SKY NIGHTLY - Space And Astronomy News

SKYNIGHTLY Duke Quantum Simulator Recreates Matter Formation from the Early Universe Sep 23, 2026 (SPX)

A research team led by faculty at the Duke Quantum Center has observed string-breaking dynamics related to particle-antiparticle formation on a quantum simulator, one of the first demonstrations of its kind in the quantum-physics field. The approach, described... more

SOLAR Standard Cameras Modified to Measure Solar Cell Quantum Efficiency Sep 22, 2026 (SPX)

Researchers at the University of Stuttgart, Research Center Juelich, and Solarzentrum Stuttgart have demonstrated that commercially available cameras, with minor hardware modifications, can provide quantitative measurements of solar cell efficiency through ele... more

COSMICRAYS China's Einstein Probe Maps a 42-Light-Year Cosmic Ray Trail From a Pulsar Sep 22, 2026 (SPX)

Joint observations from China's Einstein Probe (EP) satellite and the Large High Altitude Air Shower Observatory (LHAASO) have revealed an extraordinarily long X-ray tail near a pulsar located about 4,600 light-years from Earth - one that had never before been... more

EARLY EARTH Study Pinpoints When Early Earth Became Ready for Life's Chemistry Sep 22, 2026 (SPX)

Conditions on the early Earth may have become stable enough to sustain the chemistry associated with the origins of life around 4.33 billion years ago, according to new research co-led by Planetary Science Institute Senior Scientist Oleg Abramov. more

OUTERPLANETS Juno Mission Reveals Jupiter Bow Shock Uses Harmonic Plasma Waves and Shocklets to Tame Solar Wind Sep 22, 2026 (SPX)

A University of Iowa-led research team has reported the most detailed observations to date of Jupiter's bow shock, finding that the gas giant employs a far more complex wave structure than Earth to handle the solar wind - a discovery that could shed light on t... more

JOVIAN DREAMS Jupiter Manages Solar Wind With Multi-Layered Plasma Wave System Unlike Anything at Earth Sep 21, 2026 (SPX)

University of Iowa researchers have published the most detailed observations yet of Jupiter's bow shock - the boundary region where the planet deflects the supersonic solar wind - and found that Jupiter employs a far more complex system than Earth to handle th... more

MOON NASA, IBM Release Open-Source AI Model For Analyzing Moon Data, With USRA Support Sep 18, 2026 (SPX)

NASA and IBM Research have released an open-source artificial intelligence model designed to help scientists analyze the large and diverse datasets returned by lunar missions, with planetary science support from the Universities Space Research Association (USR... more

TIME SPACE LHC Search Rules Out Quantum Black Holes Up to 12 TeV With New Machine Learning Method Sep 17, 2026 (SPX)

Physicists at UC Santa Barbara have completed one of the most extensive searches yet for microscopic black holes at CERN's Large Hadron Collider, using a novel machine learning technique that outperforms previous detection approaches. The search found no evide... more