Space
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- 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.
- Astronomy
Hubble telescope spots our galaxy’s newest neighbor
The Milky Way galaxy has a new neighbor, Hubble images show.
- Planetary Science
Grazing crater rim may have saved comet lander
Bumping off the rim of a crater probably saved the robotic comet Philae from a cold, dark death, a new analysis of images suggests.
- 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.
- Planetary Science
Rosetta may have spotted comet’s primordial ingredients
Photos taken by the Rosetta spacecraft may show pristine material that formed the solar system’s comets, asteroids and planets roughly 4.6 billion years ago.
- Astronomy
Year in review: Dust obscures possible gravitational wave discovery
A possible signal from moments after the Big Bang may be due to dust in the Milky Way galaxy.
- Planetary Science
Year in review: Rosetta mission hits its target
The Rosetta spacecraft and its lander Philae are providing an intimate look at the life of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.
- Astronomy
Gamma-ray bursts may repeatedly wipe out life
Brief bursts of high-energy radiation may sterilize most planets across the universe, hampering the chances for widespread intelligent life.
- Planetary Science
Rover finds methane in Mars air, organics in rocks
NASA’s Curiosity rover has found organic molecules on Mars, but scientists can’t say whether they are a sign of life on the Red Planet.
