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Life needs the right conditions - warmth, water and, of course, the building blocks of life, such as amino acids and proteins. These have already been detected on meteorites. A research project at the Johannes Kepler University Linz has now shown how these building blocks of life could be created in space - adding an important facet to our understanding of life.

Supernova explosions from the formation history of these families also left traces on Earth An international team of astronomers led by the University of Vienna has deciphered the formation history of young star clusters, some of which we can see with the naked eye at night. The team, led by Cameren Swiggum and João Alves from the University of Vienna and Robert Benjamin from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, reports that most nearby young star clusters belong to only three families, which originate from very massive star-forming regions.

Launched last year, ESA's Euclid space telescope has already been delivering data for almost a year. The first scientific results are being published today. They show that the new instrument is capable of detecting a representative sample of all galaxies in the universe. For example, a study led by the University of Innsbruck was able to identify over 600 previously unknown dwarf galaxies in the Perseus galaxy cluster .

In the COSINUS research project, an international team involving TU Wien and the Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW) is searching for evidence of dark matter. The large-scale experiment is now starting in Italy . How can we understand dark matter? It probably makes up around 85% of the mass in the universe, but what it is and what it consists of is still one of the biggest and most difficult questions in modern physics.

Astrophysicists were able to quantify the mass loss of stars via their stellar winds An international research team led by a researcher from the University of Vienna has for the first time directly detected stellar winds from three Sun-like stars by recording the X-ray emission from their astrospheres, and placed constraints on the mass loss rate of the stars via their stellar winds.

The ÖAW and TU Vienna were able to show during a parabolic flight: A change in gravity has no influence on quantum experiments . A team from the Austrian Academy of Sciences and the Vienna University of Technology was able to prove this during a flight with the European Space Agency: Quantum entanglement also works when the strength of gravity changes.

Researchers at TU Graz have developed a new measuring system that can statically and dynamically monitor the condition of buildings using just a few antennas. From the outside, the Kölnbrein water dam, operated by Verbund in Carinthia, which is Austria's highest dam, and the DC Tower in Vienna, Austria's tallest building, do not have much in common, but for a research group around Caroline Schönberger and Werner Lienhart from the Institute of Engineering Geodesy and Measurement Systems at Graz University of Technology (TU Graz), they are equally interesting from a scientific point of view.

Researchers at Graz University of Technology have developed a new measuring system that can monitor the static and dynamic condition of buildings using just a few antennas. From the outside, the Kölnbrein Dam in Carinthia, which is operated by Verbund and is Austria's highest dam, and the DC Tower in Vienna, Austria's highest building, do not have much in common, but for a research group led by Caroline Schönberger and Werner Lienhart from the Institute of Engineering Geodesy and Measurement Systems at TU Graz, they are of equal scientific interest.

At Graz University of Technology (TU Graz) in 2023, important discoveries were made, new insights gained and exciting information gleaned. An end-of-year review. TU Graz in Space In 2013, the small satellite TUGSAT-1 was Austria's first satellite in space. It was built at TU Graz and has been observing the earth from low earth orbit ever since.

A collaboration between quantum physicists and astrophysicists, led by Francesca Ferlaino and Massimo Mannarelli, has achieved a significant breakthrough in understanding neutron star glitches. They were able to numerically simulate this enigmatic cosmic phenomenon with ultracold dipolar atoms. This research establishes a strong link between quantum mechanics and astrophysics and paves the way for quantum simulation of stellar objects from Earth.

New method of age determination provides unexpected insights into the formation and drifting apart of young stars A team of astrophysicists led by Núria Miret-Roig from the University of Vienna found that two methods for determining the age of stars measure different things: Isochronous measurement thereby determines the birth date of stars, while dynamical tracking provides information on when stars "leave their nest", about 5.5 million years later in the star clusters studied.

Astronomers can look 50 times deeper into the atmosphere of this exoplanet than is possible with Jupiter A team of European astronomers, with the help of researchers from the University of Vienna, has studied the atmosphere of the nearby exoplanet WASP-107b using the James Webb Space Telescope. An exoplanet is a planet orbiting a star other than our sun.

In order to obtain information about dark matter and dark energy from the huge amounts of data to be generated by the new ESA probe Euclid, Innsbruck astrophysicist Laila Linke and her team are using novel statistical methods. As soon as Euclid sends its first data to Earth, the researchers intend to have a tool ready to gain new Astronomical measurements revealed that an unknown world lies hidden among all the pretty stars, nebulae and galaxies.

Water detected by JWST in a planet-forming disk provides insight into the life-friendliness of Earth-like planets. The international MINDS research group has discovered water in the inner region of a disk of gas and dust around a young star with the James Webb Space Telescope. Usually, Earth-like planets form in this zone.

Researchers at the University of Innsbruck are working intensively on preparations for the Euclid mission of the European Space Agency ESA. The space telescope will be launched on July 1 and is expected to produce the largest 3D map of the universe to date. Scientists hope to learn more about the hitherto unexplored dark matter and dark energy of the universe.

New techniques can answer questions that were previously inaccessible experimentally - including questions about the relationship between quantum mechanics and relativity. The theory of relativity works well when you want to explain cosmic-scale phenomena - such as the gravitational waves created when black holes collide.

By ÖAW A sensor developed for JUICE in Graz delivers a first quantum interference signal about a month after the launch towards Jupiter, thus achieving an important mission milestone. The European Space Agency's JUpiter ICy moons Explorer (JUICE) spacecraft has achieved another milestone. It started its eight-year journey to the Jupiter system on 14 April 2023 to explore the largest planet in our solar system and its icy moons - Ganymede, Callisto and Europa - which may offer the essential requisites for life.

A team of scientists from Austria and France has discovered a new abiotic pathway for the formation of peptide chains from amino acids - an important chemical step in the origin of life. The current study provides strong evidence that this crucial step for the emergence of life can indeed take place even in the very inhospitable conditions of space.

With observations of one of the closest star-forming regions to the sun a team of international astronomers discovered the largest population of free-floating planets. These celestial bodies do not revolve around a star and are very hard to find due to their very low brightness. The large number of planets now detected provides information about the formation process of stars and planets and important information for future research.

Nearby star-forming region yields clues to the formation of our solar system A region of active star formation in the constellation Ophiuchus gives astronomers new insights into the conditions in which our solar system was born, showing how it may have become enriched with short-lived radioactive elements.