News by Subject Space & Planetary

A team of scientists at the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) have used satellite data to augment measurements of North Korean nuclear tests on the ground. The researchers find that the most recent test shifted the ground by a few metres, and estimate it to be equivalent to 17 times the size of the bomb dropped on Hiroshima in 1945. The new work appears in a paper in Geophysical Journal International, a publication of the Royal Astronomical Society.

'These results lay the groundwork for future space microconcentrator photovoltaic systems and establish a realistic path to exceed 350 w/kg specific power at more than 33% power conversion efficiency by scaling down to even smaller microcells,' the researchers say. 'These could serve as a drop-in replacement for existing space solar cells at a substantially lower cost.'

This NASA Hubble Space Telescope photo reveals a cosmic kaleidoscope of a remote galaxy that has been split into a dozen multiple images by the effect of gravitational lensing.

Heart muscle cells derived from stem cells show remarkable adaptability to their environment during and after spaceflight, according to a study publishing Nov. 7 in Stem Cell Reports. The researchers examined cell-level cardiac function and gene expression in human heart cells cultured aboard the International Space Station for 5.5 weeks. Exposure to microgravity altered the expression of thousands of genes, but largely normal patterns of gene expression reappeared within 10 days after returning to Earth.

The glow of the Milky Way -- our galaxy seen edgewise -- arcs across a sea of stars in a new mosaic of the southern sky produced from a year of observations by NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS). Constructed from 208 TESS images, the panorama reveals both the beauty of the cosmic landscape and the reach of TESS's cameras.

Contrary to previous thought, a gigantic planet in wild orbit does not preclude the presence of an Earth-like planet in the same solar system - or life on that planet. What's more, the view from that Earth-like planet as its giant neighbor moves past would be unlike anything it is possible to view in our own night skies on Earth.

University of Iowa researchers report the spacecraft Voyager 2 has reached interstellar space, following Voyager 1's historic passage six years ago. In the study, the researchers note a jump in plasma density detected by an Iowa-led plasma wave instrument on the spacecraft as evidence Voyager 2 has entered interstellar space.

Satellites now play a key role in monitoring carbon levels in the oceans, but we are only just beginning to understand their full potential.