Space
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Planetary Science
Neptune’s balmy south pole
Neptune's south pole is about 10°C warmer than any other place on the planet.
- Astronomy
Sputnik + 50
The launch of Sputnik 1, 50 years ago, ushered in a scientific and technological revolution, but dreams of the human conquest of space have faded.
- Astronomy
Out-of-focus find
Blurry images yield estimates of the true width of glowing meteor vapor trails in Earth's upper atmosphere.
- Planetary Science
Muddying the Water? Orbiter drains confidence from fluid story of Mars
New images of Mars diminish the evidence that liquid water has flowed on some parts of the planet, but bolster the case in other places.
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- Planetary Science
Survivor: Extrasolar planet escapes stellar attack
An extrasolar planet survived after its aging parent star ballooned into a red giant that almost engulfed it.
- Astronomy
Bloated planet
A newly discovered exoplanet is the largest and lowest-density such object yet found.
- Astronomy
Major merger
Four galaxies are ramming into each other in one of the biggest cosmic collisions ever recorded.
- Planetary Science
A different view of Uranus’ rings
The rings of Uranus are now tilted edge on to Earth, revealing small, inner rings made of fine dust.
- Astronomy
Killer Collision: Dino demise traces to asteroid-family breakup
The asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs 65 million years ago was a wayward fragment from a violent collision in the asteroid belt.
- Astronomy
Dawn of a Disk: Water vapor pours down on embryonic star
Infrared observations show water vapor pouring down on a planet-forming disk around a young star.
- Astronomy
Separation Anxiety: Cosmic collision may shed light on dark matter
The debris from an ancient collision of galaxy clusters seems to show cosmic dark matter behaving in a puzzling way.
