New Exoplanet-Hunting Facility (NGTS) Achieves First Light
The Next-Generation Transit Survey has achieved first light and will focus on discovering Neptune-sized and smaller planets, with diameters between two and eight times that…
The Next-Generation Transit Survey has achieved first light and will focus on discovering Neptune-sized and smaller planets, with diameters between two and eight times that…
Using a giant array of radio-telescope antennas and data from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft, astronomers have made the most accurate determinations yet of the position of…
Using the High-Accuracy Radial velocity Planet Searcher (HARPS), astronomers show that the recipe for Earth also applies to terrestrial exoplanets orbiting distant stars. How do…
Using Kepler data, a team of astronomers has discovered eight new planets orbiting their stars at a distance where liquid water can exist on the…
A newly published study from the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics reveals why oceans on super-Earths, once established, can last for billions of years. For life…
This Mars Express image shows a region of Mars filled with cliffs, trenches, faults, giant plateaus, and volcanoes. Although Mars is a very alien planet,…
After 87 months in space, NASA’s Dawn spacecraft is currently 400,000 miles from Ceres and has entered its approach phase toward the dwarf planet. NASA’s…
New research on a Martian rock reveals a record of the planet’s climate billions of years ago, back when water likely washed across its surface…
This newly released NASA image shows an area on the surface of Mars (approximately 1.5 by 3 kilometers or 0.9 by 1.9 miles in size)…
Despite a malfunction that ended its primary mission in May 2013, NASA’s Kepler spacecraft is still alive and working and has detected a newfound planet,…
A newly published study provides evidence for a previously unrecognized hydrogen reservoir on Mars, which could account for a large part of the initial water…
Data from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft reveals that Europa contributes less material to its surrounding environment than previously thought. A fresh look at data collected by…
New data from NASA’s MESSENGER has revealed seasonal surges of calcium in the exosphere of Mercury, suggesting that a periodic meteor shower from the debris…
A newly published study from scientists at MIT reveals that even a high-obliquity planet with a nearly horizontal axis could potentially support life, so long…
Using the Tunable Laser Spectrometer instrument in Curiosity’s onboard Sample Analysis at Mars laboratory, astronomers have detected a tenfold spike in the abundance of methane…
New findings from NASA’s Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) mission reveal a new process by which the solar wind can penetrate deep into a…
A new geological map based on NASA images shows signs of ancient lakes and quakes on Mars. This animation simulates a flyover of a portion…
MIT scientists used precisely dated rocks from the Deccan Traps to reveal evidence that a major volcanic eruption began just before the asteroid impact that…