While a flurry of missions crowded around Mars this year, some lesser-explored parts of the solar system are about to get fresh eyes. Three countries visited the Red Planet in…
Category: Space
Red giant stars that eat planets might shine less brightly
When giant stars eat giant planets, their starlight may shine a bit less brightly. That dimming could affect how astronomers measure distances across the universe — and possibly even put…
How slime mold helped scientists map out the cosmic web
Creeping tendrils of slime seem to mirror the structure of the universe’s enormous filaments. That superficial similarity, in an organism called a slime mold, helped scientists map out the cosmic…
Physics Nobel awarded for discoveries about the universe’s evolution and exoplanets
Two sets of cosmic discoveries have garnered the 2019 Nobel Prize in physics. Half of the prize of 9 million Swedish kronor (about $900,000) goes to James Peebles of Princeton…
A new book explores how the concept of the multiverse has evolved
The Number of the HeavensTom SiegfriedHarvard Univ., $29.95 There is no bigger question than whether the universe is all there is. Scientists are juggling several ideas for what a multiverse,…
Debate over the universe’s expansion rate may unravel physics. Is it a crisis?
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — The word “crisis” hung in the air from the very beginning of the meeting. In a room just steps from the ocean in Santa Barbara, astronomers…
5 cool things to know about NASA’s Lucy mission to the Trojan asteroids
For the first time, a spacecraft is headed to Jupiter’s odd Trojan asteroids. What Lucy finds there could provide a fresh peek into the history of the solar system. “Lucy…
Earth is reflecting less light. It’s not clear if that’s a trend
The amount of sunlight that Earth reflects back into space — measured by the dim glow seen on the dark portions of a crescent moon’s face — has decreased measurably…
China’s lunar rock samples show lava flowed on the moon 2 billion years ago
Lava oozed across the moon’s surface just 2 billion years ago, bits of lunar rocks retrieved by China’s Chang’e-5 mission reveal. A chemical analysis of the volcanic rocks confirms that…
Space rocks may have bounced off baby Earth, but slammed into Venus
Squabbling sibling planets may have hurled space rocks when they were young. Simulations suggest that space rocks the size of baby planets struck both the newborn Earth and Venus, but…
