91�� News - space

NASA should build a biocontainment facility on the moon to protect Earth, researchers advise

webfull — Fri, 19 Jun 2026 14:24:52 +0000

A biocontainment facility designed to protect Earth from potentially hazardous biotic contaminants from space should be part of a planned NASA base on the moon, a policy paper maintains.

“Humanity is entering a new era of space exploration, but our planetary protection strategies have not kept pace with the risks associated with returning extraterrestrial samples to Earth,” said paper co-author Frederick I. Moxley, Director of Strategic Threat Analysis and Research Laboratories, an Idaho-based consultancy.

Published: 19 June 2026

New paper explores four nearby fast radio burst sources

webfull — Thu, 11 Jan 2024 16:51:21 +0000

Fleeting blasts of energy from space, known as fast radio bursts (FRBs), are a cosmic enigma. A Canadian-led international team of researchers has published new findings suggesting that supernovae are the predominant contributors to forming sources that eventually produce FRBs.

Published: 11 January 2024

Experts: Canadian astronomers set to join Ariel space mission

webfull — Tue, 25 Jul 2023 14:43:25 +0000

This week Canada announced it will contribute to the European Space Agency’s Ariel mission. A first mission of its kind, the Ariel space telescope will launch in 2029 to study the atmospheres of distant exoplanets outside of our solar system. Up to 12 Canadian astronomers, including 91�� experts, will be at the front row of the mission, with privileged access to its data. (Canadian Space Agency)

Published: 25 July 2023

How different were galaxies in the early universe?

webfull — Wed, 12 Apr 2023 13:46:20 +0000

An array of 350 radio telescopes in the Karoo desert of South Africa is getting closer to detecting the “cosmic dawn” — the era after the Big Bang when stars first ignited and galaxies began to bloom.

A team of scientists from across North America, Europe, and South Africa has doubled the sensitivity of a radio telescope called the Hydrogen Epoch of Reionization Array (HERA). With this breakthrough, they hope to peer into the secrets of the early universe.

Published: 12 April 2023

Astronomers capture radio signal from distant galaxy

webfull — Mon, 16 Jan 2023 15:24:19 +0000

How do stars form in distant galaxies? Astronomers have long been trying to answer this question by detecting radio signals emitted by nearby galaxies. However, these signals become weaker the further away a galaxy is from Earth, making it difficult for current radio telescopes to pick up.

Published: 16 January 2023

To infinity and beyond: $26 million to propel space research at 91�� and Université de Montréal to the outer limits

webfull — Mon, 21 Nov 2022 16:02:43 +0000

The 91�� Space Institute (MSI) and the Institute for Research on Exoplanets (iREx) at Université de Montréal are at the forefront of the exhilarating pace of space research, helping to advance our knowledge of extrasolar planets, fast radio bursts, the dark universe, and other extraterrestrial mysteries. Now their stellar work and efforts to recruit top students and researchers are getting a huge boost thanks to extraordinary gifts to 91�� and the Université de Montréal from the Trottier Family Foundation.

Published: 21 November 2022

Astronomers reveal first image of the black hole at the heart of our galaxy

webfull — Thu, 12 May 2022 16:56:19 +0000

Astronomers have unveiled the first image of the supermassive black hole at the centre of our own Milky Way galaxy. This result provides overwhelming evidence that the object is indeed a black hole and yields valuable clues about the workings of such giants, which are thought to reside at the centre of most galaxies. The image was produced by a global research team called the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) Collaboration, using observations from a worldwide network of radio telescopes. Astronomers from 91�� were part of this global effort.

Published: 12 May 2022

What the rise of oxygen on early Earth tells us about life on other planets

webfull — Mon, 31 Jan 2022 20:02:49 +0000

When did the Earth reach oxygen levels sufficient to support animal life? Researchers from 91�� have discovered that a rise in oxygen levels occurred in step with the evolution and expansion of complex, eukaryotic ecosystems. Their findings represent the strongest evidence to date that extremely low oxygen levels exerted an important limitation on evolution for billions of years.

Published: 31 January 2022

New insights into seasons on a planet outside our solar system

webfull — Thu, 13 Jan 2022 16:01:43 +0000

XO-3b, a hot Jupiter on an eccentric orbit. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/R. Hurt (IPAC)

Published: 13 January 2022

Astronomers uncover mysterious origins of ‘super-Earths’

webfull — Wed, 10 Feb 2021 13:53:46 +0000

Mini-Neptunes and super-Earths up to four times the size of our own are the most common exoplanets orbiting stars beyond our solar system. Until now, super-Earths were thought to be the rocky cores of mini-Neptunes whose gassy atmospheres were blown away. In a new study published in The Astrophysical Journal, astronomers from 91�� show that some of these exoplanets never had gaseous atmospheres to begin with, shedding new light on their mysterious origins.

Published: 10 February 2021

91������ News - space