All Stories by Lisa Grossman
- Astronomy
Signs of a hidden Planet Nine in the solar system may not hold up
Hints of a remote planet relied on clumped up orbits of bodies beyond Neptune. A new study suggests that clumping is an illusion.
- Planetary Science
NASA’s Perseverance rover has touched down on Mars
The spacecraft will arrive at Mars on February 18, joining missions from China and the United Arab Emirates.
- Astronomy
Two exoplanet families redefine what planetary systems can look like
The TRAPPIST-1 and TOI-178 systems, both home to multiple bunched-up planets, have densities and orbits that defy expectations.
- Space
Crushed space rocks hint at exoplanets’ early atmospheric makeup
Experiments that heat crushed-up meteorites are helping astronomers understand what to look for in exoplanet atmospheres.
- Astronomy
Astronomers spotted a rare galaxy shutting down star formation
A distant galaxy harbors an active black hole and active star formation at the same time – an unusual coincidence.
- Space
The first magnetar flare detected from another galaxy was tracked to its home
An outburst from the super magnetic remains of a star suggests similar eruptions are behind some of the most powerful explosions in the universe.
- Space
The Parker Solar Probe will have company on its next pass by the sun
The probe is about to make another close pass of the sun. This time, Solar Orbiter, BepiColombo and others will be watching too.
- Space
Here are the highlights from a busy year in space launches
Satellites, Mars rovers and astronauts launched into space in 2020.
- Space
How future spacecraft might handle tricky landings on Venus or Europa
Scientists are getting inventive with ways to touch down on these worlds, where landers will face obstacles not seen elsewhere in the solar system.
- Space
Hayabusa2’s asteroid dirt may hold clues to the early solar system
“We collected the treasure box,” a Japanese space scientist announced after a capsule holding samples from asteroid Ryugu safely landed on Earth.
- Planetary Science
China is about to collect the first moon rocks since the 1970s
The robotic Chang’e-5 mission, which landed on an unexplored region of the moon December 1, aims to gather samples and return them to Earth.
- Space
Astronomers spotted colliding neutron stars that may have formed a magnetar
Astronomers may have witnessed the formation of a kind of rapidly spinning, extremely magnetized stellar corpse for the first time.
