Carolyn Collins Petersen
A Neptune-sized Exoplanet is Denser Than Steel. The Result of a Catastrophic Collision?
There's an odd exoplanet out there posing a challenge to planetary scientists. It's a hot Neptune denser than steel. The…
There’s No Wind on the Moon, So How Does Dust Shift and Swirl So Quickly?
The last place to look for windstorms is on the Moon. Yet, it has swirls on its surface that look…
A Satellite Deployed a Drag Sail and Removed Itself from Orbit Five Years Early
In an age of increasing "stuff" orbiting Earth one big concern is what happens if one satellite hits another. The…
Is the Solar Wind Coming From These Tiny Jets on the Sun?
Ever since the first direct observations of the solar wind in 1959, astronomers have worked to figure out what powers…
NASA’s New Horizons Mission Still Threatened
The New Horizons spacecraft that studied Pluto and Kuiper Belt Object Arrokoth continues its pioneering exploration of the Kuiper Belt.…
Hackers are Attacking Observatories
Why would anybody want to hack an observatory? That's the question facing IT professionals at NOIRLab after somebody tried to…
Is This How You Get Magnetars?
Imagine a living star with a magnetic field at least 100,000 times stronger than Earth's field. That's the strange stellar…
No Surprise, July 2023 Was the Hottest Month on Record Since 1880
In case you missed it, the weather's been hot. From warmer-than-usual temperatures in northern climes to melting ice sheets in…
We’ve Never Seen Antarctic Sea Ice This Low
While many people are living through a sweltering summer, it's the depths of winter in Antarctica. Usually, this means there's…
Astronomers Scan 11,680 Nearby Stars for Signals from Advanced Civilizations
The hunt for alien life and its radio signals from beyond our Solar System is still coming up dry. But,…