Astronomy
Your Umbrella is Insufficient on a Planet Where it Rains Iron
Imagine a planet where it rained iron. Sounds impossible. But on one distant exoplanet, which is tidally locked to its…
Astronomers Spot Rare Brown Dwarf Pair
Sometimes, the strangest stellar finds are right in our own cosmic neighborhood. Astronomers recently made an interesting discovery while putting…
Gas and Dust Stop Planets From Eating Their Moons
A team of Japanese researchers have created a new model for moon formation that explains how planets like Saturn end…
Following the Inner Worlds: Mercury and Venus in 2020
Where have all the planets gone in early 2020? While all of the naked eye planets are hiding in the…
Seti@home is on Pause. Unfortunately, it’s not Because They’ve Discovered Aliens
After 20 years in operation, SETI@home program recently announced that it is taking a hiatus to sort through the mountain…
Life Could be Common Across the Universe, Just Not in Our Region
The building blocks of life can, and did, spontaneously assemble under the right conditions. That's called spontaneous generation, or abiogenesis.…
Europe’s Mission to Jupiter’s Moons Just Got its First Instrument
The ESA's JUpiter Icy Moons Explore (JUICE), which will study Europa and Ganymede for evidence of life, just got its…
XMM Newton Catches a Tiny Flare Star in Action
Sometimes, even small stars can pack a mighty punch. And in the case of a flare star, the results can…
WFIRST Passes an Important Milestone, it’s Time to Begin Development and Testing
Soon, astronomers and astrophysicists will have more observing power than they know what to do with. Not only will the…
The First Artemis Launch has Been Delayed Until Mid-to-Late 2021
To kick off the Lunar Surface Innovation Consortium (LSIC), NASA Assoc. Admin. Steve Jurczyk indicated that the first Artemis mission…