Space
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Astronomy
A nebula’s X-ray glow may come from a destroyed giant planet
Decades of constant X-ray emission from the Helix Nebula’s white dwarf suggest debris from a Jupiter-sized planet steadily rains upon the star.
- Space
‘Star Wars’ holds clues to making speedier spacecraft in the real world
Controlled fusion, solar sails or ion engines could someday help spaceships travel between star systems.
- Space
JWST spots the earliest sign yet of a distant galaxy reshaping its cosmic environs
The galaxy, called JADES-GS-z13-1, marks the earliest sign yet spotted of the era of cosmic reionization at 330 million years after the Big Bang.
- Cosmology
A map of 14 million galaxies and quasars deepens a dark energy mystery
The DESI experiment shocked cosmologists with a hint that dark energy varies over time. Now, with more data, the conclusions hold up.
- Space
The nearest single star to Earth has four small planets
Last year, astronomers announced that a planet orbits Barnard’s star. Now, researchers have confirmed the existence of three more.
- Space
Two astronauts stuck in space for 9 months have returned to Earth
Astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore’s extended stay in the International Space Station will add to what we know about how space affects health.
- Cosmology
New baby pictures of the universe deepen a cosmic mystery
Cosmic microwave background data support cosmology’s standard model but retain a mystery about the universe’s expansion rate.
- Space
The Blue Ghost lander just witnessed a lunar eclipse — from the moon
The privately-owned lander turned its cameras toward Earth as our planet cast its shadow over the moon. It’s not the first spacecraft to do so.
- Chemistry
A new iron compound hints ‘primordial’ helium hides in Earth’s core
Earth’s core could contain helium from the early solar system. The noble gas tucks into gaps in iron crystals under high pressure and temperature.
- Planetary Science
Uranus emits more heat than previously thought
Uranus radiates more energy than it gets from the sun, two new studies find — just as Jupiter, Saturn and Neptune do.
- Space
Two privately-owned spacecraft make contact from the moon
Firefly Aerospace landed a craft safely last week, a first for a private company. But Intuitive Machines’ mission ended when its lander wound up on its side in a crater.
- Planetary Science
Juno reveals dozens of lava lakes on Jupiter’s moon Io
NASA’s Juno spacecraft identifies over 40 enormous lava lakes on Io, shedding light on the extreme volcanism sculpting Jupiter’s moon.
