Carolyn Collins Petersen
A Planet So Hot Its Atmosphere Contains the Raw Material for Rocks
In the annals of "strange new worlds", the ultra-hot Jupiter planet WASP-76b ranks right up there as a very unusual…
An Element Critical for (Earth) Life is Spewing out of Enceladus
We really need to get back to Enceladus. Not to send people necessarily, although that would be nice. But, we…
Curiosity Takes One Final Postcard Image of a Picturesque Valley Before Moving on to its Next Destination
The Mars rover Curiosity continues to make its way up the slopes of Mount Sharp on Mars. On April 8th,…
Astronomers Have Figured Out Clever Tricks to Reduce the Impact of Satellite Trails
A clear sky is a prerequisite for most astronomers imaging the cosmos. However, with the proliferation of satellite trails, astronomers…
Parker Solar Probe Flies Close Enough to the Sun to See the Source of the Fast Solar Wind
Where does the solar wind come from? That's a question solar physicists have wanted an answer to for decades. Now,…
Triggered Star Birth in the Nessie Nebula
Star formation is one of the oldest processes in the Universe. In the Milky Way and most other galaxies, it…
There Are Hundreds of Mysterious Filaments at the Center of the Milky Way
Several million years ago, the core of our galaxy experienced a powerful event. It blew out a huge bi-lobed bubble…
You Can Detect Tsunamis as They Push the Atmosphere Around
Anyone who's ever lived along a coastline or been at sea knows the effects of tsunamis. And, they appreciate all…
ESA is Testing How Iron Burns in Weightlessness
What happens when you burn iron in space? The European Space Agency is torching iron powder in microgravity, to find…
HAKUTO-R’s Software Got Confused at the Last Minute, Causing it to Crash into the Moon
On April 26, 2023, people around the world watched as the HAKUTO-R lander made its final approach for a landing…