An explanation for rogue planets. They were eroded down by hot stars
The dividing line between stars and planets is that stars have enough mass to fuse hydrogen into helium to produce their own light, while...
Flowing Martian water was protected by sheets of carbon dioxide
Mars’ ancient climate is one of our Solar System’s most perplexing mysteries. The planet was once wet and warm; now it’s dry and cold.
Whatever...
You can build a home radio telescope to detect clouds of hydrogen in the...
If I ask you to picture a radio telescope, you probably imagine a large dish pointing to the sky, or even an array of...
Mighty radio bursts linked to massive galaxies
Since their discovery in 2007, fast radio bursts—extremely energetic pulses of radio-frequency light—have lit up the sky repeatedly, leading astronomers on a chase to...
Scientists have figured out why Martian soil is so crusty
On November 26, 2018, NASA's Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy, and Heat Transport (InSight) mission landed on Mars.
This was a major milestone in...
Habitable worlds are found in safe places
When we think of exoplanets that may be able to support life, we hone in on the habitable zone.
A habitable zone is a region...
Feasting black hole found devouring matter at unbelievable speeds in early universe
Astronomers have discovered a black hole in the early universe that is consuming matter at an astonishing rate—more than 40 times the theoretical limit.
This...
Scientists uncover how icy Mars once hosted rivers and a vast lake
New research suggests that ancient Mars, despite its icy conditions, once had rivers, lakes, and even a vast Mediterranean-sized lake, all flowing under thick...
Jupiter’s Great Red Spot: Wobbling and shrinking like never before!
Jupiter’s Great Red Spot (GRS) has long been a mystery to astronomers.
This massive storm, larger than Earth, has swirled in Jupiter's atmosphere for over...
Another way to extract energy from black holes?
The gravitational field of a rotating black hole is powerful and strange.
It is so powerful that it warps space and time back upon itself,...