Space Exploration

The TRAPPIST-1 star system is interesting to say the least. This solar system is home to seven exoplanets, and astronomers have been watching it closely ever since the discovery was announced early this year. TRAPPIST-1 is particularly fascinating because it contains multiple planets that might be capable of supporting life. …

Most commercial rockets have a carbo capacity measured in tons, but the new Electron launch vehicle from Rocket Lab is designed for lighter duty. This rocket can haul just 150 kg (331 pounds) into orbit, but it’s cheap and small — really, look how cute and little it is. Rocket …

A new study published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters examines whether radioactive decay could support life on ocean worlds like Jupiter’s moon Europa. This artist’s concept shows a simulated view from the surface of Jupiters moon Europa. Europa’s potentially rough, icy surface, tinged with reddish areas, can be seen in …

Stars don’t come much weirder than KIC 8462852, known colloquially as Tabby’s star. You may be more familiar with it as the “alien megastructure star.” Astronomers have been puzzling over the seemingly random dips in brightness from Tabby’s star, and one of the explanations put forward is that aliens have …

According to new research, some of Earth’s atmosphere was brought to the planet by comets billions of years ago. This artwork shows a rocky planet being bombarded by comets. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech. The mystery of how the Earth’s atmosphere was formed has long baffled scientists. Some think comets …

NASA’s Juno spacecraft successfully made its sixth close flyby of Jupiter on Friday, May 19, 2017, at 2 a.m. EDT (6 a.m. UTC; 11 p.m. PDT on May 18). Juno captured this image 6,247 miles (10,053) km from Jupiter’s cloud tops during its close flyby on May 19, 2017. Image …

We won’t know if Proxima b is habitable until we can get some sharp telescopes pointed straight at it, which doesn’t happen until next year. But until then, everyone’s an armchair astronomer, speculating about the little red dot. What if it’s habitable? It lies within the habitable radius around its …

Saturn’s hazy moon Titan, Earth and Mars have all hosted rivers at some point in their histories. Planetary researchers from the City University of New York (CUNY) and elsewhere analyzed drainage patterns on all three bodies to shed light on their geologic past. It’s raining on Titan. Image credit: David …

Humans have long been shaping Earth’s landscape, but now scientists know we can shape the near-Earth environment as well. Image credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center / Genna Duberstein. Anthropogenic effects on the space environment started in the late 19th century and reached their peak in the 1960s when high-altitude …

This video is made of images taken by NASA’s Dawn spacecraft, from a position exactly between the Sun and the surface of Ceres. Dawn successfully observed the dwarf planet Ceres at opposition on April 29, 2017. Mission specialists had carefully maneuvered the spacecraft into a special orbit so that its …