Space
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Planetary Science
Granite likely lurks beneath the moon’s surface
Without plate tectonics or water, granite is hard to make. But a 50-kilometer-wide hunk sits beneath the moon’s surface, lunar orbiter data suggest.
- Planetary Science
A rain of electrons causes Mercury’s X-ray auroras
The first direct measurement of electrons raining down on Mercury suggests this particle precipitation causes most auroras in the solar system.
- Astronomy
Ryugu asteroid samples are sprinkled with stardust older than the solar system
Slivers of the asteroid appear to be from the fringes of the solar system and could reveal bits of the history of the sun and its planets.
- Physics
Mass has different definitions. The moon’s orbit confirms two are equivalent
Laser measurements of the moon’s orbit square with Newton’s third law of motion and Einstein’s theory of gravity.
- Astronomy
Coronal rain has been seen splashing on the sun
New images of the solar corona, taken by the Solar Orbiter probe, reveal bright fireball effects and upwelling induced by falling plasma droplets.
- Physics
Neutrinos offer a new view of the Milky Way
Physicists turned to AI to help map out the newfound origins of ghostly neutrino particles coming from deep in the Milky Way.
- Astronomy
A newfound gravitational wave ‘hum’ may be from the universe’s biggest black holes
Scientists reported evidence for a new class of gravitational waves, likely created by merging supermassive black holes.
- Astronomy
200 years ago, the Milky Way’s central black hole briefly awoke
The black hole is thought to be mostly quiet and dim. Now, glowing cosmic clouds have revealed the behemoth’s last flare.
- Physics
Julian Muñoz has a ‘ruler’ that could size up the early universe
The measurement tool could lay out a distance scale for cosmic dawn —and offer clues to the nature of dark matter.
- Astronomy
50 years ago, a search for proof that the Maya tracked comets came up short
The mystery of whether the ancient civilization tracked comets endures, but recent evidence hints the Maya tracked related meteor showers.
- Astronomy
A star cluster in the Milky Way appears to be as old as the universe
Globular cluster M92 is about 13.8 billion years old, a new calculation suggests. Getting the age right could help resolve a bigger cosmic conundrum.
- Astronomy
‘Under Alien Skies’ imagines what the sky looks like on other planets
Astronomer Philip Plait’s new book takes readers on a thrilling ride to Mars, Pluto and even a black hole.
