Ammonia sparks unexpected shallow lightening on Jupiter. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS/Kevin M. Gill Observations made by NASA’s Juno mission have revealed that Jupiter’s atmosphere is more complex than scientists first anticipated. A new…
Category: Space
First images of a multi-planet system with a Sun-like star
In a rare occurrence, astronomers have directly observed more than one planet orbiting a star similar to the Sun. Image credit: ESO/Bohn et al. In an exciting new development, the European Southern…
Maybe life on Earth is as good as it gets?
Plate tectonics are important for habitability, and it appears that the optimum conditions existed for planets forming early in the galaxy’s lifespan … and may be unlikely to easily recur. Image credit:…
Astronomers estimate there are 36 communicating civilizations in our galaxy
Research sheds new light on our hope of finding intelligent life across the galaxy. Image credit: Graham Holtshausen Unsplash What if we’re not alone in the universe? Astronomers have long been searching…
Mysteries of Uranus’ oddities explained
Uranus, its moons, and rings are all “tipped”, suggesting they formed during a cataclysmic impact early in its history. All the planets in our Solar System revolve around the Sun in the…
An exoplanet that rains iron
ESO telescope oberves an exoplanet 690 light years away where night and day surface temperature differences cause iron to rain from the sky. Researchers from the Observatoire astronomique de l’Université de Genève…
Pioneers in Science: Katherine Johnson
In honor of the UN’s International Day of Women in Science, this week we highlight Katherine Johnson, pioneering mathematician and NASA legend. Illustration: Kieran O’Brien Katherine Johnson (also known as Katherine Goble)…
Pluto’s beating heart drives icy winds
How does Pluto’s “beating heart” determine wind patterns on its surface? According to a new study from NASA, Pluto’s famous “beating heart” — the iconic Tombaugh Regio captured by the New Horizons…
Amateur astronomers discover new form of northern lights
The newly discovered auroral dunes appear as a green-tinged and even pattern of waves resembling a striped veil of clouds or dunes on a sandy beach. A new form of the northern…
NASA telescope finds its first Earth-sized habitable world
TOI 700 d is the first Earth-size habitable-zone world discovered by TESS. Astronomers have discovered an Earth-sized planet living in its star’s “habitable zone” — a range of distances where conditions allow…