Space & Future
Perseverance Rover discovers an ancient Martian beach, complete with waves
When the rover now named Perseverance landed in Jezero crater in early 2021, scientists already knew they had picked an interesting place to scope...
Scientists discover the largest sulfur molecule ever found in space
Astronomers have discovered the largest sulfur-containing molecule ever seen in space, offering new clues about how the chemical ingredients of life may form long...
How baby black holes became giants in the early universe
One of astronomy’s biggest mysteries has long puzzled scientists: how did black holes grow so enormous so quickly after the universe was born?
New research...
A star went dark for 9 months—scientists now know why
Astronomers have discovered a vast cloud filled with vaporized metals and powerful winds orbiting a mysterious object far from its host star.
The finding offers...
How tiny Mars helps set Earth’s ice ages
Mars is only about half the size of Earth and has just one-tenth of our planet’s mass.
Compared with giants like Jupiter, it seems far...
When a black hole ate a super-sized star: Inside the violent “whippet” explosion
Astronomers have witnessed an extraordinary cosmic catastrophe: a black hole tearing apart a massive star and devouring it piece by piece.
The dramatic event, nicknamed...
Why the carbon in your body and the oxygen you breathe came from ancient...
Where did the carbon in our bodies and the oxygen we breathe come from?
Astronomers have been asking this question for decades, and a new...
What Jupiter’s swirls and Saturn’s hexagon reveal about the planets’ hidden interiors
For years, spacecraft images have shown that the poles of Jupiter and Saturn are anything but calm. Each planet hosts giant atmospheric whirlpools called...
Astronomers discover a ‘dead’ galaxy that was choked by its own black hole
Astronomers have discovered one of the oldest “dead” galaxies ever seen—and its story is not one of sudden destruction, but of slow starvation.
Using the...
Enceladus plumes may hold a clear clue to ocean habitability
How can scientists estimate the pH level of Enceladus’ subsurface ocean without landing on its surface?
This is what a recently submitted study hopes to...
Astronomers solve the mystery of the universe’s “little red dots”
Ever since the James Webb Space Telescope began sending back its first breathtaking images in late 2021, astronomers have been fascinated—and confused—by strange red...
Jupiter’s stormy clouds hide an oxygen-rich world below
Jupiter may look like a swirling ball of colorful clouds, but beneath that dramatic surface lies a world scientists have struggled to understand for...
Deep Space
Scientists discover the second alignment plane of our solar system
A study of comet motions indicates that the Solar System has a second alignment plane.
Analytical investigation of the orbits of long-period comets shows that...
Did the last great galactic merger create the Milky Way’s Bar
The Milky Way is a spiral galaxy.
More specifically, it is a barred spiral galaxy, meaning that within its central region, there is a bar...
Scientists discover moon asteroid impacts mirrored on Earth
Scientists have found asteroid impacts on the Moon millions of years ago coincided precisely with some of the largest meteorite impacts on Earth, such...
Why does Mars have way fewer minerals than Earth?
You might think that Mars, our planetary neighbor, would be a lot like Earth, right?
Well, in some ways it is, but a new study...
Scientists discover vaporized crusts of Earth-like planets in dying stars
Remnants of planets with Earth-like crusts have been discovered in the atmospheres of four nearby white dwarf stars by University of Warwick astronomers.
The discover...