ariel

Measuring the Atmospheres of Other Worlds to See if There are Enough Nutrients for Life

Life on Earth depends on six critical elements: Carbon, Hydrogen, Nitrogen, Oxygen, Phosphorous, and Sulfur. These elements are referred to…

2 weeks ago

ESA’s Ariel Mission is Approved to Begin Construction

We're about to learn a lot more about exoplanets. The ESA has just approved the construction of its Ariel mission,…

5 months ago

Ariane 6 Fires its Engines, Simulating a Flight to Space

The ESA recently conducted a test fire of its next-generation Ariane 6 rocket, a dress rehearsal for its first test…

5 months ago

The Most Compelling Places to Search for Life Will Look Like “Anomalies”

A new study considers how future astrobiology studies could search for life "as we don't know it" on exoplanets.

8 months ago

Four of Uranus’ Moons Might Have Liquid Oceans, Too

The study of ocean worlds, planetary bodies with potential interior reservoirs of liquid water, has come to the forefront in…

11 months ago

ESA’s ARIEL Mission Will Study the Atmospheres of More Than 1,000 Exoplanets

We found our first exoplanets orbiting a pulsar in 1992. Since then, we've discovered many thousands more. Those were the…

2 years ago

What Mission Could Detect Oceans at Uranus’ Moons?

Exploration of ocean worlds has become a hot topic of late, primarily due to their role as a potential harbor…

3 years ago

Uranus’ Moons are Surprisingly Similar to Dwarf Planets in the Kuiper Belt

Astronomer William Herschel discovered Uranus—and two of its moons—230 years ago. Now a group of astronomers working with data from…

4 years ago

Uranus’ “Frankenstein Moon” Miranda

Ever since the Voyager space probes ventured into the outer Solar System, scientists and astronomers have come to understand a…

8 years ago

Uranus’ “Sprightly” Moon Ariel

The outer Solar System has enough mysteries and potential discoveries to keep scientists busy for decades. Case in point, Uranus…

8 years ago