Astronomy

Planetary Science

The moon might have had a heavy metal atmosphere with supersonic winds

Heat from a glowing infant Earth could have vaporized the moon’s metals into an atmosphere as thick as Mars’, a new simulation shows.

Tech

Gecko-inspired robot grippers could grab hold of space junk

Aboard a microgravity plane, NASA is testing gecko-inspired grippers that one day could help clear up space junk.

Astronomy

Satellite trio will hunt gravitational waves from space

The European Space Agency has green-lighted the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna, expected to launch in 2034.

Astronomy

Kepler shows small exoplanets are either super-Earths or mini-Neptunes

The final catalog from the Kepler space telescope splits Earthlike exoplanets into two groups and pinpoints 10 new rocky planets in the habitable zone.

Astronomy

Eclipse watchers catch part of the sun’s surface fleeing to space

A serendipitous eruption during a solar eclipse showed relatively cool blobs of plasma, wrapped in a million-degree flame, streaming from the sun.

Astronomy

Life might have a shot on planets orbiting dim red stars

The number of planets in the habitable zone of dim red suns, known as M dwarfs, is growing. They’re a good place to look for life.

Astronomy

Einstein’s light-bending by single far-off star detected

A measurement so precise Einstein thought it couldn't be done has demonstrated his most famous theory on a star outside the solar system for the first time.

Astronomy

Scalding hot gas giant breaks heat records

KELT 9b’s sun blasts it with so much radiation that the planet’s dayside is hotter than most stars and its atmosphere is being stripped away.

Physics

LIGO snags another set of gravitational waves

Two black holes stirred up the third set of gravitational waves ever detected.

Astronomy

Magnetism disrupts winds on ‘hot Jupiter’ exoplanet

Simulations of HAT-P 7b’s magnetic field give clues to why the exoplanet’s winds blow both east and west.

Science & Society

The first Cassini to explore Saturn was a person

Cassini, the spacecraft about to dive into Saturn, was named for the astronomical pioneer who first perceived the gap between the planet’s famous rings.

Planetary Science

Watery exoplanet’s skies suggest unexpected origin story

Compared with Neptune, HAT-P-26b’s atmosphere has few heavy elements, suggesting it formed differently than the ice giants in Earth’s solar system.