Space
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Astronomy
China’s Chang’e-3 craft lands on the moon
The unmanned Chang’e-3 lunar lander and Yutu rover have made it to the moon's surface.
- Planetary Science
Europa vents water, Hubble data suggest
Plumes from ice-covered oceans would increase likelihood of life-friendly conditions on one moon of Jupiter.
- Cosmology
Cosmic inflation has its flaws, but so do its critics
Philosophical predispositions color efforts to debunk a popular theory about the evolution of the universe.
- Astronomy
Comet ISON was punier than previously thought
The ice ball was probably no wider than New York’s Central Park.
- Astronomy
Galaxy’s cloud catalog reveals hydrogen fog
Fifty percent of the molecular hydrogen exists in a gas layer that spreads throughout the Whirlpool galaxy and envelopes the giant clouds where stars form.
- Planetary Science
Mars was habitable longer, more recently than thought
Warmer, wetter conditions lasted until 3.5 billion years ago on the Red Planet.
- Astronomy
Saturn’s six-sided cloud pattern gets a close look
New images show particles in the planet’s hexagonally shaped jet stream.
- Astronomy
Sun’s rotation driven by enormous plasma flows
Long-lasting plasma flows 15 times the diameter of Earth transport heat from the sun’s depths to its surface, helping explain solar rotation.
- Astronomy
ISON appears to have broken up after brush with sun
Comet ISON has disintegrated in the sun’s intense heat and gravity, according to a growing consensus among astronomers.
- Planetary Science
Moon wears dusty cloak
Old data from Apollo missions stir up debate about speed of lunar dust accumulation.
- Planetary Science
China’s first moon-landing mission blasts off
If successful, the Chang’e 3 lunar lander and Yutu rover will be the first spacecraft to land on the moon in 37 years.
- Planetary Science
Turbulent ocean could explain Europa’s chaotic ice
New computer simulations show turbulent global ocean currents that distribute heat unevenly and could explain the formation of the chaotic ice patterns at the moon’s lower latitudes.
