“This was completely unexpected.”

Stars are essentially large fiery balls of plasma, which is often referred to as the “fourth state of matter” as it forms when gas is heated into a soup of positively charged ions and negatively charged electrons.

The star’s magnetic field is so strong it appears to have “frozen” its surface into a solid outer crust, a press statement reveals.

Naeblys/iStock.

Now, though, an international group of astronomers has observed a star with a solid outer layer for the first time, casting doubt on widely held preconceptions about the cosmic giants lighting the night sky.

With cost overruns and milestones not met, it is a wonder that NASA and Boeing aren’t headed for a divorce.

Agency budgetary report shows tens of billions spent on Boeing contracts that have yet to deliver. Much cheaper alternatives exist.

It may be known as a rocky, red planet but evidence is mounting that salty water exists at the base of polar deposits on Mars.

University of Southern Queensland’s Professor Graziella Caprarelli is part of an international team investigating bright reflection signals below the Martian surface, first spotted in data acquired between 2010 and 2019 by the radar sounder MARSIS on board Mars Express.

The primarily Italian team proposed that the reflections pointed to a patchwork of salty lakes, publishing their research in Science in 2018 and in Nature Astronomy in 2021. Recently a new collaboration between the Italian team and U.S.-based researchers provided new evidence further corroborating this interpretation.

NASA combined 18 all-sky images to create a timelapse of the night sky.

The Universe is over 13 billion years old, so a 12-year slice of that time might seem uneventful. But a timelapse movie from NASA shows how much can change in just over a decade.

One of the oldest stars in the Milky Way has been located by astronomers from the University of Warwick.

The oldest rocky and icy planetary system identified is from the oldest white dwarf star in our galaxy and is accreting debris from circling planetesimals, according to a new study published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society on Saturday.

If you wake up early Sunday morning and see a small, bright object streaking through the sky, it could be a rocket that is being launched from the NASA Wallops Flight Facility in eastern Virginia.

NASA officials say the rocket may be visible from Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia, along with Connecticut and lower New York state, shortly after liftoff — scheduled for 5:50 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 6.

The Northrop Grumman Antares rocket will be delivering supplies and science experiments to the International Space Station, NASA said. It will be the agency’s 18th resupply mission for the space station.

Until now, Mars.

Mars is the second smallest planet in our solar system and the fourth planet from the sun. It is a dusty, cold, desert world with a very thin atmosphere. Iron oxide is prevalent in Mars’ surface resulting in its reddish color and its nickname “The Red Planet.” Mars’ name comes from the Roman god of war.

Nobody has known what exists in this region of space known as the “Zone of Avoidance.” Now astronomers edge one step closer.

Astronomers have found a giant “extragalactic structure” concealed behind the Milky Way, according to a new study published in Arxiv.

The study explained that the zone of avoidance (ZOA) does not allow clear optical observations of extragalactic sources behind the Milky Way.

Genty/Pixabay.

The discovery of the structure, which appears to be a colossal galaxy cluster, contributes to filling in this mysterious region of our cosmic map, known as the “zone of avoidance.” Nobody has known what exists in this region which obscures 10 to 20 percent of the sky-until now.