Space

Astronomy

Astronomers get glimpse of star 9 billion light-years away

A bright blue star sends its light from two-thirds of the way across the universe, thanks to a chance alignment with a galaxy cluster.

Planetary Science

Juno will fly a mere 9,000 km above Jupiter’s Great Red Spot

Juno is about to get up close and personal with Jupiter’s Great Red Spot.

Planetary Science

Readers intrigued by Mars’ far-out birth

Readers sent feedback on the Red Planet's formation, jumping genes and more

Planetary Science

The moon might have had a heavy metal atmosphere with supersonic winds

Heat from a glowing infant Earth could have vaporized the moon’s metals into an atmosphere as thick as Mars’, a new simulation shows.

Tech

Gecko-inspired robot grippers could grab hold of space junk

Aboard a microgravity plane, NASA is testing gecko-inspired grippers that one day could help clear up space junk.

Astronomy

Satellite trio will hunt gravitational waves from space

The European Space Agency has green-lighted the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna, expected to launch in 2034.

Astronomy

Kepler shows small exoplanets are either super-Earths or mini-Neptunes

The final catalog from the Kepler space telescope splits Earthlike exoplanets into two groups and pinpoints 10 new rocky planets in the habitable zone.

Astronomy

Eclipse watchers catch part of the sun’s surface fleeing to space

A serendipitous eruption during a solar eclipse showed relatively cool blobs of plasma, wrapped in a million-degree flame, streaming from the sun.

Planetary Science

See the latest stunning views of Jupiter

Once every 53 days, NASA’s Juno spacecraft zooms past Jupiter’s cloud tops. A new sequence of images reveals the encounter from Juno’s viewpoint.

Astronomy

Life might have a shot on planets orbiting dim red stars

The number of planets in the habitable zone of dim red suns, known as M dwarfs, is growing. They’re a good place to look for life.

Planetary Science

Jupiter’s precocious birth happened in the solar system’s first million years

Jupiter formed within the first million years of the solar system, according to meteorite measurements.

Cosmology

Milky Way’s loner status is upheld

Galaxy surveys show the Milky Way lives in a vast cosmic void, which could help ease tensions between ways of measuring how fast the universe is expanding.