iron
This Early Impact Devastated Life then Gave it a Boost
Most of us know about the impact that wiped out the dinosaurs about 66 million years ago. It's a scientific…
The Large Magellanic Cloud isn’t Very Metal
The Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) is the Milky Way's most massive satellite galaxy. Because it's so easily observed, astronomers have…
This Exoplanet is Probably a Solid Ball of Metal
We can't understand nature without understanding its range. That's apparent in exoplanet science and in our theories of planetary formation.…
This is What the Metal Asteroid Psyche Might Look Like
If you wanted to do a forensic study of the Solar System, you might head for the main asteroid belt…
Life on Earth Needed Iron. Will it be the Same on Other Worlds?
A lot has to go right for a planet to support life. Some of the circumstances that allow life to…
TESS Finds a New Mars-Sized Planet (With the Density of Mercury)
Some planets orbit their stars so closely that they have extremely high surface temperatures and extremely rapid orbits. Most of…
There’s So Much Pressure at the Earth’s Core, it Makes Iron Behave in a Strange Way
It's one of nature's topsy-turvy tricks that the deep interior of the Earth is as hot as the Sun's surface.…
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…
There Should Be More Iron In Space. Why Can’t We See It?
Iron is one of the most abundant elements in the Universe, along with lighter elements like hydrogen, oxygen, and carbon.…
Nearby Supernovas Showered Earth With Iron
We all know that we are "made of star-stuff," with all of the elements necessary for the formation of planets and even…