Discovery Alert: Water Vapor Detected on “Super Neptune” Exoplanet
The discovery: Water vapor in the atmosphere of planet TOI-674 b. Key facts: This recently discovered planet, a bit bigger than Neptune and orbiting a…
Planets
On the Edge of Destruction: These Newly-Discovered Planets Are Doomed
Astronomers have spied three more exoplanets. But the discovery might not last long. Each planet is in a separate solar system, and each orbits perilously…
SOFIA Observes Venus: A Delicate Dance to Understand Our Hot and Cloudy Twin’s Atmosphere
SOFIA recently completed a new set of observations of Venus to study the chemical composition of the planet’s atmosphere. Observing Venus was particularly challenging. Venus…
Consistent Asteroid Collisions Rock Previous Thinking on Mars Impact Craters
New Curtin University research has confirmed the frequency of asteroid collisions that formed impact craters on Mars has been consistent over the past 600 million…
Unusual Team Finds Gigantic Planet Hidden in Plain Sight – Much Closer to Earth Than Others Like It
A UC Riverside astronomer and a group of eagle-eyed citizen scientists have discovered a giant gas planet hidden from view by typical stargazing tools. The…
NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope Illuminates Exoplanets
The infrared observatory may help answer questions about planets outside our solar system, or exoplanets, including how they form and what drives weather in their…
Newly Discovered Carbon on Mars: Origin May Be Biologically Produced Methane
NASA’s Curiosity rover landed on Mars on August 6, 2012, and since then has roamed Gale Crater taking samples and sending the results back home…
Rolling Stones on Mars: More Than Meets the Eye
There’s more to this image of Mars than first meets the eye: nestled in the detail of the cliff face that cuts through this scene…
High-Energy Oxygen Ions Discovered in Jupiter’s Innermost Radiation Belts
Researchers find high-energy oxygen and sulfur ions in Jupiter’s inner radiation belts — and a previously unknown ion source. Nearly 20 years after the end…
Eccentric Exoplanet Discovered: Sub-Neptune Planet Orbiting in “Habitable Zone” of Red Dwarf Star
Led by the University of Bern, an international research team has discovered a sub-Neptune exoplanet orbiting a red dwarf star. The discovery was also made…
Lost in Space: Earth and Mars Were Formed From Missing Solar System Material
By looking at the range of isotopic variations in terrestrial and meteoritic samples, a Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientist and collaborators have figured out…
“Field Guide” to Mysterious Exoplanets Known As Hot Jupiters
By combining Hubble Space Telescope observations with theoretical models, a team of astronomers has gained insights into the chemical and physical makeup of a variety…
Is Earth an Oddball? One of the Strangest Things in the Cosmos Might Be – Us
One of the strangest things in the cosmos might be – us. Among the thousands of planets confirmed to be in orbit around other stars,…
Three Rings To Bind Them: Cosmic History Can Explain the Properties of Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars
Astronomers have managed to link the properties of the inner planets of our solar system with our cosmic history: with the emergence of ring structures…
Red Velvet Mars – ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter Captures Delightful Image
Like a sprinkle of powdered sugar on a rich red velvet cake, this scene from the ESA/Roscosmos ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter captures the contrasting colors…
High-Speed Impacts May Have Shaped Venus’ History – And Explain Why It Is Uninhabitable
New modeling suggests fast collisions could explain why Earth is habitable while Venus is not. New modeling suggests large, high-speed impacts during Venus’ early history…
Astronomers Detect First Signature of Magnetic Field on a Planet Outside of Our Solar System
Researchers have identified the first signature of a magnetic field surrounding a planet outside of our solar system. Earth’s magnetic field acts as a shield…
At Least 70 Free-Floating Planets Discovered in a Nearby Region of the Milky Way
The more than 70 sunless worlds are each roughly the mass of Jupiter. Using observations and archival data from several of NSF’s NOIRLab’s observatories, together…