Space
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Planetary Science
Some exoplanets may be covered in weird water that’s between liquid and gas
“Supercritical” water, a corrosive substance used to break down toxic waste on Earth, coats some small worlds around other stars, simulations suggest.
- Space
A newfound exoplanet may be the exposed core of a gas giant
A planet about 734 light-years away could be a former gas giant that lost its atmosphere or a failed giant that never finished growing.
- Planetary Science
An asteroid’s moon got a name so NASA can bump it off its course
A tiny moon orbiting an asteroid finally got a name because NASA plans to crash a spacecraft into it.
- Space
Colliding black holes may have created a surprising flare of light
A flare-up after a gravitational wave outburst may be the first sighting of light from colliding black holes.
- Particle Physics
Physicists spot a new class of neutrinos from the sun
Researchers with the Borexino experiment in Italy have detected neutrinos produced in the secondary fusion process taking place in the sun’s core.
- Space
LIGO and Virgo detected a collision between a black hole and a mystery object
The first evidence of an object more massive than any neutron star and more lightweight than any black hole has astronomers wondering what it is.
- Space
Black hole plasma jets are shaped like bell-bottoms
Jets of high-energy particles change from slightly curved sides to flared cones as they shoot away from galaxies, just like flare-legged pants.
- Particle Physics
Measuring the neutron’s lifetime from space could solve an enduring mystery
Measurements on Earth show that lone neutrons decay after about 15 minutes, and now scientists have measured that lifetime from space.
- Space
Flat spots on Saturn’s moon Titan may be the floors of ancient lake beds
Bright radio signals from Titan indicate the presence of ancient lake beds in its tropics, a new analysis finds.
- Quantum Physics
This weird quantum state of matter was made in orbit for the first time
Bose-Einstein condensates made on the International Space Station could reach temperatures lower than any known in the universe.
- Space
The Milky Way’s giant gas bubbles were seen in visible light for the first time
Variation in the light’s wavelengths could help scientists map the velocity of the gas that makes up the towering structures known as Fermi bubbles.
- Space
A Milky Way flash implicates magnetars as a source of fast radio bursts
A bright radio burst seen from a magnetar in the Milky Way suggests that similar objects produce the mysterious fast radio bursts observed in other galaxies.
