden na het verdwijnen van het ijs.
Relevant door klimaatverandering
Hoofdauteur van de studie Pablo Moreno-Yaeger licht in het persbericht toe waarom dat vandaag de dag relevant is: “Gletsjers hebben de neiging om het volume van uitbarstingen van de vulkanen eronder te onderdrukken. Maar als gletsjers zich terugtrekken door klimaatverandering, suggereren onze bevindingen dat deze vulkanen vaker en explosiever uitbarsten. De belangrijkste voorwaarde voor meer explosiviteit is in eerste instantie een zeer dikke glaciale bedekking over een magmakamer, en de trigger is wanneer deze gletsjers zich beginnen terug te trekken, waardoor de druk vrijkomt.” De onderzoeker zegt dat de klimaatverandering niet alleen in Chili kan zorgen voor meer en zwaardere uitbarstingen. Vooral Antarctica, maar ook Nieuw-Zeeland, Noord-Amerika en Rusland, waar vulkanen onder gletsjers liggen, moeten volgens hem beter worden onderzocht.
Uitbarstingen hebben zelf ook impact Wereldwijd kan dit ook een impact hebben op het klimaat. Vulkanen spuwen bij een uitbarsting namelijk aerosolen uit die de aarde tijdelijk afkoelen. Een goed voorbeeld is de uitbarsting van de gigantische Filipijnse vulkaan Mount Pinatubo in 1991. Na de uitbarsting daalde de temperatuur wereldwijd met ongeveer 0,5 graden Celsius. Maar bij herhaalde uitbarstingen stapelen broeikasgassen zich net op, wat op lange termijn juist bijdraagt aan de opwarming van de aarde. Dit kan een vicieuze cirkel veroorzaken: meer uitbarstingen versnellen het smelten van gletsjers, wat weer meer vulkanische activiteit uitlokt.
De opbouw van zo’n magmareservoirs kan echter eeuwen kan duren. Dat geeft de mensheid tijd om gerichte systemen te ontwikkelen die ons op tijd kunnen waarschuwen voor uitbarstingen. De volledige studie verschijnt later dit jaar in een wetenschappelijk vakblad. De onderzoekers zeggen nog niet in welk vakblad.
Afbeelding bovenaan dit artikel: Joseph Vary / Unsplash
RELATED VIDEOS
OPMERKING PETER2011
Met het 'smelten van gletsjers' wordt in deze studie bedoeld: het smelten van een ijskap van 500.000 km^3 in Patagonië na de ijstijd. Zo'n ijskap zal zeker een invloed op de onderliggende aardkorst hebben en mogelijk tevens op vulkanisme. Maar om het effect van zo'n ijskap dan te extrapoleren naar de gletsjers van vandaag? Dat is echt een gigantisch schaalverschil, de grootste gletsjers nu hebben volumes van slechts enkele tientallen km^3. Om dit dan vervolgens te koppelen aan de huidige klimaatverandering wat 'wetenschappers zorgen baart' is wel heel vergezocht.
Researchers bombarded lichens with a year's worth of Martian radiation in just 5 hours — and they survived, hinting that the extremophiles could potentially live on the Red Planet.
A new study has revealed that lichens can withstand the intense ionizing radiation that hits Mars' surface. (The lichen in this photo is Cetraria aculeata.)
(Image credit: Pensoft)
Earth-based lifeforms known as lichens may be tough enough to survive on Mars, a new study suggests.
Scientists came to this conclusion after blasting the lichens with a year's worth of Martian radiation in less than a day during a lab experiment — and the terrestrial lifeforms survived the process.
Mars is not an easy place to live. The Red Planet is essentially one giant desert with a minimal atmosphere, low temperatures and no liquid water at its surface. But the biggest barrier to life on Mars is the lack of a strong magnetic field, which protects against the constant bombardment of ionizing radiation from cosmic rays and solar flares, which can damage living cells and mutate their DNA.
One group of living things that may be able to survive these extreme conditions is lichens, symbiotic associations between fungi and photosynthetic bacteria and/or algae. These hybrid lifeforms, which are not considered true organisms but are listed as species on the three of life, work together to stay alive and many are extremophiles, capable of tolerating no hydration and extreme temperatures for long periods. Some species have even survived being directly exposed to the vacuum of space.
In the new study, published March 31 in the journal IMA Fungus, researchers tested how two lichen species — Diploschistes muscorum and Cetraria aculeata — reacted to ionizing radiation under Martian conditions. To do this, the team placed the lifeforms in a specialized vacuum chamber at the Space Research Centre of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw, which replicated the atmospheric pressure, temperatures and composition on the Red Planet. They bombarded the lichens with a year's worth of Martian radiation in just 5 hours. Both species were able to remain metabolically active throughout the tests.
Cetraria aculeata (left) and Diploschistes muscorum (right) both survived the experiments. But D. muscorum is a better candidate for living on Mars. (Image credit: Wikimedia/Alberto Salguero (left)/Thayne Tuason (right))
"These findings expand our understanding of biological processes under simulated Martian conditions and reveal how hydrated organisms respond to ionizing radiation," Kaja Skubała, a researcher at the Institute of Botany at the Jagellonian University in Krakow, Poland, said in a statement. "Ultimately, this research deepens our knowledge of lichen adaptation and their potential for colonizing extraterrestrial environments."
Of the two species, D. muscorum showed the greatest resistance to the radiation, sustaining less damage to its cells, which suggests that some lichens will be better suited to Martian conditions than others. However, it is unlikely that any species would be able to survive on Mars unattended for long periods, as there is no known liquid water at the surface, which all of Earth's lifeforms need to survive.
This is the reason why it is unlikely that there is any extraterrestrial life currently alive on Mars.
Martian candidates
According to the researchers, the new experiments show that lichens are prime candidates for being taken on future Mars missions, although there are several resilient species other than D. muscorum that could also make the trip.
But lichens are not the only lifeforms that could potentially survive on the Red Planet.
Scientists collect lichens near the Mars Desert Research Station in Utah to replicate how they might study life on Mars. This experiment was not part of the new study.(Image credit: Mars 160 Crew/The Mars Society)
One extremophile group that has long been considered as future Martian tourists is tardigrades. These microscopic critters are nearly indestructible and can survive extreme temperatures, crushing pressures, total dehydration and the vacuum of space, largely thanks to an ability to switch off their metabolism and enter a state of suspended animation.
Other candidates include mosses — plants with similar abilities to lichens. Some desert moss species have even been shown to be resilient to gamma rays and liquid nitrogen, hinting that they too could fare well on Mars.
Single-celled microorganisms, such as bacteria, might also be able to survive on Mars if they were sheltered from radiation, living underground. Research has shown that these microbes could also survive for hundreds of millions of years beneath the surface in a hibernation-like state.
However, the first terrestrial lifeforms to touch down on Mars will likely be a species that is naturally very poorly suited to living on Mars — humans. NASA intends on launching the first crewed mission to the Red Planet sometime in the 2030s, when they will get a taste of how tough it is to survive there.
Editor's note: This article was originally published April 8, 2025
The thick, mineral-rich layers of clay found on Mars suggest that the Red Planet harbored potentially life-hosting environments for long stretches in the ancient past, a new study suggests.
(Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UArizona)
The thick, mineral-rich layers of clay found onMars suggest that the Red Planet harbored potentially life-hosting environments for long stretches in the ancient past, a new study suggests.
Clays need liquid water to form. These layers are hundreds of feet thick and are thought to have formed roughly 3.7 billion years ago, under warmer and wetter conditions than currently prevail on Mars.
"These areas have a lot of water but not a lot of topographic uplift, so they're very stable," study co-author Rhianna Moore, who conducted the research as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Texas' Jackson School of Geosciences, said in a statement.
"If you have stable terrain, you're not messing up your potentially habitable environments," Moore added. "Favorable conditions might be able to be sustained for longer periods of time."
On our home planet, such deposits form under specific landscape and climatic conditions.
"On Earth, the places where we tend to see the thickest clay mineral sequences are in humid environments, and those with minimal physical erosion that can strip away newly created weathering products," said co-author Tim Goudge, an assistant professor at the Jackson School's Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences.
Clays can be seen in the Hellas basin of Mars. (Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UArizona)
However, it remains unclear how Mars' local and global topography, along with its past climate activity, influenced surface weathering and the formation of clay layers.
Using data and images from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter — the second-longest-operating spacecraft around Mars, after the agency's 2001 Mars Odyssey — Moore, Goudge, and their colleagues studied 150 clay deposits, looking at their shapes and locations, and how close they are to other features like ancient lakes or rivers.
They found that the clays are mostly located in low areas near ancient lakes, but not close to valleys where water once flowed strongly. This mix of gentle chemical changes and less intense physical erosion helped the clays stay preserved over time.
"[Clay mineral-bearing stratigraphies] tend to occur in areas where chemical weathering was favoured over physical erosion, farther from valley network activity and nearer standing bodies of water," the team wrote in the new study, which was published in the journal Nature Astronomy on June 16.
The findings suggest that intense chemical weathering on Mars may have disrupted the usual balance between weathering and climate.
On Earth, where tectonic activity constantly exposes fresh rock to the atmosphere, carbonate minerals like limestone form when rock reacts with water and carbon dioxide (CO2). This process helps remove CO2 from the air, storing it in solid form and helping regulate the climate over long periods.
On Mars, tectonic activity is non-existent, leading to a lack of carbonate minerals and minimal removal of CO2 from the planet's thin atmosphere. As a result, CO2 released by Martian volcanoes long ago likely stayed in the atmosphere longer, making the planet warmer and wetter in the past — conditions the team believes may have encouraged the clay's formation.
The researchers also speculate that the clay could have absorbed water and trapped chemical byproducts like cations, preventing them from spreading and reacting with the surrounding rock to form carbonates that remain trapped and unable to leech into the surrounding environment.
"[The clay is] probably one of many factors that's contributing to this weird lack of predicted carbonates on Mars," said Moore.
This article was originally published onSpace.com.
Illustration of space debris around Earth. Credit: ESA
Tens of thousands of pieces of space debris are hurtling around Earth right now. These defunct satellites, spent rocket stages, collision fragments and even a toolbox threaten active spacecraft and could trigger cascading disasters that make space unusable for generations. Since removing just a single piece of debris can cost tens of millions of dollars, the critical question becomes which ones should we prioritise?
It was during a spacewalk around the ISS that astronauts dropped a toolbox that now poses a threat to future space travellers. (Credit : NASA)
The numbers tell a sobering story. NASA data shows the monthly count of objects in Earth's orbit continues to climb relentlessly, while computer simulations predict an alarming future. Without intervention, low Earth orbit could become so cluttered with debris that catastrophic collisions become routine, potentially triggering a runaway chain reaction known as Kessler Syndrome.
A few years ago, eleven international teams of space experts tackled this challenge by each creating a ranked list of the 50 most concerning objects in low Earth orbit. Although they used different approaches, 20-40% of the objects ended up on several experts' lists, showing remarkable consensus given the complexity of the problem. However, their lists didn't perfectly match. Now, researchers from France and Spain have applied social choice theory, the mathematical study of voting and collective decision making to this conundrum, revealing how different ways of combining expert opinions lead to dramatically different conclusions about our most urgent space threats.
International space agencies agree that simply preventing new debris isn't enough. To stabilise the space environment, experts estimate we need to actively remove five to ten large pieces of debris, each bigger than 10 centimetres, every year before they fragment into thousands of smaller, untrackable pieces.
Orbital Debris strike on one of the window’s within the International Space Station.
(Credit : NASA)
Thankfully, the technology for space cleanup missions is rapidly advancing, with the first operational tests scheduled for later in 2025 and 2026. But with removal costs in the tens of millions of dollars per object, choosing the right targets is crucial.
The eleven expert teams used sophisticated methods to evaluate space debris, considering factors like mass, collision probability, orbital lifetime, and proximity to operational satellites. Despite using different approaches, they showed remarkable agreement with 20-40% of objects appeared on multiple lists. Only one object appeared on every expert's list, while their collective work identified 273 different pieces of concerning debris across all lists.
This level of consensus is quite impressive given the complexity of weighing multiple risk factors. However, the remaining disagreements still matter significantly when deciding where to spend tens of millions of dollars on removal missions.
Illustration of a satellite breaking up into multiple pieces at higher altitudes.
(Credit : ESA)
The original study combined the expert opinions using a hybrid scoring method, multiplying each object's Borda score (based on its ranking positions) by the number of lists it appeared on. This approach identified object 22,566 as the most concerning piece of debris.
However, the new research demonstrates that this conclusion depends entirely on the aggregation method chosen. Using the classic Borda count alone, object 22,220 emerges as the top priority. Apply the Condorcet winner principle, which seeks the object that would beat all others in head to head comparisons, and object 27,006 takes the lead. These aren't minor technical differences though. Each method reflects different philosophical approaches to collective decision making, with real implications for where humanity spends its limited space cleanup resources.
The researchers argue for fundamental changes in how we approach space debris prioritisation. Rather than forcing experts to rank exactly 50 objects, they suggest allowing each team to identify however many objects they consider truly concerning. This acknowledges that the threshold for "concerning" debris shouldn't be artificially constrained by committee decisions.
They also propose moving from ranked ballots to evaluative voting, where experts would categorise debris as "extremely hazardous," "hazardous," or "acceptable risk" based on absolute criteria rather than relative comparisons. This approach would be more robust to changes in the candidate pool and better reflect how experts actually think about risk assessment.
This research illuminates a broader challenge in scientific decision making, how to fairly aggregate expert opinions when stakes are high and resources are limited. The space debris problem resembles other collective choices, from pandemic response priorities to climate change mitigation strategies, where multiple valid perspectives must be reconciled into policies.
The study also reveals a critical gap in current debris removal planning, the failure to account for removal costs and dynamic effects. When one piece of debris is removed, the risk profiles of remaining objects change, suggesting we need more sophisticated approaches that consider removal sequences rather than individual targets.
As private space companies launch thousands of new satellites and space tourism takes off (if you will pardon the pun,) the orbital environment will only become more crowded. The methods we develop today for democratically choosing which space junk to remove, combining expert knowledge with fair aggregation techniques, may determine whether future generations inherit accessible space or a debris filled orbital wasteland that takes centuries to clear.
Image of Uranus from the Hubble Space Telescope shows bands and a new dark spot in Uranus' atmosphere. (Credit : NASA/Space Telescope Science Institute)
In the vast expanse between Uranus and Neptune, a team of researchers have uncovered something really quite extraordinary, a minor planet that has been locked in precise gravitational manouevres with Uranus for at least a million years. This discovery sheds new light on the complex dynamics that govern our Solar System's outer reaches.
The object in question, designated 2015 OU₁₉₄, belongs to a class of small bodies called Centaurs, rocky and icy objects that orbit between Jupiter and Neptune. What makes this particular Centaur special is its remarkably stable relationship with Uranus, locked in what is known as a 3:4 mean motion resonance. This means that for every three orbits 2015 OU₁₉₄ completes around the Sun, Uranus completes exactly four. This precise mathematical relationship creates a gravitational partnership that keeps the two objects in a stable dance, preventing them from colliding or drifting apart.
Uranus, the 7th planet in the Solar System seems to have an asteroid tagging along.
(Credit : NASA)
The discovery came about through detective work with archival observations. Researchers led by Daniel Bamberger from the Northolt Branch Observatories in Germany, located additional observations of 2015 OU₁₉₄ from 2017 and 2018, extending the object's data points from just one year to 3.5 years. This longer observation period was crucial for understanding the object's true orbital behavior.
Computer simulations revealed the remarkable stability of this relationship. The resonance has remained stable for at least 1,000 years in the past, probably even 1 million years and is predicted to continue for another 500,000 years into the future. This longevity suggests that the gravitational partnership formed early in our Solar System's history and has persisted through countless changes.
What makes this discovery particularly significant is that no objects has previously been found in resonance between the orbits of Uranus and Neptune. It’s a region of space, while containing many small bodies, that appears to lack the kind of stable orbital relationships commonly found elsewhere in the Solar System.
The asteroids of the inner Solar System, where they are far more numerous than the outer Solar Sytem, are plotted on this diagram.
(Credit : MDF)
The researchers didn't stop with just one object though. Their investigation uncovered additional candidates, including 2013 RG₉₈, which also appears to maintain this same 3:4 resonance with Uranus for several hundred thousand years. A third candidate, 2014 NX₆₅, shows strong gravitational influence from Neptune, suggesting the complex interplay of forces in this region.
The existence of these Uranus resonant objects suggests that similar relationships may be more common than previously thought. As our survey capabilities improve and we discover more objects in the outer Solar System, we may find that these gravitational partnerships are common and fundamental to understanding how small bodies are distributed throughout the region.
Beste bezoeker, Heb je zelf al ooit een vreemde waarneming gedaan, laat dit dan even weten via email aan Frederick Delaere opwww.ufomeldpunt.be. Deze onderzoekers behandelen jouw melding in volledige anonimiteit en met alle respect voor jouw privacy. Ze zijn kritisch, objectief maar open minded aangelegd en zullen jou steeds een verklaring geven voor jouw waarneming! DUS AARZEL NIET, ALS JE EEN ANTWOORD OP JOUW VRAGEN WENST, CONTACTEER FREDERICK. BIJ VOORBAAT DANK...
Druk op onderstaande knop om je bestand , jouw artikel naar mij te verzenden. INDIEN HET DE MOEITE WAARD IS, PLAATS IK HET OP DE BLOG ONDER DIVERSEN MET JOUW NAAM...
Druk op onderstaande knop om een berichtje achter te laten in mijn gastenboek
Alvast bedankt voor al jouw bezoekjes en jouw reacties. Nog een prettige dag verder!!!
Over mijzelf
Ik ben Pieter, en gebruik soms ook wel de schuilnaam Peter2011.
Ik ben een man en woon in Linter (België) en mijn beroep is Ik ben op rust..
Ik ben geboren op 18/10/1950 en ben nu dus 74 jaar jong.
Mijn hobby's zijn: Ufologie en andere esoterische onderwerpen.
Op deze blog vind je onder artikels, werk van mezelf. Mijn dank gaat ook naar André, Ingrid, Oliver, Paul, Vincent, Georges Filer en MUFON voor de bijdragen voor de verschillende categorieën...
Veel leesplezier en geef je mening over deze blog.
