378 results
- Planetary Science
In a first, astronomers spot the afterglow of an exoplanet collision
A surge of infrared light from a remote star might have been a glow cast by the vaporized leftovers of an impact between Neptune-sized worlds.
- Astronomy
50 years ago, astronomers challenged claims that Barnard’s star has a planet
Astronomers have been searching for planets around the sun’s close neighbor for decades.
- Astronomy
How tiny red stars can test ideas about the origin of life
A survey of ultracool dwarf stars finds they don’t emit enough UV light to kick-start life, but they could reveal other ways for life to get going.
- Astronomy
The first radiation belt outside the solar system has been spotted
Encircling a Jupiter-sized body about 18 light-years from Earth, the radiation belt is 10 million times as bright as the ones around Jupiter.
- Space
Clara Sousa-Silva seeks molecular signatures of life in alien atmospheres
Quantum astrochemist Clara Sousa-Silva studies how molecules in space interact with light, offering clues to what distant objects are made of.
- Science & Society
Here are 10 early-career scientists you should know about in 2023
Researchers on this year's SN 10: Scientists to Watch list are shaping our future and our understanding of ourselves.
- Astronomy
In 2022, the James Webb Space Telescope brought us new views of the cosmos
Science News looks back at some of the most stunning images from the James Webb telescope’s first year in space.
- Astronomy
The James Webb telescope is getting glimpses of small, far-off planets
Hints of one exoplanet atmosphere’s chemical makeup and the discovery of a planet orbiting another star are two of the telescope’s early successes.
- Astronomy
The James Webb telescope spotted CO2 in an exoplanet’s atmosphere
The first definitive detection of the gas on a world in another solar system paves the way for detections in planets that are more Earthlike.
- Space
How giant mirrors are made for what will be the world’s largest telescope
The Giant Magellan Telescope is slated to probe the cosmos for Earthlike worlds and atmospheric signatures of potential extraterrestrial life.
- Astronomy
Here’s the James Webb telescope’s first direct image of an exoplanet
Along with spying its first exoplanet, the James Webb telescope got its first direct spectrum of an object orbiting a star in another solar system.
- Astronomy
Mini-Neptunes may become super-Earths as the exoplanets lose their atmospheres
Starlight is eroding the atmospheres of a handful of gassy exoplanets that are a bit smaller than Neptune, gradually exposing the rocky cores within.
