Space
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Planetary Science
Readers ponder Opportunity’s future, animal consciousness and more
Readers had questions about NASA’s Opportunity rover, pollen shapes and more.
- Planetary Science
Mercury has a massive solid inner core
The distribution of Mercury’s mass and small stutters in the planet’s spin suggest it has a giant solid inner core.
- Physics
The M87 black hole image showed the best way to measure black hole masses
The first image of M87’s black hole suggests it is 6.5 billion times the mass of the sun — close to what was expected based on how stars move around it.
- Chemistry
The first type of molecule to form in the universe has been seen in space
The chemistry of the universe began with helium hydride. Scientists have just seen it in outer space for the first time.
- Planetary Science
A 2014 meteor may have come from another solar system
Scientists have identified a possible interstellar meteor, and think it could be one of millions that have visited Earth over the planet’s history.
- Planetary Science
Meteor showers dig up water on the moon
Meteorites release water from the moon’s soil, hinting that the moon has water buried all across its surface.
- Planetary Science
Saturn’s moon Titan sports phantom hydrocarbon lakes
Three lakes on Saturn’s moon Titan have pulled a vanishing act, a study finds.
- Science & Society
Black hole image validates imagining the unimaginable
Human creativity conjured up the most extreme of astronomical phenomena long before they could be seen.
- Planetary Science
Israel’s first moon mission lost moments before landing
The spacecraft’s engine cut out just before it was to touch down in the Sea of Serenity.
- Astronomy
Meet one of the first scientists to see the historic black hole image
Kazunori Akiyama was one of the first scientists to see the black hole snapshot.
- Astronomy
How scientists took the first picture of a black hole
Here’s how scientists connected eight observatories across the world to create one Earth-sized telescope in order to create an image of a black hole.
- Astronomy
All you need to know about the history of black holes
From dreaming up black holes to snapping the first picture of one, the history of black holes has had many twists.
