Space
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Planetary Science
NASA has a plan for putting rock from asteroid in moon’s orbit
NASA selects concept for its Asteroid Redirect Mission, which will let astronauts train for future missions to Mars.
- Astronomy
What’s in a name? In science, a lot
Classification systems are essential to science. But any classification system, however useful, is ultimately simplistic.
- Astronomy
Unlikely nursery for new planets is next to massive black hole
Planet nurseries encircle young stars within a few light-years of the supermassive black hole in the center of the Milky Way, scientists claim.
- Planetary Science
Potentially life-friendly nitrogen compounds found on Mars
“Fixed” nitrogen has been found in Mars deposits, raising the possibility that ancient life could have used it to build biomolecules.
- Planetary Science
Earth, neighbors weren’t the first rocky planets in the solar system
Jupiter might have swept an earlier generation of rocky planets into the sun, leaving room for Earth and its neighbors to form.
- Astronomy
Solo planets may be surprisingly common
Rogue planets may form as stars do, but on a smaller scale, or they may go forced out of orbit during planetary ping-pong. Researchers are scanning the skies for them.
- Planetary Science
Bright patches on Ceres are plumes of water, maybe
Bright patches on Ceres could be plumes of water venting into space.
- Astronomy
Space dust is tough enough to survive supernova aftermath
Dust still lingers in the remnants of supernova that exploded 10,000 years ago, affirming that the explosions filled the early universe with dust.
- Planetary Science
Martian aurora, high-altitude dust clouds surprise scientists
Surprise auroras and mystery dust clouds dance in the Martian atmosphere, NASA’s newest Mars orbiter discovers.
- Astronomy
Fast-spinning young Earth pulled the moon into a yo-yo orbit
The early moon’s orbit created a cycle between lunar phases unlike the one seen nowadays.
- Astronomy
Super-Earths may form in two ways
Rocky planets much heavier than Earth may form in different ways.
- Planetary Science
Aurora shift confirms Ganymede’s ocean
New observations confirm the presence of a liquid saltwater ocean beneath the surface of Jupiter’s largest moon, Ganymede.
