Planetary Science
An ancient moonpocalypse may explain Neptune’s odd moon Nereid
Neptune’s oddball moon Nereid may be the sole remnant of an earlier system, formed near the planet rather than being pulled in from afar.
Space
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
More Stories in Space
- Particle Physics
To understand black holes, physicists turn to a mathematical ‘Rosetta stone’
A link between particle physics and gravity equations, called the double copy, applies to Hawking radiation, creating a new way into black hole puzzles.
- Quantum Physics
A grapefruit-sized quantum device mapped Earth’s magnetic field from space
On the International Space Station, a cube holding a diamond-based sensor revealed the potential for quantum magnetometers.
- Planetary Science
Going to space? Always, always pack a camera
Planetary scientist Candice Hansen-Koharcheck championed the importance of space imagery. Her legacy lives on in every pixel that comes back to Earth.
- Space
Space junk falls back to Earth faster as sunspot numbers climb
A new study links the sun's 11-year cycle to accelerated orbital loss, with debris falling faster once sunspot numbers near their cycle peak.
- Planetary Science
A small object past Pluto may have a thin atmosphere
A brief stellar eclipse suggests the tiny 2002 XV93 has a thin atmosphere — a first for any solar system body farther from the sun than Pluto.
- Planetary Science
Uranus has weird rings. Astronomers now know the source of two of them
The Nu ring seems to be fed by unknown rocky bodies, whereas the Mu ring appears rich in water ice and linked to the moon Mab.
- Astronomy
The earliest evidence of the first stars may lie in a distant gas clump
James Webb data reveal pristine gas irradiated by energetic light some 450 million years after the Big Bang — a sign it may house primordial stars.
- Astronomy
Clouds of water ice thread stellar nurseries in the Milky Way
NASA’s SPHEREx mapped water ice across vast regions of the galaxy, confirming that an essential molecule for life on Earth abounds in space.
- Space
Artemis II ends its historic lunar journey
After looping around the moon, the Artemis II crew — and their capsule’s heat shield — passed the mission’s final major test: coming home.
