Latest Articles

Latest published articles from SpaceOne Times.

Galaxies

Three Quenched Dwarf Galaxies May Be M101 Backsplash Objects

Astronomers have identified three faint, quiescent dwarf galaxy candidates beyond the estimated virial radius of M101. Their structure, lack of recent star formation and provisional distances are consistent with a possible “backsplash” origin, in which galaxies previously passed through M101’s halo before moving back outward. Hubble or JWST observations will be required to determine their distances more precisely and test that interpretation.

Plasma Physics

Solar Orbiter Traces Magnetic Switchbacks to Interchange Reconnection

Solar Orbiter measurements have provided direct evidence linking a magnetic switchback in the solar wind to plasma originating in hot, closed coronal structures. Heavy-ion charge states, helium abundance and coronal modelling point to interchange reconnection as the process that released the plasma, while Alfvén-like behaviour suggests waves or turbulence helped the structure propagate through the solar wind.

Astrophysics

VLT/MUSE Confirms 55 Strong Gravitational Lens Systems

Astronomers using the MUSE instrument on ESO’s Very Large Telescope have spectroscopically confirmed 55 strong gravitational lens systems selected from the DESI Legacy Imaging Surveys. The team analysed 223 spectra across 76 candidates, measuring both lens and background-source redshifts in the confirmed systems. The resulting sample includes multiple-source-plane lenses, group and cluster environments, and background galaxies extending beyond redshift 3.

Planetary Moons

Cassini Reveals How Enceladus Turns Ocean Spray Into Ice Grains

A new analysis of Cassini dust measurements suggests that Enceladus’ salt-rich plume particles do not simply flash-freeze directly from ocean spray. Researchers propose that relatively large ocean droplets freeze slowly inside the moon’s icy vents, separating different salts before high-speed collisions break the frozen droplets into the micrometer-scale grains detected around Saturn.

Mercury

Mercury’s Magma Ocean May Have Built Its Layered Mantle

Laboratory experiments and numerical modeling suggest that Mercury’s sulfur-rich primordial magma ocean crystallized into a strongly layered mantle, with its deepest structure depending on the planet’s original magnesium-to-silicon ratio. The study finds that a shallower, clinopyroxene-bearing fertile mantle could have supplied enough partial melt to build much of Mercury’s volcanic crust, while sulfur may have driven dense sulfides into the mantle and altered the distribution of heat-producing elements.

Mars

Marsquake Linked to 27 Fresh Boulder Falls in Cerberus Fossae

Researchers have linked the S0235b marsquake detected by NASA’s InSight mission to a concentrated outbreak of fresh boulder falls in Mars’ Cerberus Fossae. HiRISE images show 27 new boulder-fall tracks appearing after the July 2019 quake, while statistical and seismic analyses indicate the activity was unusually intense and physically consistent with quake-triggered slope failure.

Space Mining

Robot Trial Reveals Key Bottleneck in Lunar Oxygen Feedstock

A robotic lunar resource-processing trial at ESA’s LUNA facility has identified material transfer as a key recoverable inefficiency in preparing regolith for future oxygen production. The MoLES3 system completed 37 excavation-and-deposit cycles, achieving 93% transfer efficiency while showing that separator power and excavation trajectory planning can strongly influence overall performance.

Space Power Systems

Lunar Bases Need More Than Batteries for 14-Day Moon Nights

Future lunar bases will need to remain powered through roughly two-week-long lunar nights while coping with extreme temperatures, vacuum and radiation. A 2026 technical Comment in npj Space Exploration argues that solar panels and batteries alone could become prohibitively heavy, and proposes an integrated system combining photovoltaic power, lunar-regolith heat storage, advanced batteries, hydrogen and oxygen energy storage, fuel cells and autonomous energy management.

Spacewalks

NASA Sets Aug. 25 Spacewalk to Complete ISS Antenna Upgrade

NASA astronaut Anil Menon and ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot are scheduled to conduct a spacewalk on Aug. 25 to complete replacement of a space-to-ground antenna on the International Space Station. The approximately six-and-a-half-hour excursion will focus on installing and connecting a spare antenna, with an additional navigation-hardware task planned if time permits.

Black Holes

S301 Star Could Reveal Sagittarius A*’s Spin Within a Decade

Astronomers using the GRAVITY instrument have discovered S301, a faint star completing an exceptionally tight 8.7-year orbit around Sagittarius A*, the Milky Way’s central supermassive black hole. Its extreme eccentricity carries it to within roughly 136–142 Schwarzschild radii of the black hole, where relativistic effects become unusually strong. Continued observations could make S301 one of the first stars capable of providing a direct dynamical measurement of Sagittarius A*’s spin within about a decade.

Radio Astronomy

Proposed LFT3 Moon Telescope Targets Farside Radio Silence

A proposed lunar farside radio observatory called LFT3 aims to exploit the Moon’s natural shielding from Earth-based radio interference before growing activity around the Moon makes the environment noisier. Covering frequencies from 0.1 MHz to 2.7 GHz, the telescope could search for technosignatures, radio transients, planetary emissions, exoplanet magnetic fields and signals from the early Universe. The team aims to deploy the mission before 2030 under a roughly US$150 million mission concept.

Galaxies

Simulation Links Nuclear Star Clusters and Stellar Disks

A high-resolution simulation of a Milky Way-mass galaxy shows how a stellar bar can funnel gas towards the galactic centre, allowing a nuclear star cluster and a surrounding nuclear stellar disk to grow together. Repeated feedback-driven shocks regulate star formation, while the merger of a star cluster containing about 3 crore solar masses substantially alters the central cluster. The results may help explain why observations have struggled to identify a consistent relationship between these structures.

Asteroids

Asteroid Nysa May Have Three Lobes and a Tiny Moon

High-resolution observations suggest that asteroid (44) Nysa has two deep, neck-like valleys separating three apparent lobes. Researchers also detected a faint satellite estimated to be about 1 kilometre across. Nysa may therefore be a binary system with an unusually shaped, possibly contact-trinary primary, although its formation remains uncertain.

Microgravity Research

Microgravity Disrupts Human Coordination, Flight Study Finds

A parabolic-flight experiment found that microgravity selectively destabilised complex two-arm coordination, causing greater error, timing variability and drift towards simpler in-phase movement. Partial-gravity conditions restored some stability, suggesting that gravity acts as both a physical load and a sensory anchor for human motor control.

Meteorites

Martian Meteorite Preserves Hidden Record of Crustal Strain

A three-dimensional examination of the Martian meteorite NWA 7721 has revealed two contrasting deformation structures inside a single olivine crystal. Researchers conclude that the crystal preserves evidence of both pre-impact magmatic strain within Mars and later shock-driven recrystallization during an impact event.

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