Space
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Astronomy
From planet to plutoid
Pluto and its dwarf planet neighbors are christened plutoids, the International Astronomical Union rules.
- Space
Sizing up black holes
ST. LOUIS—Astronomers are all wound up over a new method for sizing up supermassive black holes found at the cores of galaxies. The method allows researchers for the first time to estimate the weight of these black holes in spiral galaxies up to 8 billion light-years away, or halfway across the universe, reports Marc Seigar […]
- Space
Outsiders look in
Astronomers stitch together the most detailed infrared picture of the inner Milky Way.
- Space
Dispatch from Mars, Sol 9
The Phoenix Lander's robotic arm scoops its first experimental sample, and scientists prepare to start their scientific studies on the Martian soil.
- Space
Potential future fireworks
Already bright enough to be seen with the naked eye, the star epsilon Aurigae may be trembling at the brink of a powerful outburst.
- Planetary Science
Colliding moonlets
New photos of collisions in one of Saturn’s rings provide a local lab for understanding the interactions that might shape young solar system formation.
- Space
Better view of the Milky Way
New studies revise the structure of the Milky Way, exchanging the old map of a four-armed spiral galaxy for a two-arm version. The makeover also includes the discovery of a smaller, short, gaseous arm that is a long-sought counterpart to a similar arm near the galaxy’s center.
- Planetary Science
Small exoplanet discovered
Astronomers have discovered the smallest planet known that is beyond the solar system and orbits an ordinary parent body.
- Space
Making an impression
In its seventh day after successfully landing on the Red Planet, the Phoenix Lander digs its first trench and is ready to start its ice-hunting.
- Planetary Science
Dispatch from Mars, Sol 4
The good news is a tentative sighting of ice by the Mars Phoenix Lander. The bad news is the discovery of a glitch in the system that will analyze soil samples.
- Planetary Science
Rarin’ to go
After a day’s delay, the robotic arm on the Mars Phoenix Lander is free of its shackles and is preparing to dig for ice.
- Planetary Science
More than a pinch
Water believed to flow on the Red Planet would have been too salty to foster life, scientists suggest.
