Hidden Ocean Waves May Have Carved Enceladus’s Mysterious Tiger Stripes
Saturn’s icy moon Enceladus is famous for four enormous parallel cracks running across its south pole.
Known as “tiger stripes,” these deep fractures release water...
Venus’s Pale Clouds May Be Hiding a Surprisingly Dark Mystery
Venus looks like a pale yellow world in visible light, but ultraviolet images tell a very different story.
They reveal striking dark and bright patterns...
Some Comets are Naked, and One Just Got Caught Photo-Bombing
Observing comets is tricky. They're easier to see when they're closer to the Sun, but proximity to the star heats them up and releases...
Mysterious ‘Little Red Dots’ May Hide Supermassive Black Holes
Some of the most mysterious objects spotted in the early universe may be supermassive black holes sitting inside surprisingly small and dense galaxies, according...
Moon Dust Could Reveal 100 million Years of Exploding Star History
The soil covering the moon may contain a remarkable record of ancient stars that exploded millions of years ago.
Scientists have developed a new way...
The Sun’s Wild Past May Have Shaped Earth’s Climate and Helped Life Begin
The sun does much more than provide Earth with light and warmth.
Two new studies suggest that events in the sun’s distant past—from traveling through...
Space Rocks Don’t Just Burn Up—Scientists Discover What Really Happens
When a space rock plunges into Earth’s atmosphere, it creates a brilliant streak of light before some pieces may eventually reach the ground as...
Ancient Meteorite Dust Reveals Magnetism May Have Helped Build Our Sun
About 4.6 billion years ago, our solar system looked nothing like it does today. Instead of a sun surrounded by planets, it began as...
Astronomers Discover 4 Strange Planets Around One of Our Closest Stars
Astronomers have taken their most detailed look yet at a fascinating group of small planets orbiting Barnard’s Star, one of the closest stars to...
Why a Planet’s Slow Spin Could Turn It into a Scorching World Like Venus
Why did Earth become a comfortable home for life while its similar-sized neighbor Venus turned into a scorching world with a crushing atmosphere?
Scientists think...