![Lisa Grossman](https://i0.wp.com/www.sciencenews.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/l_grossman.jpg?resize=214%2C214&ssl=1)
Lisa Grossman is the astronomy writer for Science News. Previously she was a news editor at New Scientist, where she ran the physical sciences section of the magazine for three years. Before that, she spent three years at New Scientist as a reporter, covering space, physics and astronomy. She has a degree in astronomy from Cornell University and a graduate certificate in science writing from UC Santa Cruz. Lisa was a finalist for the AGU David Perlman Award for Excellence in Science Journalism, and received the Institute of Physics/Science and Technology Facilities Council physics writing award and the AAS Solar Physics Division Popular Writing Award. She interned at Science News in 2009-2010.
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All Stories by Lisa Grossman
- Astronomy
Any aliens orbiting these 2,000 stars could spot Earth crossing the sun
Alien astronomers in those star systems could discover Earth the way we find exoplanets: by watching for a dip in starlight.
- Astronomy
Dust and a cold spell on Betelgeuse could explain why the giant star dimmed
Scientists had two options to explain Betelgeuse’s weird behavior in late 2019. They chose both.
- Astronomy
An arc of galaxies 3 billion light-years long may challenge cosmology
Dubbed “the Giant Arc,” the purported structure is much larger than expected in a cosmos where matter is thought to be evenly distributed.
- Planetary Science
NASA will be heading back to Venus for the first time in decades
Two newly selected missions, VERITAS and DAVINCI+, will explore the history of the planet's water and habitability.
- Astronomy
Some fast radio bursts come from the spiral arms of other galaxies
Tracking five brief, bright blasts of cosmic radio waves to their origins suggests their sources form quickly in regions with lots of star formation.
- Space
China’s first Mars rover has landed and is sending its first pictures
The country just became the second nation, after the United States, to successfully land a rover on Mars. Its rover will search for subsurface ice.
- Astronomy
The Milky Way may have grown up faster than astronomers suspected
Most of the galaxy’s disk was in place before a merger 10 billion years ago with a dwarf galaxy called Gaia-Enceladus/Sausage, a new study suggests.
- Planetary Science
NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter’s mission with Perseverance has been extended
NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter has passed all its tests and is ready to support the Perseverance rover in looking for ancient Martian life.
- Planetary Science
NASA’s Perseverance rover split CO2 to make breathable air on Mars
An oxygen-making experiment on Perseverance shows that astronauts will one day be able to make air to breathe and, better yet, rocket fuel.
- Astronomy
Mysterious ‘yellowballs’ littering the Milky Way are clusters of newborn stars
The first comprehensive analysis of the celestial specks indicates they are clusters of infant stars of various masses.
- Planetary Science
NASA’s Ingenuity helicopter made history by flying on Mars
An autonomous helicopter just lifted itself into the air on Mars, marking the first time a vehicle has flown on a planet other than Earth.
- Planetary Science
How the laws of physics constrain the size of alien raindrops
Physics limits the size of raindrops, no matter what they’re made of or what planet they fall on.