All Stories by Lisa Grossman
- Planetary Science
Water has been found in the dust of an asteroid thought to be bone-dry
Scientists detected water in bits of an asteroid thought to be devoid of the liquid. Such space rocks might have helped create Earth’s oceans.
- Astronomy
Skepticism grows over whether the first known exomoon exists
New analyses of the data used to find the first discovered exomoon are reaching conflicting results.
- Planetary Science
Pictures confirm Hayabusa2 made a crater in asteroid Ryugu
Hayabusa2’s crater-blasting success, confirmed by an image beamed back from the spacecraft, paves the way to grab subsurface asteroid dust.
- Physics
The M87 black hole image showed the best way to measure black hole masses
The first image of M87’s black hole suggests it is 6.5 billion times the mass of the sun — close to what was expected based on how stars move around it.
- Planetary Science
A 2014 meteor may have come from another solar system
Scientists have identified a possible interstellar meteor, and think it could be one of millions that have visited Earth over the planet’s history.
- Planetary Science
Meteor showers dig up water on the moon
Meteorites release water from the moon’s soil, hinting that the moon has water buried all across its surface.
- Astronomy
The first picture of a black hole opens a new era of astrophysics
Astronomers used a network of telescopes around the world to take a picture of the supermassive black hole in the galaxy M87.
- Planetary Science
Hayabusa2 has blasted the surface of asteroid Ryugu to make a crater
Japan’s Hayabusa2 spacecraft shot a projectile at Ryugu. Next: collecting asteroid dust from the probable impact crater left behind.
- Planetary Science
Metal asteroids may have once had iron-spewing volcanoes
Two groups of scientists introduce the idea of “ferrovolcanism,” or iron volcanoes, that could have occurred on metal asteroids like Psyche.
- Astronomy
4 things we’ll learn from the first closeup image of a black hole
Scientists are gearing up to release the first image of the black hole at the center of the galaxy. Here’s what they hope to find out.
- Planetary Science
Saturn’s rings paint some of its moons shades of blue and red
Moons located among Saturn’s inner rings are different colors depending on their distance from the planet, suggesting they’re picking up ring debris.
- Planetary Science
Kuiper Belt dust may be in our atmosphere (and NASA labs) right now
Bits of space debris that collect in Earth’s atmosphere may come from as far as the cold, distant Kuiper Belt region beyond Neptune.
