search for extraterrestrial intelligence
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New Image Reveals Dusty Clumps That Could Be the Source of Gas Giants
Researchers think they’ve gotten a glimpse at how gas giants like Jupiter form, thanks to a remarkable image of a distant star system. At the heart of the system is V960 Mon, a young star about 5,000 light-years away, in the constellation Monoceros. The star brightened to about 20 times its normal levels in 2014,…
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The SOFIA Mission Is Ending, but Its Legacy Will Be Long Felt
This past April, NASA and its partners at the German space agency announced the end to the SOFIA mission. The modified Boeing 747SP jumbo jet is being retired after eight years of service, but its scientific contributions cannot be overstated. In honour of this closing mission, we present to you SOFIA’s greatest hits.
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A Beacon in the Galaxy: Scientists Update Humanity’s Message to Aliens
An international team of scientists has formulated an updated, binary-coded message that could eventually be transmitted to aliens in our galaxy. It’s jam-packed with details, including the chemical makeup of humans, a map of Earth, and even our precise location in the Milky Way. What could possibly go wrong?
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Astronomers Spot What Could Be a Neptune-Sized Moon in a Distant Solar System
By scouring archival data from the now-retired Kepler space telescope, astronomers have found a promising new exomoon candidate, in what is an exceptionally rare discovery.