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Astronomers Watch a Dead Star’s Remains Dissolve Into Space

MOTHRA View of Bow Shocks Around the Helix NebulaA new image of the Helix Nebula reveals how dying stars return material to the galaxy. The Helix Nebula offers a rare look at what happens after a dying star releases its outer layers into space. New observations show fragments of that material colliding with surrounding gas, breaking apart, and beginning their return to the [...]
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Hubble Spots ‘Superbubble’ in Large Magellanic Cloud

This Hubble image shows the emission nebula LHA 120-N44. Image credit: NASA / ESA / Hubble / D. Gouliermis.

A new images from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope reveals LHA 120-N44, a striking nebula located roughly 160,000 light-years away in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way.

The post Hubble Spots ‘Superbubble’ in Large Magellanic Cloud appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

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Suposta película para a tela do “iPhone Ultra” sugere que aparelho terá design assimétrico

O leaker conhecido como Ice Universe [@UniverseIce] publicou ontem no X imagens do que seriam películas para a tela externa do “iPhone Ultra”, o vindouro primeiro smartphone dobrável da Apple.

Como é possível notar, as imagens trazem duas variações do acessório: uma versão completamente transparente e outra com aquele efeito que limita os ângulos de visualização do display para uma maior privacidade.

This is the screen protector for the iPhone Ultra. You can see, the iPhone Ultra actually has an irregular screen with one side square and the other round. Oh my God, can you even handle that? pic.twitter.com/qpQHZHiqcD

— Ice Universe (@UniverseIce) August 11, 2026
Esta é a película protetora para a tela do “iPhone Ultra”. Como você pode ver, a tela do “iPhone Ultra” tem um formato irregular, com um lado quadrado e o outro redondo. Meu Deus, dá para acreditar?

O detalhe mais importante aqui, no entanto, é o formato das películas, que conta com cantos retos em um lado e arredondados no outro, dando a entender que o foldable da Maçã terá um design assimétrico.

Em uma outra postagem, desta vez com um vídeo da suposta película, no entanto, Ice Universe disse acreditar que isso se trata de um mal-entendido. Para ele, o mais provável é que a tela do “iPhone Ultra” tenha, sim, cantos arredondados em todas as extremidades, já que a película segue o formato do painel de vidro — e ele não precisa ter necessariamente o formato do display em si, já que se trata de componentes diferentes.

I'm sure this is just a misunderstanding – the protective film covers the entire glass panel, not exactly the same as the actual screen display area. The iPhone Ultra screen itself is still a symmetrical rounded rectangle. pic.twitter.com/Iwu52050uw

— Ice Universe (@UniverseIce) August 11, 2026
Tenho certeza de que isso é apenas um mal-entendido: a película protetora cobre todo o painel de vidro, e não exatamente a mesma área da tela. A tela do “iPhone Ultra” continua sendo um retângulo simétrico com cantos arredondados.

O vídeo compartilhado pelo leaker até mostra um mockup do dispositivo com uma tela assimétrica, mas é bem possível que seu criador tenha seguido esse caminho simplesmente por não saber como o smartphone realmente se parecerá.

De qualquer forma, não deverá demorar muito para que essa dúvida seja sanada, uma vez que os rumores são de que a Apple anunciará o “iPhone Ultra” no comecinho de setembro. Ansiosos? 🙂

via GSMArena.com

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Webb Captures Stunning Infrared View of Eskimo Nebula

This Webb/NIRCam/MIRI image shows the Eskimo Nebula, a bipolar planetary nebula some 4,200 light-years away in the constellation of Gemini. Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / Webb / STScI / Alyssa Pagan, STScI.

New infrared observations of the Eskimo Nebula, a bipolar double-shell planetary nebula in the constellation of Gemini, reveal clumps of dust, ionized gas and expanding shells surrounding a central star.

The post Webb Captures Stunning Infrared View of Eskimo Nebula appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

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Look: NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope Captures Striking New Images That Bring the ‘Lion Nebula’ Roaring to Life

Stunning new imagery of the distant celestial object NGC 2392, better known as the “Lion Nebula,” has been obtained by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope.

The cosmic vista captured by Webb reveals a colorful view of the ancient nebula, whose characteristic appearance resembles one of nature’s most respected apex predators, complete with a bushy-looking “mane” composed of hazy stellar gases and objects similar to comets.

The new high-resolution imagery offers one of the clearest and most detailed views of the Lion Nebula ever seen. Previous images captured by Webb’s predecessor, the Hubble Space Telescope, were obtained in 2000, featuring the same celestial feature in visible light.

With the added spectral ranges Webb’s Near Infrared Camera (NIRCam) and Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) can capture, the Lion Nebula now appears in colorful pinks and indigo hues, surrounded by distant galaxies blazing in brilliant orange from across vast cosmic distances, whose light has traveled billions of years to reach our Solar System.

A Lion Roars Across the Cosmos

A particularly striking feature about the new imagery is the way cosmic dust and regions of ionized gas are showcased in the new Webb imagery.

“It’s taken several thousand years for this collection of gas and dust to reach its current shape, and the nebula’s components continue to be altered,” read a portion of a statement released by the European Space Agency (ESA) that accompanied the new images.

Lion Nebula
The Lion Nebula, as seen with the MIRI instrument on board the James Webb Space Telescope (Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI; Image Processing: Alyssa Pagan (STScI)).

One reason that helps account for the changing appearance of the Lion Nebula over time can be found at its center, where the remnants of a slowly dying white dwarf star (which effectively forms the nose in the lion’s face after which the nebula is named) continues to supercharge the surrounding cosmic structures made visible in the new Webb imagery.

The rest of the lion’s face is composed of an expanding bubble of ionized gas, the nature of which remains somewhat mysterious. Presently, astronomers are uncertain about what exact mechanisms give rise to the complex appearance of this gassy bubble and its internal structures, which are a recurring element in ancient nebulae such as this.

NGC 2392 isn’t the only celestial feature known as the “Lion Nebula.” An entirely separate diffuse nebula located in the Cepheus constellation, known as Sharpless 2-132, also shares this nickname due to its shape, which resembles a lion’s body seen from the side.

A Cosmic Visage Frozen in Time  

For now, the Lion Nebula is captured in the Webb imagery, which, despite its almost serene beauty, represents a highly active area of the cosmos, undergoing constant change as material is continually ripped away from the stellar central core.

Sometime in the next 10,000 years or so, this striking celestial feature will eventually be destroyed, once the white dwarf powering the nebula completely dies and the remnants of stellar material are completely dispersed into the surrounding space.

Until then, this remarkable cosmic feature will remain a target of study by astronomers, whose inquiries are helped significantly by the unprecedented clarity offered in the latest Webb images.

Additional information about the Lion Nebula (NGC 2392) can be found on NASA’s official page documenting the Webb MIRI imagery.

Micah Hanks is the Editor-in-Chief and Co-Founder of The Debrief. A longtime reporter on science, defense, and technology with a focus on space and astronomy, he can be reached at micah@thedebrief.org. Follow him on X @MicahHanks, and at micahhanks.com.

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Webb Finds Stellar ‘Treasure Chest’ in Carina Nebula

This Webb image shows the Treasure Chest, a cometary globule located within the famous Carina Nebula. Image credit: NASA / ESA / CSA / Webb / M. Reiter / M.H. Özsaraç.

A stunning new image from the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope reveals a comet-shaped cloud in the Carina Nebula hiding a cluster of about 70 young stars, including a rare giant of O-type nearly 19 times as massive as the Sun.

The post Webb Finds Stellar ‘Treasure Chest’ in Carina Nebula appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

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A Rare Celestial Alignment Links Two Ancient Volcanoes in This Spectacular New Image Shared by NASA

Two dormant volcanoes in the Andes are shown “connected” by the glowing ribbon of a distant cosmic feature stretching across the sky between them, in a rare cosmic alignment echoing ancient legends about these neighboring peaks—and all of it was captured in one of the most breathtaking astronomy images in recent memory.

The photo (seen below) was captured by astrophotographer Gonzalo Laserna Vargas and showcased by the American space agency this week. In it, we see Parinacota and Pomerape, a pair of ancient stratovolcanoes that form an unmistakable part of the landscape along the border between Bolivia and Chile.

In local folklore, these two prominences represent a prince and princess whose forbidden romance forever linked them in myth. Although no geological evidence exists for any physical links between them, astronomy recently helped fulfil that mythic connection in an unprecedented night sky display. The unique conditions that made this image possible, as well as the planning and preparation that went into it, were described by Vargas in a recent post on his Instagram account.

Barnard’s Loop Rising

In the new imagery, recently featured as NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day, Barnard’s Loop—a vast arc of glowing hydrogen gas surrounding part of the constellation Orion—is showcased in a long-exposure photograph as it appears behind the two volcanoes.

The image was captured coinciding with the appearance of the nebula directly behind the volcanoes, and from an angle that causes the visible portion of the celestial object to appear as though it is rising from the mouths of the ancient volcanic peaks, uniting them through what resembles a colorful, luminous aerial display.

Despite the awe-inspiring appearance of the imagery, as part of the larger Orion Molecular Cloud, Barnard’s Loop remains at a distance of around 440 parsecs from these dormant volcanic peaks—in other words, close to 1,400 light-years away.

a Cosmic Convergence

Capturing a cosmic convergence at this scale required careful planning by Vargas, who took a sequence of exposures from the same location in Bolivia in mid-April, at a time when the nebula appeared perfectly in between the two mountain summits.

One thing that helped with this is the fact that Barnard’s Loop is one of the largest emission nebulae visible from Earth. Although it is far too faint to be seen easily with the naked eye, the nebula’s vibrant pink and orange colors appear in long-exposure photography, revealing its eerie halo fueled by the presence of hydrogen gas.

Along with Barnard’s Loop, several of the night sky’s most recognizable objects also make an appearance in Vargas’s photo. Near the center of the image is the Orion Nebula, which happens to be one of the nearest stellar nurseries to Earth. Such areas of the cosmos are places where new star formation occurs within vast clouds of cosmic dust and gas.

To the nebula’s right, Betelgeuse is also visible, the reddish supergiant which was recently confirmed to have a stellar companion after more than a century of speculation about what might cause unusual variances in its brightness.

Higher in the image, another striking feature—the Rosette Nebula—can also be seen, revealed as a massive cloud of glowing gas around a small group of young stars.

A Cosmic Neighborhood United in Imagery

Although each of these features is separated by hundreds or even thousands of light-years from Vargas’s imagery, they all appear in a singular frame, producing a dramatic cosmic backdrop for the ancient volcanic landscape they appear above.

Hence, for reasons that are easy to see, Vargas’s photo was named NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day for July 28, 2026, revealing another artful view of the cosmos that relies on far more than just advanced equipment—it also showcases the necessity for astronomical knowledge, careful preparation, and, of course, impeccable timing.

The result in this case is a moment captured in time, where mythology, an ancient volcanic landscape, and the cosmos all converge within a single frame.

You can learn more about this image at NASA’s website, and follow Vargas and his cosmic photography on Instagram.

Micah Hanks is the Editor-in-Chief and Co-Founder of The Debrief. A longtime reporter on science, defense, and technology with a focus on space and astronomy, he can be reached at micah@thedebrief.org. Follow him on X @MicahHanks, and at micahhanks.com.

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Boeing still working with NASA to schedule next Starliner flight

Starliner CFT launch preps

Boeing is still working with NASA to determine when to fly its CST-100 Starliner commercial crew vehicle on a cargo mission to the International Space Station.

The post Boeing still working with NASA to schedule next Starliner flight appeared first on SpaceNews.

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Astronomers Uncovered a Hidden Bubble Inside the Orion Nebula

A key component of the Orion Nebula had escaped detection by astronomers until now, according to a new study in Astronomy & Astrophysics.

An international team led by Juan Diego Soler at the University of Vienna used two of the world’s most advanced radio telescopes to map neutral atomic hydrogen gas across the nebula’s outer shell at unprecedented resolution. The new maps provide a clearer view of the celestial feature, and reveal a previously uncatalogued second bubble—a shell with much less mass than earlier estimates—and a four-light-year filament of gas extending from the structure.

The Orion Nebula’s Miscalculated Bubble

Neutral hydrogen emits a faint radio signal at a wavelength of 21 centimeters, making it possible to trace otherwise invisible gas between the stars. Soler’s team solved this by combining data from the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array in New Mexico and the FAST telescope in China. The VLA provided high resolution, while FAST picked up faint, widespread signals. Together, they produced the first detailed hydrogen map of the extended Orion Nebula, at the same scale as earlier ionized carbon maps.

Earlier calculations based on ionized carbon estimated that the front half of the shell was about 1,100 times the mass of our Sun. The hydrogen observations paint a different picture, suggesting the shell actually weighs in at closer to 100 solar masses. “Measuring mass is fundamental,” Soler said, “because it tells us about the efficiency of these newly formed stars shaping their environment with wind and radiation.”

A shell with only a tenth of the previously assumed mass significantly alters calculations of how efficiently newly formed stars shape their environment. The researchers note that molecular hydrogen, which is not detected in either the hydrogen or carbon data, may account for some of the missing mass.

A Second Bubble

The hydrogen maps also revealed an uneven distribution of gas, indicating a second, smaller cavity within the main shell. The team searched catalogs of known stars and young stellar objects in the region but found no candidate at the bubble’s center. The source responsible for creating the cavity may not be the type of object included in current catalogs.

Daniel Seifried at the University of Cologne, a co-author on the study, pointed to what that means for the models astronomers build to explain regions like this one. “These stunning observations serve as a reference for many modern astrophysical simulations investigating the evolution of gas and stars in the Milky Way. These are the kind of images that challenge the theoretical models and numerical simulations that we use to understand how massive stars affect their immediate surroundings.”

Previous models generally treated Orion’s shell as the product of a single expanding bubble. The discovery of a second cavity, with no obvious source at its center, instead suggests the nebula was shaped by multiple episodes of stellar feedback.

An Unexpected Filament

The new maps also uncovered a filament of hydrogen extending about four light-years from the shell’s western edge. Previous carbon-based observations saw only the base of this structure. The filament contains about 80 solar masses of hydrogen and does not appear to be associated with any known group of young stars. Its origin is unclear; it could be gas leaking through a weak spot in the shell or a leftover from the original cloud that existed before the bubble formed.

Claire Murray of the Space Telescope Science Institute, another co-author, framed the discovery within the broader push behind the observations. “This study is an exciting demonstration of the power of the latest-generation radio telescopes to uncover new pieces to the star formation puzzle.” Despite being one of the galaxy’s most extensively studied star-forming regions, the Orion Nebula continues to reveal discoveries.

This survey is the first scientific result from the NeAtHood project, which aims to map atomic hydrogen across nearby star-forming regions accessible to the VLA and FAST telescopes. Soler and his colleagues now plan to apply the same approach to additional targets. “Orion is only the beginning. Our newly developed methods show how future interferometers will reveal the hidden structure and dynamics of the interstellar medium—even in regions that astronomers already believed they understood well,” Soler explained.

If one of the sky’s best-studied star-forming regions still contains hidden structures, other nearby nebulae may prove equally surprising as the NeAtHood survey expands.

Austin Burgess is a writer and researcher with a background in sales, marketing, and data analytics. He holds an MBA, a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, and a data analytics certification. His work focuses on breaking scientific developments, with an emphasis on emerging biology, cognitive neuroscience, and archaeological discoveries.

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Was Odysseus’ Ithaca Never an Island? Scholars Challenge Centuries-Old Assumption

Paliki peninsula on the island of Kefalonia, Ionian Islands, Greece. Image credit: Christos Vittoratos / CC BY-SA 3.0.

For as long as readers have pored over Homer’s Odyssey they have pictured Ithaca, the homeland Odysseus fights for ten years to reach, as an island unto itself.

The post Was Odysseus’ Ithaca Never an Island? Scholars Challenge Centuries-Old Assumption appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

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Astronomers Uncover Hidden Structures Surrounding Orion Nebula

Extended Orion nebula shell sampled by HI emission from the combined VLA and FAST observations (shown in red), Hα emission from the European Southern Observatory Digitized Sky Survey (shown in green), and 3.4-μm emission registered by the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) satellite (shown in blue). Image credit: Juan D. Soler, University of Vienna / NRAO / VLA / NASA / WISE.

Using the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) s and the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope (FAST), astronomers have created the sharpest-ever radio maps of neutral hydrogen around the Orion Nebula.

The post Astronomers Uncover Hidden Structures Surrounding Orion Nebula appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

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SpaceX ha presentato Starfall, una capsula di rientro progettata per traspo…

SpaceX ha presentato Starfall, una capsula di rientro progettata per trasportare fino a 1.000 kg di materiale dallo spazio alla Terra. Il progetto punta a rendere più realistico il trasporto di esperimenti, materiali e merci prodotti in orbita, segnando un passo importante verso il futuro delle missioni spaziali commerciali.
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125-Million-Year-Old Crocodile Relative Reveals Its True Colors

The holotype specimen of Montsecosuchus depereti. Image credit: Castillo-Visa et al., doi: 10.1093/zoolinnean/zlag076.

Exceptionally preserved skin of Montsecosuchus depereti, an extinct crocodylomorph no larger than a house cat that prowled the tropical wetlands of Early Cretaceous Spain, has allowed paleontologists to reconstruct details of its scales, sensory organs and even possible banded markings along its tail.

The post 125-Million-Year-Old Crocodile Relative Reveals Its True Colors appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

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Spanish Cave Sanctuary Reveals More Than 11,500 Years of Activity

Sala Keimada, a chamber of Cueva Palomera in Burgos, Spain. Image credit: Ortega-Martínez et al., doi: 10.1016/j.jasrep.2026.105818.

New radiocarbon dates from Sala Keimada, a hard-to-reach chamber of Cueva Palomera in the province of Burgos, northern Spain, suggest that generations of people returned to the sacred space from the end of the Ice Age through the Iron Age, leaving behind art, structures and offerings.

The post Spanish Cave Sanctuary Reveals More Than 11,500 Years of Activity appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

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Half-Ton Cattle Relatives Roamed Europe 4 Million Years Ago

Paleoartistic reconstruction of the environment in the surrounding of Camp dels Ninots maar lake during the Early Pliocene. Image credit: Mauricio Antón.

Near-complete bovine skeletons unearthed the Early Pliocene site of Camp dels Ninots in northeastern Spain reveal that the ancestors of today’s buffalo and cattle were already growing to impressive sizes long before humans arrived on the continent.

The post Half-Ton Cattle Relatives Roamed Europe 4 Million Years Ago appeared first on Sci.News: Breaking Science News.

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