Space
Phosphorus, a key ingredient of life, has been found in a newborn star system
Astrochemists map phosphorus-bearing molecules in a star-forming cloud, giving clues to how this vital element may have arrived on Earth.
Planetary Science
More Stories in Planetary Science
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SpaceThis ancient stardust is the oldest ever to be examined in a lab
Tiny grains of stardust that formed long before our solar system are giving new insight into star formation in the Milky Way.
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SpaceHow 2019’s space missions explored distant worlds
Planets and asteroids and Arrokoth, oh my. Space probes had a busy year.
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SpaceChina stuck its moon landing this year. Others weren’t as lucky
Fifty years after Apollo 11 landed on the moon, Earth’s sidekick is getting renewed attention from space agencies around the world.
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SpaceNASA’s OSIRIS-REx must avoid ‘Mount Doom’ to return a sample of the asteroid Bennu
The OSIRIS-REx spacecraft finally has a target spot for sample collection, called Nightingale, on the asteroid Bennu.
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SpaceNASA’s MAVEN probe shows how wind circulates in Mars’ upper atmosphere
By using the MAVEN spacecraft to track winds in the Martian thermosphere, researchers hope to better understand how the atmosphere leaks into space.
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SpaceNASA’s Parker probe has spotted the Geminid meteor showers’ source
For the first time, we’ve spotted the trail of space debris responsible for the Geminid meteor shower.
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SpaceNASA’s Parker probe reveals the sun’s rogue plasma waves and magnetic islands
Scientists have analyzed the Parker probe’s first data, giving a peek at what’s to come as the craft moves closer to the sun over the next few years.
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Planetary ScienceRibose, a sugar needed for life, has been detected in meteorites
Samples of rocks that fell to Earth contain a key molecular ingredient of RNA, part of life’s genetic machinery.
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SpaceNASA gave Ultima Thule a new official name
The distant world briefly visited by New Horizons is now called Arrokoth, a Powhatan word that means “sky.”