SPACE/COSMOS
SpaceX suffers massive financial losses each time a starship explodes
Issued on: 23/10/2025
On June 18, 2025, at 11 p.m., SpaceX engineers began what was expected to be a routine six-engine static fire test—a ground test for an upcoming launch—at Starbase’s Massey test site. However, Ship 36 suffered a catastrophic failure during propellant loading, which Elon Musk attributed to a nitrogen COPV failure occurring “below its proof pressure.” Ellen Gainsford reports.
UC Irvine astronomers discover nearby exoplanet in habitable zone
The team found that the surface may have liquid water on its surface – a necessary ingredient for life
Irvine, Calif., Oct. 23, 2025 — University of California, Irvine astronomers have identified an exoplanet located in a star’s habitable zone, where surface conditions might exist that can support the presence of liquid water – an essential ingredient for all known life. The exoplanet, which exists in a region of the Milky Way Galaxy that is relatively close to our solar system, may have a rocky composition like Earth and is several times more massive, making it a “super-Earth.”
The UC Irvine researchers and colleagues discuss their characterization of the exoplanet in a paper published today in The Astronomical Journal.
"We have found so many exoplanets at this point that discovering a new one is not such a big deal,” said co-author Paul Robertson, UC Irvine associate professor of physics & astronomy. “What makes this especially valuable is that its host star is close by, at just about 18 light-years away. Cosmically speaking, it’s practically next door.”
The exoplanet is called GJ 251 c, and it orbits an M-dwarf star, the oldest and most common type of star in our home Milky Way galaxy. M-dwarfs exhibit high levels of stellar activity, such as starspots (cool, dark regions on the star’s surface) and flares (sudden bursts of outward energy away from the star). Such stellar activity may mimic subtle RV signatures, resulting in a misleading exoplanet detection.
However, GJ 251 c’s proximity to Earth makes it an ideal target for future direct imaging studies with the University of California’s in-development Thirty Meter Telescope.
The large size of TMT’s mirrors may enable it to directly image faint exoplanets like GJ 251 c and confirm the presence of water.
“TMT will be the only telescope with sufficient resolution to image exoplanets like this one. It’s just not possible with smaller telescopes,” said Corey Beard, Ph.D., data scientist at Design West Technologies, a former graduate student from Robertson’s group and the study’s lead author.
The discovery of GJ 251 c was made possible by data from the Habitable-zone Planet Finder and NEID – exoplanet-hunting instruments Robertson helped build. HPF and NEID detect the subtle effects an orbiting exoplanet has on its host star.
As GJ 251 c’s gravity pulls on its host star, it creates small, rhythmic shifts in the star’s emitted light. HPF recorded these subtle shifts in light, which, known as radial velocity signatures, were used to determine the existence of the orbiting exoplanet.
HPF helps overcome some of M-dwarf’s stellar activity issues by observing the night sky in the infrared – a part of the spectrum where stellar activity signals are weaker.
The statistical significance of the team’s computational modeling work is strong enough to identify GJ 251 c as an exoplanet candidate, emphasizing the importance of future direct imaging observations with TMT.
“We are at the cutting edge of technology and analysis methods with this system,” said Beard. “While its discovery is quite statistically significant, we are still determining the status of the planet due to the uncertainty of our instruments and methods. We need the next generation of telescopes to directly image this candidate, but what we also need is community investment.”
Beard and Robertson hope that their work can motivate the exoplanet science community to further investigate GJ 251 c in preparation for the direct imaging capabilities of next-generation ground-based observatories like Thirty Meter Telescope.
Collaborators include Jack Lubin of UCLA; Eric Ford and Suvrath Mahadevan of Pennsylvania State University; Gudmundur Stefansson of the University of the Netherlands; and Eric Wolf of the University of Colorado, Boulder.
The work was supported by NSF grant AST-2108493 for the HPF exoplanet survey and
NASA/NSF funding for NN-EXPLORE program (grant number: 1716038); NASA ICAR program 80NSSC23K1399.
About the University of California, Irvine: Founded in 1965, UC Irvine is a member of the prestigious Association of American Universities and is ranked among the nation’s top 10 public universities by U.S. News & World Report. The campus has produced five Nobel laureates and is known for its academic achievement, premier research, innovation and anteater mascot. Led by Chancellor Howard Gillman, UC Irvine has more than 36,000 students and offers 224 degree programs. It’s located in one of the world’s safest and most economically vibrant communities and is Orange County’s second-largest employer, contributing $7 billion annually to the local economy and $8 billion statewide. For more on UC Irvine, visit www.uci.edu.
Media access: Radio programs/stations may, for a fee, use an on-campus studio with a Comrex IP audio codec to interview UC Irvine faculty and experts, subject to availability and university approval. For more UC Irvine news, visit news.uci.edu. Additional resources for journalists may be found at https://news.uci.edu/media-resources.
Journal
The Astronomical Journal
Method of Research
Observational study
Subject of Research
Not applicable
Article Title
Discovery of a Nearby Habitable Zone Super-Earth Candidate Amenable to Direct Imaging
Article Publication Date
23-Oct-2025
Newly discovered ‘super-Earth’ offers prime target in search for alien life
A massive exoplanet discovered orbiting a nearby dwarf star is well positioned for next-generation telescopes to search for signs of life.
image:
The Penn State-led Habitable Zone Planet Finder (HPF) provides the highest precision measurements to date of infrared signals from nearby stars. Pictured: The HPF instrument during installation in its clean-room enclosure in the Hobby Eberly Telescope at McDonald Observatory.
view moreCredit: Guðmundur Stefánssonn/Penn State
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The discovery of a possible “super-Earth” less than 20 light-years from our own planet is offering scientists new hope in the hunt for other worlds that could harbor life, according to an international team including researchers from Penn State. They dubbed the exoplanet, named GJ 251 c, a “super-Earth” as data suggest it is almost four times as massive as the Earth, and likely to be rocky planet.
"We look for these types of planets because they are our best chance at finding life elsewhere,” said Suvrath Mahadevan, the Verne M. Willaman Professor of Astronomy at Penn State and co-author on a paper about the discovery published today (Oct. 23) in The Astronomical Journal. “The exoplanet is in the habitable or the ‘Goldilocks Zone,’ the right distance from its star that liquid water could exist on its surface, if it has the right atmosphere."
For decades, the search for planets that might host liquid water, and perhaps life, has driven astronomers to design and construct advanced telescopes and computational models capable of detecting even the faintest signals from starlight. This latest discovery was the result of two decades of observational data and offers one of the most promising prospects yet for searching for signs of life on other planets, Mahadevan said.
The exoplanet was found using data from the Habitable-Zone Planet Finder (HPF), a high-precision, near-infrared spectrograph — a complex prism that breaks apart signals from starlight — fixed to the Hobby-Eberly Telescope at the McDonald Observatory in Texas. Penn State researchers led the design and construction of the HPF, built to detect Earth-like planets in the habitable zones of nearby stars.
"We call it the Habitable Zone Planet Finder, because we are looking for worlds that are at the right distance from their star that liquid water could exist on their surface. This has been the central goal of that survey,” Mahadevan said. “This discovery represents one of the best candidates in the search for atmospheric signature of life elsewhere in the next five to ten years.”
Mahadevan and his colleagues made the discovery by analyzing a vast collection of data, spanning over 20 years and collected by telescopes around the world, focusing on the slight movement, or "wobble," of the planet’s host star, GJ 251. This “wobble” comprises tiny Doppler shifts in the star's light caused by an orbiting planet's gravity.
They used the baseline observations to first improve the “wobble” measurements of a previously known inner planet, GJ 251 b, which circles the star every 14 days. They then combined the baseline data with new high-precision data from the HPF to reveal a second, stronger signal at 54 days — indicating there was another, far more massive, planet in the system. The team further confirmed the planet’s signal using the NEID spectrometer built by Penn State researchers, which is attached to a telescope at the Kitt Peak National Observatory in Arizona.
“We are at the cutting edge of technology and analysis methods with this system,” said Corey Beard, corresponding author on the paper who conducted the research while earning a doctorate in astrophysics from the University of California, Irvine. “We need the next generation of telescopes to directly image this candidate, but what we also need is community investment.”
One of the biggest challenges in finding distant worlds is disentangling the planetary signal from its star’s own activity, a kind of stellar weather, Mahadevan explained. Stellar activity, such as starspots, can mimic the periodic motion of a planet, giving the false impression of a planet where there is none. To distinguish signal from noise, the researchers applied advanced computational modeling techniques to analyze how signals change across different wavelengths, or colors, of light.
"This is a hard game in terms of trying to beat down stellar activity as well as measuring its subtle signals, teasing out slight signals from what is essentially this frothing, magnetospheric cauldron of a star surface,” Mahadevan said.
He explained that discovering exoplanets like GJ 251 c requires advanced instruments and complex data analysis. The work involves collaborations across multiple institutions and expertise throughout the world, and most importantly, requires a sustained commitment from the countries funding the research — which can often take decades to yield actionable results.
"This discovery is a great example of the power of multi-disciplinary research at Penn State," said Eric Ford, distinguished professor astronomy and astrophysics and director of research for Penn State’s Institute of Computational & Data Sciences (ICDS). "Mitigating stellar activity noise required not just cutting-edge instrumentation and telescope access, but also customizing the data science methods for the specific needs of this star and combination of instruments. The combination of exquisite data and state-of-the art statistical methods enabled our interdisciplinary team to transform data into an exciting discovery that paves the way for future observatories to search for evidence of life beyond our solar system."
While the exoplanet that the team discovered is not possible to image with current instruments Mahadevan said, the next generation of telescopes would be able analyze the planet’s atmosphere, which could potentially reveal chemical signs of life.
“We are always focused on the future,” he said. “Whether that’s making sure the next generation of students can engage in cutting-edge research or designing and building new technology to detect potentially habitable planets.”
The newly found exoplanet is perfectly positioned for direct observation by more advanced technology. Mahadevan and his students are already planning for when more powerful telescopes, the new generation of 30-meter-class ground based telescopes, comes online. Equipped with advanced instruments, the new telescopes are expected to have the capability to image nearby rocky planets in habitable zones.
“While we can’t yet confirm the presence of an atmosphere or life on GJ 251 c, the planet represents a promising target for future exploration,” Mahadevan said. “We made an exciting discovery, but there's still much more to learn about this planet.”
A full list of authors and funders is available on the paper. The U.S. National Science Foundation, NASA and the Heising-Simons Foundation supported the Penn State aspects of this research.
An international team of scientists, including researchers at Penn State, dubbed the exoplanet, named GJ 251 c, a “super-Earth” as data suggest it has a rocky composition similar to Earth and is almost four times as massive.
Credit
Illustration by University of California Irvine
Journal
The Astronomical Journal
Method of Research
Imaging analysis
Subject of Research
Not applicable
Article Title
Discovery of a nearby Habitable Zone Super-Earth Candidate Amenable to Direct Imaging
Article Publication Date
23-Oct-2025
SETI pioneer Jill Tarter awarded Fellows Medal by California Academy of Sciences
Jill Tarter was recognized for pioneering leadership in the scientific search for life beyond Earth
image:
Dr. Jill Tarter, co-founder of the SETI Institute
view moreCredit: SETI Institute
October 23, 2025, Mountain View, CA – The SETI Institute announced today that the California Academy of Sciences has awarded its highest honor, the Fellows Medal, to Dr. Jill Tarter, SETI Institute co-founder and Bernard M. Oliver Chair Emerita for SETI at the SETI Institute, recognizing her pioneering contributions to the scientific search for life beyond Earth. Medalists are nominated by Academy Fellows and confirmed by the Board of Trustees.
“The Cal Academy Fellows Medal is a great honor that I am now fortunate to share with a group of extraordinary previous Medalists,” said Tarter. “Over the years it has been extremely rewarding for the SETI Institute to work with a number of Academy teams to improve public understanding and engagement in the enterprise of science for all.”
“I could not be happier for Jill in being recognized with this great honor from the Cal Academy of Sciences,” said Bill Diamond, SETI Institute CEO and President. “The Fellows Medal is awarded to prominent scientists recognized for their outstanding contributions to their specific fields of research and few people have had such a singular impact on the field of SETI and radio astronomy than Jill Tarter. As important as her scientific achievements have been, Jill has also inspired an entire generation of women scientists across multiple research disciplines and that is an equal source of Institute pride.”
The California Academy of Sciences noted Tarter's pioneering work and leadership in SETI, particularly in establishing SETI as a field of research, co-founding the SETI Institute, and building the Allen Telescope Array (ATA). Also cited were Tarter's contributions to education and public outreach, including the Voyages Through Time high school curriculum, inspired the character Ellie Arroway in Carl Sagan's book and film, Contact, and collaborations with the Academy of Natural Sciences' planetarium to develop engaging content for audiences. Tarter served as Academy Trustee (2006-2015) and President (2015-2016).
"The Academy Fellows are leaders in their fields and deeply important to our mission to regenerate the natural world through science, learning, and collaboration, ” said Academy Dean of Science and Research Collections Shannon Bennett, PhD. “This year we are excited to appoint twelve new Academy Fellows, all incredibly accomplished as scientists, educators, and change makers. We need each other now more than ever, even as our country moves further away from science-based solutions and investments in science in the face of the dual planetary crises of climate change and biodiversity loss. Our Fellows Medalists, Jill Tarter and Patrick Kirch, as well as our Distinguished Service Awardee Roberta Ayres, truly exemplify the power of weaving science, education, and collaboration to have positive impact for the planet and people.”
The ATA, the SETI Institute’s world-class 42-dish radio telescope array located at the Hat Creek Radio Observatory in Northern California, was and remains the first observatory designed and built specifically for SETI research and would not exist without Tarter’s visionary leadership. Tarter also led the groundbreaking Project Phoenix, the world's most sensitive and comprehensive search for extraterrestrial intelligence conducted up until approximately 2015. At the Parkes Observatory in Australia, Project Phoenix observed approximately 200 stars that are not visible to northern hemisphere telescopes. In addition to observations from Parkes, Project Phoenix conducted observations from the Green Bank Observatory in West Virginia and the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico.
After graduating from Cornell University, Tarter earned her PhD in Astronomy at UC Berkeley. She led SETI efforts at UC Berkeley and NASA before co-founding the SETI Institute in 1984. Her honors include the Lifetime Achievement Award from Women in Aerospace, two NASA Public Service Medals, the 2009 TED Prize, and listings in Time's 100 Most Influential People and 25 Most Influential People. Tarter has an asteroid, 74824 Tarter, named in her honor.
Tarter continues to serve on the SETI Institute’s Board of Directors and Science Advisory Board. In 2024, she received the SETI Institute’s inaugural Tarter Award for Innovation in the Search for Life Beyond Earth. The award recognizes individuals whose projects or ideas significantly advance humanity’s search for extraterrestrial life and intelligence. The Tarter Award honors contributions across science, technology, education, art, philosophy, law and ethics that support SETI’s mission to search for life and intelligence beyond Earth.
About the SETI Institute
Founded in 1984, the SETI Institute is a non-profit, multi-disciplinary research and education organization whose mission is to lead humanity's quest to understand the origins and prevalence of life and intelligence in the universe and to share that knowledge with the world. Our research encompasses the physical and biological sciences and leverages expertise in data analytics, machine learning and advanced signal detection technologies. The SETI Institute is a distinguished research partner for industry, academia and government agencies, including NASA and NSF.
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