How Mars lost its oceans
It has long been known that Mars once had oceans due in part to a protective magnetic field similar to Earth’s.
However, the magnetic field...
How dark matter could be measured in the solar system
Pictures of the Milky Way show billions of stars arranged in a spiral pattern radiating out from the center, with illuminated gas in between.
But...
Near-Earth comet destroys an ancient North American culture 1500 years ago
The rapid decline of the Hopewell culture about 1,500 years ago might be explained by falling debris from a near-Earth comet that created a...
Smaller planets with big moons may be right for life
The universe’s smaller planets are more likely to host the fractionally large moons that may be helpful for harboring life on those planets, researchers...
Scientists trace the movement of 10,000 galaxies and clusters
Everything in our universe moves, but the timescales needed to see motion are often vastly greater than human lifetimes.
In a major new study, astronomers...
Mini-Neptune planets are losing atmospheres and becoming super-earths
Astronomers have identified two different cases of "mini-Neptune" planets that are losing their puffy atmospheres and likely transforming into super-Earths.
Radiation from the planets' stars...
Scientists find a ‘one-off gift’ from Martian meteorite
Scientists find the first evidence of high-intensity damage caused by asteroid impact from a Martian meteorite.
The new finding has implications for understanding when conditions...
What makes planets habitable? Moons may tell us
Earth's moon is vitally important in making Earth the planet we know today:
The moon controls the length of the day and ocean tides, which...
Tug of sun, moon could be driving tectonic plate motions on Earth
A new study suggests that imbalanced forces and torques in the Earth-moon-sun system are behind movement of tectonic plates.
The new analysis provides an alternative...
Scientists find record number of orphan planets
Astronomers examined archived images and data from NSF's NOIRLab observatories, as well as other telescopes and facilities around the globe.
The astronomers identified at least...