Space
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Planetary Science
Saturn’s rings paint some of its moons shades of blue and red
Moons located among Saturn’s inner rings are different colors depending on their distance from the planet, suggesting they’re picking up ring debris.
- Planetary Science
Kuiper Belt dust may be in our atmosphere (and NASA labs) right now
Bits of space debris that collect in Earth’s atmosphere may come from as far as the cold, distant Kuiper Belt region beyond Neptune.
- Planetary Science
Ryugu is probably a chip off one of these two other asteroids
Japan’s Hayabusa2 team has narrowed down the asteroid Ryugu’s origins based on its color.
- Astronomy
X-ray ‘chimneys’ connect the Milky Way to mysterious gamma-ray bubbles
Two columns of X-rays that are hundreds of light-years long could explain the existence of giant bubbles of energetic light that sandwich the galaxy.
- Planetary Science
Surprising astronomers, Bennu spits plumes of dust into space
Bennu spews dust from its rocky surface, which may be a new kind of asteroid activity.
- Planetary Science
Ultima Thule may be a frankenworld
The first geologic map of Ultima Thule shows it might be made of many smaller rocks that clumped together under the force of their own gravity.
- Astronomy
One of the strongest known solar storms blasted Earth in 660 B.C.
Ice cores and tree rings reveal that Earth was blasted with a powerful solar storm 2,610 years ago.
- Astronomy
Merging magnetic blobs fuel the sun’s huge plasma eruptions
Solar eruptions called coronal mass ejections grow from a series of smaller events, observations show.
- Astronomy
Readers have questions about Ultima Thule, thirsty plants and vitamin D
Readers had comments and questions about Ultima Thule, photosynthesis and more.
- Astronomy
The first planet Kepler spotted has finally been confirmed 10 years later
Astronomers had dismissed the first exoplanet candidate spotted by the Kepler space telescope as a false alarm.
- Cosmology
Hidden ancient neutrinos may shape the patterns of galaxies
The gravitational pull of subatomic particles born in the universe’s first second seem to influence how galaxies cluster into rings.
- Astronomy
3 explanations for ‘Oumuamua that aren’t alien spaceships
Astronomers are coming up with some creative ideas to explain the weird behavior of the first known interstellar object.
