All Stories by Lisa Grossman
- Space
The Blue Ghost lander just witnessed a lunar eclipse — from the moon
The privately-owned lander turned its cameras toward Earth as our planet cast its shadow over the moon. It’s not the first spacecraft to do so.
- Space
Two privately-owned spacecraft make contact from the moon
Firefly Aerospace landed a craft safely last week, a first for a private company. But Intuitive Machines’ mission ended when its lander wound up on its side in a crater.
- Astronomy
The Milky Way’s black hole is constantly bubbling
The disc of plasma surrounding the black hole at the heart of the Milky Way is constantly emitting flares both large and small.
- Planetary Science
A private mission to Venus aims to look for signs of life
If successful, Morning Star would be the first private mission to another planet and the first in over 30 years to directly measure Venus’s clouds.
- Space
Earth had new, temporary radiation rings last year
Two bands of radiation called the Van Allen belts encircle Earth. After a May 2024 solar superstorm, two more showed up between those belts.
- Science & Society
‘Uncertain, anxious, fearful.’ That’s the mood at 2025’s first big U.S. science meeting
Scientists are losing funding and even their jobs under the new Trump administration. Researchers at the AAAS meeting shared fears and coping strategies.
- Astronomy
A fast radio burst from a dead galaxy puzzles astronomers
A blast of radio waves from the outskirts of an ancient galaxy challenges theories about what creates such bursts.
- Planetary Science
The moon’s two grand canyons formed in less than 10 minutes
Two gargantuan canyons on the moon were carved by a hailstorm of rocks — and that’s good news for future lunar astronauts.
- Astronomy
A cosmic ‘Platypus’ might link two astronomical mysteries
A flash of light called the Platypus has hallmarks of a mid-sized black hole shredding a star and a type of burst thought to be a stellar explosion.
- Astronomy
Galactic chaos at cosmic noon may have stunted Milky Way planet formation
High radiation during a time of frenzied star formation in the Milky Way left one stellar population with few chances to form planets, a study reports.
- Planetary Science
A crumbling exoplanet spills its guts
Astronomers have determined the internal composition of a distant, disintegrating planet for the first time.
- Planetary Science
Pluto may have captured its moon Charon with a kiss
When Pluto met Charon, there was an instant connection, new simulations suggest.
