Space
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Astronomy
Planet Formation on the Fast Track
New computer simulations suggest that planets as massive as Jupiter may have formed in only a few hundred years rather than several million years, as the leading theory of planet formation requires.
- Astronomy
Distant and Strange: Orb isn’t just another extrasolar planet
A novel search technique that could ultimately find Earthlike worlds has uncovered an extrasolar planet that is 30 times farther away than any other planet detected and lies closer to its parent star than does any other orb discovered to date.
- Planetary Science
Mars reveals more frozen water
Planetary scientists have discovered ice near the edge of Mars' south polar cap.
- Astronomy
Runaway black hole
Observing a black hole and its visible companion star caroming through our galaxy, astronomers have found the best evidence to date that stellar-mass black holes are born during supernova explosions.
- Astronomy
News of the Early Universe: Findings from the cosmic microwave background
The most detailed snapshots so far of the infant universe confirm that the cosmos consists mostly of mystery material, called dark energy, that accelerates the universe's expansion.
- Astronomy
News of the Early Universe: Findings from the cosmic microwave background
The most detailed snapshots so far of the infant universe confirm that the cosmos consists mostly of mystery material, called dark energy, that accelerates the universe's expansion.
- Planetary Science
Fresh crater found on lunar images
Scientists analyzing images of the moon's surface taken from lunar orbit believe they've identified the crater that formed when a small asteroid slammed into the moon almost 5 decades ago.
- Planetary Science
Fresh crater found on lunar images
Scientists analyzing images of the moon's surface taken from lunar orbit believe they've identified the crater that formed when a small asteroid slammed into the moon almost 5 decades ago.
- Planetary Science
Martian History: Weathering a new notion
Researchers suggest that intermittent impacts by huge asteroids and comets some 3.5 billion years ago profoundly influenced the landscape of Mars.
- Astronomy
Sizing up small stars
Astronomers have for the first time measured with high precision the size of a small star, Proxima Centauri, the known star nearest to the solar system.
- Astronomy
Milky Way’s Last Major Merger
Astronomers have found new evidence supporting the view that the Milky Way and many other spiral galaxies suffered their last major collision billions of years ago.
- Astronomy
Hubble Weighs In: Pinning down an extrasolar planet’s mass
Using a decades-old technique, astronomers have precisely measured the mass of a planet outside our solar system.
