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We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Astronomy
Stopping starlight may bring other Earths into focus
Two new telescope concepts compete for NASA’s approval, in hopes of taking the first picture of a life-bearing exoplanet.
- Astronomy
Hubble space telescope spies teenage galaxies
New Hubble telescope images show ultraviolet radiation from stars born during the universe’s adolescent phase.
- Astronomy
Galactic collision creates huge particle collider
New images reveal a jet of particles shooting out of a collision among four galaxy clusters.
- Planetary Science
Moon’s origins revealed in rocks’ chemistry
A new chemical measurement of rocks from Earth and from the moon supports the giant impact hypothesis, which explains how the moon formed billions of years ago.
By Meghan Rosen - Astronomy
Revived Kepler mission bags three planet candidates
During a nine-day engineering test, the Kepler space telescope turned up three potential Jupiter-sized planets orbiting other stars.
- Astronomy
Rocky, overweight planet shakes up theories
Kepler-10c is a rocky exoplanet 17 times as massive as Earth, and astronomers are puzzled as to how it formed.
- Astronomy
Kepler space telescope finds first ‘mega-Earth’
'Mega-Earth' has been added to the distinctions that describe exoplanets thanks to a newly announced Kepler space telescope discovery.
- Planetary Science
Do-it-yourself solar system
If you've always wanted to build your own solar system, roll up your sleeves — SuperPlanetCrash is an online solar system simulator, set up as a game.
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- Astronomy
Young, hot exoplanet takes title for longest year
Newly discovered exoplanet sits a whopping 2,000 times farther from its star than Earth does from the sun.
- Planetary Science
Titan’s haze gives clues to clouds on exoplanets
Titan’s hazy atmosphere may help astronomers better understand what’s going on in the clouds of exoplanets.
- Cosmology
2014 Kavli Prize winners announced
Cosmic inflation, nanoscale imaging and a better understanding of memory earn million-dollar honors with the Kavli Prize.