Wind and Solar Power Could Generate Most But Not All of the Electricity in the USA
Wind and solar power could generate most but not all electricity in the United States, according to an analysis of 36 years of weather data…
Carnegie Institution for Science News
Astronomers Measure Temperature Shift in Brown Dwarfs for the First Time
Brown dwarfs, the larger cousins of giant planets, undergo atmospheric changes from cloudy to cloudless as they age and cool. A team of astronomers led…
Water on the Moon Raises Questions About Its Origin Story
It’s amazing what a difference a little water can make. The Moon formed between about 4.4 and 4.5 billion years ago when an object collided…
New ALMA Discovery Raises Questions About the Habitability of Proxima b
Space weather emitted by Proxima Centauri, the star closest to our sun, may make that system rather inhospitable to life after all. Using data from…
Astronomers Unlock the Mysteries of Super-Earths
A star about 100 light years away in the Pisces constellation, GJ 9827, hosts what may be one of the most massive and dense super-Earth…
Carbon-Rich Stardust Grains Unlock Astrophysical Mysteries
Dust is everywhere — not just in your attic or under your bed, but also in outer space. To astronomers, dust can be a nuisance…
Oxygen-Rich Iron Reservoirs Could Have Played a Crucial Role in the Creation of Life
A new study from the Carnegie Institution For Science shows that reservoirs of oxygen-rich iron between the Earth’s core and mantle could have played a…
Dataset of 1,600 Nearby Stars Available to the Public
Carnegie Institution for Science has made a huge dataset of 1,600 nearby stars available to the public so they can help find signs of new…
Astronomers Discover Potential New Hunting Ground for Exoplanets
A group of citizen scientists and professional astronomers have discovered a star surrounded by the oldest known circumstellar disk — a primordial ring of gas…
The Interior Chemistry of Distant Planet’s May Differ from Earth
New research suggests that magnesium peroxide may be abundant in extremely oxidized mantles and cores of rocky planets outside our Solar System. As astronomers continue…
Flat-Slab Subduction in South America Mirrors Formation of Rocky Mountains
For the first time, Yale University geophysicists are getting to look at a geological process in South America that mirrors the formation of America’s Rocky…
New Surface Composition Maps of Mercury Provide Clues to the Planet’s History
Using data from the MESSENGER spacecraft, scientists reveal previously unrecognized geochemical terranes of Mercury. Two new papers from members of the MESSENGER Science Team provide…
Scientists Synthesize an Entirely New Form of Silicon
Using a novel high-pressure precursor process, scientists from the Carnegie Institution for Science have synthesized an entirely new form of silicon. Silicon is the second…
Study Reveals Water on Earth is Older Than Our Sun
A newly published study from the Carnegie Institution for Science reveals that a significant fraction of our Solar System’s water is older than the Sun…
Why Binary Stars Are So Abundant
New research from the Carnegie Institution for Science helps to explain why binary stars are so abundant. Washington, D.C. — New modeling studies from Carnegie’s…
Astronomers Solve Quasar Sequence Mystery
New research helps solves a quasar mystery that astronomers have been puzzling over for 20 years, presenting a pathway to a better understanding of how…
Astronomers Discover First Evidence of Water Ice Clouds Outside Our Solar System
Using the FourStar imager at Las Campanas Observatory, scientists have discovered evidence of water ice clouds on a newly discovered brown dwarf WISE J085510.83-071442.5 (W0855)…
Indications of Water Clouds in a Brown Dwarf 7 Light-Years from Earth
A team of astronomers has discovered indications of water clouds in the coldest known brown dwarf, which is located 7.3 light-years from Earth. Astronomers have…
