Space
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Astronomy
Interactive map reveals hidden details of the Milky Way
Gleamoscope, an interactive map, lets you explore the Milky Way galaxy and the nearby universe in many different electromagnetic frequencies.
- Astronomy
Young planets carve rings and spirals in the gas around their suns
New telescope images show rings and spiral arms in disks encircling young stars, suggesting the presence of actively growing planets.
- Planetary Science
X-ray mystery shrouds Pluto
Chandra telescope detects seven X-ray photons coming from Pluto, suggesting that the solar wind runs into a tail of gas streaming from the dwarf planet.
- Astronomy
Readers unimpressed by Earth’s newest neighbor
Exoplanet fatigue, runaway fish and more in reader feedback.
- Earth
‘A Most Improbable Journey’ offers scientific take on human history
Walter Alvarez’s “A Most Improbable Journey” gives readers a tour of “Big History,” linking human history to unpredictable cosmic, geologic and biological events.
- Planetary Science
Mars lander debris spotted
The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter imaged the impact site of the Schiaparelli Mars lander, missing in action since its October 19 descent.
- Astronomy
Uranus moon count: 27 and rising
Two more moons might be lurking around Uranus, causing material in the planet’s rings to clump up, Voyager 2 data suggest.
- Planetary Science
Two unseen moons may circle Uranus
Two more moons might be lurking around Uranus, causing material in the planet’s rings to clump up, Voyager 2 data suggest.
- Planetary Science
First peek under clouds reveals Jupiter’s surprising depths
Jupiter’s colorful bands originate several hundred kilometers beneath the cloud tops, the Juno spacecraft reveals.
- Planetary Science
Mars lander silent as mission scientists work out what went wrong
Schiaparelli lander is still silent on the surface of Mars while mission scientists try to understand what happened during the probe’s descent.
- Planetary Science
Experts don’t agree on age of Saturn’s rings
Saturn’s rings could be almost as old as the solar system, and the Cassini craft is poised to help find out.
- Planetary Science
Juno spacecraft goes into ‘safe mode,’ continues to orbit Jupiter
The Juno spacecraft has gone into safe mode while in orbit around Jupiter. Mission scientists are also closely monitoring a fuel valve issue on the probe.
