Space
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Planetary Science
New Horizons gears up for its close encounter with Ultima Thule
On January 1, the New Horizons spacecraft will fly by Ultima Thule, the first small Kuiper Belt object ever to get a close visitor.
- Particle Physics
Neutrino discovery launched a new type of astronomy
Particles associated with a blazar kick-start the field of neutrino astronomy.
- Planetary Science
A buried lake on Mars excited and baffled scientists
Planetary scientists are still trying to explain how a lake could have formed beneath a kilometer and a half of Martian ice.
- Astronomy
The Parker Solar Probe takes its first up-close look at the sun
NASA’s Parker Solar Probe survived its first encounter with the sun and is sending data back to Earth.
- Planetary Science
NASA’s OSIRIS-REx finds signs of water on the asteroid Bennu
NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft found signs of water and lots of boulders on the asteroid Bennu.
- Cosmology
Voyager 2 spacecraft enters interstellar space
Voyager 2 just became the second probe ever to enter interstellar space, and the first with a working plasma instrument.
- Astronomy
Astronomers find far-flung wind from a black hole in the universe’s first light
The detection of black hole winds far from their host galaxy could reveal details of how galaxies and black holes grow up together.
- Physics
Readers inquire about a Neptune-sized moon, nuclear pasta and more
Readers had questions about a Neptune-sized moon, nuclear pasta and the search for extraterrestrial life.
- Physics
Scientists’ collection of gravitational waves just got a lot bigger
The biggest black hole merger yet seen created one set of the spacetime ripples.
- Planetary Science
NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft has finally arrived at asteroid Bennu
Planetary scientists hope the probe will reveal if such carbon-rich asteroids helped kick-start life on Earth.
- Astronomy
Astronomers have measured all the starlight ever emitted
Astronomers used distant blazars to tally up all the stray photons roaming through space.
- Planetary Science
NASA’s InSight lander has touched down safely on Mars
NASA’s InSight lander just touched down on Mars for a years-long study of the Red Planet’s insides.
