A new analysis of dust retrieved from the Moon suggests that water bound up in the lunar surface could originate with the Sun.

More specifically, it could be the result of bombardment of hydrogen ions from the solar wind, slamming into the lunar surface, interacting with mineral oxides, and bonding with the dislodged oxygen. The result is water that could be hiding in the lunar regolith in significant quantities at mid and high latitudes.

This has implications for our understanding of the provenance and distribution of water on the Moon – and may even be relevant to our understanding of the origins of water on Earth.

At some point in its history, ESO 415–19 had a close encounter with another galaxy, and it’s never been the same since. The gravity from that passing galaxy drew parts of ESO 415–19 outward into long, curving streams of stars and dust — and then the other galaxy moved on, leaving ESO 415–19 with its arms still stretching out into space.

Astronomers call these bizarrely long arms tidal streams, and they’re what earned ESO 415–19 its coveted place in the Arp Atlas of Peculiar Galaxies, a catalog of 338 of the weirdest galaxies in the known universe.

Thanks to a novel technique, scientists are now a step closer to solving a key mystery about the origins of solar wind.

Researchers have discovered web-like plasma structures in the Sun’s middle corona, according to a recent study published in Nature Astronomy.

The results bring us closer to solving a fundamental mystery about solar wind’s origins and its connections with other solar system bodies.

Till now, only one repeating fast radio burst — FRB20201124A, has been reported with circular polarization.

The latest research by scientists at the National Astronomical Observatories of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (NAOC) has identified circular polarization in active repeating fast radio bursts (FRBs). The results were based on precise observations of the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST).

FRBs hold the distinction of emitting the most luminous radio flashes in the universe, with the energy released in one such incident rivaling the Sun’s output “over a whole day or even a month to a year,” according to phy.org.

Naeblys/iStock.

The nation wants to compete with NASA’S James Webb Space Telescope.

Peking University has ambitious plans to build the largest optical telescope in Asia, according to an article by Space.com

The Expanding Aperture Segmented Telescope

The new telescope will have an aperture of 19.7 feet (6 meters) by 2024 while its mirror will be expanded to 26.2 feet (8 m) by 2030. The project in English is called the Expanding Aperture Segmented Telescope (EAST) and according to a statement “will greatly improve China’s observation capabilities in optical astronomy.”