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Explanation: How were these unusual Martian spherules created? Thousands of unusual gray spherules made of iron and rock and dubbed blueberries were found embedded in and surrounding rocks near the landing site of the robot Opportunity rover on Mars in 2004. To help investigate their origin, Opportunity found a surface dubbed the Berry Bowl with an indentation that was rich in the Martian orbs. The Berry Bowl is pictured here, imaged during rover's 48th Martian day. The average size of a Martian blueberry rock is only about 4 millimeters across. By analyzing a circular patch in the rock surface to...

Time, not space plus time, might be the single fundamental property in which all physical phenomena occur, according to a new theory by a University of Alaska Fairbanks scientist. The theory also argues that time comes in three dimensions rather than just the single one we experience as continual forward progression. Space emerges as a secondary manifestation. "These three time dimensions are the primary fabric of everything, like the canvas of a painting," said associate research professor Gunther Kletetschka at the UAF Geophysical Institute. "Space still exists with its three dimensions, but it's more like the paint on the canvas...

Explanation: Sure, that figure-8 shaped curve you get when you mark the position of the Sun in Earth's sky at the same time each day over one year is called an analemma. On the left, Earth's figure-8 analemma was traced by combining wide-angle digital images recorded during the year from December 2011 through December 2012. But the shape of an analemma depends on the eccentricity of a planet's orbit and the tilt of its axis of rotation, so analemma curves can look different for different worlds. Take Mars for example. The Red Planet's axial tilt is similar to Earth's, but...

The brief but intense signal, detected by radio telescopes in Western Australia, lasted only a fraction of a second yet became the brightest object in the sky, momentarily outshining entire galaxies and stars. The source of this unexpected burst was Relay 2, a communications satellite launched by NASA in 1964. After both of its transmitters failed in 1967, the satellite had been silent and declared defunct until now. Experts believe the signal wasn't deliberately transmitted by the satellite, but was triggered by an external event. One possibility is an electrostatic discharge: a sudden release of electrical energy, similar to a...

Explanation: Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, planet Earth lies on the horizon in this stack of panoramic composite images. In a monthly time series arranged vertically top to bottom the ambitious photographic project follows the annual north-south swing of sunrise points, from June solstice to December solstice and back again. It also follows the corresponding, but definitely harder to track, Full Moon rise. Of course, the north-south swing of moonrise runs opposite sunrise along the horizon. But these rising Full Moons also span a wider range on the horizon than the sunrises. That's because the well-planned project (as shown in this video)...

Rubin Observatory’s ultimate cosmic movie is about to begin, and we want you to be a part of it We invite you to attend the live stream of NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory’s First Look event, taking place on 23 June 2025 at 11:00 a.m. EDT. At this international celebration the Rubin Observatory team will unveil the observatory’s first spectacular images. The event will be live streamed via YouTube in English and Spanish. Links to the live streams will be made available on rubinobservatory.org. Want to attend an in-person celebration? Hundreds of venues around the globe will be hosting watch...

Researchers at Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden carried out nuclear fission reactions in 100 different types of exotic nuclei of elements like platinum, mercury, and lead in a bid to understand the reaction better.In addition to helping us generate cleaner energy in the future, the research also sheds light on how elements are formed in the universe, according to a press release by the institute.Nuclear fission is poised for a comeback after countries worldwide seek newer ways to fuel their energy demands. While wind and solar power plants are being readied at a frantic pace to meet net-zero targets,...

Explanation: Gorgeous spiral galaxy NGC 3521 is a mere 35 million light-years away, toward the northern springtime constellation Leo. Relatively bright in planet Earth's sky, NGC 3521 is easily visible in small telescopes but often overlooked by amateur imagers in favor of other Leo spiral galaxies, like M66 and M65. It's hard to overlook in this colorful cosmic portrait though. Spanning some 50,000 light-years the galaxy sports characteristic patchy, irregular spiral arms laced with dust, pink star forming regions, and clusters of young, blue stars. The deep image also finds NGC 3521 embedded in fainter, gigantic, bubble-like shells. The shells...

Hallur Antoniussen took this picture in May with the caption: "Not everyday you see a black iceberg." Photo by Hallur Antoniussen /Facebook Article content A rare black iceberg photographed off the coast of Labrador has been making the rounds of social media on this planet, but its unusual colour could be the result of it carrying material from another world. Article content The picture first surfaced last month after a fish harvester from Carbonear, N.L., took a photo of it while fishing for shrimp last month. Article content Article content Hallur Antoniussen, 64, was working aboard the Saputi, a factory...

This image shows a detailed, thousand-color image of the Sculptor Galaxy captured with the MUSE instrument at ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT). Regions of pink light are spread throughout this whole galactic snapshot, which come from ionised hydrogen in star-forming regions. These areas have been overlaid on a map of already formed stars in Sculptor to create the mix of pinks and blues seen here. (Credit: ESO/E. Congiu et al.) ================================================================ In a nutshell * Scientists identified over 500 planetary nebulae in the Sculptor galaxy, 20 times more than previous surveys, using the MUSE instrument, but the distance estimate they...

University of Seville professor José María Martín-Olalla has published a new solution to a 120-year-old problem regarding matter states at absolute zero that disproves a previous solution offered by famed scientist Albert Einstein. The controversy originally arose in 1905 when Walther Nernst proposed a new approach to the properties of matter as entropy causes them to approach absolute zero (minus 273 degrees Celsius). Dubbed Nerst’s theorem, the concept argued that absolute zero must be inaccessible, or one could theoretically construct an engine that uses absolute zero as a coolant to convert all heat energy into work. This idea goes directly...

Explanation: What's that unusual spot on the Moon? It's the International Space Station. Using precise timing, the Earth-orbiting space platform was photographed in front of a partially lit gibbous Moon in 2019. The featured image was taken from Palo Alto, California, USA with an exposure time of only 1/667 of a second. In contrast, the duration of the transit of the ISS across the entire Moon was about half a second. A close inspection of this unusually crisp ISS silhouette will reveal the outlines of numerous solar panels and trusses. The bright crater Tycho is visible on the lower left,...

If we looked at the Sun during an eclipse through a green filter, this is what it would look like. (ESA/Proba-3/ASPIICS/WOW algorithm) A solar eclipse is a marvel. This quirk of the complex interplay between Earth, the Moon, and the Sun doesn't just remind us of the wonders of the cosmos – it gives us a window into the Sun we rarely get to see. More specifically, with the Moon blotting out the main disk of the Sun, we can see details and features in the solar atmosphere, or corona, that are usually obscured from view. Now, a new satellite...

Explanation: Can you find the Rosette Nebula? The red flowery-looking nebula just above the image center may seem a good choice, but that's not it. The famous Rosette Nebula is really located on the lower right, here colored blue and white, and connected to the other nebulas by gold-colored filaments. Because the featured image of Rosette's field is so wide, and because of its deep red exposure, it seems to contain other flowers. Designated NGC 2237, the center of the Rosette Nebula is populated by the bright blue stars of open cluster NGC 2244, whose winds and energetic light are...

Analysis of swabs from China's Tiangong Space Station has revealed a new strain of bacteria sporting new adaptations for surviving outer space. Scientists have discovered a new microbe never-before-seen on Earth inside China's Tiangong space station. The new strain of bacteria, named Niallia tiangongensis after the space station, is a variant of a soil-dwelling terrestrial microbe that can cause sepsis, and was found inside one of the station's cabins. Now, a new analysis of the strain has revealed that the bacterium isn't only one of a kind, but has also picked up some key adaptations that could be helpful in...

A last-minute observation from the Webb telescope has sharpened predictions for asteroid 2024 YR4, slightly increasing its odds of hitting the Moon but confirming no threat to Earth. (Artist’s concept.) Credit: SciTechDaily.com ============================================================ NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope recently made a final observation of asteroid 2024 YR4 before it drifted out of range. This rare data update refined the asteroid’s projected path and revealed a small uptick in its chance of striking the Moon, though Earth remains in the clear. Webb Telescope Captures Final Glimpse Asteroid 2024 YR4 may be out of sight now, but before it slipped too far...

A distant star system that scientists described as abnormal, chaotic, and strange is finally coming into focus, thanks to NASA's James Webb Space Telescope. Using its powerful Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam), Webb has captured a rare image of one of two known planets orbiting the star 14 Herculis, located about 60 light-years from Earth in the Milky Way.The planet, known as 14 Herculis c, stands out for how incredibly cold it is. While astronomers have discovered nearly 6,000 exoplanets, only a small handful have been directly imaged, and most of those are extremely hot, with temperatures soaring into the hundreds or...

Explanation: APOD is 30 years old today. In celebration, today's picture uses past APODs as tiles arranged to create a single pixelated image that might remind you of one of the most well-known and evocative depictions of planet Earth's night sky. In fact, this Starry Night consists of 1,836 individual images contributed to APOD over the last 5 years in a mosaic of 32,232 tiles. Today, APOD would like to offer a sincere thank you to our contributors, volunteers, and readers. Over the last 30 years your continuing efforts have allowed us to enjoy, inspire, and share a discovery of...

Astronomers have uncovered a stunning twist in the mysteries of Uranus’ moons. Image: NASA, ESA, STScI, Christian Soto (STScI); Image Processing: Joseph DePasquale (STScI) | The Daily Galaxy --Great Discoveries Channel ================================================================== A groundbreaking new study has uncovered surprising revelations about the moons of Uranus, challenging existing theories of how these moons interact with the planet’s magnetic field. Researchers, armed with the advanced ultraviolet instruments of the Hubble Space Telescope, have found that the “dark sides” of Uranus’ largest moons—previously thought to be on their trailing hemispheres—are actually on the opposite sides. The new findings, presented at the 246th American...

If it’s out there, could we observe it soon?Here’s what you’ll learn when you read this story: Some physicists believe that a fifth fundamental force could be the cause of some observational anomalies. A study is investigating ways to closely examine the trajectories of well-documented asteroids to hopefully detect anomalies that could provide evidence of such a force. Although the study shows no fifth force anomaly present in the asteroid Bennu, future explorations of the asteroid Apophis could provide an even better chance to find this elusive force—if it exists at all. According to the current Standard Model, four fundamental...