Orbital science, astronomy, remote sensing, and what lies beyond the atmosphere.
A 2026 SETI paper by astrophysicist Brian C. Lacki proposes a striking place to look for traces of ancient extraterrestrial technology, the dust and soil of our own Moon. The preprint argues that long-dead alien megastructures could, in principle, grind themselves into microscopic debris that drifts between stars. Some of that material may have crossed…
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A study in Nature Astronomy has added a sharp new constraint to one of planetary science’s most persistent mysteries. Astronomers report the discovery and orbital analysis of 2023 KQ14, nicknamed Ammonite, a distant object beyond Neptune whose path through space complicates the search for a hidden Planet Nine. The object belongs to a rare group…
NASA’s Hubble image of the galaxy cluster MACS0329-0211 reveals a crowded cosmic scene where hundreds of galaxies gather in one field of view and the cluster’s gravity bends light from far more distant objects. The result looks like a swarm of galaxies suspended in deep space, with faint arcs that trace the warped paths of…
ESA’s official adoption of the Arrakihs mission has moved a new galactic archaeology spacecraft into development, with launch planned by the end of 2030. The mission will search for the dim outskirts of nearby galaxies, where faint stellar debris can preserve the story of ancient mergers. The European Space Agency’s Science Programme Committee approved the…
