Space
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Astronomy
A 3-D map of stars reveals the Milky Way’s warped shape
Our galaxy flaunts its curves in a chart of thousands of stars called Cepheids.
- Astronomy
TESS has found the first-ever ‘ultrahot Neptune’
NASA’s TESS telescope has spotted a world that could be a bridge between other types of exoplanets: hot Jupiters and scorched Earths.
- Cosmology
Debate over the universe’s expansion rate may unravel physics. Is it a crisis?
Measurements of the Hubble constant don’t line up. Scientists debate what that means.
- Astronomy
In a first, physicists re-created the sun’s spiraling solar wind in a lab
Some of the sun’s fundamental physics have been re-created with plasma inside a vacuum chamber
- Astronomy
NASA’s Chandra X-ray telescope celebrates 20 years in space
The U.S. space agency has released new images for the Chandra X-ray Observatory’s 20th birthday.
- Planetary Science
India’s first lunar lander is on its way to the moon
India’s Chandrayaan 2 mission just launched, hoping to become the first Indian spacecraft to land on the moon.
- Cosmology
Scientists still can’t agree on the universe’s expansion rate
A mismatch in measurements of how fast the universe is expanding might not be real, a study hints.
- Earth
Night-shining ‘noctilucent’ clouds have crept south this summer
Clouds high in the atmosphere that catch the sun’s rays even after sundown may be seen farther from the poles due to an increase in moisture in the air.
- Astronomy
Gaps in gas disks around stars may not always mark newborn planets
New research has prompted a rethink of the theory that gaps in planet-forming disks around young stars mark spaces where planets are being created.
- Planetary Science
Accolades, skepticism and science marked Science News’ coverage of Apollo
Science News’ coverage of the Apollo program stayed focused on the science but also framed the moon missions in the broader social and political context of the era.
- Planetary Science
How NASA has kept Apollo moon rocks safe from contamination for 50 years
NASA wouldn’t let our reporter touch the Apollo moon rocks. Here’s why that’s a good thing.
- Planetary Science
Apollo astronauts left trash, mementos and experiments on the moon
Here’s what planetary scientists are learning from the remains of Apollo outposts, and how archeologists hope to preserve it.
