We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
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.
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.
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.
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.
NASA’s SPHEREx mapped water ice across vast regions of the galaxy, confirming that an essential molecule for life on Earth abounds in space.
After looping around the moon, the Artemis II crew — and their capsule’s heat shield — passed the mission’s final major test: coming home.
Shock waves from tiny black holes in the early universe could explain how antimatter became so rare while matter is common.
The Artemis II moon flyby may be over, but the hunt for scientific treasures in the trove of data collected is just starting.
As NASA’s Orion spacecraft slipped behind the farside of the moon, the astronauts captured the crescent of Earth setting over the moon’s horizon.
