Astronomy
- Astronomy
Neptune-like worlds could become habitable
Mini-Neptunes can drift toward their stars and lose their atmospheres, leaving behind ice-rich rocky cores that can become watery worlds.
- Astronomy
Oldest solar system unearthed by Kepler
Five rocky planets orbit the 11.2-billion-year-old star Kepler 444, suggesting that Earth-sized worlds formed in the early universe.
- Planetary Science
Large asteroid buzzes Earth
Asteroid 2004 BL86 swings by Earth today at three times the distance to the moon, the closest asteroid encounter until 2027.
- Astronomy
Rocky planets around cool stars may have Earthlike climates
Small, rocky planets that sit close to cool stars might be able to keep spinning, creating conditions hospitable to life.
- Astronomy
Large rocky planets excel at ocean building
Rocky planets a few times as massive as Earth may build deeper oceans – and sustain them for longer – than smaller worlds.
- Astronomy
Hubble telescope captures panorama of Andromeda galaxy
The Hubble Space Telescope captured a panoramic mosaic of the closest spiral galaxy to the Milky Way, mapping the light from over 100 million stars.
- Astronomy
Pair of black holes prepare to take the plunge
A pair of supermassive black holes in a distant galaxy will likely collide in the next million years.
- Astronomy
Kepler telescope discovers another 554 possible planets
Extra year of Kepler telescope data adds 554 possible planets and eight confirmed ones that might be able to host life.
- Astronomy
Hubble telescope snaps new images of iconic stellar nursery
Hubble's new view of the Pillars of Creation, a star-forming region in the Milky Way, hints at how the nebula has changed over the last 20 years.
- Astronomy
Europa’s geysers play hard-to-see
Follow-up observations of Europa failed to confirm the existence of geysers venting the Jupiter moon’s hidden ocean into space.
By Andrew Grant - Astronomy
Hubble telescope spots our galaxy’s newest neighbor
The Milky Way galaxy has a new neighbor, Hubble images show.
- Astronomy
Revived Kepler telescope finds first exoplanet
NASA’s Kepler space telescope finds its first planet — a possible super-Earth — since getting a second chance at life.