Solar System
Instead of Losing its Atmosphere, an Exoplanet Puffed Up and Held Onto it
To date, astronomers have confirmed the existence of 5638 extrasolar planets in 4,199 star systems. In the process, scientists have…
New Telescope Images of Io are so Good, it Looks like a Spacecraft Took Them
The Large Binocular Telescope (LBT), located on Mount Graham in Arizona and run by the University of Arizona, is part…
White Dwarfs are Often Polluted With Heavier Elements. Now We Know Why
When stars exhaust their hydrogen fuel at the end of their main sequence phase, they undergo core collapse and shed…
What Deadly Venus Can Tell Us About Life on Other Worlds
Even though Venus and Earth are so-called sister planets, they're as different as heaven and hell. Earth is a natural…
Hubble Has Accidentally Discovered Over a Thousand Asteroids
The venerable Hubble Space Telescope is like a gift that keeps on giving. Not only is it still making astronomical…
Are Titan's Dunes Made of Comet Dust?
A new theory suggests that Titan's majestic dune fields may have come from outer space. Researchers had always assumed that…
Formation-Flying Spacecraft Could Probe the Solar System for New Physics
It's an exciting time for the fields of astronomy, astrophysics, and cosmology. Thanks to cutting-edge observatories, instruments, and new techniques,…
DART Changed the Shape of Asteroid Dimorphos, not Just its Orbit
On September 26th, 2022, NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) collided with the asteroid Dimorphos, a moonlet that orbits the…
What Can We Learn Flying Through the Plumes at Enceladus?
In the next decade, space agencies will expand the search for extraterrestrial life beyond Mars, where all of our astrobiology…
This Hot Jupiter is Doomed to Crash Into its Star in Just Three Million Years
In 2008, astronomers with the SuperWASP survey spotted WASP-12b as it transited in front of its star. At the time,…